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Will the Dollar Recover After CPI?

Overview: The US dollar remains offered ahead of today’s CPI report. Most European currencies are outperforming the dollar bloc, and the greenback is…

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2 years ago

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Overview: The US dollar remains offered ahead of today’s CPI report. Most European currencies are outperforming the dollar bloc, and the greenback is holding inside yesterday’s range against the yen. Most emerging market currencies are firmer, as well. China’s markets re-opened from the long-holiday weekend and the yuan is a touch softer. After the strong close to US equities yesterday, and some mild follow-through buying today in the futures, equities in the Asia Pacific and Europe are also extending their recent gains. Hong Kong was a notable exception in Asia and reports that regulators asked state-owned entities to report their exposure to Fosun, one of the largest non-state conglomerates, weighed on the Hang Seng. Europe’s Stoxx 600 is rising for the fourth consecutive session and is at its best level in about three weeks. The 10-year US Treasury yield is a few basis points lower near 3.32%, while European benchmark yields are narrowly mixed. Gold is a little firmer at the upper end of yesterday’s range. December WTI is also in the upper end of yesterday’s range, a little below $88, ahead the OPEC+ report. US natgas is firmer for the fourth consecutive session, while the European benchmark is off 2.3%, its third decline in a row. It is now at its lowest level since late July. Iron ore recovered from yesterday’s 0.9% pullback and rose 1.4% today. It is at its best level this month. December copper is firm and is also at its best level here in September. If today’s gains are sustained, it would be the fifth advance in the past six sessions. December wheat has come back bid after yesterday’s 1.25% pullback. The USDA boosted its estimate of the wheat harvest, while reporting tighter supplies of soybeans. November beans rallied nearly 5.4% yesterday and are up a bit more today. They are at the highest level since late June.

Asia Pacific

The threats by Japanese officials have spurred more talk of intervention. There has been an evolution in official thinking about intervention. The Plaza Agreement (1985) and the Louvre Accord (1987) marked the high point of G7 foreign exchange coordination and intervention. However, consider that the Great Financial Crisis and the Covid pandemic without intervention in the major currencies. Officials recognized that the key problem was not foreign exchange rates per se but access to the dollar. Hence, the swaps lines offered by the Federal Reserve during the GFC, some of which were converted into permanent standby arrangement, and again during the pandemic. 

Under this framework, there is no compelling need for unilateral intervention. Japan is the only G7 central bank that is still pursuing quantitative easing and is the only G7 country that is projected to record a larger fiscal deficit than in 2021. Europe is unlikely to be any more sympathetic to Japan's plight than the US. The weakness for the yen has not affected the conduct of Japanese monetary policy. Japan's inflation is among the lowest for high-income countries, and the Japanese economy will likely outperform Europe's for the next several quarters. The yen reached is weakest level since 1998, while sterling fell to its lowest level since 1985. The euro traded at its lowest level since 2000. According to the OECD's purchasing power parity model, the euro is undervalued by about 41.5% and the yen is undervalued by a little less than 42%, an insignificant difference.

Japan verbal intervention coincided with the dollar's pullback more generally. Today is the fourth consecutive session that the greenback is recording lower highs. The pre-weekend low was JPY141.50 but yesterday and today, support has been found slightly above JPY142, where options for $670 mln expire today. In addition to the lower dollar, today's range, about 0.8 yen, is the smallest since last Monday when the US and Canada were on holiday. The greenback is also in a narrow range against the Australian dollar. It is consolidating in a narrow range below $0.6910. A move above $0.6920, could spur another half-cent gain. Initial support is seen around $0.6860. The Chinese yuan is a little softer today, as the mainland market re-opens from the long holiday weekend. The US dollar initially eased to about CNY6.9165, slightly below the pre-weekend low but rebounded above CNY6.9300. As it has done for nearly three weeks, the PBOC set the dollar's reference rate above when the median in Bloomberg's survey projected (CNY6.8928 vs. CNY6.9125).

Europe

Before the weekend, the (swaps) market was nearly 100% convinced the ECB would hike 75 bp at next month's meeting. The confidence has waned a bit and now is around 60%. This is despite the hawkish comments over the weekend by Bundesbank President Nagel. Other ECB officials have confirmed intentions to lift rates at the coming meetings, but not necessarily in such large steps. The neutral seen 1.5%-2.0%. The swaps market sees the deposit rate within that range before year end. After last week's high, the deposit rate is at 0.75%. Separately, the ZEW survey was weaker than expected. The current situation measure fell to -60.5 from -47.6. It is the worst reading since March 2021. The expectations component was even worse, dropping to -61.9 from -55.3. This level of pessimism was not seen even during the initial stages of the pandemic, when expectations bottomed at -49.5. Even during the sovereign debt crisis (2011), it did not fall this low. One has to go back to October 2008 to see such a low reading. That said, the euro barely wobbled on the news.

The International Labor Organization says that UK unemployment unexpectedly fell to 3.6% in the three months through July from 3.8%. However, the government's data shows this was driven by a 194k decline in the workforce--seemingly reflecting sickness and return to school. The claimant count rose by 6.3k, bringing the number of unemployed to 1.22 mln (compared to a1.28 mln job openings, which fell by 34k over the three-month period). Employment rose by 40k in the three-months through July, which is about a third of the median forecast in Bloomberg's survey. Average weekly earnings rose 5.5% in three-month through July compared to a year ago. It was the first increase since March when it peaked at 7%. The swaps market is still favors a 75 bp hike next week with almost 69% confidence, which is where it was at the end of last week. Lastly, note that the dockworkers at Felixstowe rejected the pay deal and are preparing to strike. Separately, the dockworkers in Liverpool are also preparing to strike. In the US, the White House is said to be involved in trying to settle the railroad dispute that could lead to a strike at the end of the week.

The EC is expected to propose a mandatory program to cut power use. This is going to prove as controversial as it was when first aired earlier this year. The push back then resulted in voluntary cuts and between May and August, gas demand in northwest Europe fell by 18% year-over-year. Some countries have introduced light rationing already, in the form of temperature and light use in public buildings. The EC's proposal, leaked to the press, has two goals in terms of conservation. First a cut in overall consumption. Second a mandatory goal of lowering demand during peak hours or when electricity generation from renewables is expected to be low. The EC also will propose a minimum "exceptional and temporary" tax on "extra" (in excess of pre-tax profits reported for the past three years) made by oil, gas, coal, and refinery industries. The EC wants to cap the extra revenue other energy companies though limiting the price of electricity generated from renewables and nuclear.

The challenge is to find a solution that is agreeable throughout the EU, which like other issues, has proved quite difficult. The issues are thorny and earlier this year, tensions between Germany and the periphery were evident. in any event, it seems unreasonable to expect a quick solution. Instead, following von der Leyen's annual State of the Union address to the European parliament on Wednesday, look for the heads of state summit (informal meeting on October 6-7 and a summit October 20-21 to try to hammer out an agreement. Still, the idea that Europe is on the verge of an energy union seems to be more a case of wishful thinking. Sure, like the EU's joint bond issuance, it could prove to be the scaffolding, but more likely is one-off emergency measures.

The euro is trading with a firmer bias but holding below yesterday's high (almost $1.02). It seems to be sandwiched between two sets of expiring options today. One set is struck at $1.01 for about 725 mln euros. The other is for nearly 1.05 bln euros at $1.0175. After yesterday's advance, some, if not all the upper strike has likely been neutralized. The session highs were recorded in the European morning a little above $1.0165, and again North American dealers will start their session with the intraday momentum indicators stretched. The session low, slightly below $1.0120 was set in early Asia. Yesterday, sterling stalled near its 20-day moving average (~$1.1715), but today has edged through $1.1730. This is just shy of the (38.2%) retracement of the losses since the August 10 high near $1.2275. The next retracement (50%) is closer to $1.1840. Support is seen in the $1.1660-80 area. Our broad view anticipated the dollar to weaken through the US inflation report and then find better bids ahead of next week's FOMC meeting.

America

Today's US CPI report and the University of Michigan's preliminary September consumer confidence and inflation expectations are seen as the last two important data points before the FOMC meeting next week. Barring a surprise, another tame monthly CPI print is expected. The month-over-month reading in July was zero and the median forecast in Bloomberg's survey is for a 0.1% decline in August. The August core rate is expected to match July's 0.3% increase. The year-over-year headline rate may ease to 8%, while the core may tick up back above 6% for the first time since April. Given Fed's assessment that that labor market remains strong, and prices elevated, few really think that today's CPI report will spur a change in the official stance. Moreover, in a bit of "what came first the chicken or the egg", the market is giving the Fed a free option to hike 75 bp.

Given the Fed's belated start and misunderstanding of the persistence of inflation, it may not want to under-deliver market expectations. That said, look at the evolution of inflation expectations. First, we note that NY Fed's August survey was out yesterday. It showed the one-year inflation expectation easing to 5.7% from 6.2%, and the three-year expectation at 2.8% from 3.2%. Second are the market-based measures. The two-year breakeven (the difference between the two-year inflation protected security and the conventional note) has fallen from almost 5% in late March (peak was almost two weeks after the Fed's first hike) to less than 2.2% last week. The 10-year breakeven peaked in late April, a little over 3% and fell to 2.30% in July and has bounced around a bit this summer, reaching nearly 2.65% in late August and now is around 2.42%, roughly the lowest it has trading since late July. Rightly or wrongly, the breakeven measure of inflation expectations seems heavily influenced by the price of oil. The generic WTI futures contract peaked in early March slightly above $130. It had a secondary peak in mid-June around $123.70. Last week, it fell to nearly $81, the lowest level since mid-January, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when many, including Ukrainians, did not believe the invasion was going to materialize.

There is an old rule of thumb about three gaps exhausting a move. Some interpretations of Japanese candlesticks also have rule like that. It is relevant because the S&P 500 and NASDAQ gapped higher on both Friday and yesterday, and the gaps are unfilled. The Canadian dollar, among the most sensitive among the major currencies to US equity fluctuations, has rallied sharply over the past of four sessions, which have been the best for US stocks here in Q3. The US dollar has fallen from a little above CAD1.3200 to below CAD1.3000. So far today, the greenback is trading in a tight range (~CAD1.2970-CAD1.2995). It is hovering a little above yesterday's low near CAD1.2965, which is roughly the (50%) retracement of the US dollar gains since the August 11 low (~CAD1.2730). A convincing break targets the next retracement (61.8%) a little above CAD1.2900. The US dollar fell to its lowest level since mid-June against the Mexican peso yesterday (~MXN19.7535) but closed back above the MXN19.80 floor. The greenback is under pressure today and there is little chart support ahead of MXN19.60. The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is extending yesterday's gains. If sustained, it would be the fourth gain in five sessions, and it is trading near its best level since mid-August.

 

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‘Excess Mortality Skyrocketed’: Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack ‘Criminal’ COVID Response

‘Excess Mortality Skyrocketed’: Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack ‘Criminal’ COVID Response

As the global pandemic unfolded, government-funded…

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41 mins ago

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March 14, 2024

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'Excess Mortality Skyrocketed': Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack 'Criminal' COVID Response

As the global pandemic unfolded, government-funded experimental vaccines were hastily developed for a virus which primarily killed the old and fat (and those with other obvious comorbidities), and an aggressive, global campaign to coerce billions into injecting them ensued.

Then there were the lockdowns - with some countries (New Zealand, for example) building internment camps for those who tested positive for Covid-19, and others such as China welding entire apartment buildings shut to trap people inside.

It was an egregious and unnecessary response to a virus that, while highly virulent, was survivable by the vast majority of the general population.

Oh, and the vaccines, which governments are still pushing, didn't work as advertised to the point where health officials changed the definition of "vaccine" multiple times.

Tucker Carlson recently sat down with Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist and vocal critic of vaccines. The two had a wide-ranging discussion, which included vaccine safety and efficacy, excess mortality, demographic impacts of the virus, big pharma, and the professional price Kory has paid for speaking out.

Keep reading below, or if you have roughly 50 minutes, watch it in its entirety for free on X:

"Do we have any real sense of what the cost, the physical cost to the country and world has been of those vaccines?" Carlson asked, kicking off the interview.

"I do think we have some understanding of the cost. I mean, I think, you know, you're aware of the work of of Ed Dowd, who's put together a team and looked, analytically at a lot of the epidemiologic data," Kory replied. "I mean, time with that vaccination rollout is when all of the numbers started going sideways, the excess mortality started to skyrocket."

When asked "what kind of death toll are we looking at?", Kory responded "...in 2023 alone, in the first nine months, we had what's called an excess mortality of 158,000 Americans," adding "But this is in 2023. I mean, we've  had Omicron now for two years, which is a mild variant. Not that many go to the hospital."

'Safe and Effective'

Tucker also asked Kory why the people who claimed the vaccine were "safe and effective" aren't being held criminally liable for abetting the "killing of all these Americans," to which Kory replied: "It’s my kind of belief, looking back, that [safe and effective] was a predetermined conclusion. There was no data to support that, but it was agreed upon that it would be presented as safe and effective."

Carlson and Kory then discussed the different segments of the population that experienced vaccine side effects, with Kory noting an "explosion in dying in the youngest and healthiest sectors of society," adding "And why did the employed fare far worse than those that weren't? And this particularly white collar, white collar, more than gray collar, more than blue collar."

Kory also said that Big Pharma is 'terrified' of Vitamin D because it "threatens the disease model." As journalist The Vigilant Fox notes on X, "Vitamin D showed about a 60% effectiveness against the incidence of COVID-19 in randomized control trials," and "showed about 40-50% effectiveness in reducing the incidence of COVID-19 in observational studies."

Professional costs

Kory - while risking professional suicide by speaking out, has undoubtedly helped save countless lives by advocating for alternate treatments such as Ivermectin.

Kory shared his own experiences of job loss and censorship, highlighting the challenges of advocating for a more nuanced understanding of vaccine safety in an environment often resistant to dissenting voices.

"I wrote a book called The War on Ivermectin and the the genesis of that book," he said, adding "Not only is my expertise on Ivermectin and my vast clinical experience, but and I tell the story before, but I got an email, during this journey from a guy named William B Grant, who's a professor out in California, and he wrote to me this email just one day, my life was going totally sideways because our protocols focused on Ivermectin. I was using a lot in my practice, as were tens of thousands of doctors around the world, to really good benefits. And I was getting attacked, hit jobs in the media, and he wrote me this email on and he said, Dear Dr. Kory, what they're doing to Ivermectin, they've been doing to vitamin D for decades..."

"And it's got five tactics. And these are the five tactics that all industries employ when science emerges, that's inconvenient to their interests. And so I'm just going to give you an example. Ivermectin science was extremely inconvenient to the interests of the pharmaceutical industrial complex. I mean, it threatened the vaccine campaign. It threatened vaccine hesitancy, which was public enemy number one. We know that, that everything, all the propaganda censorship was literally going after something called vaccine hesitancy."

Money makes the world go 'round

Carlson then hit on perhaps the most devious aspect of the relationship between drug companies and the medical establishment, and how special interests completely taint science to the point where public distrust of institutions has spiked in recent years.

"I think all of it starts at the level the medical journals," said Kory. "Because once you have something established in the medical journals as a, let's say, a proven fact or a generally accepted consensus, consensus comes out of the journals."

"I have dozens of rejection letters from investigators around the world who did good trials on ivermectin, tried to publish it. No thank you, no thank you, no thank you. And then the ones that do get in all purportedly prove that ivermectin didn't work," Kory continued.

"So and then when you look at the ones that actually got in and this is where like probably my biggest estrangement and why I don't recognize science and don't trust it anymore, is the trials that flew to publication in the top journals in the world were so brazenly manipulated and corrupted in the design and conduct in, many of us wrote about it. But they flew to publication, and then every time they were published, you saw these huge PR campaigns in the media. New York Times, Boston Globe, L.A. times, ivermectin doesn't work. Latest high quality, rigorous study says. I'm sitting here in my office watching these lies just ripple throughout the media sphere based on fraudulent studies published in the top journals. And that's that's that has changed. Now that's why I say I'm estranged and I don't know what to trust anymore."

Vaccine Injuries

Carlson asked Kory about his clinical experience with vaccine injuries.

"So how this is how I divide, this is just kind of my perception of vaccine injury is that when I use the term vaccine injury, I'm usually referring to what I call a single organ problem, like pericarditis, myocarditis, stroke, something like that. An autoimmune disease," he replied.

"What I specialize in my practice, is I treat patients with what we call a long Covid long vaxx. It's the same disease, just different triggers, right? One is triggered by Covid, the other one is triggered by the spike protein from the vaccine. Much more common is long vax. The only real differences between the two conditions is that the vaccinated are, on average, sicker and more disabled than the long Covids, with some pretty prominent exceptions to that."

Watch the entire interview above, and you can support Tucker Carlson's endeavors by joining the Tucker Carlson Network here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/14/2024 - 16:20

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International

Shakira’s net worth

After 12 albums, a tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth more than 4 decades into her care…

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6 hours ago

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March 14, 2024

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Shakira’s considerable net worth is no surprise, given her massive popularity in Latin America, the U.S., and elsewhere. 

In fact, the belly-dancing contralto queen is the second-wealthiest Latin-America-born pop singer of all time after Gloria Estefan. (Interestingly, Estefan actually helped a young Shakira translate her breakout album “Laundry Service” into English, hugely propelling her stateside success.)

Since releasing her first record at age 13, Shakira has spent decades recording albums in both Spanish and English and performing all over the world. Over the course of her 40+ year career, she helped thrust Latin pop music into the American mainstream, paving the way for the subsequent success of massively popular modern acts like Karol G and Bad Bunny.

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Shakira, the barefoot belly dancer of Barranquilla, was unveiled at the city's waterfront. The statue was commissioned by the city's former mayor and other leadership.

Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images

In December 2023, a 21-foot-tall beachside bronze statue of the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was unveiled in her Colombian hometown of Barranquilla, making her a permanent fixture in the city’s skyline and cementing her legacy as one of Latin America’s most influential entertainers.

After 12 albums, a plethora of film and television appearances, a highly publicized tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth? What does her income look like? And how does she spend her money?

Related: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's net worth: How the new TKO Board Member built his wealth from $7

How much is Shakira worth?

In late 2023, Spanish sports and lifestyle publication Marca reported Shakira’s net worth at $400 million, citing Forbes as the figure’s source (although Forbes’ profile page for Shakira does not list a net worth — and didn’t when that article was published).

Most other sources list the singer’s wealth at an estimated $300 million, and almost all of these point to Celebrity Net Worth — a popular but dubious celebrity wealth estimation site — as the source for the figure.

A $300 million net worth would make Shakira the third-richest Latina pop star after Gloria Estefan ($500 million) and Jennifer Lopez ($400 million), and the second-richest Latin-America-born pop singer after Estefan (JLo is Puerto Rican but was born in New York).

Shakira’s income: How much does she make annually?

Entertainers like Shakira don’t have predictable paychecks like ordinary salaried professionals. Instead, annual take-home earnings vary quite a bit depending on each year’s album sales, royalties, film and television appearances, streaming revenue, and other sources of income. As one might expect, Shakira’s earnings have fluctuated quite a bit over the years.

From June 2018 to June 2019, for instance, Shakira was the 10th highest-earning female musician, grossing $35 million, according to Forbes. This wasn’t her first time gracing the top 10, though — back in 2012, she also landed the #10 spot, bringing in $20 million, according to Billboard.

In 2023, Billboard listed Shakira as the 16th-highest-grossing Latin artist of all time.

Shakira performed alongside producer Bizarrap during the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards Gala in Seville.

Photo By Maria Jose Lopez/Europa Press via Getty Images

How much does Shakira make from her concerts and tours?

A large part of Shakira’s wealth comes from her world tours, during which she sometimes sells out massive stadiums and arenas full of passionate fans eager to see her dance and sing live.

According to a 2020 report by Pollstar, she sold over 2.7 million tickets across 190 shows that grossed over $189 million between 2000 and 2020. This landed her the 19th spot on a list of female musicians ranked by touring revenue during that period. In 2023, Billboard reported a more modest touring revenue figure of $108.1 million across 120 shows.

In 2003, Shakira reportedly generated over $4 million from a single show on Valentine’s Day at Foro Sol in Mexico City. 15 years later, in 2018, Shakira grossed around $76.5 million from her El Dorado World Tour, according to Touring Data.

Related: RuPaul's net worth: Everything to know about the cultural icon and force behind 'Drag Race'

How much has Shakira made from her album sales?

According to a 2023 profile in Variety, Shakira has sold over 100 million records throughout her career. “Laundry Service,” the pop icon’s fifth studio album, was her most successful, selling over 13 million copies worldwide, according to TheRichest.

Exactly how much money Shakira has taken home from her album sales is unclear, but in 2008, it was widely reported that she signed a 10-year contract with LiveNation to the tune of between $70 and $100 million to release her subsequent albums and manage her tours.

Shakira and JLo co-headlined the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show in Florida.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

How much did Shakira make from her Super Bowl and World Cup performances?

Shakira co-wrote one of her biggest hits, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” after FIFA selected her to create the official anthem for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. She performed the song, along with several of her existing fan-favorite tracks, during the event’s opening ceremonies. TheThings reported in 2023 that the song generated $1.4 million in revenue, citing Popnable for the figure.

A decade later, 2020’s Superbowl halftime show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez as co-headliners with guest performances by Bad Bunny and J Balvin. The 14-minute performance was widely praised as a high-energy celebration of Latin music and dance, but as is typical for Super Bowl shows, neither Shakira nor JLo was compensated beyond expenses and production costs.

The exposure value that comes with performing in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, though, is significant. It is typically the most-watched television event in the U.S. each year, and in 2020, a 30-second Super Bowl ad spot cost between $5 and $6 million.

How much did Shakira make as a coach on “The Voice?”

Shakira served as a team coach on the popular singing competition program “The Voice” during the show’s fourth and sixth seasons. On the show, celebrity musicians coach up-and-coming amateurs in a team-based competition that eventually results in a single winner. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Shakira’s salary as a coach on “The Voice” was $12 million.

Related: John Cena's net worth: The wrestler-turned-actor's investments, businesses, and more

How does Shakira spend her money?

Shakira doesn’t just make a lot of money — she spends it, too. Like many wealthy entertainers, she’s purchased her share of luxuries, but Barranquilla’s barefoot belly dancer is also a prolific philanthropist, having donated tens of millions to charitable causes throughout her career.

Private island

Back in 2006, she teamed up with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame and Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz to purchase Bonds Cay, a 550-acre island in the Bahamas, which was listed for $16 million at the time.

Along with her two partners in the purchase, Shakira planned to develop the island to feature housing, hotels, and an artists’ retreat designed to host a revolving cast of artists-in-residence. This plan didn’t come to fruition, though, and as of this article’s last update, the island was once again for sale on Vladi Private Islands.

Real estate and vehicles

Like most wealthy celebs, Shakira’s portfolio of high-end playthings also features an array of luxury properties and vehicles, including a home in Barcelona, a villa in Cyprus, a Miami mansion, and a rotating cast of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Philanthropy and charity

Shakira doesn’t just spend her massive wealth on herself; the “Queen of Latin Music” is also a dedicated philanthropist and regularly donates portions of her earnings to the Fundación Pies Descalzos, or “Barefoot Foundation,” a charity she founded in 1997 to “improve the education and social development of children in Colombia, which has suffered decades of conflict.” The foundation focuses on providing meals for children and building and improving educational infrastructure in Shakira’s hometown of Barranquilla as well as four other Colombian communities.

In addition to her efforts with the Fundación Pies Descalzos, Shakira has made a number of other notable donations over the years. In 2007, she diverted a whopping $40 million of her wealth to help rebuild community infrastructure in Peru and Nicaragua in the wake of a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Shakira donated a large supply of N95 masks for healthcare workers and ventilators for hospital patients to her hometown of Barranquilla.

Back in 2010, the UN honored Shakira with a medal to recognize her dedication to social justice, at which time the Director General of the International Labour Organization described her as a “true ambassador for children and young people.”

On November 20, 2023 (which was supposed to be her first day of trial), Shakira reached a deal with the prosecution that resulted in a three-year suspended sentence and around $8 million in fines.

Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images

Shakira’s tax fraud scandal: How much did she pay?

In 2018, prosecutors in Spain initiated a tax evasion case against Shakira, alleging she lived primarily in Spain from 2012 to 2014 and therefore failed to pay around $14.4 million in taxes to the Spanish government. Spanish law requires anyone who is “domiciled” (i.e., living primarily) in Spain for more than half of the year to pay income taxes.

During the period in question, Shakira listed the Bahamas as her primary residence but did spend some time in Spain, as she was dating Gerard Piqué, a professional footballer and Spanish citizen. The couple’s first son, Milan, was also born in Barcelona during this period. 

Shakira maintained that she spent far fewer than 183 days per year in Spain during each of the years in question. In an interview with Elle Magazine, the pop star opined that “Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It's clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what."

Prosecutors in the case sought a fine of almost $26 million and a possible eight-year prison stint, but in November of 2023, Shakira took a deal to close the case, accepting a fine of around $8 million and a three-year suspended sentence to avoid going to trial. In reference to her decision to take the deal, Shakira stated, "While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favour [had the trial proceeded], I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight."

How much did the Shakira statue in Barranquilla cost?

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze likeness of Shakira was unveiled on a waterfront promenade in Barranquilla. The city’s then-mayor, Jaime Pumarejo, commissioned Colombian sculptor Yino Márquez to create the statue of the city’s treasured pop icon, along with a sculpture of the city’s coat of arms.

According to the New York Times, the two sculptures cost the city the equivalent of around $180,000. A plaque at the statue’s base reads, “A heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, an unmatched talent, a voice that moves the masses and bare feet that march for the good of children and humanity.” 

Related: Taylor Swift net worth: The most successful entertainer joins the billionaire's club

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Delta Air Lines adds a new route travelers have been asking for

The new Delta seasonal flight to the popular destination will run daily on a Boeing 767-300.

Published

6 hours ago

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March 14, 2024

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Those who have tried to book a flight from North America to Europe in the summer of 2023 know just how high travel demand to the continent has spiked.

At 2.93 billion, visitors to the countries making up the European Union had finally reached pre-pandemic levels last year while North Americans in particular were booking trips to both large metropolises such as Paris and Milan as well as smaller cities growing increasingly popular among tourists.

Related: A popular European city is introducing the highest 'tourist tax' yet

As a result, U.S.-based airlines have been re-evaluating their networks to add more direct routes to smaller European destinations that most travelers would have previously needed to reach by train or transfer flight with a local airline.

The new flight will take place on a Boeing 767-300.

Shutterstock

Delta Air Lines: ‘Glad to offer customers increased choice…’

By the end of March, Delta Air Lines  (DAL)  will be restarting its route between New York’s JFK and Marco Polo International Airport in Venice as well as launching two new flights to Venice from Atlanta. One will start running this month while the other will be added during peak demand in the summer.

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“As one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Venice is hugely popular with U.S. travelers, and our flights bring valuable tourism and trade opportunities to the city and the region as well as unrivalled opportunities for Venetians looking to explore destinations across the Americas,” Delta’s SVP for Europe Matteo Curcio said in a statement. “We’re glad to offer customers increased choice this summer with flights from New York and additional service from Atlanta.”

The JFK-Venice flight will run on a Boeing 767-300  (BA)  and have 216 seats including higher classes such as Delta One, Delta Premium Select and Delta Comfort Plus.

Delta offers these features on the new flight

Both the New York and Atlanta flights are seasonal routes that will be pulled out of service in October. Both will run daily while the first route will depart New York at 8:55 p.m. and arrive in Venice at 10:15 a.m. local time on the way there, while leaving Venice at 12:15 p.m. to arrive at JFK at 5:05 p.m. on the way back.

According to Delta, this will bring its service to 17 flights from different U.S. cities to Venice during the peak summer period. As with most Delta flights at this point, passengers in all fare classes will have access to free Wi-Fi during the flight.

Those flying in Delta’s highest class or with access through airline status or a credit card will also be able to use the new Delta lounge that is part of the airline’s $12 billion terminal renovation and is slated to open to travelers in the coming months. The space will take up more than 40,000 square feet and have an outdoor terrace.

“Delta One customers can stretch out in a lie-flat seat and enjoy premium amenities like plush bedding made from recycled plastic bottles, more beverage options, and a seasonal chef-curated four-course meal,” Delta said of the new route. “[…] All customers can enjoy a wide selection of in-flight entertainment options and stay connected with Wi-Fi and enjoy free mobile messaging.”

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