Economy

Mijael Attias, the Chief Executive Officer of Merak Group, has recently marked a significant chapter in the company's journey with the acquisition of Miller's Elegant Hardware, LLC. Yet, who is the individual driving this success? Beneath the corporate statements and media releases lies a person filled with aspirations, principles, and a distinctive perspective on the business landscape. Although there is little publicly available information regarding Mijael Attias' personal life, his spoken words and professional endeavors offer insights into his character and business philosophy.In his statement regarding the acquisition of Miller's Elegant Hardware, Mijael Attias began by expressing his gratitude to…

Millions of people will tilt their heads skyward on Monday, marveling at a total solar eclipse. The moon will cross the sun and block its light for a few fleeting moments, creating a communal celestial experience that will not again be so accessible to people in the United States, Canada or Mexico for decades.The total solar eclipse’s path — the expanse where the moon fully obscures the sun — stretches from Mexico’s Pacific Coast to the fringes of Atlantic Canada, passing through dozens of major cities where authorities are preparing for an influx of visitors eager to experience what may…

Patti Sietz-Honig, a video editor at Fox 5 in New York, filed a complaint in 2022. The cost of seeing a specialist for chronic back pain had spiked, and she faced roughly $60,000 in bills.Ms. Sietz-Honig pressed for updates about her complaint and sent articles critical of MultiPlan from Capitol Forum, a site focused on antitrust and regulatory news. Last March, the agency emailed her that her employer and her insurer, Aetna, had agreed to a “temporary exception” and made additional payments.“Unfortunately,” the agency wrote, the law “does not prohibit the use of third-party vendors” to calculate payments.Meanwhile, her longtime…

Matt Blake texted Cleveland Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber a conciliatory message over the weekend. As a member of the Cleveland player-development system in the 2010s, Blake aided Bieber’s rise from college walk-on to unanimous American League Cy Young Award winner in 2020. For a time, Bieber represented the modern model for the manufacturing of a big-league ace, a player who added strength to his frame, velocity to his fastball and spin to his offspeed pitches as he ascended the ranks.By the time Blake sent his text, though, Bieber had become part of a growing, more troubling demographic: talented young pitchers…

The deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers at the hands of Israeli troops was “unforgivable,” the organization’s founder, José Andrés, said on Sunday, assailing Israel for waging what now seems to be “a war against humanity itself.”In an emotional interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Andrés reiterated his calls for an independent investigation into the April 1 airstrikes on his organization’s aid convoy in the Gaza Strip. The deaths drew global condemnation and prompted President Biden to suggest for the first time that he could change policy toward Israel if it does not alter course in its war…

Insurance companies have long blamed private-equity-owned hospitals and physician groups for exorbitant billing that drives up health care costs. But a tool backed by private equity is helping insurers make billions of dollars and shift costs to patients.The tool, Data iSight, is the premier offering of a cost-containment firm called MultiPlan that has attracted round after round of private equity investment since positioning itself as a central player in the lucrative medical payments field. Today Hellman & Friedman, the California-based private equity giant, and the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund are among the firm’s largest investors.The evolution of Data…

AUSTIN, Texas — There was a moment on a recent random Wednesday, as the world champion sprinter and Olympic medalist Gabrielle Thomas juggled emails about a meeting she had to run at a volunteer health clinic and readied for a voiceover for a commercial with a blue-chip sponsor and figured out the logistics of an upcoming weight-training session, when she had something of an epiphany.“I really did not perceive my life being the way it is now,” she said, looking up from her phone as she sipped a coffee at a cafe.She’s not kidding.Pretty much everything Thomas has accomplished in…

Lynne Reid Banks, a versatile British author who began her writing career with the best-selling feminist novel “The L-Shaped Room” but found her biggest success with the popular children’s book “The Indian in the Cupboard,” died on Thursday in Surrey, England. She was 94.Her death, at a care facility, was caused by cancer, said James Wills, her literary agent.Ms. Banks was part of a generation of writers, including Shelagh Delaney and Margaret Drabble, that emerged in postwar Britain and whose books explored the struggles of young women seeking personal and financial independence, in sharp contrast to the contemporaneous “angry young…

Bird flu outbreaks among dairy cows in multiple states, and at least one infection in farmworker in Texas, have incited fears that the virus may be the next infectious threat to people.The influenza virus, called H5N1, is highly pathogenic, meaning it has the ability to cause severe disease and death. But while its spread among cows was unexpected, people can catch the virus only from close contact with infected animals, not from one another, federal officials said.“It’s really about folks who are in environments where they may be interacting with cattle that are infected with this virus,” said Dr. Demetre…

NBA players have always gotten an earful from fans, whether at home or on the road. It comes with the job.But this season, it’s getting darker.The recent surge in legalized gambling in every pro league, and throughout college athletics, has impacted American sports in ways thought unimaginable just a few years ago. But along with the potential good that hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenues bring to the NBA and other leagues, something new and ominous has arrived: verbal abuse directed at players and coaches based solely on fans’ wagers.GO DEEPERTrotter: With legalized betting, could society be the…