Image of the week: Exposed world
In the months before wildfires destroyed more than 10,000 buildings and entire communities in Los Angeles, thousands of homeowners in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other fire-prone areas were told by their insurance company that their home insurance policies would not be renewed when they expired.
The retreat by several insurers, which included a move by State Farm General, California’s largest home insurer, not to renew 30,000 policies, meant many homeowners found that the only option was to pay higher premiums to obtain limited cover from the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, the State’s now highly exposed insurer of last resort. Others were forced by soaring premiums to go “bare”, meaning they had no cover at all.
Before the fires, California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara had been accused by consumer representatives of not doing enough to keep cover available and premiums down. In the wake of them, he issued a moratorium barring insurers from cancelling or not renewing policies in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fire zones.
But it might too late. This crisis underlines one age-old principle of the industry: you cannot insure against a certainty. If climate change has turned what was an insurable risk into an uninsurable one, the likelihood is that “going bare” will become the norm, and not just in Los Angeles.
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In numbers: Meta’s ‘intense’ 2025
72,000
Number of people employed by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, as of last September. Alas, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has now announced a plan to speed up “non-regrettable attrition”, cutting about 5 per cent of jobs.
3,600
Employees who will be affected by his push to “raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster”, he told staff in a note in which he also flagged it would be “an intense year” for Meta. It sure is so far.
$210 billion
Zuckerberg’s net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This puts him behind only Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos – two guys he can expect to run into on an intense Monday as they enjoy ringside seats at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Getting to know: Starbucks’ code of conduct
Cafe etiquette is, it turns out, not universal. Not everywhere implements a policy of obliging customers to buy a token americano before they silently spend a whole day using the facilities, only looking up from their laptops to frown at people who still think cafes are for actual conversations with people. Starbucks, it turns out, has not required any purchase at all for the past six years. But from January 27th, its cafes in North America will operate a new Coffeehouse Code of Conduct that states “cafes, patios and restrooms” are for customers only and that there should be no “misuse or disruption” of its spaces, no harassment, no “panhandling” and no consuming “outside alcohol”.
The good news for paying cafe users here is that the code of conduct presumably means shorter queues for the toilet. The bad news is that it might cost a little more to get those college assignments done.
The list: Presidential performers
Music artists haven’t always jumped at the chance to perform at Donald Trump-related events, but here are some of those who have signed up for next Monday’s inauguration and its associated parties.
1. Carrie Underwood: The country music singer-songwriter and past winner of American Idol will perform America the Beautiful just before Trump takes his oath of office, accompanied by the Armed Forces Choir and US Naval Academy Glee Club.
2. Christopher Macchio: The classical singer will belt out Oh, America! during the ceremony and close it with his rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.
3. Lee Greenwood: Another favourite of Trump’s, country singer Lee Greenwood, is also scheduled to perform, according to a programme for the event seen by Associated Press. His number God Bless the USA could be the one.
4. Kid Rock and Billy Ray Cyrus: Trump regular Kid Rock will be entertaining at one of the inauguration parties, as will Billy Ray Cyrus, despite Trump’s confusion about “liberal daughter” Miley Cyrus not being his number one fan.
5. The Village People: Frontman Victor Willis acknowledged that it “won’t make some of you happy to hear”, but the Village People will be present at various events performing the 1978 anthem adopted by Trump, forcing people to reconsider the once accepted notion that it’s fun to stay at the YMCA.
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