Weinstein's Tentative Settlement

Harvey Weinstein and his former associates have reached a tentative agreement with insurers and accusers to settle all but two of the civil cases pending against him. About $25 million of the $47 million overall settlement will compensate women who have accused the Hollywood producer of sexual misconduct.

Israel’s Elections

Israeli lawmakers missed yesterday’s deadline to find a consensus candidate to form a government, triggering an unprecedented third election in the past year. The delay means Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was indicted on corruption charges last month, will remain in power at least until the March election.

UK’s General Election

A general election takes place in the United Kingdom today, the country’s third in the past five years. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the snap election in the hopes that his Conservative Party could win a majority in Parliament and push through a Brexit deal that the governing branch had voted to delay back in October.

Debut Review

Saudi Aramco enjoyed a successful debut on the kingdom’s Riyadh stock market, as share prices increased 10 percent above their IPO price (the maximum permitted) on their first day of trading Wednesday. The price increase places the oil giant’s market value at about $1.88 trillion, inching closer to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s long-sought-after $2 trillion valuation.

Let’s Make A Deal

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced yesterday that 71 percent of its 47,200 members at Fiat Chrysler (FCA) voted in favor of a four-year deal with the automotive manufacturer. FCA is the last of the Big Three U.S. automotive companies to strike a deal with the union, and is currently involved in a $50 billion merger with PSA to create the fourth-largest automaker in the world.

The Happiest Place on Earth

A report by research firm Apptopia found that Disney+ has been downloaded 22 million times on mobile devices since its Nov. 12 debut in Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands. According to the report, users in the U.S. spent approximately 200 million hours on the Disney+ app over the four weeks following its launch, compared to about 1 billion hours spent by users of industry leader Netflix over that same time.

State of Rates

In its final policy meeting of the year, the U.S. Federal Reserve yesterday unanimously voted to keep interest rates steady and released projections indicating that a change was unlikely to come in the next year. The projections reveal that 13 of 17 Fed policymakers foresee no interest rate changes until at least 2021.

Stocking Stuffer

It’s the time of year when offices nationwide are holding holiday parties to celebrate employees’ hard work with rewards of cookies, Secret Santa gifts, or cocktails. But one company’s employees received life-changing gift bonuses at their holiday party, inducing reactions of disbelief, gratitude, and tears of joy.

It all began when the founder and chairman of real estate company St. John Properties, Edward St. John, decided to split 10 million dollars worth of profits with his 198 workers as a token of gratitude for a job well done. The company had just reached a big milestone - developing 20 million square feet of real estate across 8 states - and Edward said he wanted to celebrate the achievement by making a significant impact on the lives of each of his 198 employees.

After learning of their surprise windfall, which will be paid in addition to the company’s annual year-end bonus, employees cried, hugged, and made plans to pay off mortgages and take dream vacations. Edward St. John’s decision to reinvest in his employees helped spread holiday cheer and made this season one to remember for hundreds of families.

The Gift of Life

As covered in the DONUT’s recent Dose of Random, this story is about the difference that people can make when set their minds to solving problems that change lives.

Water is a life-sustaining resource that many take for granted, but for a small Kenyan village, it was dangerously scarce - until now. The town of Kiunga was suffering from extreme drought, forcing residents to drink unclean water that led to illness and death for many in the village.

International nonprofit organization GivePower was committed to help, and recently launched a solar-powered desalination plant that provides clean drinking water for more than 35,000 people each day. Thanks to GivePower, the people of Kiunga can now wash, cook, and clean using water without fear, giving new life to a community that has seen so much suffering.

The desalination plant is just the most recent project launched by GivePower, who in other efforts has brought renewable energy to over 2,500 schools in 17 countries, enriching the lives of more than 300,000 people. Education, water, and energy are essential ingredients for a healthy life, and this organization is finding a way to provide them, one village at a time.