Latest news with #MBS
Business Wire
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
TWO Announces Second Quarter 2025 Common and Preferred Stock Dividends
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- TWO (Two Harbors Investment Corp, NYSE: TWO), an MSR-focused REIT, today declared a dividend of $0.39 per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2025. The second quarter dividend is payable on July 29, 2025 to common stockholders of record at the close of business on July 3, 2025. The common stock dividend is a function of several factors, including sustainability, earnings and return potential of the portfolio, taxable income, impact to book value and the market environment. "We remain tremendously excited about the opportunities available for mortgage companies like TWO, and our paired strategy of MSR and MBS specifically." Share 'The 13% reduction in the dividend this quarter is consistent with the reduction in our book value resulting from the contingency accrual of $198.9 million that we have deemed probable and estimable in connection with the ongoing litigation related to our internalization in 2020. The reduced dividend reflects our projected static returns in future quarters as we adjust our portfolio in light of this accrual,' stated Bill Greenberg, TWO's President and Chief Executive Officer. 'While this litigation remains ongoing and involves claims unrelated to the accrual that are not yet probable or estimable, we think lowering the dividend on a pro rata basis at this time is a prudent action and positions us to take advantage of future market opportunities. Most importantly, this dividend reduction does not reflect our positive momentum, and we remain tremendously excited about the opportunities available for mortgage companies like TWO, and our paired strategy of MSR and MBS specifically.' TWO also declared today the following preferred stock dividends for the second quarter of 2025: (1) The Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock accrue dividends at a floating rate, as determined on each dividend determination date, equal to the Three-Month CME Term SOFR plus 0.26161% plus 5.011%. The Series A, Series B and Series C preferred dividends are payable on July 28, 2025 to the applicable preferred stockholders of record at the close of business on July 11, 2025. About TWO TWO (Two Harbors Investment Corp., NYSE: TWO), a Maryland corporation, is a real estate investment trust that invests in mortgage servicing rights, residential mortgage-backed securities and other financial assets. TWO is headquartered in St. Louis Park, MN. Additional Information Stockholders of TWO and other interested persons may find additional information regarding the company at at the Securities and Exchange Commission's internet site at or by directing requests to: TWO, 1601 Utica Avenue South, Suite 900, St. Louis Park, MN 55416, (612) 453-4100.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Witch Watch episode 12 release date: When and where to watch the popular anime online
Witch Watch snippet | Credit: X Witch Watch episode 12 release date: The whimsical adventures of Witch Watch keep anime fans hooked with its delightful blend of humor, magic, and emotion. With each episode revealing fresh twists and deepening character arcs, excitement is high for the upcoming Episode 12. If you've been following the magical tale so far, here's all the information you need to stream the newest episode. Witch Watch episode 12 release date Witch Watch episode 12 is scheduled to release on Sunday, June 22, 2025, at 5 PM JST. Viewers in other regions can also stream the episode on the same day, with the only variation being the release time according to their local time zones. Japanese Standard Time (JST) – 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) – 4:00 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST) – 1:00 AM British Summer Time (BST) – 9:00 AM Central European Summer Time (CEST) – 10:00 AM Australian Central Time (ACT) – 5:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) – 1:00 PM Philippine Standard Time (PST) – 4:00 PM Where to watch Witch Watch? In Japan, fans can catch the anime on TV networks such as MBS and TBS, or stream it via local platforms like ABEMA, Nico Nico, TVer, and MBS Video. For international viewers, the series is available for streaming worldwide on Crunchyroll. What is Witch Watch about? Witch Watch is a fantasy rom-com anime based on the popular manga by Kenta Shinohara. It follows the lively witch-in-training Nico Wakatsuki, who starts living with her childhood friend Morihito Otogi, a reserved ogre assigned to be her familiar. The show combines whimsical magical blunders with budding romance and a hint of looming peril. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, as well as celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. First Published: Jun 18, 2025, 16:28 IST Iraa Paul writes for Indiatimes Entertainment section - She has equal passion for hot coffee and hot OTT content. She is a pro at suggesting movies and series to watch on the weekend or when you are having a bad day.
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Marina Bay Sands deploys autonomous robots for back-of-house deliveries
[SINGAPORE] Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has introduced 12 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to handle back-of-house deliveries across its hotel and the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, making it the first deployment of such robots in Singapore's hospitality sector. Commonly used in industrial supply chains, the robots are now operating around the clock at the integrated resort (IR). Each robot can carry up to 300 kg and travel at a speed of up to 84 metres per minute. The robots operate on nearly 20 pre-programmed routes and are equipped with laser scanners to detect and navigate their way around obstacles. The shift towards automation followed a 35 per cent increase in delivery volumes between 2019 and 2023, with over 200 manual deliveries made daily across 80 routes. A team member controls the AMRs via an app to assign tasks, monitor movements and troubleshoot issues. PHOTO: MARINA BAY SANDS The AMRs are programmed to enter lifts and disembark at specific floors. PHOTO: MARINA BAY SANDS MBS began rolling out the first batch of four robots in March 2024 for hotel deliveries. Another eight were added in September that year to serve both the hotel and the convention centre, and an additional five are scheduled to launch in the second half of 2025. Since implementation, the robots have reduced labour dependency by up to 30 per cent. Staff from procurement and supply chain teams have been reassigned to inventory management and AMR operations. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Shijith Prathapan, MBS' vice-president of procurement and supply chain, said that effective workforce planning is key to managing a large-scale IR. 'As we continue to invest in Singapore, we will pursue even more innovative tools to elevate workplace processes together with our suppliers, who have been instrumental in enhancing our productivity,' he added. MBS has automated over 200 work processes across its operations, including uniform management and food waste handling. The resort's wardrobe system manages over 200,000 staff uniforms on 18 conveyors operating continuously. In 2024, MBS upgraded its tracking system by replacing high-frequency chips with ultra-high-frequency ones. The change allows for faster stocktaking. By pushing a trolley of uniforms into a device known as the 'U-Door,' staff can now count up to 400 items in just 30 seconds – a task that was previously done manually. MBS also completed a two-year pilot of WasteMaster last year, a system that converts food waste into fish feed for a local aquaponics farm. Waste from the fish is then broken down by bacteria into nitrates, which are used to fertilise vegetables. The produce is sold in selected supermarkets and restaurants. This technology continues to be used in 2025. Meridith Beaujean, the IR's executive director of sustainability said: 'Through various technologies and best practices, we diverted 65 per cent of our food waste in 2024, and hope to achieve 100 per cent by end-2025.'
Spectator
6 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Saudi Arabia's soft power art attack
From roughly the 1970s to the mid-2010s, Saudi Arabia was the stuff of nightmares, referred to now, with understatement, as 'the dark period'. Governed by the austere, brutal credo of the cleric Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, an 18th century Quran literalist who divided the world into true Muslims (Salafis/Wahhabis) and their mortal enemies, Saudi life was ruled by fear of the omnipresent religious police. Executions were commonplace, TV was banned, women were essentially locked up, and most foreigners and outward travel were blocked. Wahhabiism has been softened a great deal since then. Since 2017, when the frenetic moderniser Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) became Crown Prince, a thousand laws have been dropped, and suddenly women, while still second-class citizens, no longer have to cover up or ask a male guardian's permission to leave home. They can also drive and own property (after they turn 21). Many are hoovering up education and plum jobs. It is hard to demur in the face of all this money and activity. But should we? Human rights abuses persist in the theocratic monarchy, with show trials, detentions, executions and dodgy treatment of foreign workers. There is no free press or protest culture. The righteous pursuit of consequences for the grisly 2018 state-ordered massacre of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of the regime, remains entirely blocked. But the bright, bushy-tailed of the West don't seem too bothered. Once peopled only by doleful Saudis in heavy national dress, the planes to and from Riyadh and Jeddah are full of Americans, Europeans and British travellers, mostly on business but some on holiday. MBS is throwing billions at making Saudi Arabia a plausible luxury holiday destination for Westerners and the great and good, progressive intelligentsia and right-wingers alike are keen to help. The lefty firebrand Emily Maitlis gushed about a minibreak to Saudi earlier this year, sharing how a former prime minister had prepared her for her trip by saying he had 'never seen anything quite like the Saudi growth experiment before'. Excited, she packed her 'Dries Van Noten floor-length coat and a wide silk headscarf in matching stone', plus 'wide Me+Em jeans'. She also brought an abaya, the full Islamic drapery. To survivors of the pre-MBS period, such garb might be taken as a symbol of the darkest cruelty towards women outside of Taliban-run Afghanistan. For Maitlis, it was 'a lifesaver for all those moments I want to disappear anonymously into the old city' and allowed her to walk back from the pool 'without revealing an inch of flesh, bikini dripping innocently underneath'. Saucy. The umbrella for all this fun, both in tourism and sport, is Vision 2030, a master plan intended to keep the party going when the oil music dwindles. Amid all the investment in industry, sport and tourism (Neom, the desert metropolis that includes an enclosed city in a horizontal skyscraper, is costing trillions to develop), the cultural pride of Vision 2030 is the arts bit. The state has mobilised a web of bureaucracies to commission and disseminate Saudi artistic flair at home and abroad. In 2021, its Ministry of Culture claimed that the Kingdom held 100 cultural events put on by 25 cultural organisations, all organised by the Ministry of Culture. It's all a bit like 1984 meets the Guggenheim. Showpieces of this arts power drive include Riyadh's inaugural Sotheby's sale in February this year, held in the ritzy art colony of Diriyah (an attendee reported serious teething problems due to confusion about an Islamic law to do with auctioneering, which had not been troubleshooted in advance). The Diryah Biennale is in its fourth year; its launch in 2001 saw 1,000 guests, including foreign press and art market stars, crowd the spanking new Diryah Biennale Foundation. Art Week in Riyadh has just concluded, with 45 galleries, private and state collections, while Desert X AlUla, the latter an oasis and ancient trade centre, launched in 2020, with the latest edition of its open-air exhibit titled (somewhat ominously) 'Presence of Absence'. Abroad, Saudi art, previously a non-entity, is muscling in. The Smithsonian recently announced a partnership with Saudi Arabia to preserve the Kingdom's ancient city of Dadan; following Trump's visit, Saudi is gifting the Smithsonian a pair of rare leopards. Saudi design is, for the first time, now on show at the London Design Biennale at Somerset House (until 29 June) and Saudi craft is on show at Selfridges. The kingdom has become a regular at the Venice Biennale. Last year saw a major exhibition at Sotheby's covering the last 50 years of art in Saudi Arabia, and a Christie's London exhibition by Saudi artist Ahmed Mater. And so on. What's in it for us? Loadsamoney. But not for free. Saudi money is copiously funding the arts in Paris; a €50 million (£42 million) towards the renovation of the Centre Pompidou accompanies nine new deals that trade French cultural expertise for cash. Starmer is keen to play too; Historic England will offer its expertise to the Saudis, and Britain will push holidays in AlUla, in return for hefty investment here. There is plenty of private Saudi money in the mix, including the Jameel family's Art Jameel foundation, the Saudi Aramco-sponsored King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture and the Saudi Arts Council. A long-established vector of Anglo-Saudi warmth takes the form of Edge of Arabia (EOA), the brainchild of 'social entrepreneur' Stephen Stapleton and two Saudi artists, Mater and Abdulnasser Gharem, who met in 2003. EOA's first London exhibition took place in 2008 in service of 'encourag[ing] grassroots cultural dialogue in Saudi Arabia and between Saudi Arabia and the Western world'. It is hard to demur in the face of all this money and activity. But should we? Is it our problem if the freedom of expression of those funded by the kingdom is still limited by conservative Islam? In taking MBS's money, how far and in what ways do we compromise our ethics? The answer is mixed. In tourism and sport, perhaps, it might be a case of bowing to what is on offer and looking the other way. Art is different, mainly because, unlike the other Gulf states, there does appear to be a sincere and embedded tradition. 'Saudi has the fundamental building blocks for a vibrant cultural scene,' says Princess Alia Al-Senussi, an Ivy League-educated descendant of Libyan royalty, art advisor and co-author of a nifty handbook called Art in Saudi Arabia. Young artists feel fundamentally Saudi, which is different to many of its neighbours. There is a great sense of pride. It's a vast country [producing diverse art]. What there wasn't before is the multiplication of government projects and agencies that are involving themselves in culture. She says Saudi artists forced to work elsewhere during the 'dark period' are mostly thrilled to be back, and are, including the likes of women's rights advocate Menal AlDowayan, who represented the kingdom at last year's Venice Biennale, 'deeply patriotic'. Al-Senussi spoke to me on Zoom (WhatsApp is banned) from an Uber and then the forecourt of the Radisson in Riyadh. She was principally concerned not about artistic freedom but that artists over-commissioned for big government projects might not have time to experiment or 'make mistakes… Every artist needs to be careful with the trajectory of their career – and learn how to say no,' she added. Easier said than done, perhaps. Before MBS, Saudi's artistic tradition seemed to thrive both in spite of and because of the repressive regime. Sir John Jenkins, British ambassador to Saudi Arabia between 2012 and 2015, told me: Even in small towns in boondocks, you'd find little photographic exhibitions, a lot of them featured women. As to the question of whether any of it is any good, what I've seen has been pretty derivative, but then I think most western art is pretty crap. 'When I think of Saudi Arabia, I think of the Tudor court, that sort of mixture of high aspiration and brute force,' he says. 'We talk about soft power. Soft power is marvellous. But soft power comes with hard power.' There is no doubting anymore that Saudi is exporting both.
Business Upturn
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Rent-a-Girlfriend season 4: Everything we know so far
Fans of the romantic comedy anime Rent-a-Girlfriend (Kanojo, Okarishimasu) are eagerly awaiting the fourth season of this beloved series. With its mix of heartfelt moments, comedic mishaps, and complex relationships, the show has captured the hearts of viewers worldwide. Season 4 promises to dive into one of the manga's most iconic arcs, bringing more drama and romance to the screen. Here's everything we know about Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 4 so far. Release Date Advertisement Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 4 is set to premiere on July 4, 2025, airing on the Animeism programming block on MBS, TBS, and 26 other affiliates. The season will be split into two cours (approximately 24–25 episodes), with a break between them. While the first cour will run from July to September 2025, the second cour is expected to air starting in January 2026, though an exact date for the second half has not been confirmed. Plot: The Hawaii Trip Arc Season 4 will adapt the Hawaii Trip Arc (also known as the Paradise Arc), one of the manga's most anticipated and controversial storylines. This arc, starting from Chapter 168 and likely covering up to Volume 30 or 31, follows Kazuya Kinoshita, Chizuru Ichinose, and their friends on a group vacation at Spa Resort Hawaiians, organized by Kazuya's grandmother, Nagomi Kinoshita. The trip aims to strengthen bonds among the group, which includes Kazuya, Chizuru, Mami, Ruka, Sumi, and Mini, along with Kazuya's friends and family. Expect heightened drama as Kazuya and Chizuru struggle to maintain their pretend relationship under the scrutiny of those around them. Mami, Kazuya's ex-girlfriend, intensifies her efforts to uncover the truth, leading to some of the series' most memorable and divisive moments. While the arc is praised for its character development and emotional depth, some fans have criticized its slower pacing. However, the anime's adaptation may adjust the pacing to keep viewers engaged. The Hawaii Trip Arc promises a mix of comedy, romance, and tension, with iconic manga panels brought to life. Returning Cast and Characters The main cast from previous seasons is returning to reprise their roles, ensuring continuity in the characters' voices and performances. The confirmed voice actors include: Shun Horie as Kazuya Kinoshita Sora Amamiya as Chizuru Ichinose Aoi Yuki as Mami Nanami Nao Toyama as Ruka Sarashina Yu Serizawa as Mini Yaemori Rie Takahashi as Sumi Sakurasawa These characters will navigate the complexities of the Hawaii Trip Arc, with new interactions and potential character growth teased in promotional visuals. No new characters have been officially announced, but the arc may introduce additional figures from the manga.
