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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — This summer is a crucial one for Atlantic City as it tries to recover lost business during the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, and casinos and non-gambling resorts are putting millions into renovations and new attractions to compete for visitors.

Casinos and non-gambling companies are making big investments in what they hope will be a corner-turning season with customers more willing than in the previous two years to visit Atlantic City attractions amid the still-not-over pandemic.

“This is a really important summer for Atlantic City,” said Phil Juliano, senior vice president of Bally’s casino, which opened a 360-degree rotating bar and a part of an indoor-outdoor beer garden on Thursday. The projects are part of $100 million the company is investing in the property.

He said Atlantic City was showing signs of growth in early 2020, only to have those hopes dashed by the coronavirus pandemic which closed the casinos for 3 1/2 months in March, and led to operating restrictions for more than a year afterward.

“This is an interesting summer: You have inflation, you still have COVID and high gas prices, but you also have pent-up demand,” Juliano said. “People are coming out again, and we need that.”

The Atlantic City casino industry is vital to southern New Jersey’s economy, said Christina Renna, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey.

“As we continue to rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry’s growth and prosperity is more important than ever before,” she said.

Atlantic City enters the summer amid some encouraging signs — and some concerning weaknesses. The casinos’ collective revenue and profitability are up this year, but not all the casinos have surpassed the levels they were operating at in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

On Saturday, the Showboat hotel, the former casino, will open its $1.5 million indoor go-kart track, even as it works to build a $100 million year-round indoor water park, private financing for which was secured on Thursday, owner Bart Blatstein said.

He said his go-kart course is “another non-gambling amenity in a market where only 8% of visitors are families. It’s a way to bring in a new market.”

Resorts is working on a multi-million dollar renovation of its rooftop outdoor pool, including a retractable roof and party areas that should be ready in late June. On Friday, Resorts will open Coral Lounge, a new under-the-sea-themed pop-up bar.

The Ocean Casino Resort is in the midst of $85 million worth of projects, including the completion of over 460 hotel rooms and suites; a new sportsbook and lounge, and multiple new food and beverage outlets. It also will offer bicycle rentals outside its main entrance this summer.

Hard Rock will spend $20 million this year on renovations including adding 70 slot machines and seven more table games; renovating its convention space, beach bar and employee areas.

Caesars casino will start work this year on a new theater and resident show due to open in the first quarter of 2023. The project will incorporate the facade of the former Warner Theatre from 1929, which is currently part of the casino’s exterior facing the Boardwalk.

Also planned for Caesars in 2022 is a new restaurant, opened by a hospitality company involving actor Robert De Niro that also will renovate hotel rooms there. Caesars Entertainment is partnering with Nobu Hospitality for a project to be called Nobu Hotel Atlantic City.

Tropicana is adding eight new food and beverage outlets this year and Harrah’s will open three casual dining outlets.

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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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TOKYO (AP) — Japan will open its borders to foreign tourists in June for the first time since imposing tight pandemic travel restrictions about two years ago, but only for package tours for now, the prime minister said Thursday.

Beginning June 10, Japan will allow the entry of people on tours with fixed schedules and guides, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.

Tourists from areas with low COVID-19 infection rates who have received three vaccine doses will be exempt from testing and quarantine after entry.

Japan this week is hosting small experimental package tours from four countries, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. That experiment, which involves only 50 people who received special visas, not tourist visas, is to end May 31.

After facing criticism that its strict border controls were xenophobic, Japan began easing its restrictions earlier this year and currently allows entry of up to 10,000 people a day, including Japanese citizens, foreign students and some business travelers.

Japan will double the cap to 20,000 a day from June 1, which will also include package tour participants, said Makoto Shimoaraiso, a Cabinet official in charge of pandemic measures.

The scale of the package tours and other details will be finalized after officials evaluate the results of the current experimental tours, he said.

It will take some time before foreign visitors can come to Japan for individual tourism, Shimoaraiso said.

Japan’s tourism industry, hit hard by the border controls, is eager for foreign tourism to resume. COVID-19 infections have slowed in Japan since earlier this year and the government is gradually expanding social and economic activity.

Kishida said during a visit to London earlier this month that he planned to ease the border controls as early as June in line with the policies of other Group of Seven industrialized countries, but gave no further details.

Foreign tourist arrivals fell more than 90% in 2020 from a record 31.9 million the year before, almost wiping out the pre-pandemic inbound tourism market of more than 4 trillion yen ($31 billion).

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Moscow pressed the West on Thursday to lift sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, seeking to shift the blame for a growing food crisis worsened by Kyiv’s inability to ship millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products because of the conflict.

Britain immediately accused Moscow of “trying to hold the world to ransom” and insisted there would be no sanctions relief.

Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the war, including a Russian blockade of its ports, has prevented much of that production from leaving the country, endangering the world food supply. Many of those ports are also now heavily mined.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tried to put the blame for the crisis squarely on Western sanctions.

“We accuse Western countries of taking a series of unlawful actions that has led to the blockade,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

Russia itself is also a significant exporter of grain, and Peskov said the West “must cancel the unlawful decisions that hamper chartering ships and exporting grain.”

His comments appeared to be an effort to deliberately muddy the waters, by lumping the blocking of Ukrainian exports in with what Russia says are its difficulties in exporting its own products.

Western officials have dismissed those claims. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted last week that food, fertilizer and seeds are exempt from sanctions imposed by the U.S. and many others — and that Washington is working to ensure countries know the flow of those goods should not be affected.

With the war grinding into its fourth month, world leaders ramped up calls for solutions this week.

“This food crisis is real, and we must find solutions,” World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

She said about 25 million tons of Ukrainian grain is presently in storage and another 25 million tons could be harvested next month.

European countries have tried to ease the crisis by bringing grain out of the country by rail — but trains can carry just a small fraction of what Ukraine produces, and ships are needed to do the bulk of the exports.

At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry proposed Wednesday to open a corridor to allow foreign ships to leave Black Sea ports and another to allow vessels to leave Mariupol on the Azov Sea.

Mikhail Mizintsev, who heads Russia’s National Defense Control Center, said 70 foreign vessels from 16 countries are now in six ports on the Black Sea, including Odesa, Kherson and Mykolaiv. He did not specify how many might be ready to carry food.

Ukraine expressed skepticism about the Russian proposal.

Speaking in Davos, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the country was ready to agree on safe corridors in principle — but that it was not sure if it could trust Russia to abide by any agreement.

The issue, he said, was “how to make sure that at night or early in the morning, Russia will not violate the agreement on the safe passage and its military vessels will not sneak into the harbor and attack Odesa.”

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “trying to hold the world to ransom” by demanding that some sanctions be lifted before allowing Ukrainian grain shipments to resume.

“He’s essentially weaponized hunger and lack of food among the poorest people around the world,” Truss said during a visit to Sarajevo.

She added: ”What we cannot have is any lifting of sanctions, any appeasement, which will simply make Putin stronger in the longer term.”

The World Food Program has pushed to get wheat out of Ukrainian ports while also making room for the harvest of grain that has recently been planted.

“It needs to be a continuous flow, it cannot be a few ships full,’’ said WFP spokesman John Dumont. “They are planting now. Where are they going to put that wheat when it is harvest time at the end of June and July? There is no place for it to go.”

On the battlefield, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said Thursday that the Russian forces continued attempts to press their offensive in several sections of the frontline Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. That industrial heartland of coal mines and factories is now the focus of fighting after Russia suffered a series of setbacks and war forced to pursue more limited goals.

Military officials said Russian forces continued their efforts to gain a foothold in the area of Sievierodonetsk, which is the only part of the Luhansk region in the Donbas under Ukrainian government control. They also said Russia also launched missile and airstrikes at infrastructure facilities across the country.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Russian bombardments killed three people in and around the eastern city of Lysychansk, which is a key focus of fighting.

Talks to end the fighting stalled long ago, but each side has continued to try to stake out a negotiating position.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Thursday it expects Ukraine will recognize the existing situation. That appeared to signal the Kremlin’s hopes that Ukraine should recognize the Russian control of southern Ukrainian cities like Kherson and Melitopol and other areas north of Crimea, which it seized in 2014, in addition to areas of the Donbas it has grabbed.

Russia has previously demanded that Ukraine recognize the Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula and acknowledge the independence of Russia-backed separatist regions in the Donbas.

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Becatoros reported from Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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By Katanga Johnson and Ross Kerber

WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday will propose rule changes aimed at stamping out unfounded claims by funds on their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) credentials, and enforcing more standardization of such disclosures.

The proposal will outline how ESG funds should be marketed and how investment advisors should disclose their reasoning when labeling a fund, according to people who have spoken to the SEC on the measures.

The proposal would also mandate that investment funds with terms such as “ESG,” “sustainable” and “low-carbon” in their names disclose the criteria and underlying data used to support the label, the people said.

While the new rules will affect all funds, their target is ESG funds which drew a record $649 billion globally through Nov. 30, up from $542 billion and $285 billion in 2020 and 2019, respectively, according to Refinitiv Lipper data.

Regulators and activists have become concerned that U.S. funds looking to cash in on the popularity of ESG investing may be misleading shareholders over their products’ underlying holdings, a practice known as “greenwashing.”

“We are hopeful that the new rule will require fund managers to follow basic naming guidelines. This will help to eliminate confusion and misleading marketing,” said Andrew Behar, president of climate activist group As You Sow, who has discussed the potential rules with the SEC.

He said market participants have to date exploited a loophole in the current rules when naming funds.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said that when it comes to sustainability-related investing, asset managers might confuse investors with conflicting names or certain terms or criteria they use.

Industry groups warn, however, that the agency’s aim to standardize ESG labels could reduce investor choice.

“We object to actions that would … substitute a regulator’s judgment about investment strategy for that of professional fiduciaries,” said Janay Rickwalder, a spokeswoman for the Investment Adviser Association, adding that her group has discussed the matter with the SEC on these themes.

(Reporting by Katanga Johnson in Washington and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang)

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PARIS (AP) — Several hundred climate protesters disrupted a TotalEnergies shareholders meeting in Paris and blocked the entrance to the gathering Wednesday to denounce the oil and gas giant’s stake in Russia despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

TotalEnergies tweeted that due to activists impeding access to the meeting, “it unfortunately won’t be possible for our shareholders to join us.” It said interested viewers could follow the meeting on the company’s website.

Protesters representing Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other environmental organizations denounced TotalEnergies for its huge presence in Russia as well as an oil pipeline project in Uganda and Tanzania that the protesters denounced as a “climate bomb.”

TotalEnergies, a subsidiary of Total, published in March its “principles of conduct” in Russia, which said the company would “gradually suspend its activities in Russia” and strictly comply with European Union sanctions “no matter what the consequences on the management of its assets in Russia.”

The statement said TotalEnergies does not operate oil or gas fields or liquified natural gas plants in Russia but has numerous stakes in various Russian companies. It said the company continues supplying Europe with liquefied natural gas from a plant in Russia’s Yamal Peninsula to honor long-term contracts “as long as Europe’s governments consider that Russian gas is necessary.”

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Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate and of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Jeep has come out with a new three-row large SUV, the Grand Wagoneer. It dusts off a nameplate not used since the early 1990s and stands as the brand’s most expensive and luxurious model. Immense power, impressive technology and a premium cabin are the highlights rather than Jeep’s typical trail-busting capabilities.

Of course, there’s another American SUV that plies these same gilded halls: the Cadillac Escalade. Since its recent redesign, the Escalade has been Edmunds’ top-ranked large luxury SUV. Can the new Grand Wagoneer beat out the Cadillac Escalade? Edmunds’ experts compare these rivals to find out.

POWER AND FUEL ECONOMY

The Grand Wagoneer offers two engine choices: the base 6.4-liter V8 engine that produces 471 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque and an optional turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder that pumps out 510 hp and 500 lb-ft. In Edmunds’ testing, the V8 was good enough to hustle the Grand Wagoneer from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.7 seconds.

That’s a full second quicker than the Escalade, which comes with a 6.2-liter V8 with 420 hp and 460 lb-ft. Cadillac doesn’t offer a more powerful engine upgrade, though there is an available turbocharged six-cylinder diesel that churns out 277 hp and 460 lb-ft.

This diesel is the fuel economy champ of the contest, earning an impressive EPA-estimated 23 mpg in combined city/highway driving. Otherwise, you’re looking at 15-17 mpg for the Grand Wagoneer or 16 mpg for the V8-powered Escalade.

The superior fuel economy of the Escalade’s available diesel engine is appealing, but buyers of big SUVs typically desire big-time power.

Winner: Grand Wagoneer

FEATURES AND VALUE

The Grand Wagoneer is expensive. The upscale SUV starts at $89,995, including destination charge. But there’s a reason for that sky-high starting price. Besides packing standard four-wheel drive, the Grand Wagoneer comes loaded with standard features such as premium leather upholstery, two large center touchscreens, a 19-speaker McIntosh audio system, an adaptive air suspension, and a full suite of advanced driver aids. Optional features are just as impressive.

The Cadillac Escalade has a much lower starting price of $77,990, though it doesn’t include any of the above features as standard equipment besides a similar audio system. Comparable features, with the exception of the dual center touchscreens, are available on higher trim levels. The starting prices of the Escalade’s highest trim levels, Premium Luxury Platinum and Sport Platinum, are only a few thousand less than the Grand Wagoneer’s highest Series III trim that offers more features.

Value is pretty even, but there’s one feature that tips the scales: Cadillac’s Super Cruise system. This is a trick hands-free driving system that can be used on many freeways to help to reduce the monotony of long drives. Jeep doesn’t currently offer a driver assist system comparable to Super Cruise.

Winner: Escalade

CARGO AND TOWING

Large SUVs are expected to offer a lot of cargo space, and the Grand Wagoneer doesn’t disappoint. Behind the third row, you’ll find 27.4 cubic feet of cargo space, and 70.9 cubic feet with the third row folded down. With the second and third rows folded, the Grand Wagoneer maxes out at 94.2 cubic feet. Its maximum towing capacity is a stout 9,850 pounds when properly equipped — enough to pull a sizable travel trailer or toy hauler.

The Cadillac Escalade posts similar cargo numbers for typical use. There are 25.5 cubes behind the third row and 72.9 cubic feet behind the second. But drop both rear rows and the Escalade can hold a superior 121 cubic feet of stuff. There’s also the longer Escalade ESV model, which is even roomier. Jeep plans to offer an extended-length Grand Wagoneer L, but it won’t be out until the 2023 model year.

The Cadillac does come up a little short on maximum towing capacity — 8,200 pounds in the right configuration — but overall it’s the more versatile hauler.

Winner: Escalade

RIDE AND COMFORT

The latest Cadillac Escalade does an excellent job ironing out bumps and keeping the ride comfortable over rough pavement. The Grand Wagoneer isn’t as impressive. It handles smaller bumps well, but larger ones and uneven pavement can create some uncomfortable body motions that could jostle passengers.

But Jeep claws back into contention in regards to seating. All three rows provide luxurious seating, and the front seats come standard with heating, ventilation and massage functions. The Escalade’s front seats are pretty nice, but rear passengers aren’t treated to the same levels of comfort as they are in the Grand Wagoneer.

Winner: Tie

Edmunds Says: Both models are impressive luxury SUVs, and picking one or the other isn’t an easy choice. But overall we think the Escalade is the better buy considering its more flexible pricing, greater cargo capacity and exclusive hands-free driving system.

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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Michael Cantu is a contributor at Edmunds. Follow Michael on Instagram.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki has officially landed at MSNBC, where she is expected to make appearances on the network’s cable and streaming programs as well as host a new original show.

The program, set to debut in the first quarter of 2023, will “bring together her unique perspective from behind the podium and her deep experience in the highest levels of government and presidential politics,” the network said in a statement Tuesday.

Psaki will also appear on NBC and during MSNBC’s primetime special election programming throughout the midterms and 2024 presidential election.

Psaki most recently served as White House spokesperson for the first 16 months of the Biden administration. She previously served as White House communications director under former President Barack Obama and as the spokeswoman for the Department of State.

“Her extensive experience in government and on the campaign trail and perspective as a White House and Washington insider is the type of analysis that sets MSNBC apart,” MSNBC President Rashida Jones said in a statement. “She’s a familiar face and trusted authority to MSNBC viewers, and we look forward to her insight during this consequential election season.”

At MSNBC, on-air personalities are mostly sympathetic to Biden and the Democrats. During Psaki’s White House tenure, Democrats saw her as a champion of their causes, while conservatives found her combative and standoffish.

MSNBC has also hired Symone Sanders, former chief spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris. NBC News has taken pains to draw distinctions between its journalists and MSNBC, which has beefed up its opinion programming.

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators are set to approve without conditions U.S. business software maker Oracle Corp’s $28.3 billion acquisition of U.S. healthcare IT company Cerner Corp, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Oracle announced the deal, its biggest ever, in December last year which will give it access to a trove of data and could attract more healthcare clients to its cloud platform.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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By Tim Hepher, David Shepardson and Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) -Jet engine maker CFM International is facing industrial delays of six to eight weeks in the wake of supply-chain problems and some French labour unrest, but expects to claw most of this back by early in the fourth quarter, three people familiar with the matter said.

Co-owned by General Electric Co and France’s Safran, CFM is the largest jet engine maker by units sold, and powers three out of four recently developed narrowbody jetliners including all Boeing 737 MAX and about half of Airbus’ A320neo family.

Some Airbus customers have been warned deliveries of aircraft, already partially delayed by European factory congestion, could be pushed back further as a result of the CFM engine delays, said the people, who asked not to be named.

Two of the people said there had also been delays in sending engines to Boeing though there were no signs yet that this was affecting airplane deliveries. Boeing is building at a slower rate as it clears jets stored during a safety crisis.

“We are working diligently with our suppliers to mitigate supply-chain constraints, and we are closely coordinating with our air frame partners to accelerate delivery and meet customer demand,” a CFM spokesperson said in answer to a Reuters query.

An Airbus spokesman said it had nothing to add to recent supply-chain comments given with its quarterly results.

Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury told analysts on May 4 that he saw “a lot of challenges” in the supply chain in the short term, but felt comfortable enough on the medium- to long-term outlook to press ahead with planned output increases.

A Boeing spokesperson declined comment.

Two of the people said the CFM delays were mainly linked to supplier bottlenecks, but had been aggravated by recent industrial action in France. A third source said the recent Safran labour dispute was not the decisive factor, however.

Aerospace workers at Safran, a major supplier of other equipment including interiors and landing gear as well as the French pillar of the transatlantic CFM venture with GE, have held slowdowns or lightning stoppages over pay in recent months.

The French group awarded staff a 3% increase late last year as the industry began emerging from the COVID-19 crisis but unions say this is not enough to counter a spike in inflation. Safran has on average agreed to add a further 1%, they add.

CFM is not alone in wrestling with fractured supply chains. Aerospace companies worldwide have been counting the cost of supply-chain shortages. At the first-quarter results stage, GE said it was navigating supply-chain pressures, while Safran said supply chains and inflation were “two major watch items.”

Boeing said on May 11 that 737 production had been slowed by shortages of a single type of wiring connector.

Raytheon Technologies, whose Pratt & Whitney engines compete with CFM on the Airbus A320neo, said on April 26 it was facing supply-chain constraints across its business.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, David Shepardson in Washington and Eric M. Johnson in SeattleEditing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)

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By Doyinsola Oladipo

(Reuters) -A small group of Activision Blizzard workers voted for unionizing at a studio that works on the popular “Call of Duty” franchise, the second victory in a push to organize the video gaming industry.

Employees in the quality assurance department at Raven Software in Middleton, Wisconsin, voted 19-3 for joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA), according to a tally by U.S. National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) officials on Monday.

The union must still bargain and reach a deal on a contract with Activision. The vote will not have to be re-certified if Microsoft succeeds in its plan to acquire Activision, according to the CWA.

“We respect and believe in the right of all employees to decide whether or not to support or vote for a union. We believe that an important decision that will impact the entire Raven Software studio of roughly 350 people should not be made by 19 Raven employees,” Activision said in a statement following the vote.

Wisconsin is a right-to-work state, meaning any worker can choose not to be a union member.

Employees are speaking up at Activision following multiple accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct. They have walked out in protest of the company response to the allegations and layoffs of quality assurance testers. Employees have circulated a petition calling for the removal of Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick.

In the broader market, workers are also becoming more vocal and active about better pay and working conditions.

“Employees in this sector tend to be overworked and underpaid and treated as disposable, which probably goes against the public image that people have of tech workers,” said John Logan, a professor of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University adding that many feel the only way to gain respect is by unionizing.

In December, Vodeo became the first video game studio in North America with workers to secure union representation.

Employees at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, recently voted to unionize and workers at an Apple store in Atlanta filed a petition for a union election.

Workers at more than 58 U.S. Starbucks cafes have elected to join Workers United, while at least four stores voted against the union, out of more than roughly 262 that have sought to hold elections since last August.

“There’s certainly a huge amount of energy and optimism, particularly amongst young workers at the moment,” Logan said.

In Wisconsin, the organizers called for a healthier work environment with realistic development timelines, appropriate compensation and career development opportunities in an industry where quality assurance is undervalued, according to the organizers official Twitter account.

The number of ballots received was 24 of 28 eligible voters. There were two challenged ballots, which is not enough to change the outcome of the vote.

“Other workers in the video game industry will be excited and inspired by the success of the Raven Software workers in forming their union. We urge Activision to respect their decision and commit to bargaining a fair contract,” said CWA Communications Director Beth Allen said in a statement before the vote.

U.S. labor board judge orders union vote at Activision studioANALYSIS-Microsoft faces challenge cleaning up Activision Blizzard’s culture

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Additional reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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