J.K. Rowling Launches ‘Harry Potter At Home’ Online Hub For Kids, Teachers & Fans

J.K. Rowling has launched an online Harry Potter hub for kids, families and fans to tap into during the coronavirus lockdown.

According to the site, the hub will include “special contributions from Bloomsbury and Scholastic, nifty magical craft videos (teach your friends how to draw a Niffler!), fun articles, quizzes, puzzles and plenty more for first-time readers, as well as those already familiar with the wizarding world. We’re casting a Banishing Charm on boredom!”

Rowling said on Twitter today, “Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch harrypotterathome.com.”

Stock Alert: PPL Slides

PPL Corp. (PPL) shares are declining in the morning trading as the markets are trading on a negative note. Currently, PPL shares are at $23.39, down 5.27 percent from the previous close of $24.68.

Stocks of the Allentown, Pennsylvania based energy company have been trading lower since the last week of January.

Lamb Weston Q3 Profit Misses Estimates; Withdraws 2020 Outlook – Quick Facts

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.77, excluding the loss related to the withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan by Lamb Weston RDO, down 19% from prior year. On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.93, for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Third-quarter net sales improved 1% year-on-year to $937.3 million. Analysts expected revenue of $959.19 million for the quarter.

Lamb Weston Holdings has withdrawn its financial outlook for fiscal 2020 for net sales growth and for adjusted EBITDA including unconsolidated joint ventures due to uncertainties from COVID-19.

Quebec to restrict access to additional regions amid coronavirus pandemic

The Quebec government will begin restricting access to four additional regions in the province in a bid to to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

COVID-19: Almost half of Lebanon now lives below poverty line

Lebanon’s cabinet has approved financial aid for low-income families as pandemic deepens what was already the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Lebanon’s cabinet has approved financial aid for low-income families and those who have lost their jobs.

But the coronavirus pandemic is deepening what was already the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

About 33 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in September.

Now almost half of Lebanon has fallen below that line.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr has more from Beirut.

Fox And Comcast In Long-Term Distribution Deal

Fox and Comcast Wednesday announced a long-term renewal of their distribution agreement for Fox’s full portfolio of channels, including retransmission consent for the Fox Television Stations to Xfinity customers.

Michael Biard, President of Operations and Distribution for FOX commented, “We are pleased to extend our longstanding and productive partnership with Comcast so that millions of Xfinity customers will continue to enjoy FOX’s leading sports, entertainment and news programming for years to come.”

Rebecca Heap, Senior Vice President of Video and Entertainment for Comcast Cable said, “We are pleased to have reached this multi-year agreement with FOX to continue to deliver its array of content across our platforms for Xfinity TV customers.”

The renewal covers distribution of the FOX Television Stations, FOX News Channel, FOX Business, FS1, FS2, BTN, and FOX Deportes.  In addition, the agreement includes video-on-demand and TV Everywhere rights for those networks, enabling Xfinity customers to watch a wide array of FOX programming, live and on-demand, through the Xfinity Stream, FOX NOW, FOX Sports and FOX News apps with state-of-the-art dynamic advertising.

U.S. Manufacturing Activity Shows Modest Contraction In March

With the coronavirus outbreak weighing on demand, the Institute for Supply Management released a report on Wednesday showing a contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of March.

The ISM said its purchasing managers index dipped to 49.1 in March after edging down to 50.1 in February. While a reading below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity, economists had expected the index to show a steeper drop to 45.0.

The modest decrease by the headline index came as the new orders index tumbled to 42.2 in March from 49.8 in February, hitting its lowest level since March of 2009.

The production index also fell to 47.7 in March from 50.3 in February, while the employment index slid to 43.8 from 46.9 in the previous month.

The report also said the prices index plunged to 37.4 in March from 45.9 in February, indicating the fastest decrease in prices since January of 2016.

“Comments from the panel were negative regarding the near-term outlook, with sentiment clearly impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and energy market volatility,” said Timothy Fiore, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

On Friday, the ISM is scheduled to release a separate report on activity in the U.S. service sector in the month of March.

The non-manufacturing index is expected to tumble to 44.0 in March after climbing to 57.3 in February, with a reading below 50 indicating a contraction in service sector activity.

Dean & DeLuca files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Dean & DeLuca, a pioneer fine-foods retailing in New York City for decades, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed the 43-year-old grocer over the edge, according to court documents, but it hopes to sell its brand name — known for such luxury items as $165 tins of Siberian caviar — for $50 million.

Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca opened the first store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood in 1977.

But in recent years it changed hands several times — most recently bought in 2014 for $140 million by Thailand-based real estate company Pace Development — and the chain has struggled against lower-priced competitors.

There were 42 stores worldwide when Pace bought the chain.

By mid-2019, Dean & DeLuca had run out of cash and Pace was not able to offer additional loans to fund continuing losses. The company shuttered all of its owned retail outlets and closed off its e-commerce web site.

There are still a handful of franchise outlets that owe about $1.5 million in royalty fees, according to the filing.

But its assets don’t come close to covering Dean & DeLuca’s massive debts.

The company has accumulated $100 million in operating losses and owes $700,000 to vendors. The grocer owes approximately $275,000,000 to its lenders, landlords, vendors, and other creditors, according to the filing.

Dean & DeLuca has one remaining employee — based in New York City, according to court documents.