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Ransomware cyberattacks have skyrocketed, and no part of the economy is safe. From infrastructure companies like Colonial Pipeline to meat producers like JBS to a huge attack linked to Russia just over the Fourth of July weekend, the attacks have escalated.

According to George Kurtz, CEO of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (CRWD), the company is seeing a massive increase in ransomware attacks. And theyre targeting everything from private businesses to government entities.

Ransomware is going crazy right now. What weve seen at CrowdStrike, is...almost 50 attacks per week, targeted attacks, Kurtz told Yahoo Finance. And its only getting worse.

The most recent high-profile attack saw IT remote management software maker Kaseya hit by a supply chain-style ransomware attack, which impacted as many as 1,500 businesses. The suspected group behind the attack, REvil, is seeking a $70 million ransom to call it off.

Whats turned ransomware from a nuisance crime that impacted everyday people via email scams to a national security-level threat? A new business model for cybercriminals, a lack of accountability on the parts of foreign governments, and plenty of money to go around.

Cybercriminal gangs like REvil (which stands for Ransomware Evil) have a business model that allows them to contract out their ransomware to smaller gangs that launch attacks.

They have an affiliate model where anybody who contributes to the successful ransomware payment gets a profit share in the ransom, explained Liam O Murchu, director of Symantecs (AVGO) Security Response Group.

They've got a lot of people in the cybercriminal underground, who want to help and want to participate in these attacks, and basically sucked the air out of all of the other economic models that were in the underground, O Murchu said. This is the biggest game in town right now.

Cybercriminals have also taken their attacks to a new level that forces companies to respond as quickly as possible. In a normal ransomware attack, criminals target victims computer systems by encrypting them and keeping them locked down until the victims pay a ransom for the digital keys to regain access to their files.

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JBS was hit with a massive cyberattack that took its systems offline. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

More recently, however, cybercriminals have added a new threat. Now in addition to locking down victims systems, theyll exfiltrate sensitive data and threaten to release it online if the victims dont pay up quickly.

Its not just sensitive corporate information either, O Murchu explained.

Recently...a CEO of one of the companies that [cybercriminals] got into was having an affair with someone...and they leaked photographs of the person he was having the affair with, he said. They also get the phone numbers of the executives and they call them on the phone to put pressure on them.

Beyond a new business model and pressure tactics, cybercriminals are benefiting from huge wins in the amount they charge in ransom. In the instance of the Colonial Pipeline hack, the attackers got away with a $4.6 million ransom, though the U.S. recovered $2.3 million. JBS, meanwhile, paid $11 million. CNA Financial paid $40 million, and in the Kaseya attack, the hackers are seeking $70 million.

Those are massive numbers when you consider hackers were previously targeting individual consumers for hundreds or thousands of dollars. And as more companies pay exorbitant ransoms, more attacks will be launched.

Attacks have been profitable, because people have been paying ransom, NYU Tandon School of Engineering professor Justin Cappos explained. So, effectively, if no one had ever paid ransom for ransomware, there would have been an initial sort of speculative thing where people were trying to do it and then it would have faded away.

The government says companies should avoid paying ransoms, since it only invites more attacks. But theres nothing to stop private businesses from paying up.

Legislation that forbids such transactions, however, could help put a stop to the ransomware outbreak.

Let's say that [legislation] became nationwide and actually was enforced, Cappos said. Then that removes a lot of the economic incentive, because the attackers know there's a small, small chance they'll be paid, because an organization will have to find the money to do it, do it off the books, and face legal consequences if they did it.

Cryptocurrencies have also facilitated anonymous payments, with hackers demanding ransoms in the form of bitcoin or ethereum. The rise in cryptocurrency prices, despite some pullbacks as of late, has made such currencies appealing for cybercriminals who want a big payday without being tracked.

But cybercriminals can be tracked, and in the instance of gangs like REvil, they turn up in countries that either cant or refuse to deal with them, such as Russia, China, or North Korea.

Oh Friday, President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladmir Putin about the countrys inaction on ransomware gangs, and said the U.S. would respond if nothing is done.

I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil even though its not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is, Biden said.

And secondly, weve set up a means of communication now on a regular basis to be able to communicate with one another when each of us thinks something is happening in another country that affects the home country, he said.

Asked if there would be consequences to further inaction, Biden said yes.

But until countries act to slow the spread of ransomware, the attacks will continue to haunt private companies and governments around the world.

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Ransomware has surged Why the attacks are going crazy right now - Yahoo Finance

How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Apple (AAPL) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to AAPL for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Apple's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Apple's main business drivers.

Apples business primarily runs around its flagship iPhone. However, the Services portfolio that includes revenues from cloud services, App store, Apple Music, AppleCare, Apple Pay, and licensing and other services now became the cash cow.

Moreover, non-iPhone devices like Apple Watch and AirPod gained significant traction. In fact, Apple dominates the Wearables and Hearables markets due to the growing adoption of Watch and AirPods. Solid uptake of Apple Watch also helped Apple strengthen its presence in the personal health monitoring space.

Headquartered in Cupertino, CA, Apple also designs, manufactures and sells iPad, MacBook and HomePod. These devices are powered by software applications including iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS operating systems.

Apples other services include subscription-based Apple News+, Apple Card, Apple Arcade, new Apple TV app, Apple TV channels and Apple TV+, a new subscription service.

In fiscal 2020, Apple generated $274.52 billion in total revenues. The companys flagship device iPhone accounted for 50.2% of total revenues. Services, Mac, iPad and Other products category contributed 19.6%, 11.2%, 8.6% and 10.4%, respectively.

Apple primarily reports revenues on a geographic basis, namely the Americas (North & South America), Europe (European countries, India, Middle East and Africa), Greater China (China, Hong Kong & Taiwan), Japan and Rest of Asia Pacific (Australia & other Asian Countries).

In fiscal 2020, Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan and Rest of Asia-Pacific accounted for 45.4%, 25%, 14.7%, 7.8% and 7.1% of total revenues, respectively.

Apple faces stiff competition from the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Google, Huawei and Motorola in the smartphone market. Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer and Asus are its primary competitors in the PC market. Other notable competitors are Google & Amazon (smart speakers) and Fitbit & Xiaomi (wearables).

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Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio requires research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Apple ten years ago, you're likely feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in July 2011 would be worth $11,149.68, or a gain of 1,014.97%, as of July 9, 2021, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

The S&P 500 rose 221.54% and the price of gold increased 12.25% over the same time frame in comparison.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for AAPL.

Apple is benefiting from continued momentum in the Services segment, driven by App Store, Cloud Services, Music, advertising and AppleCare. Apples near-term prospects are bright, driven by new iPhones that support 5G, revamped iPad and Mac line-up of devices, healthcare-focused Apple Watch, and an expanding App Store ecosystem. Apples ability to attract small developers has been a key catalyst. Moreover, Apple devices continue to gain traction among enterprises. Apples focus on user privacy, as reflected by its latest iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8 updates, is a game changer. However, Apple refrained from providing any guidance due to uncertainties triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, increasing scrutiny and legal woes over App Store are headwinds. Shares have underperformed the S&P 500 year to date.

Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 13.58%, and there have been 1 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2021 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportApple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research

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If You Invested $1000 in Apple 10 Years Ago, This Is How Much You'd Have Now - Yahoo Finance

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia is considering revamping the kingdoms pension system to require citizens to work longer and contribute more, another hit to living standards that could undermine public support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans efforts to reshape the oil-reliant economy.

The government -- faced with an estimated actuarial gap of 800 billion riyals ($213 billion) at the state-controlled pension fund -- is weighing proposals to increase the retirement age, according to three people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified to discuss confidential deliberations. It could also require workers to contribute more of their salaries to the General Organization for Social Insurance, or GOSI, which manages both public and private sector pensions, the people said.

A final decision on the details of the changes and whether to implement them has not yet been made, the people said.

Saudi officials have warned the current system is unsustainable. Thats a quandary pension programs the world over have faced as people have lived longer. China plans to raise its retirement age gradually over the coming years as it faces a declining birthrate. In Russia, a 2018 proposal to raise the retirement age touched off protests and exposed cracks in Vladimir Putins base before eventually becoming law.

The kingdoms dilemma has a decidedly Saudi twist, though.

The average Saudi life expectancy is 75 years, and the official retirement age is around 60, including a five-year hike for women in 2019. But about a third of employees take an early retirement option after working just 20 or 25 years. That compares to an average retirement age of 64.3 years for men and 63.5 years for women in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Saudi Austerity Angst Wants to Be Heard Even If No One Listens

Any changes to the rules, however, could be controversial domestically. Prince Mohammed, the kingdoms de facto ruler, has already upended decades of expectation that the state would use its oil wealth to provide citizens with benefits like cheap gasoline and power, plentiful government jobs and university scholarships.

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As part of his plan to end the economys reliance on oil and fill a budget gap left by lower crude prices, hes remodeled the social contract in the worlds largest crude exporter by cutting subsidies, introducing taxes and criticizing a bloated public sector. Many low- and middle-income Saudis are struggling to adjust, and the coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated the pace of change by straining government finances and highlighting the urgency of economic diversification.

Two Million Saudis Lose Cash Aid When They Can Least Afford It

When asked about the proposed changes to the pension system, GOSI said the merger of the public and private sector pension and insurance funds last month will not affect the insurance entitlements of the insurance clients, the pensions for the retirement clients, or the percentages or supply of subscriptions for each fund, nor its operations or transactions.

But Nader Al Wahibi, the assistant governor at GOSI, recently argued on state television that early retirement and longer life spans were endangering the funds future. The practice of retiring workers after 20 years of service was temporarily frozen after the fund merged with the Public Pension Agency last month.

The people that are retiring early now are going to drain all of the money in the fund, Al Wahibi said. Theyre living longer, and the money isnt enough, even if we achieved astronomical investment returns. Workers now pay 9% of their salaries into the pension fund.

The Ministry of Finance and the governments Center for International Communication didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

Al Wahibis pointed remarks sparked negative reactions from some well-known Saudis -- a rare occurrence since Prince Mohammed led a crackdown thats chilled domestic criticism.

Even if we agreed that this is the truth, it shouldnt be said in this dry, tough language, novelist Mohammed Al Rotayyan said in a post on Twitter. People arent numbers in a rigid accounting process.

(Updates with details about other countries facing similar problems and additional context in fourth paragraph.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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Retirement for 45-Year-Olds May Vanish in Saudi Pension Reform - Yahoo Finance

Novak Djokovic won in straight sets, but it was three really tough sets. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Novak Djokovic is in his 30th Grand Slam final with a semifinal victory in straight sets at the All England Club on Friday, but it was far from an easy task. Djokovic was challenged throughout, edging Canadian Denis Shapovalov by the slim margins 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 to get through.

Djokovic, ranked No. 1 in the world, is going for a calendar Grand Slam having won the Australian and French Open in 2021. He's also going for a 20th major championship, which would tie him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for most all-time. The 30th final berth is the second most all-time behind Federer's 31.

"I don't think that the scoreline says enough about the performance and the match," Djokovic said in the on-court interview.

Shapovalov, the No. 10 seed, had chances to win the first set, which would have changed the entire match for the 22-year-old against one of the game's greats. Djokovic said afterward the young player should have won that first one, and was "probably the better player for most of the second set."

He struggled on break points in his first Grand Slam semifinal, allowing Djokovic to do just enough and advance. Shapovalov couldn't live up to the big moments he needed. He had 35 unforced errors while winning one of 11 break points.

"I would like to give him a big round of applause for everything hes done today, and these few weeks," Djokovic said of his opponent immediately after the win. "Were going to see a lot of him in the future, definitely. Hes a great player.

Djokovic, 34, is in his seventh Wimbledon final and enters it having won 18 consecutive sets. He forced a tiebreaker and closed the first set after Shapovalov sent a forehand wide. In the second, he broke at 5-5 and served his way out to the win. And in the third he did it again, feeling the impending victory coming on a slam to win the penultimate game.

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Matteo Berrettini of Italy had little trouble against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland to advance to the Wimbledon final. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Matteo Berrettini stormed into his first Grand Slam final behind a 6-3, 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-4 over Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals at the All England Club on Friday.

He is the first Italian man to reach the Wimbledon final and is coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open.

"I think I never dreamed about this because it was too much for a dream," Berrettini said in the on-court interview. "I'm just so happy."

Berrettini, seeded seventh, relied on his serve and forehand to lay in winners and took advantage of 11 straight game victories. Hurkacz came back in the final set to give the Italian a tough time and forced a fourth set. Berrettini used his serve to get out of it and move into his first Grand Slam final of his career.

It was Hurkacz, 24, who took control of the match early with big serves and a comeback from 0-40 in the fourth game. But then the 25-year-old Berrettini, trailing 2-3, took full control for a match and a half. He stormed through and won 11 straight games to go up 6-3, 6-0, 1-0 en route to a finals berth.

Hurkacz, who came into Wimbledon having lost six straight matches, rediscovered his serve in the third set. He drew even with the Italian at each step in the third and forced a tiebreaker. He nearly won every point in the tiebreaker and looked sharper than he had all day, eventually surviving to go another set.

Berrettini finished it off with five aces in his second-to-last service game and eventually won out in the end.

Hurkacz, the No. 14 seed, made it this far with a stunning straight-sets victory against Roger Federer. It was the first time in 19 years Federer had lost in straight sets and Hurkacz finished it off with a 6-0 set. He came into his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal having defeated the No. 2 and No. 6 seeds in the tournament draw.

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Wimbledon 2021: Novak Djokovic reaches 30th Grand Slam final, will face Matteo Berrettini - Yahoo Sports

In early October 2018, just a few days after Jamal Khashoggi had disappeared inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, White House officials first saw the TV footage that stopped them in their tracks.

A supposed Khashoggi look-alike a heavy-set man wearing the journalists clothes and glasses could be seen walking out of the consulate as though he didnt have a care in the world. Kirsten Fontenrose, then the director of Gulf affairs at the National Security Council, suspected right away what this was: a scene clumsily crafted to cover up a murder.

When that footage kept playing, all of us were looking at each other saying, OK, does this mean they premeditated this? Is this what were looking at here? says Fontenrose, who knew Khashoggi and would regularly have coffee with him every few weeks near the White House. Because this is a disaster. This is crazy. Can this really be happening?

President Donald Trump shows a chart highlighting arms sales to Saudi Arabia during a White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March 2018. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The story of how the Trump White House responded to Khashoggis gruesome murder and ultimately helped cover up the crime is the subject of Anatomy of a Cover-up, the eighth and final episode in the Yahoo News Conspiracyland podcast series, The Secret Lives and Brutal Death of Jamal Khashoggi.

It is a story in which American values and rhetorical support for human rights around the world collided head first with perceived U.S. strategic and economic interests in the region. And it is a tension that carried over into the Biden administration when the new president, having pledged during his campaign to turn the Saudi kingdom into a world pariah, chose not to impose any penalties on the person who the CIA had concluded was responsible for Khashoggis murder: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS.

It is also a story related in a special episode of Conspiracyland, Training the Assassins in which Trump officials maneuvered to remove American fingerprints from the crime. President Donald Trump had nominated Louis Bremer, a managing director of the New York-based investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, to be assistant secretary of defense for special operations. But Bremer whose boss, Steve Feinberg, served as chair of Trumps intelligence advisory board had potential baggage: He served on a five-person board of Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company owned by Cerberus that had a State Department license to train Saudi intelligence operatives. The training took place at a compound outside Memphis, where former members of U.S. Special Forces conducted paramilitary courses in staging commando raids, evasive driving and rapid-fire shooting, according to Tier 1's website and YouTube videos it has posted.

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When Bremer appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing on Aug. 6, 2020, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., grilled him intensely. Was he aware of reports that Tier 1 may have specifically trained members of the Saudi Tiger Team that killed Khashoggi? Had the company conducted any investigation into whether that had happened? Bremer demurred, acknowledging that I do know that we train Saudi nationals as part of our engagement with the kingdom, but saying he had no recollection of being told that some of them had participated in the Khashoggi murder. He promised, however, to check and provide written answers to the committee.

When Bremer did so, and submitted those responses for review to the White House, officials were stunned and realized they had a serious PR problem on their hands. Bremer confirmed his company had indeed conducted such training, and there were invoices for members of the Saudi hit team, said one former senior Trump official who was flabbergasted after reading the written responses.

Rather than disclose the American connection to Khashoggis murder, the White House never forwarded Bremers responses to the Senate and his nomination to the top Pentagon post was allowed to die. (Bremer and Cerberus declined to respond to repeated requests for comment from Yahoo News, but the former nominee recently confirmed his responses to the New York Times, telling the paper that Tier 1 Group conducted training of members of the Saudi Tiger Team that was protective in nature. The training provided was unrelated to their subsequent heinous acts, Bremer told the paper.)

Louis Bremer at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in August 2020 to consider his nomination as an assistant secretary of defense. (Rod Lamkey/CNP/Shutterstock)

Khashoggis murder sparked a crisis inside the Trump White House. Trump and his top aides, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, had made the Saudis the centerpiece of their Middle East strategy. The president had extolled the Saudis as a bulwark against Iranian aggression. He had taken his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia and cultivated MBS, welcoming him to the White House and gushing in front of the TV cameras about the billions of dollars in weapons the Saudis were buying from U.S. defense contractors.

But the murder of Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist writing for one of this countrys leading newspapers, threatened to upend all that. And top officials scrambled to contain the fallout.

Get the full story out, whatever the full story is, former national security adviser John Bolton says he and Kushner told the crown prince in a phone call shortly after Khashoggis disappearance. But Bolton acknowledged he never asked MBS directly the most obvious and important question of all: Did he order the murder? No, I didnt, because I hadn't spoken to the president at that point, Bolton said in an interview for Conspiracyland. It was not something that I wanted to raise before I knew what direction Trump was going to go in.

Soon enough, Trump himself was on the phone to both MBS and his father, King Salman, pressing for answers as well, according to Fontenrose, who monitored the calls.

The president had multiple calls with MBS and with King Salman, specifically asking them, 'Did you know anything about this?' she says. The president would flat out ask, I mean, up to a dozen times on any individual phone call, whether it was with King Salman or with MBS or both of them, Did you have any knowledge of this operation? Did you know this was going to happen? Did you give this order?

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi enters the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. (CCTV/Hurriyet via AP)

And every time it was, No, no, no, we didn't know anything, and we're still looking and we're still searching. Yes, Donald, we totally understand this makes things difficult for you, and we're trying to get to the bottom of it.'

One piece of intelligence in particular had gotten Trumps attention. U.S. officials had concluded that the Saudis had used a bone saw to carve up Khashoggis body.

I mean, he would go back to it and back to it and back to it, trying to press them and telling them, you know, This will change everything, you guys. Weve got to know. Were with you. We're standing behind Saudi Arabia ... but weve got to get to the bottom of this. Was there a bone saw? Was there a bone saw?

Ive been in difficult negotiations. Ive never had to take a bone saw.

At one point Trump turned to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to Fontenrose, and asked: Have you ever had to take a bone saw into negotiations? No, Mr. President, ha-ha. And pressing, pressing, pressing, and every time, No, no, no, Donald, we didn't know anything about it. Were still trying to get to the bottom of this."

While these talks were going on, the Saudis were issuing an ever-shifting series of denials. At first, three days after the murder, MBS had insisted in a Bloomberg interview that Khashoggi had left the consulate and the Saudis had no idea what happened to him. Then, as Turkish officials started to leak details of secret audiotapes they had made from inside the consulate, the Saudis declared that Khashoggi had died in a fistfight.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in December 2018, leaves a briefing on the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia in regard to Khashoggi's murder. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Finally they settled on a different narrative: Khashoggi had been murdered by rogue killers who acted on their own. It was a formulation Trump immediately adopted and proclaimed to the world.

I just spoke with the king of Saudi Arabia, who denies any knowledge of what took place with regard to, as he said, his Saudi Arabian citizen, Trump said on Oct. 15. It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?

The message was clear. Trump was determined to protect the Saudis even if, as Bolton suggests, he knew the Saudi leaders denials were lies.

I think this was a case where Trump very decisively and flatly decided he was going to continue to support the Saudis on a very realpolitik basis. Thats unpleasant, to be sure, but we live in an unpleasant world, Bolton said. Look, I think Trump knew and acted on the assumption that the highest levels of the royal family were involved in it, and he made his decision in any event. And at that point, the issue was closed for the rest of us, for Mike Pompeo, for myself. The president had made up his mind.

Trump also made that reasoning perfectly clear when speaking to reporters on Nov. 20.

If we abandon Saudi Arabia, it will be a terrible mistake," Trump said. "Theyre buying hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of things from this country. If I say, We dont want to take your business, if I say, Were going to cut it off, they will get the equipment, military equipment and other things from Russia and China. And Im not going to tell a country thats spending hundreds of billions of dollars and has helped me out [to] do one thing very importantly, keep oil prices down so they're not going to 100 and 150 dollars a barrel. And Im not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia. Its about America first.

Trump talks to reporters about a meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia, Oct. 15, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trumps formulation that the Saudis needed to be protected over their role in a ghastly murder so as not to disrupt lucrative arms deals was too much for Sen. Bob Corker, then the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. To equate the probable murder of a journalist who worked for a U.S. institution, to equate that with our ability to sell arms it was hard to believe that any president would stoop to that level of equivocation, he said. It was a low moment, in my opinion, as far as the moral leadership of the United States of America.

And yet as he looks back on it, Bolton who would famously break with Trump in a tell-all book continues to defend the White House response, comparing MBS to the notorious Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, who was backed by the U.S. for decades despite a lengthy record of human rights abuses.

Franklin Roosevelt once said of Anastasio Somoza, a Central American dictator, He may be an SOB, but he's our SOB. I'm with Roosevelt on this, said Bolton in his interview for Conspiracyland. I don't know where the rest of you all are, but that's just the way it goes.

Are you saying that MBS is your SOB? he was asked during the Conspiracyland interview.

No, I'm saying he's the U.S.s SOB, he responded. If somebody's got a different idea of how to deal with Saudi Arabia, then lets hear it.

While running for president, Joe Biden suggested he did have a very different idea. We [are] going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are, and so they have to be held accountable, he said during a 2019 debate when asked about Khashoggis murder.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

But when he had the chance to do so in February, the price was a marginal one. Bidens new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, released a report that had been withheld by the Trump White House and that found that MBS did approve the operation that killed Khashoggi.

But the report was skimpy, containing few new details about what the U.S. intelligence community knew about the murder. And the administration declined to impose any sanctions or punishment for MBS or any other high-level Saudi figures a failure that Secretary of State Antony Blinken struggled to defend at a press conference.

I would say the relationship with Saudi Arabia is an important one, Blinken said. We have significant ongoing interests. We remain committed to the defense of the kingdom. So what weve done by the actions weve taken is not to rupture the relationship but to recalibrate it to be more in line with our interests and our values. This is bigger than any one person.

And as if to underscore the point, the Pentagon confirmed that just days before the release of the report essentially accusing MBS of murder, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called his counterpart in Riyadh, the Saudi defense minister, the very same MBS. The purpose, according to a Pentagon readout of the call, was to reaffirm the strategic defense partnership between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In case you missed it:

Episode 1: Exclusive: Saudi assassins picked up illicit drugs in Cairo to kill Khashoggi

Episode 2: Arms, harems and a Trump-owned yacht: How a Khashoggi family member helped mold the U.S.-Saudi relationship

Episode 3: I just fell apart crying heartbreak to you: A murdered journalists years-long relationship with Osama bin Laden

Episode 4: From royal insider to target: How the Arab Spring propelled Jamal Khashoggi into the Saudi leaderships crosshairs"

Episode 5: A personality type that feels absolutely no guardrails: How Saudi Arabias leader charmed Washington while cracking down on opponents

Episode 6: A direct trail of blood drops' leads from a Twitter hack to Jamal Khashoggi's murder

Episode 7: 'He gave nobody a full view of his life': In his final days, Jamal Khashoggi juggled a secret wife in the U.S. and a fiance in Turkey

Bonus Episode 1: "Training the assassins"

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: courtesy of Hanan Al-Atr (2), Dylan Martinez/Reuters

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'Was there a bone saw?' How Trump helped the Saudis whitewash the murder of Jamal Khashoggi - Yahoo News

The continued spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has put vaccination rates in the U.S. under the microscope.

Currently, 58.4% of those in the U.S. over the age of 18 are fully vaccinated, and 67.2% have received at least one dose of the vaccine. However, this varies significantly by state and, in many areas with low vaccination rates, more cases are emerging.

According to data from Johns Hopkins, states with lower vaccination rates are seeing an average of 6 cases per 100,000 every day, while states with higher rates are reporting an average of just 2.2 cases per 100,000.

Its why public health experts are calling on Americans both vaccinated and unvaccinated to continue wearing masks in crowded or indoor settings until things settle down.

Err on the side of caution, Dr. Anthony Santella, professor of health administration and policy at the University of New Haven, told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday.

Thats really my bottom line here. Weve worn masks for so long. To wear them indoors or in crowded places just for the next few months isnt a bad idea," he added.

President Biden takes off his face mask he meets with NATO Secretary General during a NATO summit at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on June 14, 2021. (Photo by STEPHANIE LECOCQ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Santella isnt the only one encouraging others to be cautious. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, revealed that despite being fully vaccinated, he is still wearing masks in areas with low vaccination rates.

Santella is taking the same approach, and stated that he carries his mask everywhere with him.

I use my best judgment now, he said. I have the luxury of being a public health scientist and I study infectious and communicable diseases, so I know a little bit more than the average person. But, I judge the situation Im in or the surrounding area I'm in.

Though cases are down in states with high vaccination rates, thats not the situation with states on the opposite end of the spectrum.

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For example, states like Missouri, Arkansas, Nevada, and Utah are seeing some of the biggest increases in the number of cases yet their full vaccination rates are all below 50%, and their economies are fully open. The blurred lines make things even more difficult in terms of public safety.

You never really know whos vaccinated just because there are these local jurisdiction and state guidelines that say if youre unvaccinated you can do this, if youre vaccinated you can do this, Santella said. You cant make assumptions about people just based on if you see them wearing a mask or not.

People wearing facemasks outdoors are seen at a Covid-19 vaccine site in Los Angeles, California on July 6, 2021. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

In the meantime, Santella and others in the public health space are urging those who are unvaccinated to reconsider opting out of getting the shot.

While were in a good place in terms of the United States pandemic response, we cant let down our guard, Santella added.

COVID-19 variants like the Delta strain and the new Lambda version are calling into question the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines, though some studies have indicated the vaccines are mostly effective against the Delta variant.

The Delta variant is an important part of our conversation, Santella said. Its very transmissible. Its causing severe illness and hospitalizations, particularly amongst those who are unvaccinated, but this shouldnt surprise us too much because this is what viruses do they evolve. They mutate as they replicate and spread through the community.

In other words, the more time that people are unvaccinated, the more opportunities the virus gets to mutate and create another variant.

Until there is widespread vaccination on a global level, Santella advised against traveling to other countries, or even parts of the U.S. with low vaccination rates, in order to curtail community spread.

While travel is safe, you have to decide whats best for you, he added. I know everyone really is fatigued when it comes to all things COVID, but were so close to being in a place where we can resume our normal daily activities as if they were pre-pandemic. But were just not there yet.

Adriana Belmonte is a reporter and editor covering politics and health care policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at adriana@yahoofinance.com.

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(Bloomberg) -- Jeff Bezos is leaving the rest of the world behind when it comes to wealth accumulation.

The worlds richest man reached a record $211 billion net worth Tuesday after Amazon.com Inc. shares rose 4.7% after the Pentagon announced it was canceling a cloud-computing contract with rival Microsoft Corp. The rally raised Bezoss fortune by $8.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The last time anyone in the Bloomberg ranking neared this amount was in January, when Tesla Inc.s Elon Musk briefly hit $210 billion. The two men spent the first part of the year trading the top spot as the worlds richest person, but Bezos has cemented his hold on No. 1 since mid-March as Amazon shares climbed almost 20% during that time.

Soaring stock prices in recent months have boosted the fortunes of a group of tech titans including Musk. He remains in second place behind Bezos with a $180.8 billion net worth even as Tesla shares fell Tuesday. French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault is third at $168.5 billion.

Bezoss record haul is even greater than during a 2020 Amazon stock surge, when his net worth topped out at $206.9 billion as the pandemic turbocharged the companys price. Bezos, 57, officially stepped down as Amazons chief executive officer this week after a 27-year run. He still owns about 11% of the company and serves as the firms executive chairman.

The Pentagon said Tuesday it was scrapping a $10 billion cloud-computing contract awarded in 2019 to Microsoft Corp. after several years of wrangling between the government and some of the biggest U.S. tech companies over the deal. The decision indicates it planned to split the work between Microsoft and rival Amazon.

Read more: Pentagon Moves to Split Its Cloud Deal Between Microsoft, Amazon

MacKenzie Scott, Bezoss ex-wife and the 15th-richest person in the world, saw her wealth jump $2.9 billion Tuesday, eclipsing the $2.7 billion shes given away so far this year. Its just a reminder that some billionaires cant give their money away faster than they make it.

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Jeff Bezos Hits Wealth Record of $211 Billion on Pentagon Move - Yahoo Finance

Despite their mundane product, insurance commercials have become one of the wackiest parts of almost any TV ad break. Phoenix Suns star Chris Paul turns into a basketball for State Farm, cave men hawk Geico, and Progressive's (PGR) long-running character Flo does absolutely nothing.

The sector's unlikely penchant for jokes owes in large part to the Aflac (AFL) duck, which made its debut more than 21 years ago and almost immediately transformed the fortunes of the company. But the ad campaign almost never happened.

Aflac CEO Dan Amos tells Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that he was "very reluctant" to go forward with the ad because it risked making light of the company's name. But the ad made Aflac a household name, exploded sales, and was soon released by the company's Japan operation to similar effect, he said.

"The advertising agency that we had was sitting on a park bench in New York City, and heard the ducks quacking, and one of them said, 'That is what we need to go for,'" Amos said. "I said that I would never do it at that time you didn't have the Geico ads, you didn't have all of the other ads.".

"We took a big chance making fun of our name, because you're not just doing it, you're actually making fun of your name,"he says. "And yet, it forever changed our life and doubled our business in three years in the U.S."

The duck even got the job over actor Ray Romano, then a major TV star on "Everybody Loves Raymond," who taped a test commercial with Aflac.

"It tested an 18 50% better than anything we had ever tested," Amos says. "The Aflac Duck tested a 27. Three, almost two and a half times better. So which one do you go with?"

While Geico's gecko may not have been on screens when Aflac designed its duck, the gecko was the first to be released into the wilderness. It made its television debut in 1999, and the Aflac duck followed soon after on Jan. 1, 2000.

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"It was Y2K and we thought we were gonna have all these problems," he adds. "So we had all these ads that we had booked on CNN, and other places to be ready for it."

"Well, then when there were no problems, [and] they didn't have anything to talk about with the news. So our commercials ran over and over and over again. And overnight, we realized that we had a hit. We actually had more hits on the internet the first week than we had the entire year before," he says.

Over the next 14 years, Aflac's brand recognition leapt from 11% to 94%, making it one of the most well-known companies in the world, Aflac says. From January 2001 to January 2014, Aflac's stock rose 85%, far-outpacing the S&P 500 (^GSPC), which rose 35% over that same period.

Initially, the voice behind the duck was longtime comedian Gilbert Gottfried. But the company fired Gottfried in 2011, after he tweeted a series of insensitive jokes about a tsunami that struck Japan, where Aflac operates a significant portion of its business. He was replaced with Daniel McKeague, a sales manager from Minnesota.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 25: Aflac Duck attends 2018 Billboard Power 100 List at Nobu 57 on January 25, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/WireImage)

Amos, whose father Paul Amos co-founded Aflac, began at the company in 1973 as a regional sales director. In the ensuing years, he climbed the ranks as president and then CEO. In 2001, he was also named the company's chair.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Amos explained how the company adapted the duck for a Japanese audience, changing the premise of the sketch and even the volume of the quack. The company also has become well known in Japan since the duck ad launched there in 2003, Amos said.

"They used a softer duck because they don't like loud noises in Japan," he says. "So we turned around and made it the Japanese style and it took off."

"Today, our name recognition is even higher in Japan than it is in the U.S.," he adds.

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Most people in the United States believe that Biden administration officials, and not President Joe Biden, are directing the country's agenda and policy, according to a national poll.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents to a Convention of States Action and Trafalgar Group poll said the president is not fully executing the duties of his office. Thirty-six percent said they were confident that he was directing all policy and agenda matters.

There was a disparity between political ideologies, as nearly 59% of Democratic voters said they thought Biden was in charge of the administration. Thirty-two percent said he was not in charge.

TRUMP TO SUE BIG TECH CEOS MARK ZUCKERBERG AND JACK DORSEY OVER CENSORSHIP

Eighty-four percent of Republican voters said they did not believe Biden was fully executing the duties of his office. Only 11% of GOP voters believe he is directing all policy and agenda matters.

Fifty-eight percent of independent voters said they did not believe Biden was fully executing the duties of his office, while 36% disagreed.

Nearly 10% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans and independent voters answered that they were not sure if Biden was directing the administration.

The results of the poll prove that people deserve to know about Biden's physical and mental health, said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Action.

"President Lincoln's famous refrain that you can't fool all of the people all of the time has never been more relevant and critical to the survival of our American republic," Meckler said. "The American people deserve transparency from the Biden administration as to the true state of the presidents mental and physical health, and leaders in both parties in Congress need to follow through on this immediately."

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"The continued failure to ask hard questions and demand real answers is a disgrace to the foundation of our democracy, he added.

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The poll was conducted between June 23-25 among 1,086 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.97 percentage points.

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MLB teams each played their 81st game of the season in recent days, which represents the mathematical midpoint of the season. This point of the year offers fantasy managers a great opportunity to easily project their players end-of-season stats by doubling the cumulative totals they have accumulated so far. Here are some players whose progress may surprise you.

Acuna and Tatis would clearly both be top-5 picks if leagues were redrafted today. Managers should note that a trio of players are just short of a 30-30 pace, Trea Turner, Cedric Mullins and Ozzie Albies. Turner is a first-round caliber player, while Albies has likely pushed his way to Rd. 2 status and is a terrific trade target for those who seek a versatile, impact bat. Mullins is by far the most surprising name on this list. The Orioles leadoff man roared out of the gate in April before dipping in May and then posting an eye-popping 1.172 OPS in June. At this point, its easy to be a Mullins believer.

Brantley and Frazier both have fantasy value, but they may not make much of an impact to those who are no longer in tight batting average races. Brantley leads the Majors in batting average (.340) but has yet to steal a base and is on pace for roughly 10 homers and 60 RBIs. Meanwhile, Frazier sits second in the Senior Circuit in batting average (.324) but is on pace for single-digit totals in both homers and steals. Finally, David Fletcher is the epitome of an empty batting average, batting .286 with zero homers, four swipes and 26 RBIs. Those who have Fletcher rostered should consider dropping him right away.

Four players are on pace to do something that has happened just 13 times in Major League history. And of course, the knee-jerk reaction of fantasy managers is to push these high-strikeout players off their squad. But a little bit of research shows that the 13 200-strikeout seasons include four seasons of at least a .260 average, eight campaigns with more than 37 homers, and the same number with at least 90 RBIs. Chapman hasnt been too productive, but the other three can be considered for trade by those who have some wiggle room in batting average. Gallo could be especially productive, as he leads the Majors in walks and is on pace for 40 homers and a double-digit steals total.

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Just three pitchers reached the 10-win plateau by midseason, and none of these three arms has made it to 11 victories. I have a strong hunch that we wont see a 20-win season this year. Civale is injured, while both Hendricks (3.98 ERA) and Urias (3.81 ERA) have not been especially stingy. Also, Hendricks pitches for a middling team and Urias may have his innings monitored by the Dodgers. The lack of elite win totals from starters has made setup men who rack up wins even more valuable. Brent Suter, Jonathan Loaisiga, Yusmeiro Petit and John King are all on pace for 12-plus victories while working high-leverage relief innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Julio Urias is one of only three pitchers on pace to hit the 20-win mark this MLB season. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There are plenty of relievers who are racking up whiffs, but most of them are rostered in Yahoo leagues. Still, those who need saves while also hoping to make a move in strikeouts should target one of the closers on this list. The hidden gems in this group may be Barlow and Mayers. Barlow has been the best Royals reliever and recently secured two saves, while Mayers could move into the closers role if the Angels trade Iglesias this month.

These six closers are incredibly valuable in the current fantasy landscape. When the season reached its midpoint, just 13 relievers were on pace for 30 saves and a total of 22 were on pace for 20. We are currently living in a polarized ninth-inning environment, where several teams share opportunities and others remain dedicated to a single fireman. The value of a reliever who can deliver 40 saves, 100 whiffs and low ratios has never been higher, making the names listed above coveted commodities in trade talks.

A pair of Marlins pitchers could be this years recipient of the Jacob deGrom award which goes to a starter who is credited with few wins despite pitching effectively over a large volume of innings. Alcantara (five wins, 2.96 ERA) and Lopez (four wins, 2.97 ERA) have been incredibly unlucky despite pitching very well across a large volume of innings. There could perhaps be a window to acquire one of these starters via trade, as their current manager may be frustrated with the low win totals.

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