Colaboratoarea politică CNN Maggie Haberman explică raționamentul din spatele atacurilor lui Donald Trump asupra judecătorului și a familiei sale în timpul unui discurs la stațiunea sa din Mar-a-Lago, după ce a fost pus sub acuzare pentru infracțiuni grave.
Sursa: CNN
window.CNN.contentModel.leadingMediaType = ‘image’; window.CNN.contentModel.isVideoCollection = false; CNN —
The escalating climate crisis is shifting many people’s purchasing patterns and this extends to the $500 billion dollar global beauty industry which is grappling with a range of sustainability challenges across product manufacturing, packaging and disposal.
Strategy and consulting firm Simon Kucher’s Global Sustainability Study 2021 found 60% of consumers around the world rated sustainability as an important purchase criterion, and 35% were willing to pay more for sustainable products or services.
This shift in consumer preferences has propelled many beauty brands to set environmental goals: to move away from single-use and virgin plastics, provide recyclable, reusable and refillable packaging and offer more transparency around products’ ingredients so customers can ascertain how “green” their purchase is.
However, consumers still struggle to understand the sustainability credentials of many products, according to the British Beauty Council. This is because the industry’s clean-up efforts have been inconsistent, and fall short of making a recognizable impact in the absence of collective goal-setting, global strategy and standardized regulations.
There is no international standard for the beauty industry on how much product ingredient information to share with customers — or how to do so. Brands can set their own rules and goals, giving rise to confusion and “greenwashing,” where sustainability claims are often touted but not substantiated.
Companies often use marketing language like “clean beauty” to make it seem like their products are natural, for example, when they may not actually be organic, sustainable or ethically made.
“The term ‘clean beauty’ has become quite dangerous. It’s used to sell more products,” according to British Beauty Council CEO Millie Kendall, who added that such buzzwords are losing traction in the UK as British customers wise up to their shortcomings. “Customers need better marketing information and certification information.”
In a 2021 report calling on the industry to have “the courage to change” their business practices, the British Beauty Council wrote that, all too often, even natural ingredients involved in manufacturing products give way to “over-consumption, non-regenerative farming practices, pollution, waste and neglect.”
“The only way out of this is transparency,” Kendall told CNN.
Jen Lee, chief impact officer at US-based brand Beautycounter, said she continues to see confusion over ingredients among consumers. (In 2013, the company launched and published “The Never List,” which currently cites more than 2,800 chemicals — including heavy metals, parabens and formaldehyde — it claims to never use in its products.)
“Natural vs. synthetic ingredients has been a conversation. People think natural is safer, but it’s not always the case,” Lee explained. “Natural ingredients formulated in the industry can have toxic load. Heavy metals can occur in natural components of the earth.”
“We used to be more natural and organic,” added Sasha Plavsic, founder of makeup brand ILIA Beauty. “What was challenging is (that) raw materials were difficult to source or would come in inconsistently or products wouldn’t perform.”
Most makeup is created and molded at high temperatures, Plavsic explained. Purely organic materials often fall apart in this heat, leading to inconsistent results and subpar product performance. “Not every synthetic is bad,” Plavsic said. “Sometimes, it helps create the best in class formula.”
The industry’s plastic packaging is a particular sustainability challenge — 95% is thrown away and the vast majority is not recycled, according to the British Beauty Council.
The cosmetics business is the fourth biggest plastic packaging user globally — after food and beverage, industrial packaging and pharmaceuticals — and plastic is about 67% of the industry’s packaging volume, according to Vantage Market Research. Beauty giant L’Oreal used 144,430 metric tons of plastic in its packaging material in 2021, for example, according to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation (EMF). Estee Lauder Companies reported its brands produced 71,600 metric tons of plastic in product packaging that same year.
And only 9% of the global plastic waste is recycled, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The United States only recycles 4% of its plastic waste.
Many brands are trying to phase out harmful plastics from their operations and adopt post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic. (L’Oreal has set a target of 50% PCR plastic usage by 2025, while Estee Lauder is targeting 25% “or more” PCR plastic — but both are far from achieving their targets.)
“Between 60-70 major global brands have made unprecedented progress” in PCR plastic usage across industries, EMF’s Plastic Initiative Lead Sander DeFruyt told CNN. But DeFruyt stressed that PCR plastic must be adopted in conjunction with brands removing single and virgin plastics from their usage cycles to truly make a difference.
However, PCR plastic is not easy to find — low recycling rates around the world mean there is limited supply. Meanwhile, demand for it is growing demand across industries, DeFruyt said. This competition hikes up its price, which is already higher than virgin plastic.
Hair care brand FEKKAI claims that it used up to 95% PCR content in its packaging, but pricing and supply issues posed a challenge, forcing it to currently aim for containers and packaging that feature at least 50% PCR in its packaging.
“PCR plastic is more expensive than stock plastic. The cost is hard and then sourcing it is too,” founder Frédéric Fekkai told CNN. “PCR is close to our heart, but there is a massive demand, so finding recycled plastic is difficult.”
Beauty retailers plays a pivotal — and under-utilized — role, with control over stocking decisions and supply chains. But many vary when it comes to the standards they set for brands they sell.
“Smaller businesses do more, full stop,” said Jessi Baker, founder of the technology platform Provenance, which helps brands display their sustainability credentials for customers. “They move more nimbly. Some of them are born-good brands — climate friendliness was part of their setup. They don’t need to restructure their entire supply chain. Their culture already has it compared to the larger brands who need to work hard to change.”
Sephora launched its “Clean + Planet Positive” initiative in 2021, which labeled products that met its set criteria. (This is separate from the French retailer’s “Clean at Sephora” program, which is currently facing a consumer lawsuit alleging it carries a significant percentage of products understood by customers to be harmful.) Target launched a similar program in 2022, featuring a “Target Zero” icon for both online and in-store offerings that either have reusable, recyclable, compostable or reduced plastic packaging, or feature waterless or concentrated products.
Still, many steps taken by brands and retailers do not even begin to touch on the waste and pollution generated throughout supply chains, manufacturing and shipping, all huge problems for the industry to grapple with.
The gaps in standardization in the beauty ecosystem can, to some extent, be filled by certifications such as the US-born B Corporation, or B Corp. This accreditation, one of the most well-known in the beauty space, is issued by the non-profit B Lab, which scores a company on a variety of criteria around ethics and sustainability. However beneficial it may be among eco-conscious consumers, though, it is currently completely voluntary for brands to apply for.
Governments and multinationals enforcing regulations and setting a base line for brands to operate from when making sustainability claims would go a long way to making change, many experts and business leaders believe.
Susanne Kaufmann, founder of her namesake beauty brand, says her efforts in Austria would reap better results if more countries around the world had stricter, more uniform garbage disposal laws.
“I package our product in a recyclable material,” Kaufmann said. (Her products’ packaging, which is refillable and reusable, is made from 75% recycled plastic — and is 100% recyclable.) If I send this to the US, the garbage is not separated… and it’s not recyclable,” she explained, referring to inconsistencies in recycling laws across the United States.
And when it comes to ingredients, the European Chemicals Agency lists 2,495 substances banned from use in cosmetic products marketed for sale or use in the bloc. But the US Food and Drug administration only lists 11, making it more challenging for American consumers to find safer, greener options. The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit watchdog, studied lab tests of 51 sunscreen products in 2021 and found that only 35% of products met the EU standard, compared with 94% that passed the US standard.
However, while government can set minimum requirements, Mia Davis, vice president of sustainability and impact at beauty retailer Credo Beauty, says the needle will move in the private sector.
“Regulation can raise the floor a bit. A person who doesn’t know about any (sustainability issues) should still be able to walk into a bodega and get clean products… But that’s never going to be what the market can do,” she said. “Market leadership is key.”
In the absence of bold regulations or global standards on sustainability practices, this “leadership” — undertaken both by brands and customers in the beauty marketplace — is likely to be the most immediately impactful vector for addressing the industry’s climate shortcomings. It will take continued collective advocacy and initiative to see meaningful climate-conscious change.
Sursa: CNN
Oamenii de știință au capturat specia necunoscută de pește-melc la o adâncime de peste 27.000 de picioare, ca parte a unei expediții în tranșee în largul coastei Japoniei.
Sursa: CNN
Navigând la o adâncime de 8.336 de metri (peste 27.000 de picioare) chiar deasupra fundului mării, un pește-melc tânăr a devenit cel mai adânc pește filmat vreodată de oamenii de știință în timpul unei sonde în abisul din nordul Oceanului Pacific.
Sursa: CNN
window.CNN.contentModel.leadingMediaType = ‘gallery’; window.CNN.contentModel.isVideoCollection = false; function imageLoadError(img) { const fallbackImage = ‘/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg’; img.removeAttribute(‘onerror’); img.src = fallbackImage; let element = img.previousElementSibling; while (element && element.tagName === ‘SOURCE’) { element.srcset = fallbackImage; element = element.previousElementSibling; } } A baby-faced McIlroy looked primed to claim his first major title at The Masters in 2011. The 21-year-old teed off with a commanding four-shot final day lead in Augusta and, despite a shaky start, he still led by one at the turn. Yet a skewed drive into the trees at the 10th tee sparked a catastrophic collapse for the Northern Irishman, who dropped six shots over the next three holes to finish the day tied for 15th. Look through the gallery to see more of the biggest meltdowns in the history of golf. Andrew Redington/Getty Images North America/Getty Images Sam Snead, US Open (1947) With seven major championships and 82 PGA Tour victories, Snead won pretty much everything there was to win across his legendary career — except the US Open. A four-time runner up at the event, the American came within inches of capturing the elusive title in 1947. Having led Lew Worsham by two shots in an 18-hole playoff with three to play, Snead was pegged back heading into the final hole before missing his putt from inside three feet to lose. St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP Arnold Palmer, US Open (1966) Even “The King” wasn’t immune to a meltdown. Carrying a seven-shot lead into the back nine of the 1966 US Open, Palmer looked to be strolling towards an eighth career major in San Francisco, only to bogey five of the next seven holes as Billy Casper roared back to force an 18-hole playoff. The nightmare then repeated itself for Palmer, who started strong before dropping four shots across a three-hole stretch to lose out by four strokes to Casper. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images Ed Sneed, The Masters (1979) He wasn’t related to Sam Snead, but Ed Sneed saw a major slip away in similarly catastrophic circumstances at The Masters in 1979. Three up with three to play, Sneed slumped to a trio of bogeys to fall into a sudden-death playoff at Augusta — the first time the format had been used. Debutant Fuzzy Zoeller went on to clinch a one-stroke victory over Sneed and Tom Watson. While Watson would finish his career with eight major titles, including two Masters victories, 1979 would cruelly be the closest Sneed ever got to tasting major glory. Augusta National/Getty Images Scott Hoch, The Masters (1989) Based on the distance Hoch had to putt to win the 1989 Masters, Nick Faldo had two feet in the grave. Locked in a sudden-death playoff at Augusta’s 10th hole, Faldo could only find the bunker with his approach, leaving Hoch with two bites at a 25-foot putt to win. The American’s first effort took him to within two feet of glory, only for his second to roll agonizingly around the lip of the hole. In response, an exasperated Hoch launched his putter skyward. When Faldo birdied at the subsequent hole, Hoch’s hopes of a first major win similarly went up in the air. Augusta National/Getty Images Mark Calcavecchia, Ryder Cup (1991) A traumatic meltdown with a happy ending, Calcavecchia was inconsolable after a collapse that he believed had cost his American team the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island. Four up with four holes to play against Colin Montgomerie, the 1989 Open champion looked to be cruising to a crucial point, only to lose all four remaining holes as his Scottish opponent secured a vital half-point for Team Europe. A horrified Calcavecchia looked set to be the scapegoat of a bad-blooded tournament later dubbed “The War on the Shore,” but Germany’s Bernhard Langer spared his blushes by missing his six-foot putt that would have retained the Cup for Europe, sealing a 14 ½ – 13 ½ win for the US. Augusta National/Getty Images Greg Norman, The Masters (1996) Nicknamed “The Great White Shark,” Norman saw defeat snatched from the jaws of victory at The Masters in 1996. Having led all three rounds and carrying a six-shot lead over Nick Faldo into the final round, the Australian still had a healthy four-stroke lead over the Englishman with 11 to play at Augusta. Faldo didn’t even have to make a birdie to surge into a two-shot lead just four holes later, as Norman sunk with three straight bogeys and a double bogey. Norman bit back with two birdies over the next three holes, but his fate was sealed with another double bogey at the 16th, as Faldo cruised to his sixth major with a five-shot cushion. David Cannon/Allsport/Getty Images Jean Van De Velde, British Open (1999) A meltdown in equal parts memorable and heart-breaking, Van De Velde’s 18th hole tailspin at the 1999 British Open is one of the most famous implosions in sporting history. Having arrived at Carnoustie in Scotland as the world No. 152, Van De Velde teed off for the last time with a three-shot cushion; even a double bogey would have been enough to crown him as only the second Frenchman to lift the famous Claret Jug. What followed was the golfing equivalent of an anxiety dream, as the 33-year-old skewed his drive, hit his second shot bouncing off a grandstand into the rough, and then watched in horror as his third effort plopped into the Barry Burn. Pictures of Van De Velde — still smiling — stood ankle deep in the water weighing his options have since become the defining images of the tournament as the Frenchman, despite sinking his triple-bogey putt to force a playoff, saw his dreams of a first major usurped by Scotsman Paul Lawrie. David Cannon/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images Lorena Ochoa, US Women’s Open (2005) Ochoa secured a top-four finish at the 2005 US Women’s Open. A good display, no? Not when you led at the final hole. The Mexican arrived at the par-four 18th tee at three-under, the score of subsequent winner Birdie Kim, only to skew her opening drive into the water. The 23-year-old eventually tapped in for seven and a triple bogey, finishing the day four shots adrift of the South Korean first-time winner. Ochoa would never get as close to winning the major, but was victorious at the Women’s British Open in 2007 and the Chevron Championship in 2008. Harry How/Getty Images Phil Mickelson, US Open (2006) The US Open remains the only major Mickelson is yet to win, though not for the want of trying. A record-six-time runner-up at the tournament, “Lefty” has never come as close to breaking his duck as he did at Winged Foot in 2006 when, approaching the final hole, he just needed to make par to secure a third consecutive major win. Mickelson subsequently hit a hospitality tent and a tree en route to carding a double bogey which handed victory to Australian Geoff Ogilvy. “I just can’t believe I did that. I’m such an idiot,” Mickelson later told reporters. Ezra Shaw / Getty Images Tom Watson, British Open (2009) A five-time Open champion, Watson was a closing par away from making it six and becoming — at 59-years-old — the oldest major winner in golf history, at Turnberry, Scotland, in 2009. To this day, the American believes he hit the “perfect” approach to the 18th green, only for strong winds to whisk his shot past the flag and into long grass. Watson rallied to bogey the hole, but was comprehensively defeated by compatriot Stewart Cink in the subsequent playoff. Warren Little / Getty Images Dustin Johnson, US Open (2010) A US Open champion in 2016, Johnson would come to have happy memories of the major — eventually. The 2010 edition of the tournament at Pebble Beach left a distinctly sour taste in the American’s mouth, as Johnson saw his three-shot final day lead evaporate with a disastrous triple bogey at the second hole, from which he never recovered. A double bogey at the following hole was followed by six more across a birdie-less final round, as Johnson finished five shots adrift of Northern Ireland’s first-time major winner Graeme McDowell. Donald Miralle/Getty Images Jason Dufner, PGA Championship (2011) Bogey free after 14 holes, Dufner was a steady finish away from a first major and PGA Tour win at the 2011 PGA Championship in Atlanta. Yet after finding the water from the 15th tee, the American quickly saw his commanding five-stroke lead sink, bogeying three straight holes as rookie Keegan Bradley — who had triple-bogeyed the 15th — fired back-to-back birdies to force a playoff. Bradley completed his comeback to crush his compatriot’s dreams, but Dufner would exorcise his demons with triumph at the 2013 PGA Championship in New York. Andrew Redington / Getty Images Adam Scott, British Open (2012) When Ernie Els returned to the Royal Lytham and St. Annes clubhouse on the final day of the 2012 British Open, it looked highly unlikely the South African would be back out to lift his second Claret Jug. Yet one Scott capitulation later, “The Big Easy” was doing exactly that, as the long-time Australian leader closed with four straight bogeys to squander a four-shot lead and lose by a single stroke. Harry How / Getty Images Jordan Spieth, The Masters (2016) “Buddy, it seems like we’re collapsing,” Jordan Spieth told his caddy. Having looked unstoppable in the defense of his 2015 Masters title, five shots clear at the 10th tee, the 22-year-old was spiraling towards an implosion of apocalyptic proportions. Back-to-back bogeys precluded an eye-watering quadruple bogey at the short 12th hole, opening the door for Danny Willett to capitalize and clinch his first major. To rub salt into the wounds, a devastated Spieth had to help the victorious Englishman into his new green jacket at the Augusta winner’s ceremony. Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images Lexi Thompson, US Women’s Open (2021) The 2021 US Women’s Open provided stories both heart-warming and heart-breaking. Teenager Yuka Saso became the first Filipino player to win a golf major after conquering Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in a playoff, yet neither player had looked to have a shot at victory a short while earlier. Thompson had led by four strokes at the turn, but a back-nine collapse saw her dreams of finally capturing an elusive second major crushed. A par at the final hole would have been enough to put the American into the playoff, but an agonizing missed putt [pictured] epitomized her painful afternoon in San Francisco. Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images Mito Pereira, PGA Championship (2022) One hole. That’s how close Mito Pereira was to a first major on his maiden PGA Championship outing in 2022. The world No. 100’s fairy-tale story became a horror movie at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa as Pereira, leading by a shot, struck his tee drive into the water at the 18th hole. His eventual double bogey meant he missed out on the subsequent playoff, with Justin Thomas besting compatriot Will Zalatoris to lift his second career major. Christian Petersen / Getty Images
Prev Next
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in April 2023.
CNN —
Slumped on his club, head buried in his arm, Rory McIlroy looked on the verge of tears.
The then-21-year-old had just watched his ball sink into the waters of Rae’s Creek at Augusta National and with it, his dream of winning The Masters, a dream that had looked so tantalizingly close mere hours earlier.
As a four-time major winner and one of the most decorated names in the sport’s history, few players would turn down the chance to swap places with McIlroy heading into Augusta this week.
Yet on Sunday afternoon of April 10, 2011, not a golfer in the world would have wished to be in the Northern Irishman’s shoes.
A fresh-faced, mop-headed McIlroy had touched down in Georgia for the first major of the season with a reputation as the leading light of the next generation of stars.
An excellent 2010 had marked his best season since turning pro three years earlier, highlighted by a first PGA Tour win at the Quail Hollow Championship and a crucial contribution to Team Europe’s triumph at the Ryder Cup.
Yet despite a pair of impressive top-three finishes at the Open and PGA Championship respectively, a disappointing missed cut at The Masters – his first at a major – served as ominous foreshadowing.
McIlroy shot 74 and 77 to fall four strokes short of the cut line at seven-over par, a performance that concerned him enough to take a brief sabbatical from competition.
McIlroy (L) races England’s Ian Poulter (R) during the Par 3 Contest prior to the 2011 Masters. Harry How / Getty Images
But one year on in 2011, any lingering Masters demons looked to have been exorcised as McIlroy flew round the Augusta fairways.
Having opened with a bogey-free seven-under 65 – the first time he had ever shot in the 60s at the major – McIlroy pulled ahead from Spanish first round co-leader Alvaro Quirós with a second round 69.
It sent him into the weekend holding a two-shot cushion over Australia’s Jason Day, with Tiger Woods a further stroke behind and back in the hunt for a 15th major after a surging second round 66.
And yet the 21-year-old leader looked perfectly at ease with having a target on his back. Even after a tentative start to the third round, McIlroy rallied with three birdies across the closing six holes to stretch his lead to four strokes heading into Sunday.
McIlroy drives from the 16th tee during his second round. Andrew Redington / Getty Images
The youngster was out on his own ahead of a bunched chasing pack comprising Day, Ángel Cabrera, K.J. Choi and Charl Schwartzel. After 54 holes, McIlroy had shot just three bogeys.
“It’s a great position to be in … I’m finally feeling comfortable on this golf course,” McIlroy told reporters.
“I’m not getting ahead of myself, I know how leads can dwindle away very quickly. I have to go out there, not take anything for granted and go out and play as hard as I’ve played the last three days. If I can do that, hopefully things will go my way.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow because four shots on this golf course isn’t that much.”
McIlroy finished his third round with a four shot lead. Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images
The truth can hurt, and McIlroy was about to prove his assessment of Augusta to be true in the most excruciating way imaginable.
His fourth bogey of the week arrived immediately. Having admitted to expecting some nerves at the first tee, McIlroy sparked a booming opening drive down the fairway, only to miss his putt from five feet.
Three consecutive pars steadied the ship, but Schwartzel had the wind in his sails. A blistering birdie, par, eagle start had seen him draw level at the summit after his third hole.
A subsequent bogey from the South African slowed his charge, as McIlroy clung onto a one-shot lead at the turn from Schwartzel, Cabrera, Choi, and a rampaging Woods, who shot five birdies and an eagle across the front nine to send Augusta into a frenzy.
Despite his dwindling advantage and the raucous Tiger-mania din ahead of him, McIlroy had responded well to another bogey at the 5th hole, draining a brilliant 20-foot putt at the 7th to restore his lead.
The fist pump that followed marked the high-water point of McIlroy’s round, as a sliding start accelerated into full-blown free-fall at the par-four 10th hole.
His tee shot went careening into a tree, ricocheting to settle between the white cabins that separate the main course from the adjacent par-three course. It offered viewers a glimpse at a part of Augusta rarely seen on broadcast, followed by pictures of McIlroy anxiously peering out from behind a tree to track his follow-up shot.
McIlroy watches his shot after his initial drive from the 10th tee put him close to Augusta’s cabins. Andrew Redington / Getty Images
Though his initial escape was successful, yet another collision with a tree and a two-putt on the green saw a stunned McIlroy eventually tap in for a triple bogey. Having led the field one hole and seven shots earlier, he arrived at the 11th tee in seventh.
By the time his tee drive at the 13th plopped into the creek, all thoughts of who might be the recipient of the green jacket had long-since switched away from the anguished youngster. It had taken him seven putts to navigate the previous two greens, as a bogey and a double bogey dropped him to five-under – the score he had held after just 11 holes of the tournament.
Mercifully, the last five holes passed without major incident. A missed putt for birdie from five feet at the final hole summed up McIlroy’s day, though he was given a rousing reception as he left the green.
Sunday at the Masters natpkg_00005015.jpg video
Mere minutes earlier, the same crowd had erupted as Schwartzel sunk his fourth consecutive birdie to seal his first major title. After starting the day four shots adrift of McIlroy, the South African finished 10 shots ahead of him, and two ahead of second-placed Australian duo Jason Day and Adam Scott.
McIlroy’s eight-over 80 marked the highest score of the round. Having headlined the leaderboard for most of the week, he finished tied-15th.
McIroy was applauded off the 18th green by the Augusta crowd after finishing his final round. Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images
Tears would flow during a phone call with his parents the following morning, but at his press conference, McIlroy was upbeat.
“I’m very disappointed at the minute, and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it,” he said.
“I was leading this golf tournament with nine holes to go, and I just unraveled … It’s a Sunday at a major, what it can do.
“This is my first experience at it, and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today obviously, but it was a character-building day … I’ll come out stronger for it.”
Once again, McIlroy would be proven right.
Just eight weeks later in June, McIlroy rampaged to an eight-shot victory at the US Open. Records tumbled in his wake at Congressional, as he shot a tournament record 16-under 268 to become the youngest major winner since Tiger Woods at The Masters in 1997.
McIlroy celebrated a historic triumph at the US Open just two months after his Masters nightmare. Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
The historic victory kickstarted a golden era for McIlroy. After coasting to another eight-shot win at the PGA Championship in 2012, McIlroy became only the third golfer since 1934 to win three majors by the age of 25 with triumph at the 2014 Open Championship.
Before the year was out, he would add his fourth major title with another PGA Championship win.
And much of it was owed to that fateful afternoon at Augusta. In an interview with the BBC in 2015, McIlroy dubbed it “the most important day” of his career.
“If I had not had the whole unravelling, if I had just made a couple of bogeys coming down the stretch and lost by one, I would not have learned as much.
“Luckily, it did not take me long to get into a position like that again when I was leading a major and I was able to get over the line quite comfortably. It was a huge learning curve for me and I needed it, and thankfully I have been able to move on to bigger and better things.
“Looking back on what happened in 2011, it doesn’t seem as bad when you have four majors on your mantelpiece.”
A two-stroke victory at Royal Liverpool saw McIlroy clinch the Open Championship in 2014. Tom Pennington / Getty Images
McIlroy’s contentment came with a caveat: it would be “unthinkable” if he did not win The Masters in his career.
Yet as he prepares for his 15th appearance at Augusta National this week, a green jacket remains an elusive missing item from his wardrobe.
Despite seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 Masters outings, the trophy remains the only thing separating McIlroy from joining the ranks of golf immortals to have completed golf’s career grand slam of all four majors in the modern era: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
The Masters is the only major title to elude McIlroy. Mike Mulholland / Getty Images
A runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler last year marked McIlroy’s best finish at Augusta, yet arguably 2011 remains the closest he has ever been to victory. A slow start in 2022 meant McIlroy had begun Sunday’s deciding round 10 shots adrift of the American, who teed off for his final hole with a five-shot lead despite McIlroy’s brilliant 64 finish.
Rory McIlroy: I will win the Masters SPT_00000410.jpg video
At 33 years old, time is still on his side. Though 2022 extended his major drought to eight years, it featured arguably his best golf since that golden season in 2014.
And as McIlroy knows better than most, things can change quickly at Augusta National.
Sursa: CNN
window.CNN.contentModel.leadingMediaType = ‘video’; window.CNN.contentModel.isVideoCollection = false; CNN —
It is one of China’s most popular shopping apps, selling clothing, groceries and just about everything else under the sun to more than 750 million users a month.
But according to cybersecurity researchers, it can also bypass users’ cell phone security to monitor activities on other apps, check notifications, read private messages and change settings.
And once installed, it’s tough to remove.
While many apps collect vast troves of user data, sometimes without explicit consent, experts say e-commerce giant Pinduoduo has taken violations of privacy and data security to the next level.
In a detailed investigation, CNN spoke to half a dozen cybersecurity teams from Asia, Europe and the United States — as well as multiple former and current Pinduoduo employees — after receiving a tipoff.
Multiple experts identified the presence of malware on the Pinduoduo app that exploited vulnerabilities in Android operating systems. Company insiders said the exploits were utilized to spy on users and competitors, allegedly to boost sales.
“We haven’t seen a mainstream app like this trying to escalate their privileges to gain access to things that they’re not supposed to gain access to,” said Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at WithSecure, a Finnish cybersecurity firm.
“This is highly unusual, and it is pretty damning for Pinduoduo.”
This is highly unusual, and it is pretty damning for Pinduoduo.
Mikko Hyppönen, cybersecurity expert
Malware, short for malicious software, refers to any software developed to steal data or interfere with computer systems and mobile devices.
Evidence of sophisticated malware in the Pinduoduo app comes amid intense scrutiny of Chinese-developed apps like TikTok over concerns about data security.
Some American lawmakers are pushing for a national ban on the popular short-video app, whose CEO Shou Chew was grilled by Congress for five hours last week about its relations with the Chinese government.
The revelations are also likely to draw more attention to Pinduoduo’s international sister app, Temu, which is topping US download charts and fast expanding in other Western markets. Both are owned by Nasdaq-listed PDD, a multinational company with roots in China.
While Temu has not been implicated, Pinduoduo’s alleged actions risk casting a shadow over its sister app’s global expansion.
There is no evidence that Pinduoduo has handed data to the Chinese government. But as Beijing enjoys significant leverage over businesses under its jurisdiction, there are concerns from US lawmakers that any company operating in China could be forced to cooperate with a broad range of security activities.
Pinduoduo’s parent company PDD is listed on the Nasdaq in New York. Mike Segar/Reuters/File
The findings follow Google’s suspension of Pinduoduo from its Play Store in March, citing malware identified in versions of the app.
An ensuing report from Bloomberg said a Russian cybersecurity firm had also identified potential malware in the app.
Pinduoduo has previously rejected “the speculation and accusation that Pinduoduo app is malicious.”
CNN has contacted PDD multiple times over email and phone for comment, but has not received a response.
Pinduoduo, which boasts a user base that accounts for three quarters of China’s online population and a market value three times that of eBay (EBAY), wasn’t always an online shopping behemoth.
Founded in 2015 in Shanghai by Colin Huang, a former Google employee, the startup was fighting to establish itself in a market long dominated by e-commerce stalwarts Alibaba (BABA) and JD.com (JD).
It succeeded by offering steep discounts on friends-and-family group buying orders and focusing on lower-income rural areas.
Pinduoduo posted triple digit growth in monthly users until the end of 2018, the year it listed in New York. By the middle of 2020, though, the increase in monthly users had slowed to around 50% and would continue to decline, according to its earnings reports.
Colin Huang, a former Google employee, founded Pinduoduo in 2015 in Shanghai. He stepped down as CEO in 2020 and resigned as chairman the following year. VCG/VCG/Getty Images/File
It was in 2020, according to a current Pinduoduo employee, that the company set up a team of about 100 engineers and product managers to dig for vulnerabilities in Android phones, develop ways to exploit them — and turn that into profit.
According to the source, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, the company only targeted users in rural areas and smaller towns initially, while avoiding users in megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
“The goal was to reduce the risk of being exposed,” they said.
By collecting expansive data on user activities, the company was able to create a comprehensive portrait of users’ habits, interests and preferences, according to the source.
This allowed it to improve its machine learning model to offer more personalized push notifications and ads, attracting users to open the app and place orders, they said.
The team was disbanded in early March, the source added, after questions about their activities came to light.
PDD didn’t reply to CNN’s repeated requests for comment on the team.
Approached by CNN, researchers from Tel Aviv-based cyber firm Check Point Research, Delaware-based app security startup Oversecured and Hyppönen’s WithSecure conducted independent analysis of the 6.49.0 version of the app, released on Chinese app stores in late February.
Google Play is not available in China, and Android users in the country download their apps from local stores. In March, when Google suspended Pinduoduo, it said it had found malware in off-Play versions of the app.
The researchers found code designed to achieve “privilege escalation”: a type of cyberattack that exploits a vulnerable operating system to gain a higher level of access to data than it’s supposed to have, according to experts.
“Our team has reverse engineered that code and we can confirm that it tries to escalate rights, tries to gain access to things normal apps wouldn’t be able to do on Android phones,” said Hyppönen.
In China, about three quarters of smartphone users are on the Android system. Luo Yunfei/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images
The app was able to continue running in the background and prevent itself from being uninstalled, which allowed it to boost its monthly active user rates, Hyppönen said. It also had the ability to spy on competitors by tracking activity on other shopping apps and getting information from them, he added.
Check Point Research additionally identified ways in which the app was able to evade scrutiny.
The app deployed a method that allowed it to push updates without an app store review process meant to detect malicious applications, the researchers said.
They also identified in some plug-ins the intent to obscure potentially malicious components by hiding them under legitimate file names, such as Google’s.
“Such a technique is widely used by malware developers that inject malicious code into applications that have legitimate functionality,” they said.
In China, about three quarters of smartphone users are on the Android system. Apple (AAPL)’s iPhone has 25% market share, according to Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities.
Sergey Toshin, the founder of Oversecured, said Pinduoduo’s malware specifically targeted different Android-based operating systems, including those used by Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo.
CNN has reached out to these companies for comment.
Toshin described Pinduoduo as “the most dangerous malware” ever found among mainstream apps.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s like, super expansive,” he said.
Most phone manufacturers globally customize the core Android software, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), to add unique features and applications to their own devices.
Toshin found Pinduoduo to have exploited about 50 Android system vulnerabilities. Most of the exploits were tailor made for customized parts known as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) code, which tends to be audited less often than AOSP and is therefore more prone to vulnerabilities, he said.
Pinduoduo also exploited a number of AOSP vulnerabilities, including one which was flagged by Toshin to Google in February 2022. Google fixed the bug this March, he said.
I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s like, super expansive.
Sergey Toshin, Android security expert
According to Toshin, the exploits allowed Pinduoduo access to users’ locations, contacts, calendars, notifications and photo albums without their consent. They were also able to change system settings and access users’ social network accounts and chats, he said.
Of the six teams CNN spoke to for this story, three did not conduct full examinations. But their primary reviews showed that Pinduoduo asked for a large number of permissions beyond the normal functions of a shopping app.
They included “potentially invasive permissions” such as “set wallpaper” and “download without notification,” said René Mayrhofer, head of the Institute of Networks and Security at the Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria.
People using their phones on the Beijing subway in July 2022. Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Suspicions about malware in Pinduoduo’s app were first raised in late February in a report by a Chinese cybersecurity firm called Dark Navy. Even though the analysis didn’t directly name the shopping giant, the report spread quickly among other researchers, who did name the company. Some of the analysts followed up with their own reports confirming the original findings.
Soon after, on March 5, Pinduoduo issued a new update of its app, version 6.50.0, which removed the exploits, according to two experts who CNN spoke to.
Two days after the update, Pinduoduo disbanded the team of engineers and product managers who had developed the exploits, according to the Pinduoduo source.
The next day, team members found themselves locked out of Pinduoduo’s bespoke workplace communication app, Knock, and lost access to files on the company’s internal network. Engineers also found their access to big data, data sheets and the log system revoked, the source said.
Most of the team were transferred to work at Temu. They were assigned to different departments at the subsidiary, with some working on marketing or developing push notifications, according to the source.
A core group of about 20 cybersecurity engineers who specialize in finding and exploiting vulnerabilities remain at Pinduoduo, they said.
Toshin of Oversecured, who looked into the update, said although the exploits were removed, the underlying code was still there and could be reactivated to carry out attacks.
Pinduoduo has been able to grow its user base against a backdrop of the Chinese government’s regulatory clampdown on Big Tech that began in late 2020.
That year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a sweeping crackdown on apps that illegally collect and use personal data.
In 2021, Beijing passed its first comprehensive data privacy legislation.
The Personal Information Protection Law stipulates that no party should illegally collect, process or transmit personal information. They’re also banned from exploiting internet-related security vulnerabilities or engaging in actions that endanger cybersecurity.
Pinduoduo’s apparent malware would be a violation of those laws, tech policy experts say, and should have been detected by the regulator.
“This would be embarrassing for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, because this is their job,” said Kendra Schaefer, a tech policy expert at Trivium China, a consultancy. “They’re supposed to check Pinduoduo, and the fact that they didn’t find (anything) is embarrassing for the regulator.”
The ministry has regularly published lists to name and shame apps found to have undermined user privacy or other rights. It also publishes a separate list of apps that are removed from app stores for failing to comply with regulations.
Pinduoduo did not appear on any of the lists.
They’re supposed to check Pinduoduo, and the fact that they didn’t find (anything) is embarrassing for the regulator.
Kendra Schaefer, tech policy expert
CNN has reached out to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Cyberspace Administration of China for comment.
On Chinese social media, some cybersecurity experts questioned why regulators haven’t taken any action.
“Probably none of our regulators can understand coding and programming, nor do they understand technology. You can’t even understand the malicious code when it’s shoved right in front of your face,” a cybersecurity expert with 1.8 million followers wrote last week in a viral post on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform.
The post was censored the next day.
CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout and Sean Lyngaas contributed reporting.
Sursa: CNN
Sursa: CNN
Sursa: CNN
