Category: 3. Business

The internet was in a constant state of frenzy over the past few days as Instagram users received suspicious password change emails; however, the Meta-owned photo and video-sharing platform has denied falling prey to any breaches.

The purported, suspicious-looking password reset emails caused fears of a big-scale hack.

Directly addressing the situation on Sunday, the company noted that the influx of emails was a technical glitch, not a cyberattack.

Was Instagram users’ data really stolen?

This official denial is in direct contradiction with earlier reports, as antivirus software company Malwarebytes on January 9 shared a concerning update on Bluesky, claiming that cybercriminals successfully stole sensitive information from 17.5 million Instagram accounts.

As per the antivirus company, this compromised data includes usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. The Bluesky post also warned that this data is available for sale on the dark web and is likely to be abused by cybercriminals.

Why instagram sent password reset emails?

Notwithstanding such grave allegations, Instagram, in a post on X, clarified that user data is safe, while admitting that they fixed an issue that allowed an external party to request password reset emails for some people.

The Meta-owned platform did not provide specific details about this external party or the nature of the issue; instead, it simply advised users to disregard the notifications.

Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 2026 — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced the expansion of its transactions, shareholder activism and issues management capabilities with the appointments of Dan Scorpio and Heather Wilson as Senior Managing Directors within the firm’s Strategic Communications segment.

“Guiding a transaction from announcement through close has never been more challenging with complex, intertwined stakeholder risks that pose meaningful threats to successful close and value realization,” said Pat Tucker, Americas Head of M&A and Activism for the Strategic Communications segment at FTI Consulting. “The dedicated, multi-disciplinary M&A team we’ve assembled is unique and enables our clients to understand, anticipate and mitigate risks to capture transaction value. The addition of Heather and Dan, and geographic expansion in the Midwest and West Coast, is an important milestone for our transaction and overall event-driven communications offering that will have an immediate impact for our clients.”

Mr. Scorpio, who is based in Chicago, has more than a decade of experience leading high-profile M&A and reputational engagements for Fortune 500 companies, private equity and family businesses such as T-Mobile, Keurig Dr Pepper, IFF and Pritzker Private Capital, as well as Medline on its 2025 IPO, the largest globally since 2021. In his role, Mr. Scorpio will advise clients on M&A transactions, shareholder activism defense and financial communications issues.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Scorpio was a Managing Director and Head of the M&A and Activism practice at H/Advisors Abernathy, where he provided strategic communications, stakeholder engagement and reputation management counsel to executive leadership teams and boards of directors. He has presented at the Garrett Institute and Corporate Counsel Institute and at industry forums hosted by National Investor Relations Institute, National Association of Corporate Directors and the Society for Corporate Governance.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Scorpio said, “I am thrilled to join FTI Consulting and its rapidly growing M&A and Activism team. FTI Consulting’s differentiated offering is resonating in today’s dynamic marketplace, as clients are demanding experienced counsel, data-driven insights and highly tailored strategic execution through the moments that matter most. As the M&A market gains momentum in an increasingly complex global geopolitical environment, it’s clear to me that the integrated resources of FTI Consulting are best suited to solve companies’ most pressing challenges and partner with clients to achieve their business goals.”

Ms. Wilson, who is based in Los Angeles, has deep expertise in transactions, crisis and issues management. She has worked across a range of industries, including for organizations such as IBM, HP, AbbVie, Mattel, the state of California and Goop, and for venture capital and private equity funds on issues including crisis response, high-profile litigation, transaction communications and investor relations, and public affairs. She is a frequent public speaker on crisis management and special situations.

At FTI Consulting, Ms. Wilson will advise clients around transactions and crisis situations and bolster the firm’s presence on the West Coast. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Ms. Wilson was the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at AccentCare, a national provider of home health services, where she led all communications, crisis and issues management, digital and brand marketing. Earlier in her career, she was a journalist at CBS Marketwatch, Fox News and CNBC.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms. Wilson said, “FTI Consulting has a world-class strategic communications team with deep and broad expertise to handle our clients’ unique needs through any crisis or deal lifecycle. I’m excited to join this integrated team and expand our footprint in the Golden State.”

FTI Consulting’s integrated transaction communications offering supports clients in realizing deal success by delivering investor support and approval, mitigating political risk for regulatory clearance and setting clients up for integration success. The team taps into the firm’s global expertise across corporate reputation, investor relations, public affairs, people and transformation and digital strategy. This work is complemented by FTI Consulting’s broader M&A and Activism services, including merger integration, business transformation, media relations, proxy advisory, investor engagement, ESG strategy and strategic advisory work for chief financial officers.

About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a leading global expert firm for organizations facing crisis and transformation, with more than 8,100 employees located in 32 countries and territories as of September 30, 2025. In certain jurisdictions, FTI Consulting’s services are provided through distinct legal entities that are separately capitalized and independently managed. The Company generated $3.70 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2024. More information can be found at www.fticonsulting.com.

FTI Consulting, Inc. 
555 12^th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
+1.202.312.9100

Investor Contact: Mollie Hawkes
+1.617.747.1791
mollie.hawkes@fticonsulting.com

Media Contact: Sam Ford
+1.617.480.7402
samantha.ford@fticonsulting.com

Source: FTI Consulting, Inc.

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Local housing markets differ

Today, Qatar signed the Pax Silica Declaration, marking a historic milestone in the region’s economic integration.  Together, the United States of America and Qatar affirm a new geopolitical consensus that economic security is national security, and national security is economic security. Qatar’s leadership and commitment to investing in secure energy, advanced technology, and critical minerals supply chains make it an indispensable partner in this effort, placing Qatar in the vanguard of nations that will drive the next stage of global economic growth.

Qatar’s accession to Pax Silica was signed by Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed. The United States and Qatar affirmed their commitment to pursue multilayered partnerships that strengthen supply chain security, address coercive dependencies and single points of failure, and advance the adoption of trusted technology ecosystems. They will explore opportunities to partner on flagship projects across global technology stacks, including connectivity and digital infrastructure, compute and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, logistics, mineral refining and processing, and energy.

Pax Silica is an economic security coalition built for the AI age.  This is the first time countries are organizing around compute, silicon, minerals, and energy as shared strategic assets.

The United States welcomed Qatar as the eighth Pax Silica signatory. They joined signatories from Australia, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Additional signatories are expected to follow.   

Pax Silica is a positive-sum partnership of nations that want to remain competitive and prosperous.

For media inquiries, please submit questions here, and stay updated by following @UnderSecE on X.

For more information, visit Pax Silica.

Read Under Secretary Helberg’s Remarks on the Accession of Qatar to the Pax Silica Declaration

Today, Qatar signed the Pax Silica Declaration, marking a historic milestone in the region’s economic integration.  Together, the United States of America and Qatar affirm a new geopolitical consensus that economic security is national security, and national security is economic security. Qatar’s leadership and commitment to investing in secure energy, advanced technology, and critical minerals supply chains make it an indispensable partner in this effort, placing Qatar in the vanguard of nations that will drive the next stage of global economic growth.

Qatar’s accession to Pax Silica was signed by Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed. The United States and Qatar affirmed their commitment to pursue multilayered partnerships that strengthen supply chain security, address coercive dependencies and single points of failure, and advance the adoption of trusted technology ecosystems. They will explore opportunities to partner on flagship projects across global technology stacks, including connectivity and digital infrastructure, compute and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, logistics, mineral refining and processing, and energy.

Pax Silica is an economic security coalition built for the AI age.  This is the first time countries are organizing around compute, silicon, minerals, and energy as shared strategic assets.

The United States welcomed Qatar as the eighth Pax Silica signatory. They joined signatories from Australia, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Additional signatories are expected to follow.   

Pax Silica is a positive-sum partnership of nations that want to remain competitive and prosperous.

For media inquiries, please submit questions here, and stay updated by following @UnderSecE on X.

For more information, visit Pax Silica.

Expanding access to better data

Together with collaborators including lab member Wesley Ingwersen, who created the U.S. EPA model and led work on it until the agency shuttered it in August 2025, Davis is now working to make a global model freely available and easy to use through an effort called Cornerstone. “The reason companies haven’t been using the global models is they’re not as easy to come by. They are a lot more involved to build, and there hasn’t been an easy, open-source version,” said Davis. 

The group is integrating the former government database with the multi-region model analyzed in the study, which was developed by a private company called Watershed, where Davis chairs the science advisory board and previously served as head of climate science. 

“When available tools neglect international sources of emissions, companies’ sustainability decisions suffer,” said study co-author Michael Steffen, Watershed’s head of climate analytics.

The team aims to release the merged model in late 2026, with ambitions to account for emissions from land-use changes and deforestation in later research and iterations. “If you’re getting soybeans from Iowa, it has a very different footprint than if you’ve cut down some of the Amazon to grow those soybeans,” Davis said.

Scientists from the World Wildlife Fund and CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, co-authored the paper. “These are NGOs that are really interested in minimizing greenwashing and making sure that corporate climate actions are as beneficial as possible,” Davis said. 

Some critics question whether models based on sector-wide averages and spending like those analyzed in the study are the right approach to estimate upstream emissions at all – regardless of whether global or single-region models are used. “I think we could all agree that if you had perfect data about exactly what was going on in your supply chain, you could make even more accurate estimates and leapfrog all of these models,” Davis said. “The reality is, though, that it’s still really difficult to get a lot of that data, and there’s little prospect of getting it without much more stringent regulations than are even on the table.” As a result, he said, there’s value in improving the modeling approach even if the long-term strategy is to get better data. 

Corporations seeking to track and reduce emissions in their supply chains have the potential to make a meaningful difference in global carbon pollution, Davis said. “They are making sizable investments. If those dollars are directed to the right places, it could meaningfully reduce global emissions,” he said.