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Also, present were Mr. Shillingford's two children, Orla and Basil. They were sitting in their dad's car in the shade entertaining themselves. |
I bring them up only because Mr. Shillingford boasted that earlier in the day it was 11-year-old Basil who had mowed the pitch, the 22-yard strip of manicured grass where the bowler delivers the ball and the batsman attempts to hit it. |
"Unlike baseball, the ball is supposed to bounce before it gets to the batsman," Mr. Shillingford explained. "A bumpy pitch is dangerous." |
The bowler's art, as I understand it, is to deliver the ball with all the unpredictability that a baseball pitcher musters with the curve, fastball, knuckler, slider, etc. |
His assignment is probably even more of a challenge since it's supposed to hit the dirt, or rather the grass, before rising to the batter. Hence, you want as true a bounce as possible. |
"The town has a heavy roller," to produce as smooth and professional a pitch as possible, Mr. Shillingford explained. Unfortunately, it had yet to be deployed. Which didn't come as good news. |
When the University of Birmingham upgraded its core network a few years ago, it set in course a train of events that would lead to it becoming one of the UK's largest - and yet secure - campus wireless LANs. |
The university now provides its 30,000 students and 6000 staff with both wired and wireless network access. It also provides wireless access to visitors and guests, and by the end of this year expects to have complete coverage over three sites, from offices and laboratories, through student bedrooms, and right across t... |
The process began back in 2003, when the university put out a public tender for a new core network, says head of networks John Turnbull. |
Its existing backbone used 3Com kit on an FDDI ring, and had grown to the point where the inter-switch links between the four core switches each comprised eight aggregated Gigabit connections. The IT services group realised that upgrading to 10G trunks would not only improve performance, but would also free up cross-ca... |
"We had to go to EU procurement because the project was £6 million in tin, and another £6 million in fibre," Turnbull says. "The usual candidates bid for it, we produced a shortlist and asked for demo kit to put through serious testing." |
Three companies obliged - Foundry, Extreme and Cisco, he adds. "Foundry had just released its Jetcore architecture [which became the FastIron range] and came out on top in performance, closely followed by Extreme. On ease of management it was the same, with Cisco way behind because it had three different operating syst... |
But where evaluation turned into revelation was when the university IT team discovered flow monitoring: "We took a [Foundry] 4802 stackable and plugged it into our main network, and all of a sudden we could see what was going on - it was like we'd been blind before," Turnbull recalls. "We saw a lot of viruses, student ... |
So one of the things that sealed the decision to build the new core around Foundry's FastIron switches was that Foundry had sFlow monitoring every port, yet with no discernable performance impact on the switch, while at that point Cisco had not yet built NetFlow into its ASICs, so flow monitoring on the Cisco switches ... |
The medical board formed to check on BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s ailments have not submitted its report yet, Dr Md Shah Alam of Dhaka Medical College Hospital said. |
Dr Alam added that the reports of medical tests will be handed directly to the jail authorities as Khaleda was not a patient admitted at DMCH. “You can collect the information from them,” he told reporters. |
The medical board was formed on Saturday amid concerns of BNP that its chief Khaleda was physically vulnerable behind bars. |
Prof Shamsuzzaman, head of orthopaedics at DMCH, is leading the board. Dr Monsur Habib (neurology), Titu Mia (medicine) and Soheli Rahman (physical medicine) are other members. |
“She is under treatment and taking the necessary medicine. We added some new medicine and suggested new tests after checking her today,” Prof Shamsuzzaman had told bdnews24.com on Sunday. |
The 73-year-old former prime minister has ailments related to heart, eyes and knees; she need to take prescribed medicines regularly, her personal physicians had said. |
The medical board will submit its report and recommendations to the jail authorities on Monday, according to Brig Gen AKM Nasir Uddin, director at DMCH. |
Uddin was due to brief the media on Khaleda’s health on Monday. Dr Shah Alam filled in instead of Nasir Uddin at the briefing, which began a half hour late. |
A special trial court ordered a five-year jail sentence for Khaleda on Feb 8 after finding her guilty in a graft case involving Zia Orphanage Trust. Since then, the BNP chairperson has been behind bars in Old Dhaka. |
A High Court order granting bail to her for four months was stayed by the Appellate Division on petitions by the state and the Anti-Corruption Commission, the plaintiff of the case. |
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was due to meet Khaleda on Mar 29 but the meeting was cancelled after Khaleda fell ill in jail, according to the BNP. |
Citing concern over the health of Khaleda Zia, the BNP demanded her unconditional release from jail. |
“We are anxious over her health. We urge the government to release her immediately so that we can arrange necessary medical tests and treatments by her personal physicians,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a media briefing in Dhaka on Friday. |
The jail authorities are yet to make any comment on Khaleda’s illness to reporters. |
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader told reporters on Saturday that the BNP chief’s condition has been unchanged. |
CargoX launched the CargoX platform on Wednesday saying it is the first open, neutral and accessible blockchain platform in the shipping industry. |
The platform offers a decentralized and secure environment for sending digital documentation by means of a public blockchain network and can be used by shipping, freight forwarding, non-vessel operating common carriers, exporting and importing companies and forwarder alliances and networks globally. |
The platform is based on the CargoX’s Blockchain Document Transaction System (BDTS) which includes the ability to create, transfer and state undoubted ownership of information or documentation. This includes the master bill of lading, house bill of lading, telex and express releases, switch bill of lading, sea waybills... |
The system stores documents and data securely encrypted on a public globally accessible blockchain network, so companies don’t have to implement any new infrastructure. The platform can be used by businesses of any size, even if they just need to send one Bill of Lading per day, or if their daily process includes hundr... |
The platform is already being implemented by Swiss global logistics specialist Fracht AG, Sprint International Express, the full service and third party logistics provider, freight forwarder networks and platforms such as Globalink, Global Value Network, Ocean X and Freightalia, tech consultancy companies such as DBA G... |
“Blockchain platforms shouldn't be treated and used as self-contained systems even if they do serve a particular purpose and solve a particular problem. In order to get as much as possible from these technologies, we need to build modular systems that efficiently solve problems - and then use these solutions to constru... |
CargoX confirms blockchain-based letters of credit and trade finance solutions will be added to the system soon. |
The news follows on from other industry blockchain developments. Earlier this month, nine ocean carriers and terminal operators signed an MOU to form a consortium to develop the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), an open digital platform based on distributed ledger technology. |
The participants include ocean carriers CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines, Evergreen Marine, OOCL, and Yang Ming; terminal operators DP World, Hutchison Ports, PSA International and Shanghai International Port; and software company CargoSmart. The new platform will connect all stakeholders, including carriers, terminal ope... |
CargoSmart initiated the formation of the blockchain consortium, and will employ big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and blockchain technologies to develop the system. The first planned application will allow shippers to digitize and organize their dangerous goods documents and automatically... |
In August, A.P. Moller - Maersk and IBM introduced their global blockchain solution TradeLens, with 94 organizations already participating. The companies announced their joint venture in January this year after collaborating on the concept since 2016. Early adopters include more than 20 port and terminal operators acro... |
After Trump's victory in 2016, Franklin Haney donated $1 million to inaugural fund. |
A Tennessee real-estate developer who owns the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant site in Alabama reportedly sought help from President Donald Trump’s embattled former personal attorney to get a $5 billion federal loan to complete construction of the nuclear power project. |
Franklin Haney, a major donor to President Trump, agreed to pay $10 million to Michael Cohen, Trump’s then-personal attorney, if Cohen successfully helped obtain funding for the plant site, including a huge loan from the Department of Energy (DOE), the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. |
The business tycoon, from Chattanooga, Tennessee, reportedly reached the agreement with Cohen just days before federal agents raided Cohen’s home, office, and hotel room. After the president’s victory in 2016, Haney donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, even though he had previously been a long-time donor to th... |
The Journal also reported that Haney agreed to pay Cohen a monthly retainer. The loan application submitted by Haney’s company, Nuclear Development LLC, is still pending at DOE. |
Cohen is under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in New York for his business dealings, as well as for a $130,000 hush-money payment he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels right before the 2016 presidential election. |
The Journal said it was not able to determine how much Haney ultimately paid Cohen, if at all. But sources told the Journal that Cohen’s fee, if he had been able to secure the loan, would have been among the largest of his known consulting deals. |
A lawyer for Haney told the Journal that neither Haney nor Nuclear Development entered into a contract with Cohen for lobbying services related to the Bellefonte project. |
In 2016, Nuclear Development entered into a contract to purchase the partially completed Bellefonte Nuclear Plant from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at auction for $111 million and invest up to an additional $13 billion to complete construction of the nuclear energy facility. |
At the time of the auction, Haney put up $22 million as an initial down payment on Bellefonte. Haney has until this November to close his $111 million purchase of the twin-reactor plant. |
In the mid 1970s, TVA began construction of the two Bellefonte nuclear units. Work on the project was suspended in 1988. TVA sought to restart work on one of the reactors in 2011, but by 2014, the utility was ready to discontinue the project again. |
The site includes two partially constructed nuclear reactors, which are 55-percent completed, two high-voltage switchyards, reinforced containment buildings, and used fuel storage pools and high capacity cranes for fuel loading. |
Coal company didn't want to pay for cleanup of site. |
To help finance the projected $13 billion cost of finishing the nuclear project, Haney worked with Republican members of Congress, including Reps. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and Mo Brooks (R-AL), to get DOE to approve the $5 billion of federal loan guarantee for the Bellefonte project. |
In May, Brooks, Fleishmann, and three other Alabama members of Congress sent a letter to the Trump administration urging it to “give this project proper attention and assist in completing the review” of the DOE loan application. |
A month earlier, Haney reportedly met with Cohen to help pitch to the Qatari sovereign wealth fund Haney’s plan to complete the Bellefonte plant. The Wall Street Journal reported that Haney met with Cohen on his yacht in Florida on April 5. The two also reportedly met the vice chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority... |
According to the Journal, federal authorities are investigating whether Cohen engaged in unregistered lobbying in connection with his consulting work for corporate clients after Trump entered the White House. It is unclear if the deal with Haney’s Nuclear Development LLC is part of the investigation into Cohen’s consul... |
The number of young Americans with at least $100,000 in savings has doubled since 2015, according to a new Bank of America survey. |
Millennials are pushing back against the stereotype that their money management skills are lacking, as 16% now have savings of $100,000 or more, double the amount of young people who had socked away that much in 2015, according to a new Bank of America survey. |
The perception that Millennials — Americans between the ages of 23 and 37 — lack savvy when it comes to saving for retirement, budgeting and setting up and sticking to a financial plan is showing signs of being outdated, noted the survey, made available exclusively to USA TODAY. |
Despite many of these young Americans coming of age a decade ago during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and despite being saddled with high student loan debt, Millennials appear to be getting their financial lives in order and taking money matters more seriously. |
Sixteen percent say they have $100,000 or more in savings, up from 8% in 2015. And nearly half (47%) have $15,000 socked away, up from 33% in 2015. |
"Despite stereotypes of Millennials as being foolish with money and not long-term planners," they are actually behaving "quite responsibly" when it comes to money, says Andrew Plepler, global head of environmental, social and governance at Bank of America, summarizing the findings of the bank's 2018 Better Money Habits... |
About two of three (63%) of Millennials surveyed say they "are saving," which is in line with 64% of Generation X but shy of 75% of Baby Boomers who set money aside. |
More importantly, 54% of Millennials say they have a budget, with nearly three of four (73%) saying they stick to the budget each month. And another 57% say they have a "savings goal," which is higher than the 42% of Gen Xers and Boomers who say they are saving with a goal in mind. |
Those better habits are translating into more sizable account balances — and more financial security. |
About 60% say they "feel financially secure." |
"Their financial habits have become more disciplined," Plepler says. "They've built it into their lifestyles." |
Aside from saving for an emergency, which 64% said was a "top priority," half (49%) said saving for retirement and a third (33%) said saving to buy a house were their top savings goals. |
Other key findings of BofA's Millennial survey, however, suggest this young generation still suffers from money-related angst and that there's still room for improvement in their cash-management skills. |
* Not saving enough (35%). |
* My career path (24%). |
* Not planning and saving for retirement (21%). |
* Not being able to afford a home (20%). |
* Student loans; spending more than I should; credit-card debt; not having enough to invest; losing my job (17% for all). |
One potential challenge for Millennials saving for retirement is the fact that one in four (26%) say they work in the "gig economy," or take on short-term contract work or freelance work. That means they likely don't have access to an employer-sponsored retirement account, such as a 401(k), and, as a result, they have ... |
"These gig workers have to be more intentional about their saving," Plepler says. "The findings of our survey are encouraging, however. Millennials are taking much more proactive steps around saving. But this is an issue we have to monitor." |
Mayors, Companies Vow To Act On Climate, Even As U.S. Leaves Paris Accord : The Two-Way President Trump has announced he will withdraw the U.S. from the global agreement to fight climate change. But more than 1,200 mayors, governors and business leaders say they're still on board. |
Connecticut residents at a rally for the environment against President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. Connecticut is one of twelve states and Puerto Rico that formed the U.S. Climate Alliance, all committing to uphold the Paris Accord. |
Days after President Trump announced that he would be pulling the U.S. out of a global agreement to fight climate change, more than 1,200 business leaders, mayors, governors and college presidents have signaled their personal commitment to the goal of reducing emissions. |
In an open letter, the signatories vow to "continue to support climate action to meet the Paris Agreement," even "in the absence of leadership from Washington." |
Since Trump's announcement, many mayors and governors have been stepping forth to declare their continued commitment to fighting climate change. Twelve states and Puerto Rico have formed the U.S. Climate Alliance, all committing to uphold the Paris Accord. Leaders of 211 cities have declared themselves "Climate Mayors"... |
The new open letter features many of those mayors and governors, as well as more than 170 college and university presidents and hundreds of businesses, investment groups and other organizations. |
The corporations include tech giants, like Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, as well as businesses from a wide range of industries — including Target, Timberland, Campbell Soup, Burton Snowboards, breweries and health companies. |
"In the U.S., it is local and state governments, along with businesses, that are primarily responsible for the dramatic decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in recent years," the letter reads. "Actions by each group will multiply and accelerate in the years ahead, no matter what policies Washington may adopt." |
The letter is called "We Are Still In" — as in, still in the Paris Accord. |
Only two nations, Nicaragua and Syria, have never signed on to the global agreement to fight climate change, and the U.S. is the only country to declare it will leave the pact. The departure couldn't officially go into effect until November 2020, but Trump said he would cease implementation efforts immediately. |
So What Exactly Is In The Paris Climate Accord? |
The Paris Accord defines shared goals: most significantly, a global goal of allowing the world to warm by less than 2 degrees Celsius (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Each country also sets voluntary targets for reducing its carbon emissions. |
But the agreement leaves it up to each nation how exactly to meet that goal. So abiding by the Paris Accord isn't a matter of following specific rules or regulations — just about contributing, in one way or another, to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. |
The signatories to "We Are Still In" say they are "delivering concrete emissions reductions that will help meet America's emissions pledge under the Paris Agreement." |
The letter was coordinated by a group of organizations including "The B Team," co-founded by Virgin's Richard Branson, and Michael Bloomberg's Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has already promised $15 million to fund climate change efforts at the U.N. |
But now we turn to the other breaking story overnight an explosive new round of tough talk between president trump and Iran now first up Iran's president made a brazen threat about war on Sunday. And the president trump hit back overnight for the fiery warning of his own putting Iran on notice. To never threatened the ... |
President Donald Trump is warning that if Iran restarts its nuclear program it "will have bigger problems than they have ever had before." |
Junior telco Vocus has confirmed it will build a submarine cable linking Singapore and Australia, with a stop in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. |
The Australia-Singapore Cable will have capacity up to 40Tbps and will make landfall in Perth. |
The cable's been on the drawing board for some time but Vocus today told the Australian Stock Exchange it's signed Alcatel Submarine Networks to do the deed, with construction expected to conclude in August 2018. The announcement (PDF) says Vocus chose today to reveal the news because its acquisition of NexGen networks... |
Vocus says it will write cheques for US$170m to get the job done, initially using cash from the bottom drawer and later by finding new lenders. |
The Indonesia arm of the project is important because Vocus has done a deal with local telco XL Axiata Tbk to hook into its 21,000km fibre network across the archipelago. Indonesia's population is at least 220m, growing fast and is buying mobile devices at quite a clip. A link to Singapore, which houses plenty of data ... |
Vocus is also hopeful the new cable will be rather faster than other routes when Australians go looking for data from Asian sources. |
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