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Texas cotton drops in condition after hail, extreme heat damages crop
Cotton conditions in Texas have declined slightly over the last few weeks after severe storms brought hail and extreme temperatures have damaged some crops, though expectations for this year's production are still improved from last year.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's most recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, published July 12, forecast 11.09 million planted acres for the nation. Experts with Plains Cotton Growers believe that number is exaggerated, though they stress that no one is fully certain about what to expect for this year's cotton crop.
Earlier this month, John Robinson, a Texas AgriLife Extension cotton economist in Bryan-College Station, said the 2023 cotton season is the most uncertain he has ever analyzed, and while echoing a similar statement, Shawn Wade, Director of Policy Analysis and Researchers for Plains Cotton Growers, said he's hopeful for a more prosperous year than last but also recognizes there are far fewer plants going into the season than last year.
Two months ago, in the May 28 survey of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistic Services, 79% of Texas' cotton crop was in fair or better condition, while one month ago, in the June 25 survey, that number dropped to 70% while the region still received consistent rain. In the most recent survey on the dashboard, published July 23, about 60% of the state's crop was in fair or better condition: 3% excellent, 21% good, 36% fair, 26% poor and 14% very poor.
For the last six weeks, triple-digit temperatures have lingered over the region, bringing all-time record high temperatures to some places, including San Angelo, which set an all-time high of 114 degrees in late June. | https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/business/2023/07/31/texas-cotton-drops-in-condition-after-hail-extreme-heat-damages-crops/70476268007/ | 2023-07-31T08:43:32 | 0 | https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/business/2023/07/31/texas-cotton-drops-in-condition-after-hail-extreme-heat-damages-crops/70476268007/ |
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan's Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T08:45:14 | 1 | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan's Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kbia.org/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T08:45:40 | 0 | https://www.kbia.org/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
Woman who died during hiking trip remembered for adventurous, selfless spirit
LAS VEGAS (FOX5/Gray News) - Thirty-four-year-old Jessica Rosalie Rhodes was one of two women found dead in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park after going missing from a hiking trip on July 22.
The temperature in the park that day reached a high of approximately 113 degrees.
“It could’ve happened to any of us, doesn’t matter how good of shape you’re in, how prepared you are,” said Julie Johnston, Jessica Rhodes’ friend and owner of Camp Rhino, where she regularly exercised. “Nobody really knows what actually happened, but nobody could’ve been in better shape or more prepared to do something like that.”
Jessica Rhodes and 29-year-old Diana Matienzo Rivera were found separated, one on the trails and the other in a canyon. They were first reported missing by another group of hikers.
Her mother, Josephine Rhodes, said she believes her daughter was trying to help her friend.
“They were trying to get back, but they just didn’t make it and she didn’t want to leave her friend down there, so she tried to help her friend,” Josephine Rhodes said. “And that’s just the type of child she is.”
Family remembered Jessica Rhodes for her strength, smile and selflessness.
“Jessica, as a child, everybody is going to tell you, was always smiling. I don’t care what it is, she was always smiling,” Jessica Rhodes’ mother said.
Jessica Rhodes was a certified nursing assistant at Summerlin Hospital and in school to become a nurse. She was also a fitness enthusiast who competed and won often.
She even won a medal for her work as a first responder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Taking care of people, that’s what she loved to do,” Hannah Ariolae, Jessica Rhodes’ sister, said. “Her patients and stuff, she’d go above and beyond for them.”
Rhodes’ siblings, mother and her fitness family in Las Vegas are now remembering her for her adventurous spirit, and they want to encourage others to embrace the joys of life like she did.
“She just loved life. So when she went on the trail there, that’s what she liked to do,” Josephine Rhodes said.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/2023/07/31/woman-who-died-during-hiking-trip-remembered-adventurous-selfless-spirit/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:20 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/2023/07/31/woman-who-died-during-hiking-trip-remembered-adventurous-selfless-spirit/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Empowerment" is the core competence of PE/VC institutions after investment. Asia Green Fund (AGF) has always adhered to the investment strategy of "pursuing both financial returns and environmental benefits", focused on the logic of "technology empowerment", grasped the development trend of SRDI industries, and promoted technological innovation to empower industrial convergence and innovative development. AGF continues to practice the "sustainable investment strategy" and has now formed an industrial ecosystem with deep linkage among the capital side (LPs), investment side (AGF), and industry side (science and technology enterprises), which realized the bidirectional empowerment between capital and industry.
AGF adheres to the principle of "30% investment and 70% management" and provides all-round services for portfolios in accordance with the investment and post-investment management mechanism of international head PE funds. AGF emphasizes proactive and personalized post-investment management, builds a unique team of customized services and post-investment supporting experts, provides "adaptive" solutions to various problems and demands of portfolios, and passes them the management methodology.
AGF has appended a professional marketing consultant department in the post-investment side, which is under the responsibility of Nison Yao, the new Operating Director. Mr. Yao has been deeply involved in the manufacturing industry since his employment. He has been in important positions in Marketing of local and multinational companies and delivered great results. He has rich practical experience in strategic positioning, marketing, and operation of enterprises. AGF helps portfolios to build specific clear business paths and market expansion plans, integrate green ecosystem resources for precise docking, and create sustainable value.
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SOURCE Asia Green Fund | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:26 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture and art can bring minds and the world together. With this in mind, the second episode of season three of the China Daily series Youth Power, "Unlocking the power of art: How cultural exchanges can connect the world," was broadcast online on July 30.
Gen Zers from China, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Thailand gathered at the Dalian campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and discussed how artistic beauty can bring the world together and how to face the challenges that artificial intelligence present to art.
What is the essence of beauty? What unique influence does Chinese art have on Gen Zers? What spiritual pursuits are reflected in Chinese art and aesthetics?
In this episode of Youth Power, each Gen Z guest brought an art piece that they believed would best represent the Chinese concept of art and beauty. In doing so they gained a deeper understanding of Chinese aesthetics, philosophy and culture.
Giacomo Bruni, an Italian studying at the China Academy of Art in Beijing, said brushes are the most important tools in expressing Chinese culture because they are central to calligraphy, writing poetry and painting.
"Like the hardness of the handle and the softness of the hair, the brush encapsulates the idea of yin and Yang," Bruni said. The brush not only encapsulates the creativity of the world, but also epitomizes the profound ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, he said.
Song De'ao, a Chinese Gen Zer, chose the official mascots for Chinese winter sports designed by a team at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts as his ideal representation of Chinese aesthetics.
Song, a member of the design team, recalled the inspiration for the mascot Xue Wa, which wears tiger-head hats, tiger-head shoes, and cloud patterns and longevity locks on the clothing. "The mascots reflect the lively and cheerful aesthetics in modern China," Song said.
Jiratchaya Phinyoworakul, a Thai studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, highlighted two features that distinguish Chinese artworks from those of other countries and cultures: cultural extensiveness and profoundness as well as a philosophy centering on harmony between humankind and nature.
The program host, Zhong Yutong, said it is through exchanges that Chinese arts increase in vibrancy and vitality.
"Chinese arts have so much to offer. And we've had wonderful exchanges with different arts and civilizations across the world."
Bruni said art Chinese art is all-encompassing, perfectly merging all types of art. He cited Chinese literati paintings, a kind of painting that expresses feelings and aspirations through natural scenery, as an example, illustrating that "they unify the intellectual world and the practical art world, which is something that is missing in Western countries".
Program guests said there is no absolute definition of art and no universally recognized standard of beauty. Lian Liia, a student from Russia, said "the standard of art is changing in the art history, but there is one thing that has never changed, namely people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty".
Phinyoworakul said art is tantamount to comfort. "Even little things can be art. A smile on your face, a flower, sunshine, everything can be art. Art is in our everyday life."
Concerning the combination and contradiction of traditional art and fast-developing AI art creation, Bruni said artists screen information like filters of society. They find beauty and create art, but do not mechanically record and present everything around them. However, this is not true of AI, because it cannot grasp the concept of beauty.
Sun Yuxin of China said AI could positively influence the development of art. "AI saves a lot of time for artists, and it helps them with a lot of basic work."
Gen Zers have also contributed their wisdom in helping the world appreciate the beauty of Chinese art. Promoting Chinese aesthetics through social media could help people understand it more directly, Phinyoworakul said.
Lian Liia, a student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University in Beijing, said, "We can promote Chinese culture as a lifestyle. For example, doing calligraphy or drinking tea to experience Chinese culture in our daily life."
Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.
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SOURCE China Daily | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:32 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households.
Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation.
A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:39 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ |
HANZHONG, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanzhong in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on his way back to Beijing on Saturday. During his visit to the municipal museum, Xi emphasized making good use of museums. He also called for efforts to expand the influence of Chinese culture.
"I was in Hanzhong in 2008 after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake to oversee the relief work. Hanzhong has always been in my heart over the years," Xi told local residents. Xi said he was delighted to see huge changes of the city since then.
With an exhibition area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the Hanzhong Museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province is not the grandest museum in China, but it is a historical telescope allowing visitors to have a retrospective view of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) history dating back to as far as 2,000 years ago.
Unlike many other museums across the country built to house more recent historical relics, the Hanzhong Museum itself embodies the history that encompasses three heritage sites with the ancient Hantai (Lit: Han palace), once the royal residence of the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, at its core.
Heritage sites-turned museum
Including the ruin of ancient Hantai, a notable feature of the Hanzhong Museum was it built in 1985 consisting of two other Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) heritage sites, the Baijiang altar and the "Yin Ma Chi," a pool facility common in ancient times for accommodating horses.
Visitors are first greeted by the ancient Hantai once they enter the museum, which is seven meters high. The millennium-old architecture was constructed using typical man-made rammed earth and its design characters show architectural aesthetics prominent in China's Qin (221BC-206BC), Han and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties.
Liao Shuguang, an architectural expert of ancient Chinese buildings, told the Global Times that the ancient Hantai's functions would change "according to history's change." It was once home to Liu Bang, but was later renovated in the Southern Song Dynasty to become a backyard garden with a gazebo on the building's roof.
Although the ancient Hantai changed roles, its historical importance remained unchanged as it witnessed Liu's founding of the Han Dynasty, one of the powerful dynasties in the Chinese history to have "unified yet diverse" cultural and political beliefs, historian Tao Zhongjun, told the Global Times.
"Including the belief of a 'unified country,' the Han Dynasty left behind a diverse legacy including the governing Confucius mindset and Silk Road exchanges with the western region of Asia and the world. They continue to inspire us today," Tao noted.
Aside from the ancient Hantai, the Baijiang altar, another major element of the museum, was built in 206BC. It was where the then governor Liu Bang would praise the talent and wisdom of his loyal officer Han Xin.
Museum expert Li Zhiming told the Global Times that such heritage sites turned cultural spaces are "living proof of Chinese history," and a good way of making use of the museum is to "properly maintain it while enriching its collection that possesses local cultural characters."
The art of Shudao
Hanzhong was a major stop along the ancient road system Shudao that connected China's Guanzhong Plain with the Chengdu Plain.
The Baoxie plank road, an ancient mountain road that traversed the Qinling Mountain, was also located in Hanzhong and brought an abundant supply of Shudao cultural artifacts.
Inside the Hanzhong Museum, there is a gallery dedicated to the ancient plank road. Shi Men Shi San Pin, also known as the 13 cliff stone carvings of the Shi Men, are a part of the museum's collection.
As an important section of the Shudao, Shi Men was a tunnel at the southern end of the Baoxie plank road. The walls of the tunnel as well as the cliffs of the Baoxie river, were carved with numerous historical inscriptions among which the 13 pieces collected by the museum were the "rarest of the rare," relic expert Xiang Zhengming told the Global Times.
Amongst the 13 carving pieces, the Shi Men Song (Lit: the Eulogy of Shi Men) is a highlight. It embodies the aesthetic essence of Han Dynasty's clerical script calligraphic style. In 1936, China's large-scale encyclopedia Cihai (lit: the sea of the words) took the two Chinese characters for "sea" and "word" discovered from the carving stones to be used on the cover.
"The collection at the Hanzhong Museum holds value in which one can look into China's calligraphic art and can be useful to historians in understanding the then social and cultural scenes," Xiang told the Global Times.
Some other carved pieces have also revealed the secrets of Han Dynasty's water project construction.
Including the 13 treasures, the Hanzhong Museum holds over 5,000 pieces of cultural artifacts that tell the changing cultural history of the city and the nation.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:45 | 1 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ |
The Vehicle, Merchandise and Accessories Collaboration is part of Gogoro and MUJI's Joint "Recycling for Good" Sustainability Initiative that Enables the Public to Recycle Polypropylene Plastic (PP) Waste for use in the new Gogoro MUJI Smartscooters.
TAIPEI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced a collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and MUJI, the Tokyo-based consumer goods and lifestyle company. The newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME along with a range of merchandise and accessories were launched today at a press event in Taipei.
Created by Gogoro and MUJI, the Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME offer simplified Smartscooter designs that utilize recycled polypropylene (PP) body elements. Personally curated by Fukasawa, the Smartscooters adopt the classic MUJI design elements, unique rustic color palette and simple color tone philosophy to create a new urban mobility experience that is simple and comfortable yet unique.
"The most important thing in design is that it must always uphold the spirit of integrity towards people, the environment and life," said Naoto Fukasawa, world-renowned designer, author, educator and MUJI's advisory board member. "Both Gogoro and MUJI are quite popular brands, and it is very natural for them to cooperate in this way. It's not just one plus one equals two. Instead, let one plus one see a greater value."
Gogoro pioneered the mass market manufacturing of recyclable polypropylene plastics for vehicle body panels in 2019 with the Gogoro 3 Smartscooter and then across its full range of Gogoro Viva Smartscooters including Gogoro VIVA, Gogoro VIVA MIX and Gogoro VIVA XL. This innovative manufacturing process led to Gogoro's collaboration with MUJI.
"Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories," said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. "This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint 'Recycling for Good' initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters."
Recycling for Good - A Joint Sustainability Initiative
Gogoro and MUJI share a vision for sustainability and a core philosophy of giving back to the Earth. In response to this year's World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the companies joined together on June 5, 2023 to launch the "Recycling for Good" initiative in Taiwan. "Recycling for Good" encourages people in Taiwan to participate in recycling PP (polypropylene) plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.
Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI's PP storage series.
"MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro's commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI's business philosophy," said Akihiro Yoshida, general manager of MUJI Taiwan. "MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth."
Gogoro Sustainability
Today, more than 2.5 million Gogoro users have reduced carbon emissions by more than 680 million kilograms, and 100% recyclable polypropylene PP (Polypropylene) is used as the Smartscooter shell material to promote resource regeneration and friendly recycling. In addition, Gogoro has introduced 40% renewable energy in factories since 2022, and 100% use of green electricity in designated Gogoro stores, gradually moving towards the goal of fully using renewable energy by 2050.
Naoto Fukasawa / Product Designer
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University's Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. Fukasawa established and headed up IDEO's Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and founded NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN. For more information on Naoto Fukasawa, visit https://naotofukasawa.com.
About MUJI
Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as "no-brand quality goods." MUJI was founded in Japan in 1980 and now has more than 800 stores around the world, carrying more than 7,000 items. With the goal of making people's daily life pleasant, MUJI is globally recognized for its high-quality products that are functional, well designed and reasonably priced. Find us online at www.MUJI.com or Instagram: @muji_global and Twitter: @muji_net.
About MUJI Taiwan
MUJI Taiwan has been operating in Taiwan since 2004, and it has been nearly 20 years. MUJI Taiwan has always been committed to connecting with Taiwan and producing local products in Taiwan, hoping to provide customers with a good life. Find us online at www.muji.com/tw/zh_tw/store, Instagram: @muji_taiwan or Facebook: www.facebook.com/muji.tw.
About Gogoro
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles", Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and safety. The challenge is massive, but the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards, and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in densely populated cities is even greater. For more information, visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on Twitter: @wearegogoro.
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SOURCE Gogoro | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:52 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 3:45 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wflx.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T08:46:58 | 0 | https://www.wflx.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
SANDRA HART MEADE, 80, of Ashland, mother of Dr. Jeffrey L. Meade, Robin Senters and Rebecca Musser, all of Ashland, died July 28 at the Lantern at Morning Pointe. Funeral service will be at 3 p.m. July 31 at Steen Funeral Home Central Avenue Chapel. Entombment will follow in Ashland Cemetery Mausoleum. Visitation will be two hours before service Monday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers donations are suggested to the Alzheimer's Association.
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BEVERLY ANN HART, 76, of Chesapeake, Ohio, wife of Paul Hart, died July 25 in St. Mary's Medical Center. Funeral service will be 2 p.m. Aug. 6 at Schneider-Hall Funeral Home, Chesapeake. Burial following in Rome Cemetery, Proctorville, Ohio. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 5 at the funeral home. www.schneiderhallfuneralhome.com.
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- Photos: 2023 Cabell County Fair Parade
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- Photos: Local high school football teams help out at Facing Hunger Foodbank
- Photos: Dalton Tucker Football Camp
- Photos: Recreation Wagon Wednesday
- Photos: "Escape Sid's Toy Room!" at Chesapeake Library | https://www.herald-dispatch.com/obituaries/oh/beverly-ann-hart/article_f9c47c4b-6a10-538c-9854-62b6385c90f9.html | 2023-07-31T08:47:13 | 0 | https://www.herald-dispatch.com/obituaries/oh/beverly-ann-hart/article_f9c47c4b-6a10-538c-9854-62b6385c90f9.html |
ANN GIOVANNA "GEE" DEVENY, 95, of Huntington, W.Va., passed away July 26, 2023, at the Woodlands Retirement Community. She was born July 19, 1928, in Fairmont, W.Va., a daughter of the late Jack Pirozzolo and Mary Dolores Yanero. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, James Edwin Deveny Jr., three sons: Jack, Chris and Paul Deveny; three sisters: Bethea Basille, Jacqueline Rowand and Rose Marie Martin. When the youngest of her nine children entered elementary school Gee headed for college and earned an undergraduate and graduate degree from Marshall University, then taught social studies at Enslow Junior High and continued teaching in the Sarasota County School System in Englewood, Florida. She was politically active in the League of Women Voters, Cabell County Community Action, Parent Child Center Mobile Dental Clinics, School Readiness Programs, and Retired Educators Association. Gee was a generous soul and remained involved in the education of children and people in need. She is survived by six children, Mary Alice Deveny, Laura Ann Deveny, Joseph Patrick Deveny, James Michael "Mickey" Deveny, Joan Marie LaBadie, and Charles Brooks Deveny; six loving grandchildren, Robert Beau Harrison, Emily Laine Harrison, Nicholas LaBadie, Andrew LaBadie, Joseph Tyler Deveny, Casey Deveny (fiancé Brandon Davis) and three great-grandchildren, Hollie and Johnny Dotson, and Elijah Joseph Deveny. A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to a charity of one's choice. Klingel-Carpenter Mortuary is in charge of arrangements. Family guestbook at www.klingelcarepenter.com.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
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AGNES GIVENS McCASKEY, 103, of Huntington, died July 21 in the Woodlands Retirement Communit…
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CLAUDIA JILL EDMONDS, 85, of Huntington, widow of Thomas Edward Edmonds, died July 24 in Ashland Community Hospice Care Center. She was owner of The Cherry Tree Quilt Shop. There will be a celebration of life from 4 to 7 p.m. July 31 at the Village House Venue, 667 Central Ave., Barboursville. Hall Funeral Home and Crematory, Proctorville, Ohio is assisting with arrangements. www.ehallfuneralhome.com.
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- SBC football media days: Herd's quiet leaders take center stage
- Lost Huntington: Falls City
- Herd's Ali says road to recovery was a blessing
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- Andrew Benjamin Richards
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- Photos: End of summer pool party at the Kennedy Center
- Photos: HPD hires six probationary police officers
- Photos: GHPRD Zoo Camp
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- Photos: Local high school football teams help out at Facing Hunger Foodbank
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Woman who died during hiking trip remembered for adventurous, selfless spirit
LAS VEGAS (FOX5/Gray News) - Thirty-four-year-old Jessica Rosalie Rhodes was one of two women found dead in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park after going missing from a hiking trip on July 22.
The temperature in the park that day reached a high of approximately 113 degrees.
“It could’ve happened to any of us, doesn’t matter how good of shape you’re in, how prepared you are,” said Julie Johnston, Jessica Rhodes’ friend and owner of Camp Rhino, where she regularly exercised. “Nobody really knows what actually happened, but nobody could’ve been in better shape or more prepared to do something like that.”
Jessica Rhodes and 29-year-old Diana Matienzo Rivera were found separated, one on the trails and the other in a canyon. They were first reported missing by another group of hikers.
Her mother, Josephine Rhodes, said she believes her daughter was trying to help her friend.
“They were trying to get back, but they just didn’t make it and she didn’t want to leave her friend down there, so she tried to help her friend,” Josephine Rhodes said. “And that’s just the type of child she is.”
Family remembered Jessica Rhodes for her strength, smile and selflessness.
“Jessica, as a child, everybody is going to tell you, was always smiling. I don’t care what it is, she was always smiling,” Jessica Rhodes’ mother said.
Jessica Rhodes was a certified nursing assistant at Summerlin Hospital and in school to become a nurse. She was also a fitness enthusiast who competed and won often.
She even won a medal for her work as a first responder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Taking care of people, that’s what she loved to do,” Hannah Ariolae, Jessica Rhodes’ sister, said. “Her patients and stuff, she’d go above and beyond for them.”
Rhodes’ siblings, mother and her fitness family in Las Vegas are now remembering her for her adventurous spirit, and they want to encourage others to embrace the joys of life like she did.
“She just loved life. So when she went on the trail there, that’s what she liked to do,” Josephine Rhodes said.
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Follow Us | https://www.wishtv.com/crime-map/ | 2023-07-31T08:47:45 | 0 | https://www.wishtv.com/crime-map/ |
City and town voters have wide latitude in deciding whether to allow marijuana shops and how many businesses to license. But a city that allows cannabis businesses should not use restrictive zoning policies as a backdoor way of limiting the number of stores that can open.
A Land Court judge will decide whether Malden’s cannabis zoning is too onerous in a case that could have widespread ramifications for other municipalities. In an industry where cities and towns are often gatekeepers, the judge’s ruling ideally will lay out clear standards for what municipal zoning can and can’t do.
At the center of the case is Benevolent Botanicals, a company founded in 2018 by Warren Lynch and Stee McMorris, two Malden residents who are filmmakers and longtime cannabis users. The partners wanted to open a marijuana store with a small, high-end growing site. They found a property to lease that was too close to a residence and applied for a zoning variance. The request was denied, and the company could not find an appropriately zoned parcel.
“We looked at close to 150 properties to find a single one not in any buffer zone, and there literally wasn’t one,” Lynch said.
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Although two cannabis companies have opened in Malden, the city has one of the state’s strictest zoning regulations. Local code requires cannabis businesses to be in an industrial or highway business zone or a marijuana establishment overlay district. There are six types of buffer zones keeping marijuana businesses away from residences, schools, day-care centers, religious institutions, parks and recreational facilities, and substance abuse treatment centers. A marijuana company must be the only use of a parcel, and cannabis companies cannot abut each other.
According to a court motion filed by Benevolent Botanicals, there are 13,454 properties in Malden, of which 55 are in an appropriate zoning district and comply with the buffer zones. Not all these properties are suitable — they include multi-tenant parcels like strip malls — and at any given time none may be for sale.
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State law says municipalities can pass local ordinances regulating marijuana businesses as long as they are not “unreasonably impracticable,” which is defined as a rule that would subject entrepreneurs to “unreasonable risk” or would require such a high investment of risk, money, or time that a “reasonably prudent businessperson” would not open a business.
Lawyers for Benevolent Botanicals say Malden’s zoning violates this law. Malden city officials decided to issue five licenses, the minimum required under a state law that ties the number of cannabis licenses to a town’s liquor licenses. A Malden committee approved five companies — including Benevolent Botanicals — to move forward in the licensing process. (In a community like Malden that voted for cannabis legalization, changing that minimum requires voter approval.)
But both Benevolent Botanicals and another approved company, Dris, have been unable to find sites. A fifth company identified a possible site but is still going through the licensing process. Benevolent Botanicals’ attorney, Adam Gutbezahl, said Malden is trying “to zone cannabis out of their town despite the fact that the people who should be making that decision are the voters.”
Malden city officials did not respond to requests for comment. In court briefs, the city’s attorney argues that cities have wide latitude in zoning, and Malden’s zoning is “rational, reasonable, and related to public health, safety, and welfare.” Buffer zones, the brief says, are intended to protect certain activities, like day-care centers and playgrounds, in a densely populated city.
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This is the first time a court is being asked to interpret the “unreasonably impracticable” standard as applied to zoning, and legal experts say municipalities will be watching the case closely.
There have been similar cases involving another industry. The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2022 that Waltham’s zoning barring large-scale solar energy systems in all but 1 percent to 2 percent of municipal land impermissibly restricts the Legislature’s interest in promoting solar energy. But solar and cannabis are legally different because solar is protected through the Dover Amendment, which limits municipal authority over solar projects.
Another wrinkle is that Benevolent Botanicals and Dris are both “social equity” businesses, companies run by people from communities disproportionately affected by prior enforcement of drug laws that are supposed to get state licensing priority. The company qualifies for that designation because Lynch was arrested and served a year of probation on a charge of marijuana possession with intent to distribute before cannabis was legal. Social equity entrepreneurs have long complained that municipal barriers make it hard for them to open. The Cannabis Control Commission has been developing guidance for municipalities to conform with a new law requiring communities to have municipal equity policies. But as more communities hit their caps on how many marijuana businesses they will allow, it is getting harder for any new business to find a site.
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With the marijuana market having matured over the five years recreational stores have been open, now is a good time for communities to review their cannabis bylaws. Some, like Holyoke, may want to consider stricter laws regulating things like odor control after neighbor complaints. Greenfield has been considering how to distinguish between indoor and outdoor growing sites. And while a judge will decide whether Malden’s zoning is legal, it would behoove all municipalities to voluntarily review their cannabis laws in light of lessons learned and determine what rules best serve their communities without overly stifling a legal industry.
Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/31/opinion/marijuana-malden-court-benevolent-botanicals/ | 2023-07-31T08:48:53 | 0 | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/31/opinion/marijuana-malden-court-benevolent-botanicals/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 2:45 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T08:49:04 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
Fans pay tribute to Coco Lee, Hong Kong singer who had international success
By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press
HONG KONG (AP) — Fans of singer and songwriter Coco Lee, who was known for her powerful voice and live performances, were gathering with flowers to pay their respects to their idol at her funeral in Hong Kong on Monday.
The evening services were expected to be attended by her family, friends and supporters. Lee died July 5 at age 48.
She was born in Hong Kong and attended school in San Francisco before releasing her first album in 1994 at age 19. She began her career as a Mandopop singer but branched out to release albums in Cantonese and English.
She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market, and her English song “Do You Want My Love” climbed to #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December 1999. In 2001, she sang “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” at the Academy Awards, becoming the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars.
Lee was also the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s “Mulan,” and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song “Reflection.”
Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain company Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters.
He death had shocked fans. Her siblings posted on Facebook that she had depression for years and had attempted suicide at home on July 2. She died a few days later.
In Lee’s recent social media posts, she kept spreading positivity. In March, she posted about having to relearn how to walk after undergoing surgery for an old leg injury.
“Successful surgery. Even though I’m in a lot of pain and I have to re-learn how to walk again, I know I can do it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes I can and I will!” | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/fans-pay-tribute-to-coco-lee-hong-kong-singer-who-had-international-success/ | 2023-07-31T08:49:32 | 1 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/fans-pay-tribute-to-coco-lee-hong-kong-singer-who-had-international-success/ |
A 24-year-old died Friday after he was suspected of being electrocuted jumping into Lake Lanier from his family’s dock. The massive reservoir in northern Georgia has a macabre history, and there have been calls in recent months for it to be cleaned up for safety reasons.
A family friend tried to use a ladder to rescue Milner but couldn’t, the spokeswoman said in a statement. Then, neighbors took a boat into the water, and one man dived in to save Milner. But after feeling a “burning sensation that he recognized as an electric shock,” the spokeswoman added, the neighbor swam to shore to turn off the power box that supplied electricity to the dock to operate the boat lift. The sheriff’s office said the death remains under investigation.
Lake Lanier has a deadly reputation in Georgia, and myths about its being haunted have long circulated. In May, an online petition signed by 5,000 people sought to “drain, clean, and restore” the lake for safety reasons. Fashion stylist Tameka Foster, ex-wife of R&B singer Usher, started the petition after her son died on the lake 11 years ago when a watercraft struck him as he floated in an inner tube.
Between 1994 and 2022 at Georgia’s most famous manmade lake, at least 76 people died in boating incidents, and there were 140 drowning deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. But the lake’s popularity does not necessarily explain the high number of fatalities. Lake Allatoona, 40 miles west of Lanier, has a similar number of visitors each year but one-third of the deaths, according to the Oxford American.
In Milner’s case, the young man’s neighbor told the sheriff’s office that he re-entered the water after cutting off the power and managed to pull Milner onto the dock. Milner was given CPR by his uncle until medics arrived to take him to Northside Forsyth Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries the next day.
Electric-shock drowning is not unheard of in the lake. In 2019, the Lakeside on Lanier newspaper reported that four out of 10 private docks had electrical current bleeding into the water. “Electric Shock Drowning is being called a silent killer of recreational boaters, dock owners, and people who enjoy being around the water,” reported the paper.
Experts said that many people who are killed by electrical current in water die of drowning, not electrocution. Rather than jumping into the water, bystanders should try to toss something buoyant in, lead the victims away from the source of electricity and turn off the power.
Officially named Lake Sidney Lanier, the 38,000-acre recreational body of water an hour’s drive northeast of Atlanta provides drinking water for about 5 million people. The Buford Dam at the lake’s southern end generates hydroelectric power for the metro Atlanta area.
The Army Corps of Engineers constructed Lake Lanier in the 1950s, according to the Atlanta History Center. There is a longstanding myth that the body of water was created to flood a predominantly Black town in Forsyth named Oscarville, but the Atlanta History Center contends that the characterization of Oscarville as an all-Black town obliterated by floodwaters isn’t accurate. The center says that although there was an exodus of Black residents from Oscarville and other areas of Forsyth County at the start of the 20th century, Oscarville was a predominately white town.
Additionally, Oscarville was emptied before the Industrial Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce met in April 1947 to move forward with building the Buford Dam, which would pool water to form the lake.
One explanation for the lake’s large body count could be the perfidious underwater traps.
“When the lake was constructed, they didn’t remove every single structure from the area before flooding it,” Dee Gillespie, a professor of U.S. history at the University of North Georgia told The Washington Post. “That means if you are swimming, you are more likely to get caught up in something.”
When the lake was formed, the city of Atlanta found it too expensive to demolish the infrastructure at the bottom of Lake Lanier. Today, “rooftops, home foundations, cemeteries, and the Gainesville Speedway” lie beneath the lake, according to the Oxford American.
These structures make the lake dangerous for recreational activities and make the recovery of bodies difficult.
Gillespie said that despite being a scholar of the lake, she can’t explain why it gets so much attention for being haunted.
“The lake was constructed to manage water supply and navigation downstream,” she said. “Over time, it became a recreation lake.” | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/07/31/electrocuted-drowning-death-lake-lanier/ | 2023-07-31T08:49:35 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/07/31/electrocuted-drowning-death-lake-lanier/ |
Our bears are real, a Chinese zoo says, denying they are ‘humans in disguise’
BEIJING (AP) — A zoo in eastern China is denying suggestions some of its bears might be people in costumes after photos of the animals standing like humans circulated online. The Hangzhou Zoo said on its social media account the sun bears from Malaysia are smaller than other bears and look different but are the real thing. The posting, written from the bear’s point of view, said, “It seems you don’t understand me very well.” Internet users questioned whether the zoo’s bears were real after photos circulated showing one standing upright on slender hind legs. Other Chinese zoos have been accused of trying to pass off dogs dyed to look like wolves or African cats, and donkeys painted to look like zebras. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/our-bears-are-real-a-chinese-zoo-says-denying-they-are-humans-in-disguise/ | 2023-07-31T08:49:39 | 0 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/our-bears-are-real-a-chinese-zoo-says-denying-they-are-humans-in-disguise/ |
Pakistan holds funerals as government vows to hunt down those behind the weekend’s suicide bombing
By ANWARULLAH KHAN and RIAZ KHAN
Associated Press
KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group’s regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric’s supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party’s preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament’s five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman’s party is part of Sharif’s coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman’s party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that “such attacks cannot deter our resolve.”
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were “investigating this attack in all aspects.”
Sunday’s bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters. | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-government-vows-to-hunt-down-those-behind-the-weekends-suicide-bombing/ | 2023-07-31T08:49:45 | 1 | https://kion546.com/ap-colorado/2023/07/31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-government-vows-to-hunt-down-those-behind-the-weekends-suicide-bombing/ |
China set to announce new stimulus measures as factory sector contracts for fourth month
By Laura He, CNN
Hong Kong (CNN) — China is preparing to announce new stimulus for its stumbling economy after the vast factory sector contracted for a fourth straight month, and a gauge of activity in its services sector slipped to a seven month low.
The Chinese government is holding a press conference at 3 a.m. ET (3 p.m. local) in Beijing to discuss “measures to restore and expand consumption.” It will be attended by top economic officials and representatives of various ministries.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures activity level in the manufacturing sector, came in at 49.3 in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.
That result was slightly up compared with 49 in June but the index has nonetheless contracted each month since April. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while anything below that level shows contraction.
The official non-manufacturing PMI, which looks at activities in the services and construction industries, fell to 51.5 from 53.2 in June.
That is the lowest rate since December, when the non-manufacturing PMI hit the weakest level since February 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
By the end of last year, Covid infections were sweeping through China after Beijing abruptly ended nearly three years of draconian pandemic restrictions that initially kept the virus at bay while hammering local businesses and isolating the world’s second largest economy.
The government’s PMI survey mainly covers larger businesses and state-owned firms.
“China’s official PMI data provides little encouragement that the economy is turning the corner,” said Robert Carnell, regional head of research for Asia-Pacific at ING Group.
Monday’s manufacturing and service sector figures are just latest data points that show how China’s economy is struggling.
China’s GDP grew just 0.8% in the second quarter of this year, down significantly from the still tepid 2.2% growth it registered in the first three months of 2023. Consumer spending has weakened, the housing market has slumped, and the youth unemployment rate has soared to a fresh record of 21.3%.
Much like many other parts of the world this summer, extreme weather has also posed a threat to economic growth.
In recent weeks parts of China have been hit by a double whammy of heat waves and torrential rain, threatening to strain power supplies and disrupt factory production as well as crop yields.
New measures to boost consumption
The frail data has prompted Beijing to increase efforts to shore up growth.
Five central agencies, including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), will announce new measures later on Monday to boost consumption, according to a statement from the State Council Information Office.
On Friday, China unveiled a two-year plan to boost so-called “light industry,” which includes consumer packaged goods, consumer durables, sports and leisure equipment, and light industrial machinery, according to a statement jointly published by the NDRC, MIIT, and the Ministry of Commerce.
The goal is to speed up the industry’s growth to 4% for 2023 and 2024, after it only registered a 0.4% expansion in the first half of the year, the statement said.
In the past weeks, authorities have tried to appear more proactive in supporting the private sector, a key growth driver that has been hammered by Covid restrictions as well as a sweeping regulatory crackdown under Chinese leader Xi Jinping that targeted sectors from technology to private education.
However, these micro measures have not translated into the sort of “sizable fiscal policy stimulus” many have expected, Carnell said.
“Looking forward, policy support is needed to prevent China’s economy from slipping into a recession,” said analysts from Capital Economics.
“Unless concrete support is rolled out soon, the recent downturn in demand risks becoming self-reinforcing.”
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A flashing ‘X’ was installed atop the San Francisco headquarters following Twitter’s rebrand. A city complaint says the sign went up without a permit
By Jamiel Lynch, CNN
San Francisco (CNN) — In a complaint, the city of San Francisco says they have visited the headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter twice since Friday regarding the new flashing “X” sign on top of the building.
According to the complaint, a notice of violation (NOV) was issued for work without a permit for the new sign that adorns the building where the social media platform’s headquarters is located.
Owner Elon Musk rebranded Twitter and its iconic bird logo as X last week, as CNN previously reported. He tweeted video of the building with the new flashing “X” logo on Saturday saying, “Our HQ in San Francisco tonight.”
“NOV issued for work without permit. Site visited by MH and spoke with Tweeter (sic) representatives and Building maintenance engineer representatives. I explained BID’s complaint investigation process and requested access to roof area. Tweeter (sic) representative decline to provide access but did explain that the structure is a temporary lighted sign for an event. I explained to all representatives that the NOV requires the structure to be remove with a building permit or legalize,” the complaint reads.
The complaint also noted that on Saturday another attempt was made to access the roof but was also denied.
Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Building Inspection told the Washington Post that “to ensure consistency with the historic nature of the building and to ensure the new additions are safely attached to the sign,” the city requires a permit to approve new letters or symbols on a sign, the paper reported.
CNN has reached out to the City of San Francisco and X for comment.
According to the city’s website, a notice of violation can incur fees, including permit and investigation fees. It is unknown what fees X could face.
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BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Empowerment" is the core competence of PE/VC institutions after investment. Asia Green Fund (AGF) has always adhered to the investment strategy of "pursuing both financial returns and environmental benefits", focused on the logic of "technology empowerment", grasped the development trend of SRDI industries, and promoted technological innovation to empower industrial convergence and innovative development. AGF continues to practice the "sustainable investment strategy" and has now formed an industrial ecosystem with deep linkage among the capital side (LPs), investment side (AGF), and industry side (science and technology enterprises), which realized the bidirectional empowerment between capital and industry.
AGF adheres to the principle of "30% investment and 70% management" and provides all-round services for portfolios in accordance with the investment and post-investment management mechanism of international head PE funds. AGF emphasizes proactive and personalized post-investment management, builds a unique team of customized services and post-investment supporting experts, provides "adaptive" solutions to various problems and demands of portfolios, and passes them the management methodology.
AGF has appended a professional marketing consultant department in the post-investment side, which is under the responsibility of Nison Yao, the new Operating Director. Mr. Yao has been deeply involved in the manufacturing industry since his employment. He has been in important positions in Marketing of local and multinational companies and delivered great results. He has rich practical experience in strategic positioning, marketing, and operation of enterprises. AGF helps portfolios to build specific clear business paths and market expansion plans, integrate green ecosystem resources for precise docking, and create sustainable value.
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SOURCE Asia Green Fund | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:01 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ |
4 crew members on Australian army helicopter that crashed off coast didn’t survive, officials say
By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Officials say the Australian army helicopter that crashed during a multinational exercise hit the water with a “catastrophic impact” and there is no chance its four crew members survived. Defense Minister Richard Marles said the search and rescue effort since Friday’s crash changed to a victim recovery operation Monday. The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter was involved in a nighttime exercise with the U.S. and other countries when it crashed near the Whitsunday Islands. There are doubts Australia will fly its Taipan helicopters again. The rest of the fleet will be grounded until investigators determine what caused the crash. Australia already advanced the retirement of its Taipans to December 2024 to replace them with U.S. Black Hawks. | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/30/4-crew-members-on-australian-army-helicopter-that-crashed-off-coast-didnt-survive-officials-say/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:03 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/2023/07/30/4-crew-members-on-australian-army-helicopter-that-crashed-off-coast-didnt-survive-officials-say/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture and art can bring minds and the world together. With this in mind, the second episode of season three of the China Daily series Youth Power, "Unlocking the power of art: How cultural exchanges can connect the world," was broadcast online on July 30.
Gen Zers from China, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Thailand gathered at the Dalian campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and discussed how artistic beauty can bring the world together and how to face the challenges that artificial intelligence present to art.
What is the essence of beauty? What unique influence does Chinese art have on Gen Zers? What spiritual pursuits are reflected in Chinese art and aesthetics?
In this episode of Youth Power, each Gen Z guest brought an art piece that they believed would best represent the Chinese concept of art and beauty. In doing so they gained a deeper understanding of Chinese aesthetics, philosophy and culture.
Giacomo Bruni, an Italian studying at the China Academy of Art in Beijing, said brushes are the most important tools in expressing Chinese culture because they are central to calligraphy, writing poetry and painting.
"Like the hardness of the handle and the softness of the hair, the brush encapsulates the idea of yin and Yang," Bruni said. The brush not only encapsulates the creativity of the world, but also epitomizes the profound ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, he said.
Song De'ao, a Chinese Gen Zer, chose the official mascots for Chinese winter sports designed by a team at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts as his ideal representation of Chinese aesthetics.
Song, a member of the design team, recalled the inspiration for the mascot Xue Wa, which wears tiger-head hats, tiger-head shoes, and cloud patterns and longevity locks on the clothing. "The mascots reflect the lively and cheerful aesthetics in modern China," Song said.
Jiratchaya Phinyoworakul, a Thai studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, highlighted two features that distinguish Chinese artworks from those of other countries and cultures: cultural extensiveness and profoundness as well as a philosophy centering on harmony between humankind and nature.
The program host, Zhong Yutong, said it is through exchanges that Chinese arts increase in vibrancy and vitality.
"Chinese arts have so much to offer. And we've had wonderful exchanges with different arts and civilizations across the world."
Bruni said art Chinese art is all-encompassing, perfectly merging all types of art. He cited Chinese literati paintings, a kind of painting that expresses feelings and aspirations through natural scenery, as an example, illustrating that "they unify the intellectual world and the practical art world, which is something that is missing in Western countries".
Program guests said there is no absolute definition of art and no universally recognized standard of beauty. Lian Liia, a student from Russia, said "the standard of art is changing in the art history, but there is one thing that has never changed, namely people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty".
Phinyoworakul said art is tantamount to comfort. "Even little things can be art. A smile on your face, a flower, sunshine, everything can be art. Art is in our everyday life."
Concerning the combination and contradiction of traditional art and fast-developing AI art creation, Bruni said artists screen information like filters of society. They find beauty and create art, but do not mechanically record and present everything around them. However, this is not true of AI, because it cannot grasp the concept of beauty.
Sun Yuxin of China said AI could positively influence the development of art. "AI saves a lot of time for artists, and it helps them with a lot of basic work."
Gen Zers have also contributed their wisdom in helping the world appreciate the beauty of Chinese art. Promoting Chinese aesthetics through social media could help people understand it more directly, Phinyoworakul said.
Lian Liia, a student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University in Beijing, said, "We can promote Chinese culture as a lifestyle. For example, doing calligraphy or drinking tea to experience Chinese culture in our daily life."
Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.
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Blast rips through political gathering in Pakistan, killing at least 44
By Sophia Saifi and Allegra Goodwin, CNN
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — At least 44 people died after a suicide bomber attacked a political convention organized by an Islamist party in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, police said.
More than 100 were injured, 17 critically, in the attack targeting members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, who had gathered in the town of Khar, Bajaur district, close to the border with Afghanistan.
Local police said the attacker detonated explosives near the convention’s stage.
There has been no initial claim of responsibility for the attack. But the local branch of ISIS has previously targeted JUI-F party leaders as they consider them apostates.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “strongly condemned” the blast, according to a statement released by his office.
An investigation is underway, and the prime minister’s office has requested a report from Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, the statement added.
The leader of the JUI-F party, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, expressed “deep sorrow and regret” following the blast, in a statement released by his press office.
“Peace be upon JUI workers,” the statement added. “The federal and provincial government should provide the best treatment to the injured.”
One witness said more than 500 people were attending the convention when the blast occurred.
“A powerful explosion knocked me unconscious,” Rahim Shah told Pakistani news outlet Dawn.
When he came around there were “people screaming and even shots were fired,” he said, adding there was blood everywhere.
Pakistani political parties are beginning campaign preparations ahead of elections due later this year.
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BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households.
Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation.
A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:13 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ |
Four Australian army aircrew dead after helicopter crash during joint wargames with US
By Angus Watson and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN
Sydney (CNN) — Four Australian army aircrew members who were aboard a helicopter that crashed into the sea on Friday have now been declared dead, according to Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles on Monday.
Efforts to rescue Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs have now turned to an effort to recover their bodies.
“The loss of these four men is as significant and meaningful as the loss of anyone who has worn our nations uniform. If it is, as we imagine it to be, they died on Friday night making a difference,” Marles said.
The crew was forced to “ditch” the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter into the sea near Hamilton Island off the east coast of Australia late Friday, during an exercise that was part of joint drills with the United States.
Significant wreckage of the MRH-90 helicopter has now been located, Marles said, indicating the men likely died in the “catastrophic” incident late Friday.
Marles said the “determined recovery effort involving hundreds of defense force personnel” is underway, saying there will be a “full investigation” to understand exactly what happened.
The aircraft “impacted waters” near the Lindeman Island, off the coast of the state of Queensland. A search operation involving both search and rescue aircraft and sea vessels is under way, according to the Australian Defense Ministry.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “it has been a very difficult weekend for our nation” as he motioned the Australian parliament on Monday to mourn the servicemen who died.
“They were soldiers, and they were sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, friends, and today our deepest sympathies are with the people who love them, and the people that they love,” Albanese said.
He said this “terrible incident has provided a stark reminder that there are no safe or easy days for those who serve in our country’s name.”
The mission was a part of large-scale military drills involving the United States, known as Talisman Sabre. The drills are held every other year, alternating between the two countries, and also often involve other allied forces.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who were both in Australia, spoke of those who went missing in the crash.
“We are thinking of the families, their friends, comrades,” Blinken said. “For everything they’ve been doing to the freedom that we share, and that is what unites us more than anything else and we are stepping up with assistance,” he added.
Austin said it’s “always tough” to encounter accidents in training. “But the reason that we trained to such high standards is so that we can be successful and we can protect lives when we are called to answer any kind of crisis,” he said.
The exercises have been paused to allow all participants “regardless of their nation, to reach out and let their families know what is going on,” Talisman Sabre Exercise Director Brigadier Damien Hill said at the Brisbane press conference.
Friday’s crash is the second time this year the Australian Army has been forced to ditch an MRH-90 Taipan into the sea. Two injuries resulted from the previous incident in March, which was put down to engine failure.
In 2019 the Australian government announced it would retire its entire fleet of Airbus-manufactured Taipans years ahead of schedule, describing the Taipans as a “project of concern for the last decade.”
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™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Lizzy Yee contributed reporting. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/four-australian-defense-personnel-missing-after-helicopter-crashes-during-wargames/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:19 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/four-australian-defense-personnel-missing-after-helicopter-crashes-during-wargames/ |
HANZHONG, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanzhong in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on his way back to Beijing on Saturday. During his visit to the municipal museum, Xi emphasized making good use of museums. He also called for efforts to expand the influence of Chinese culture.
"I was in Hanzhong in 2008 after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake to oversee the relief work. Hanzhong has always been in my heart over the years," Xi told local residents. Xi said he was delighted to see huge changes of the city since then.
With an exhibition area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the Hanzhong Museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province is not the grandest museum in China, but it is a historical telescope allowing visitors to have a retrospective view of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) history dating back to as far as 2,000 years ago.
Unlike many other museums across the country built to house more recent historical relics, the Hanzhong Museum itself embodies the history that encompasses three heritage sites with the ancient Hantai (Lit: Han palace), once the royal residence of the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, at its core.
Heritage sites-turned museum
Including the ruin of ancient Hantai, a notable feature of the Hanzhong Museum was it built in 1985 consisting of two other Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) heritage sites, the Baijiang altar and the "Yin Ma Chi," a pool facility common in ancient times for accommodating horses.
Visitors are first greeted by the ancient Hantai once they enter the museum, which is seven meters high. The millennium-old architecture was constructed using typical man-made rammed earth and its design characters show architectural aesthetics prominent in China's Qin (221BC-206BC), Han and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties.
Liao Shuguang, an architectural expert of ancient Chinese buildings, told the Global Times that the ancient Hantai's functions would change "according to history's change." It was once home to Liu Bang, but was later renovated in the Southern Song Dynasty to become a backyard garden with a gazebo on the building's roof.
Although the ancient Hantai changed roles, its historical importance remained unchanged as it witnessed Liu's founding of the Han Dynasty, one of the powerful dynasties in the Chinese history to have "unified yet diverse" cultural and political beliefs, historian Tao Zhongjun, told the Global Times.
"Including the belief of a 'unified country,' the Han Dynasty left behind a diverse legacy including the governing Confucius mindset and Silk Road exchanges with the western region of Asia and the world. They continue to inspire us today," Tao noted.
Aside from the ancient Hantai, the Baijiang altar, another major element of the museum, was built in 206BC. It was where the then governor Liu Bang would praise the talent and wisdom of his loyal officer Han Xin.
Museum expert Li Zhiming told the Global Times that such heritage sites turned cultural spaces are "living proof of Chinese history," and a good way of making use of the museum is to "properly maintain it while enriching its collection that possesses local cultural characters."
The art of Shudao
Hanzhong was a major stop along the ancient road system Shudao that connected China's Guanzhong Plain with the Chengdu Plain.
The Baoxie plank road, an ancient mountain road that traversed the Qinling Mountain, was also located in Hanzhong and brought an abundant supply of Shudao cultural artifacts.
Inside the Hanzhong Museum, there is a gallery dedicated to the ancient plank road. Shi Men Shi San Pin, also known as the 13 cliff stone carvings of the Shi Men, are a part of the museum's collection.
As an important section of the Shudao, Shi Men was a tunnel at the southern end of the Baoxie plank road. The walls of the tunnel as well as the cliffs of the Baoxie river, were carved with numerous historical inscriptions among which the 13 pieces collected by the museum were the "rarest of the rare," relic expert Xiang Zhengming told the Global Times.
Amongst the 13 carving pieces, the Shi Men Song (Lit: the Eulogy of Shi Men) is a highlight. It embodies the aesthetic essence of Han Dynasty's clerical script calligraphic style. In 1936, China's large-scale encyclopedia Cihai (lit: the sea of the words) took the two Chinese characters for "sea" and "word" discovered from the carving stones to be used on the cover.
"The collection at the Hanzhong Museum holds value in which one can look into China's calligraphic art and can be useful to historians in understanding the then social and cultural scenes," Xiang told the Global Times.
Some other carved pieces have also revealed the secrets of Han Dynasty's water project construction.
Including the 13 treasures, the Hanzhong Museum holds over 5,000 pieces of cultural artifacts that tell the changing cultural history of the city and the nation.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:20 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ |
Pro-coup protesters in Niger shout ‘long live Putin’ as new leaders face calls to cede power
Omar Hama Saley, CNN
Niamey, Niger (CNN) — Tense and sometimes violent scenes played out in front of the French Embassy in Niger Sunday as thousands of people who support a military coup voiced anger over France’s influence in its former colony.
Demonstrators shouted shouted support for Russian leader Vladimir Putin despite calls from the Kremlin to release the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
Some protesters tore down a plaque identifying the Embassy, stomped on it and then replaced it with Russian and Nigerien flags. Shouts of “long live Putin,” “long live Russia” and “down with France” could be heard among the crowds.
Nigerien security forces were seen deploying tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protesters. One photograph from the scene showed people trying to start a fire outside the compound.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office said France would immediately retaliate against anyone who attacks French nationals or facilities in Niger.
Much of the international community has condemned the coup, which saw members of the Niger presidential guard overthrow Bazoum and install a military junta called the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.
Niger has a long history of military coups since its independence from France in 1960, though in recent years it had been less politically unstable. When Bazoum came to office in 2021, it was the country’s first democratic transfer of power.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday demanded that Bazoum be released and reinstated within a week. Should the junta remain in charge, the group said it would “take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger,” including the use of force.
ECOWAS also announced a bevy of punitive measures, including closing land and air borders with Niger.
The group said it would reject any form of resignation that may purportedly come Bazoum, who they consider a hostage.
France and the European Union said earlier that they would support ECOWAS organizations if they decide to sanction the junta. The two had already cut off financial support for Niger.
Niger’s military leaders may have found one potential ally: the country’s eastern neighbor, Chad. Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno was in Niamey, Niger’s capital, on Sunday, according to a source close to the Nigerien military, and photographed alongside a key figure in the putsch. Chad is not a member of the ECOWAS.
‘We’re going to get France out of Africa’
Niger was a French colony for more than 50 years before its independence in 1960. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were strong before Thursday’s putsch, but many Nigeriens believe France has continued to act as imperial power when dealing with Niger, robbing it of natural resources and dictating how its leaders steer the economy. Niger is one of the world’s poorest countries and receives hundreds of millions of dollars each year in assistance.
“Niger has suffered too much under French orders. I’ve been unemployed for 10 years because of their system,” said Karimou Sidi, one of the demonstrators. “We want freedom.”
Hadiza Kanto, a university student who had come to protest, said he supported the leaders of the coup because “they are against France who robbed us all.”
“We’re going to get France out of Africa,” Kanto said.
Russia has, in recent years, attempted to capitalize on that anti-colonial sentiment to bolster its influence across the continent.
Seventeen African heads of state traveled to St. Petersburg on Thursday for an Africa-Russia summit, though turnout was far lower this year than in previous years, likely due to the war in Ukraine.
The anti-France and pro-Russia movement isn’t new in the region. It has been observed in various countries in the Sahel in the past years, most recently in Burkina Faso where the military government demanded the departure of French troops from the country earlier this year.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Martin Goillandeau and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/pro-coup-protesters-in-niger-shout-long-live-putin-as-new-leaders-face-calls-to-cede-power/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:25 | 1 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/pro-coup-protesters-in-niger-shout-long-live-putin-as-new-leaders-face-calls-to-cede-power/ |
The Vehicle, Merchandise and Accessories Collaboration is part of Gogoro and MUJI's Joint "Recycling for Good" Sustainability Initiative that Enables the Public to Recycle Polypropylene Plastic (PP) Waste for use in the new Gogoro MUJI Smartscooters.
TAIPEI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced a collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and MUJI, the Tokyo-based consumer goods and lifestyle company. The newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME along with a range of merchandise and accessories were launched today at a press event in Taipei.
Created by Gogoro and MUJI, the Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME offer simplified Smartscooter designs that utilize recycled polypropylene (PP) body elements. Personally curated by Fukasawa, the Smartscooters adopt the classic MUJI design elements, unique rustic color palette and simple color tone philosophy to create a new urban mobility experience that is simple and comfortable yet unique.
"The most important thing in design is that it must always uphold the spirit of integrity towards people, the environment and life," said Naoto Fukasawa, world-renowned designer, author, educator and MUJI's advisory board member. "Both Gogoro and MUJI are quite popular brands, and it is very natural for them to cooperate in this way. It's not just one plus one equals two. Instead, let one plus one see a greater value."
Gogoro pioneered the mass market manufacturing of recyclable polypropylene plastics for vehicle body panels in 2019 with the Gogoro 3 Smartscooter and then across its full range of Gogoro Viva Smartscooters including Gogoro VIVA, Gogoro VIVA MIX and Gogoro VIVA XL. This innovative manufacturing process led to Gogoro's collaboration with MUJI.
"Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories," said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. "This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint 'Recycling for Good' initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters."
Recycling for Good - A Joint Sustainability Initiative
Gogoro and MUJI share a vision for sustainability and a core philosophy of giving back to the Earth. In response to this year's World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the companies joined together on June 5, 2023 to launch the "Recycling for Good" initiative in Taiwan. "Recycling for Good" encourages people in Taiwan to participate in recycling PP (polypropylene) plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.
Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI's PP storage series.
"MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro's commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI's business philosophy," said Akihiro Yoshida, general manager of MUJI Taiwan. "MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth."
Gogoro Sustainability
Today, more than 2.5 million Gogoro users have reduced carbon emissions by more than 680 million kilograms, and 100% recyclable polypropylene PP (Polypropylene) is used as the Smartscooter shell material to promote resource regeneration and friendly recycling. In addition, Gogoro has introduced 40% renewable energy in factories since 2022, and 100% use of green electricity in designated Gogoro stores, gradually moving towards the goal of fully using renewable energy by 2050.
Naoto Fukasawa / Product Designer
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University's Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. Fukasawa established and headed up IDEO's Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and founded NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN. For more information on Naoto Fukasawa, visit https://naotofukasawa.com.
About MUJI
Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as "no-brand quality goods." MUJI was founded in Japan in 1980 and now has more than 800 stores around the world, carrying more than 7,000 items. With the goal of making people's daily life pleasant, MUJI is globally recognized for its high-quality products that are functional, well designed and reasonably priced. Find us online at www.MUJI.com or Instagram: @muji_global and Twitter: @muji_net.
About MUJI Taiwan
MUJI Taiwan has been operating in Taiwan since 2004, and it has been nearly 20 years. MUJI Taiwan has always been committed to connecting with Taiwan and producing local products in Taiwan, hoping to provide customers with a good life. Find us online at www.muji.com/tw/zh_tw/store, Instagram: @muji_taiwan or Facebook: www.facebook.com/muji.tw.
About Gogoro
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles", Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and safety. The challenge is massive, but the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards, and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in densely populated cities is even greater. For more information, visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on Twitter: @wearegogoro.
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SOURCE Gogoro | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:26 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ |
Thousands flee homes as Typhoon Doksuri soaks Beijing and a second storm approaches China
By Kathleen Magramo and CNN’s Beijing bureau
(CNN) — Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in Beijing after Typhoon Doksuri, one of the strongest storms in years, dumped torrential rain across China as forecasters warned another hurricane-level storm was on its way.
China is reeling from extreme weather events this summer, much like much of the world. Heat waves scorched China earlier than usual this year while records have been set worldwide for global temperatures, ocean heat and the loss of sea ice.
Doksuri hurtled into the southeastern coastal province of Fujian late last week, weakening as it carved its way north but bringing huge amounts of rain to at least five northern Chinese provinces since Saturday.
More than 31,000 people were evacuated from the Chinese capital as of Sunday night, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Another half million people in the southern province of Fujian were forced to evacuate from flooding, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The storm killed two and another two went missing while mushroom picking in northeastern Liaoning province, CCTV reported.
The precipitation in Beijing could break records as nearly 40 inches of rain is projected to pour over the southwestern parts of the capital and neighboring Hebei province, according to the China Meteorological Administration on Monday.
Heavy downpours are expected to continue through Tuesday, increasing concerns about dangerous flooding and landslides.
On Monday, nine districts of Beijing were under a red rainstorm alert, the highest in the country’s warning mechanism, while the weather signal was downgraded to the second-highest level in other parts. At least 95 other weather warnings were issued across the country.
The intense downpours prompted the temporary closure of several railroads and highways in the capital, while schools also remained closed and people were told to stay indoors.
Doksuri is the most powerful typhoon to make landfall in China and the strongest storm to hit Fujian since Typhoon Saomi in 2006, according to CNN Weather based on preliminary information. The closest and most powerful storm to pass near Beijing was Rita back in 1972.
Before hitting Fujian it had killed at least 39 people in the Philippines and lashed parts of southern Taiwan.
The rains inundated large swathes of farmland and homes in Fujian costing nearly $60 million ($428 million yuan) in direct economic losses, Xinhua reported. More than 6,333 hectares of farmland in Fujian were damaged and over 151 hectares suffered complete crop failure, the state media outlet said.
And there is little relief on the horizon. Even as Doksuri tapers off, authorities are preparing for incoming Khanun, the sixth typhoon projected to hit China this year.
Forecasters expect storm tides to hit coastal areas of Zhejiang from Monday to Thursday as Typhoon Khanun draws closer, prompting local authorities to activate the lowest out of a four-tier emergency response level on Monday, Xinhua reported.
Khanun is gathering strength in the Pacific Ocean and has been upgraded to a Category 3-equivalent typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. It’s forecast to draw close to Japan’s southern Okinawa islands over the next two days and begin a slow crawl through the East China Sea.
Over 200 domestic flights to and from Naha, Miyako, and Ishigaki islands in Okinawa were canceled from Monday through Wednesday, affecting nearly 30,000 passengers.
Extreme weather in Asia
Asia, the world’s largest and most populous continent, is reckoning with the deadly effects of extreme summer weather, as countries endure blistering heatwaves and record monsoon rains.
While most of northeastern China is inundated by rainfall, the neighboring Korean peninsula is suffering from deadly heat waves.
At least 10 people have died from heat-related illnesses as South Korea swelters under a heat wave that has brought its highest temperatures so far this year to parts of the country, according to data released Sunday by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Just two weeks ago, torrential rain in South Korea killed at least 41 people from landslides and flash floods, including at least 13 dead from a flooded underpass that trapped vehicles in the deluge.
This weekend, a total of 1,015 people suffered heat-related diseases, which the KDCA defines as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat syncope and heat edema.
More than a quarter of those affected by the heat were aged 65 years and older, while around 20% were aged between 50 and 59.
More than a third of the cases were reported from people working outside and around 14% were reported on farmland, it added.
Since late July, heat wave warnings have expanded to most of the country with temperatures soaring over the weekend to between 33 and 39 degrees Celsius (between around 91 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit).
On Saturday, a number of cities reported their highest daily temperatures so far this year. The city of Gyeongju saw temperatures reach 36.8 degrees Celsius (98.24 Fahrenheit) and Jeongseon county saw temperatures reach 36.1 Celsius (96.98 Fahrenheit), according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.
Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district saw temperatures reach to 35.7 degrees Celsius (around 96.2 Fahrenheit), while North Gyeongsang Province saw temperatures reach 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.58 degrees Fahrenheit).
A heat wave warning remains in effect on Monday, which signals daily maximum temperatures are expected to be 35 degrees Celsius or higher for more than two consecutive days.
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™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Gawon Bae, Alex Stambaugh and Junko Ogura contributed reporting. | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/thousands-flee-homes-as-typhoon-doksuri-soaks-beijing-and-a-second-storm-approaches-china/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:32 | 0 | https://kion546.com/news/national-world/cnn-world/2023/07/31/thousands-flee-homes-as-typhoon-doksuri-soaks-beijing-and-a-second-storm-approaches-china/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 12:45 AM MST|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T08:50:33 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
HONG KONG – Fans of singer and songwriter Coco Lee, who was known for her powerful voice and live performances, were gathering with flowers to pay their respects to their idol at her funeral in Hong Kong on Monday.
The evening services were expected to be attended by her family, friends and supporters. Lee died July 5 at age 48.
She was born in Hong Kong and attended school in San Francisco before releasing her first album in 1994 at age 19. She began her career as a Mandopop singer but branched out to release albums in Cantonese and English.
She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market, and her English song “Do You Want My Love” climbed to #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December 1999. In 2001, she sang “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” at the Academy Awards, becoming the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars.
Lee was also the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s “Mulan,” and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song “Reflection.”
Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain company Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters.
Her death had shocked fans. Her siblings posted on Facebook that she had depression for years and had attempted suicide at home on July 2. She died a few days later.
On Monday afternoon, more than 100 fans dressed in black were waiting outside the funeral home.
Lin Jing, a fan from Fujian province in the southeast, said she admired Lee's smile and appearance, adding: “She was really talented. She always tried to improve and she inspired women to feel independent."
In a video for her memorial service, actors and singers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan recalled their memories with Lee and mourned her death.
Action star Jackie Chan said in the video that everyone was proud of her when she sang at the Oscars.
“To friends like us, Coco was a passionate and kind friend who showed care to us. She was really a good person. That's why we are so reluctant to accept she has left us,” he said.
Award-winning director Ang Lee recalled his exchanges with the late singer before the Oscars and said it was a pity she died so young. “We miss her very much. Coco, rest in peace," he said in the video.
In Coco Lee's recent social media posts, she kept spreading positivity. In March, she posted about having to relearn how to walk after undergoing surgery for an old leg injury.
“Successful surgery. Even though I’m in a lot of pain and I have to re-learn how to walk again, I know I can do it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes I can and I will!”
___
Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung and news assistant Annie Cheung contributed to this report. | https://www.wsls.com/entertainment/2023/07/31/fans-pay-tribute-to-coco-lee-hong-kong-singer-who-had-international-success/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:03 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/entertainment/2023/07/31/fans-pay-tribute-to-coco-lee-hong-kong-singer-who-had-international-success/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Empowerment" is the core competence of PE/VC institutions after investment. Asia Green Fund (AGF) has always adhered to the investment strategy of "pursuing both financial returns and environmental benefits", focused on the logic of "technology empowerment", grasped the development trend of SRDI industries, and promoted technological innovation to empower industrial convergence and innovative development. AGF continues to practice the "sustainable investment strategy" and has now formed an industrial ecosystem with deep linkage among the capital side (LPs), investment side (AGF), and industry side (science and technology enterprises), which realized the bidirectional empowerment between capital and industry.
AGF adheres to the principle of "30% investment and 70% management" and provides all-round services for portfolios in accordance with the investment and post-investment management mechanism of international head PE funds. AGF emphasizes proactive and personalized post-investment management, builds a unique team of customized services and post-investment supporting experts, provides "adaptive" solutions to various problems and demands of portfolios, and passes them the management methodology.
AGF has appended a professional marketing consultant department in the post-investment side, which is under the responsibility of Nison Yao, the new Operating Director. Mr. Yao has been deeply involved in the manufacturing industry since his employment. He has been in important positions in Marketing of local and multinational companies and delivered great results. He has rich practical experience in strategic positioning, marketing, and operation of enterprises. AGF helps portfolios to build specific clear business paths and market expansion plans, integrate green ecosystem resources for precise docking, and create sustainable value.
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SOURCE Asia Green Fund | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:03 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ |
KHAR – Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman’s party is part of Sharif’s coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that “such attacks cannot deter our resolve.”
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects.”
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters. | https://www.wsls.com/news/world/2023/07/31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-government-vows-to-hunt-down-those-behind-the-weekends-suicide-bombing/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:09 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/world/2023/07/31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-government-vows-to-hunt-down-those-behind-the-weekends-suicide-bombing/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture and art can bring minds and the world together. With this in mind, the second episode of season three of the China Daily series Youth Power, "Unlocking the power of art: How cultural exchanges can connect the world," was broadcast online on July 30.
Gen Zers from China, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Thailand gathered at the Dalian campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and discussed how artistic beauty can bring the world together and how to face the challenges that artificial intelligence present to art.
What is the essence of beauty? What unique influence does Chinese art have on Gen Zers? What spiritual pursuits are reflected in Chinese art and aesthetics?
In this episode of Youth Power, each Gen Z guest brought an art piece that they believed would best represent the Chinese concept of art and beauty. In doing so they gained a deeper understanding of Chinese aesthetics, philosophy and culture.
Giacomo Bruni, an Italian studying at the China Academy of Art in Beijing, said brushes are the most important tools in expressing Chinese culture because they are central to calligraphy, writing poetry and painting.
"Like the hardness of the handle and the softness of the hair, the brush encapsulates the idea of yin and Yang," Bruni said. The brush not only encapsulates the creativity of the world, but also epitomizes the profound ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, he said.
Song De'ao, a Chinese Gen Zer, chose the official mascots for Chinese winter sports designed by a team at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts as his ideal representation of Chinese aesthetics.
Song, a member of the design team, recalled the inspiration for the mascot Xue Wa, which wears tiger-head hats, tiger-head shoes, and cloud patterns and longevity locks on the clothing. "The mascots reflect the lively and cheerful aesthetics in modern China," Song said.
Jiratchaya Phinyoworakul, a Thai studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, highlighted two features that distinguish Chinese artworks from those of other countries and cultures: cultural extensiveness and profoundness as well as a philosophy centering on harmony between humankind and nature.
The program host, Zhong Yutong, said it is through exchanges that Chinese arts increase in vibrancy and vitality.
"Chinese arts have so much to offer. And we've had wonderful exchanges with different arts and civilizations across the world."
Bruni said art Chinese art is all-encompassing, perfectly merging all types of art. He cited Chinese literati paintings, a kind of painting that expresses feelings and aspirations through natural scenery, as an example, illustrating that "they unify the intellectual world and the practical art world, which is something that is missing in Western countries".
Program guests said there is no absolute definition of art and no universally recognized standard of beauty. Lian Liia, a student from Russia, said "the standard of art is changing in the art history, but there is one thing that has never changed, namely people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty".
Phinyoworakul said art is tantamount to comfort. "Even little things can be art. A smile on your face, a flower, sunshine, everything can be art. Art is in our everyday life."
Concerning the combination and contradiction of traditional art and fast-developing AI art creation, Bruni said artists screen information like filters of society. They find beauty and create art, but do not mechanically record and present everything around them. However, this is not true of AI, because it cannot grasp the concept of beauty.
Sun Yuxin of China said AI could positively influence the development of art. "AI saves a lot of time for artists, and it helps them with a lot of basic work."
Gen Zers have also contributed their wisdom in helping the world appreciate the beauty of Chinese art. Promoting Chinese aesthetics through social media could help people understand it more directly, Phinyoworakul said.
Lian Liia, a student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University in Beijing, said, "We can promote Chinese culture as a lifestyle. For example, doing calligraphy or drinking tea to experience Chinese culture in our daily life."
Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.
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SOURCE China Daily | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:10 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ |
KYIV – Russian missiles slammed into the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing at least one person and likely trapping others beneath rubble, an official said Monday.
The two missiles struck an apartment building, destroying a section of it between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, and a university building. Ten people were wounded, he said.
Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region and has seldom been targeted by the Kremlin’s forces since the war began in February 2022.
But bombardment with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow’s tactics since the full-scale invasion, with some aerial attacks hitting civilian areas. Russian officials insist they only take aim at legitimate military targets.
That approach has continued during Kyiv’s recently launched counteroffensive that is trying to drive Russian forces out of occupied areas.
Commenting on the attack, Ukraine’s president said that “in recent days, the enemy has been stubbornly attacking cities, city centers, shelling civilian objects and housing.”
“But this terror will not frighten us or break us,” Zelenskyy said in a social media statement.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has sought to take the war deep into Russia, reportedly using drones to hit targets as far away as Moscow. The latest strike, on Sunday, damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometers) from the Kremlin.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.wsls.com/news/world/2023/07/31/ukraine-says-russian-missiles-hit-another-apartment-building-and-likely-trapped-people-under-rubble/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:15 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/world/2023/07/31/ukraine-says-russian-missiles-hit-another-apartment-building-and-likely-trapped-people-under-rubble/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households.
Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation.
A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:16 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ |
AUCKLAND – The United States arrived at the Women's World Cup as the favorites to win an unprecedented third consecutive title. But after an underwhelming draw against the Netherlands, there's a real chance the Americans can be eliminated in group play for the first time in tournament history.
The U.S. plays Portugal in the third and final match of Group E play, and if Portugal pulls off an upset Tuesday at Eden Park in Auckland, the Americans could be in big trouble.
The United States needs to either win or draw against Portugal, one of eight teams playing in its first World Cup, to ensure the Americans continue to play in this tournament.
“I think we feel like we have to win everything all the time,” said American star Megan Rapinoe. “That’s the expectation for ourselves. That’s the expectation playing for U.S. national team. It’s just kind of like, ‘Why would you come into the World Cup if you don’t think that you should win it, and if you don’t think that you can win it?’”
The United States sits atop the group after a 3-0 victory over Vietnam in the tournament opener, and a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands last Thursday in Wellington. The Dutch are tied with the U.S. on points, but the Americans have the tie-breaker on goals scored.
Portugal lost to the Dutch in its opener but then beat Vietnam 2-0. So if the Portuguese beat the United States, they’ll move on, and the Americans would then need Vietnam to beat the Dutch in Dunedin — while keeping their advantage on goal differential — to advance.
“One thing is for sure, that we have a job to do and that’s first and foremost to take care of our game, so our main focus right now it our performance, our team, and Portugal," said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski. "What happens on the other side is something we can’t control. We have to stay focused on the things we can control.”
Portugal could use a swarming defense to try to prevent the United States from scoring the way Vietnam — unsuccessfully — played the Americans in the opener.
Portugal defender Ana Borges said her team will be prepared.
“This is the stage where we want to be. It’s against these teams that we want to play because we’re going to learn and grow from them,” Borges said. “Not saying anything about the other team, but if we weren’t prepared for this challenge, we wouldn’t be playing football.”
CHINA-ENGLAND
England is in very good shape headed into its Group D finale against China, needing only a draw Tuesday night in Adelaide, Australia to win the group and advance to the round of 16.
Even a loss would be OK and push England through as group winners so long as Denmark doesn't beat Haiti. If Denmark won and England lost, the group winner would be decided by FIFA tiebreakers.
England edged out a 1-0 victory over Haiti to open the tournament, then beat Denmark by the same score.
China lost 1-0 to Denmark in the opener but rebounded with a 1-0 win over Haiti and is now trying to keep its streak intact of advancing out of group play in all eight of its World Cup appearances.
It will be a tough task: China can advance to the round of 16 if the Chinese beat England. But if Denmark beats Haiti, coupled with a China win, then FIFA tiebreakers would come into a play. A loss would mean China's only chance at advancing would be if Haiti beat Denmark.
England and China meet for just the fifth time, but first since a 2-1 China victory in 2015.
England has scored in each of its last 15 matches at the Women’s World Cup for a tally of 25 goals since 2015. A goal against China would make England the first team to score in 16 consecutive matches in the tournament.
China is looking to win consecutive World Cup games for the first time since 1999.
VIETNAM-NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands want to win every match in the Women's World Cup but none more so than Tuesday's game against Vietnam.
At stake: avoiding Sweden in the knockout round.
The Dutch, the tournament runner-up in 2019, need only a win or a draw in the Group E match played in Dunedin, New Zealand. And even a loss would be OK so long as the United States beats Portugal in a game being played simultaneously.
But the Netherlands has mapped out the tournament and wants no part of Sweden anytime soon.
“The first aim is always to win and get to the last 16 and then after that if we can score goals we will, of course,” said Dutch coach Andries Jonker. “But looking at our colleagues from the U.S. and Portugal, we’ve noticed it’s not all that easy. We’ve never shown any kind of arrogance, but if we get chances to score goals we will. We would prefer to play against the number two in this group and not Sweden.”
The Netherlands are tied with the United States for the top spot in the group after playing to a 1-1 draw against the Americans and a 1-0 win over Portugal.
Vietnam has already been eliminated from its first Women's World Cup following losses to the United States and Portugal. Vietnam has lost its last five internationals by a combined score of 18-1.
“The Netherlands tries to have as many goals as possible, and I have to say we are at a low level," said Vietnam coach Mai Duc Chung. "If we compare with Asia, we’re still at a low level. So if we compare with the world, we are still quite behind. It is a success for us already. In the past two matches we have tried our best. Great effort already.”
HAITI-DENMARK
First-time Women's World Cup participant Haiti would like to stick around a bit longer but needs a miracle against in the Group D finale against Denmark to have any shot to advance.
Haiti needs to beat Denmark in the Tuesday match played in Perth, Australia, and hope England beats China. If both those things happen, Haiti's only chance would still come down to FIFA's tiebreaker system.
It's very long odds for Haiti, which has played better in this tournament than its 0-2 record shows. Haiti held both England and China to one goal each in the first two matches.
Haiti is on a six-game losing streak headed into what is probably its final game of this tournament.
Denmark, meanwhile, is trying to advance to the group stage for the first time since 1995. Denmark was a 1-0 winner over China to start the tournament, then lost 1-0 to England and heads into the game tied for second in the group with China with three points each.
A win over Haiti pushes Denmark through to the next round so long as England doesn't lose to China. That scenario would put tiebreakers into play.
The Danes, in the tournament for the first time since 2007, can also get through with a draw, but again, only if England beats China.
Denmark has won five of its last seven international matches.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wsls.com/sports/2023/07/31/us-needs-win-to-ensure-americans-avoid-elimination-in-group-play-for-first-time-in-womens-world-cup/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:21 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/sports/2023/07/31/us-needs-win-to-ensure-americans-avoid-elimination-in-group-play-for-first-time-in-womens-world-cup/ |
HANZHONG, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanzhong in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on his way back to Beijing on Saturday. During his visit to the municipal museum, Xi emphasized making good use of museums. He also called for efforts to expand the influence of Chinese culture.
"I was in Hanzhong in 2008 after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake to oversee the relief work. Hanzhong has always been in my heart over the years," Xi told local residents. Xi said he was delighted to see huge changes of the city since then.
With an exhibition area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the Hanzhong Museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province is not the grandest museum in China, but it is a historical telescope allowing visitors to have a retrospective view of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) history dating back to as far as 2,000 years ago.
Unlike many other museums across the country built to house more recent historical relics, the Hanzhong Museum itself embodies the history that encompasses three heritage sites with the ancient Hantai (Lit: Han palace), once the royal residence of the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, at its core.
Heritage sites-turned museum
Including the ruin of ancient Hantai, a notable feature of the Hanzhong Museum was it built in 1985 consisting of two other Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) heritage sites, the Baijiang altar and the "Yin Ma Chi," a pool facility common in ancient times for accommodating horses.
Visitors are first greeted by the ancient Hantai once they enter the museum, which is seven meters high. The millennium-old architecture was constructed using typical man-made rammed earth and its design characters show architectural aesthetics prominent in China's Qin (221BC-206BC), Han and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties.
Liao Shuguang, an architectural expert of ancient Chinese buildings, told the Global Times that the ancient Hantai's functions would change "according to history's change." It was once home to Liu Bang, but was later renovated in the Southern Song Dynasty to become a backyard garden with a gazebo on the building's roof.
Although the ancient Hantai changed roles, its historical importance remained unchanged as it witnessed Liu's founding of the Han Dynasty, one of the powerful dynasties in the Chinese history to have "unified yet diverse" cultural and political beliefs, historian Tao Zhongjun, told the Global Times.
"Including the belief of a 'unified country,' the Han Dynasty left behind a diverse legacy including the governing Confucius mindset and Silk Road exchanges with the western region of Asia and the world. They continue to inspire us today," Tao noted.
Aside from the ancient Hantai, the Baijiang altar, another major element of the museum, was built in 206BC. It was where the then governor Liu Bang would praise the talent and wisdom of his loyal officer Han Xin.
Museum expert Li Zhiming told the Global Times that such heritage sites turned cultural spaces are "living proof of Chinese history," and a good way of making use of the museum is to "properly maintain it while enriching its collection that possesses local cultural characters."
The art of Shudao
Hanzhong was a major stop along the ancient road system Shudao that connected China's Guanzhong Plain with the Chengdu Plain.
The Baoxie plank road, an ancient mountain road that traversed the Qinling Mountain, was also located in Hanzhong and brought an abundant supply of Shudao cultural artifacts.
Inside the Hanzhong Museum, there is a gallery dedicated to the ancient plank road. Shi Men Shi San Pin, also known as the 13 cliff stone carvings of the Shi Men, are a part of the museum's collection.
As an important section of the Shudao, Shi Men was a tunnel at the southern end of the Baoxie plank road. The walls of the tunnel as well as the cliffs of the Baoxie river, were carved with numerous historical inscriptions among which the 13 pieces collected by the museum were the "rarest of the rare," relic expert Xiang Zhengming told the Global Times.
Amongst the 13 carving pieces, the Shi Men Song (Lit: the Eulogy of Shi Men) is a highlight. It embodies the aesthetic essence of Han Dynasty's clerical script calligraphic style. In 1936, China's large-scale encyclopedia Cihai (lit: the sea of the words) took the two Chinese characters for "sea" and "word" discovered from the carving stones to be used on the cover.
"The collection at the Hanzhong Museum holds value in which one can look into China's calligraphic art and can be useful to historians in understanding the then social and cultural scenes," Xiang told the Global Times.
Some other carved pieces have also revealed the secrets of Han Dynasty's water project construction.
Including the 13 treasures, the Hanzhong Museum holds over 5,000 pieces of cultural artifacts that tell the changing cultural history of the city and the nation.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:23 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ |
ROANOKE, Va. – The brutal heat we saw late last week has subsided, though it is still a bit on the sticky side on this last day of July.
That will translate to spotty storm chances in areas mostly near and east of US 220 late Monday morning into the afternoon. Any threat of severe weather is limited to areas east of US 29.
Download our app for updates if you live/plan to be in that area.
Aside from that chance for isolated storms, we expect seasonably warm weather for the final day of July.
Temperatures at night drop into the 50s and 60s, meaning some of us can give the A/C a much-deserved break after last week’s heat wave.
Humidity levels stay tolerable, leading to pleasant weather through mid-week.
As humidity climbs later in the week, we’ll see the daily shot for showers and storms returning.
Because of the slow movement of any storms late this week into the weekend, 10 News will monitor the potential for localized flooding. | https://www.wsls.com/weather/2023/07/31/trading-spotty-storms-monday-for-pleasant-drop-in-humidity-tuesday/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:28 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/weather/2023/07/31/trading-spotty-storms-monday-for-pleasant-drop-in-humidity-tuesday/ |
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan's Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvasfm.org/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T08:51:28 | 1 | https://www.wvasfm.org/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
The Vehicle, Merchandise and Accessories Collaboration is part of Gogoro and MUJI's Joint "Recycling for Good" Sustainability Initiative that Enables the Public to Recycle Polypropylene Plastic (PP) Waste for use in the new Gogoro MUJI Smartscooters.
TAIPEI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced a collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and MUJI, the Tokyo-based consumer goods and lifestyle company. The newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME along with a range of merchandise and accessories were launched today at a press event in Taipei.
Created by Gogoro and MUJI, the Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME offer simplified Smartscooter designs that utilize recycled polypropylene (PP) body elements. Personally curated by Fukasawa, the Smartscooters adopt the classic MUJI design elements, unique rustic color palette and simple color tone philosophy to create a new urban mobility experience that is simple and comfortable yet unique.
"The most important thing in design is that it must always uphold the spirit of integrity towards people, the environment and life," said Naoto Fukasawa, world-renowned designer, author, educator and MUJI's advisory board member. "Both Gogoro and MUJI are quite popular brands, and it is very natural for them to cooperate in this way. It's not just one plus one equals two. Instead, let one plus one see a greater value."
Gogoro pioneered the mass market manufacturing of recyclable polypropylene plastics for vehicle body panels in 2019 with the Gogoro 3 Smartscooter and then across its full range of Gogoro Viva Smartscooters including Gogoro VIVA, Gogoro VIVA MIX and Gogoro VIVA XL. This innovative manufacturing process led to Gogoro's collaboration with MUJI.
"Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories," said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. "This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint 'Recycling for Good' initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters."
Recycling for Good - A Joint Sustainability Initiative
Gogoro and MUJI share a vision for sustainability and a core philosophy of giving back to the Earth. In response to this year's World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the companies joined together on June 5, 2023 to launch the "Recycling for Good" initiative in Taiwan. "Recycling for Good" encourages people in Taiwan to participate in recycling PP (polypropylene) plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.
Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI's PP storage series.
"MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro's commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI's business philosophy," said Akihiro Yoshida, general manager of MUJI Taiwan. "MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth."
Gogoro Sustainability
Today, more than 2.5 million Gogoro users have reduced carbon emissions by more than 680 million kilograms, and 100% recyclable polypropylene PP (Polypropylene) is used as the Smartscooter shell material to promote resource regeneration and friendly recycling. In addition, Gogoro has introduced 40% renewable energy in factories since 2022, and 100% use of green electricity in designated Gogoro stores, gradually moving towards the goal of fully using renewable energy by 2050.
Naoto Fukasawa / Product Designer
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University's Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. Fukasawa established and headed up IDEO's Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and founded NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN. For more information on Naoto Fukasawa, visit https://naotofukasawa.com.
About MUJI
Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as "no-brand quality goods." MUJI was founded in Japan in 1980 and now has more than 800 stores around the world, carrying more than 7,000 items. With the goal of making people's daily life pleasant, MUJI is globally recognized for its high-quality products that are functional, well designed and reasonably priced. Find us online at www.MUJI.com or Instagram: @muji_global and Twitter: @muji_net.
About MUJI Taiwan
MUJI Taiwan has been operating in Taiwan since 2004, and it has been nearly 20 years. MUJI Taiwan has always been committed to connecting with Taiwan and producing local products in Taiwan, hoping to provide customers with a good life. Find us online at www.muji.com/tw/zh_tw/store, Instagram: @muji_taiwan or Facebook: www.facebook.com/muji.tw.
About Gogoro
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles", Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and safety. The challenge is massive, but the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards, and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in densely populated cities is even greater. For more information, visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on Twitter: @wearegogoro.
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SOURCE Gogoro | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:30 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 3:45 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T08:51:36 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan's Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T08:52:11 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
FOOD PROGRAM: The United Nations had to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in many countries because its donations plummeted by about half, an official said Friday.
EXPLOSION: An explosion Saturday at a fireworks warehouse in Thailand killed at least 10 people and wounded at least 118 others, officials said. Residents of over 200 households were affected.
BOOK BANS: A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked Arkansas from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing "harmful" materials to minors. The lawsuit comes as lawmakers in many conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books.
PRESIDENT'S SON: Colombian police arrested Nicolas Petro, the president's son, Saturday in a high-profile money laundering probe into funds he allegedly collected from convicted drug traffickers during last year's presidential campaign. President Gustavo Petro said he wouldn't interfere with the investigation.
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FLORIDA: The oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity in the U.S., Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, said this past week it is relocating a planned 2025 convention from Florida because of what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration's "harmful, racist and insensitive" policies.
UKRAINE: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday signed a law moving the official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25 from Jan. 7, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church observes it. | https://magicvalley.com/briefly/article_c87f2a20-e907-53de-a1dd-935c6f2d6cfb.html | 2023-07-31T08:56:47 | 0 | https://magicvalley.com/briefly/article_c87f2a20-e907-53de-a1dd-935c6f2d6cfb.html |
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An escaped inmate from New Hampshire was fatally shot by a police officer at a store in Miami Beach after threatening two women with a knife, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections said.
Darien Young, 29, was taken to a hospital on Thursday night, where he later died, the corrections department said in a news release. No one else was hurt.
The shooting happened at a Victoria’s Secret store. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate, Miami Beach police said.
Young had been placed on escape status on July 21 after he left the grounds of a minimum security transitional housing unit in Manchester, New Hampshire, and failed to return, the state corrections department said.
He was incarcerated on charges of receiving stolen property, burglary, drug and falsifying physical evidence. Young had a minimum parole eligibility date of July 31 and a maximum release date of Jan. 31, 2028, the department said. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/escaped-new-hampshire-inmate-fatally-shot-by-officer-in-miami-beach-store/ | 2023-07-31T08:56:47 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/escaped-new-hampshire-inmate-fatally-shot-by-officer-in-miami-beach-store/ |
Inter Miami now knows who they will be facing in the round of 32 of the Leagues Cup.
In-state rival Orlando City will make the short trip down to DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale to open the knockout rounds against Inter Miami on Wednesday night.
The matchup was determined dramatically by Saturday’s results. Orlando City scored a game-winner in the 92nd minute and needed a point-blank save in the 96th minute to defeat Mexican club Santos Laguna.
Inter Miami will have had seven days off once Wednesday arrives, while Orlando will have three.
Better yet, another star could be in line to make his Inter Miami debut.
Jordi Alba, a former teammate of Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets at FC Barcelona, could be made available for the first time. The left-back signed with Inter Miami last week, but has not yet officially joined the team. However, he posted a photo of himself on a private plane headed to South Florida to his Instagram story on Saturday, indicating that his arrival to the team is near.
Jordi Alba is on his way to South Florida #InterMiamiCF pic.twitter.com/oQxElhflvs
— Sam Sklar (@sklarsam_) July 29, 2023
Miami and Orlando have faced each other 11 times in all competitions, with Orlando leading the series 5-3-3. They last squared off in late May, with Orlando taking it 3-1.
In addition, a Messi-themed mural in Miami was defaced this week, suspected by Orlando City fans. Purple paint was spread across the mural and read “FL is purple.” The mural has since been repaired, but could add some bitterness to the next chapter of the rivalry.
One of the famous Messi Murals done by supporters group “Vice City” was vandalized with a message that said “LA FLORIDA ES MORADA”
After a long nights work the fellas at @VICECITY1896 restored the piece 👏👏#InterMiamiCF #LaFamiliaIMCF #Messi𓃵 #MLS pic.twitter.com/E1JlVX20hQ
— Nico Bravo (@NicoBravo_14) July 27, 2023
Meanwhile, Cruz Azul defeated Atlanta United in penalty kicks Saturday night and is the other team to advance out of Inter Miami’s group.
Tickets for the round-of-32 matchup already went on sale Wednesday, with it already known that Inter Miami would be hosting. That was established due to Inter Miami having more group stage points (6) than Orlando.
The winner will move on to the round of 16, which will be played Aug. 6, 7 or 8 against either FC Dallas or Mazatlán. If Dallas and Miami win, they will play in Dallas, but if Mazatlán wins, they will play in Fort Lauderdale.
The final and third-place matches are both scheduled for Aug. 19. Inter Miami’s next MLS regular-season match is slated the next day at home against Charlotte. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/inter-miami-to-host-in-state-rival-orlando-city-in-round-of-32-of-leagues-cup/ | 2023-07-31T08:56:53 | 0 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/inter-miami-to-host-in-state-rival-orlando-city-in-round-of-32-of-leagues-cup/ |
Special Theme: Disability Reclaimed
TCM, beginning at 6 p.m.
Turner Classic Movies' monthlong Sunday night look at how various mental and physical disabilities have been portrayed in film concludes with tonight's two features. Up first is 1978's Coming Home (pictured), the Best Picture Oscar-nominated drama from Best Director nominee Hal Ashby.Compared positively by some critics to the similarly themed 1946 classic The Best Years of Our Lives, Coming Home stars Best Actress winner Jane Fonda as a woman who, despite having a husband (Best Supporting Actor nominee Bruce Dern) who is fighting in Vietnam, falls in love and begins an affair with a man (Best Actor winner Jon Voight) who was left a paraplegic following the injuries he suffered in his own combat action over there. After that is the satirical comedy/ drama Being There(1979), also directed by Ashby. In his second-to-last film, Peter Sellers delivers one of his most iconic performances as Chance/Chauncey Gardiner, a simple-minded and sheltered former long time gardener to his now-deceased employer, who somehow ends up a Washington political insider and unlikely adviser to a powerful tycoon. Shirley MacLaine, Best Supporting Actor winner Melvyn Douglas and Jack Warden co-star. | https://magicvalley.com/catch-a-classic/article_3d941061-e997-5051-93bd-3488c2ba96b0.html | 2023-07-31T08:56:53 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/catch-a-classic/article_3d941061-e997-5051-93bd-3488c2ba96b0.html |
It is a staggering figure, $304 million over five seasons. Perhaps even more staggering is that extension this past week went to a player who was on the wrong side of the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, a player who closed those seven games with 25 turnovers to 24 assists, who shot .418 in that series, including .163 on 3-pointers.
Nonetheless, the NBA’s richest contract now belongs to Jaylen Brown, a two-time All-Star selection over his seven years whose lone All-NBA selection was a second-team nod this past season.
The numbers are numbing: $52.4 million in 2024-25, $56.6 million in 2025-26, $60.8 million in 2026-27, $64.9 million in 2027-28 and $69.1 million in 2028-29. So, yes, the 82-game NBA is on the brink of $1 million per-game salaries.
Which means both that business is good, and that the perspective on such numbers has to change.
In a league where all indications are of an annual salary cap headed in excess of $200 million, the new math has to come by playing the percentages.
For example, in the first year of Brown’s extension, 2024-25, his contract, according to the math at spotrac.com, will be 24.8% of the Celtics’ overall cap. From that perspective, it is reasonable to forecast that a quarter of the Celtics’ success could be predicated on Brown’s performance. That same year, Jayson Tatum’s $34.8 million salary currently accounts for 16.5% of the Celtics’ cap and Kristaps Porzingis’ $29.3 million as 13.9%.
As a matter of perspective, for all the external consternation about the way the Heat went ahead with massive extensions (OK, massive at the time) for Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro during the latter stages of their rookie-scale deals, the Heat’s current (a key delineation at this moment) 2023-24 payroll has Jimmy Butler’s $45.2 million salary as 24.3% of the Heat’s salary cap, Adebayo’s $32.6 million as 17.5% and Herro’s $27 million as 16%.
If you instead factor in Damian Lillard’s $39.3 million 2023-24 salary, should the Heat close such a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, you would be adding a salary that currently stands as 35% of the league’s overall cap and a far smaller percentage of the Heat cap, in light of the Heat operating well above the cap.
In fact, should Lillard be acquired, or perhaps even not, expect Butler to move to the front burner with his right to move into negotiations for an extension of a contract that otherwise expires in 2025-26 at $52.4 million that season (Lillard is due $58.6 million that season).
The numbers by themselves are somewhat absurd regarding grown men in short pants throwing a ball through a circle. But then also consider that Tom Cruise earned a reported $100 million in 2022, and he probably can’t even dunk. And for Matrix Reloaded, whose 138-minute running time is about the time of a single NBA game, Keanu Reeves earned a reported $45 million.
As for the NBA, in a salary-cap league, payroll is a percentage of revenue, one doesn’t jump unless the other is a slam dunk.
But what the Brown contract and others to follow show, including perhaps a Heat payroll to include Butler, Lillard and Adebayo, is that the NBA divide is mirroring the societal divide.
To get their books in order, the Celtics moved off Marcus Smart and parted with Grant Williams in free agency.
Ahead of their possible Lillard-a-thon, the Heat moved on from NBA Finals-run contributors Gabe Vincent and Max Strus.
This is what NBA ownership put together in the new collective-bargaining agreement that went into effect on July 1. This is what NBA players signed off on with their vote of approval.
The haves will have plenty, staggering plenty, in coming years. The have-nots, not so much, at least in relative terms in a business where the minimum annual salary scale starts this coming season at $1 million for rookies and goes to $2.9 million for those with 10 or more seasons of experience.
At this point, getting caught up in the actual salaries is a fool’s errand.
Instead, play the percentages, which is what matters most in a salary-cap league.
And what likely will have Jimmy Butler asking for an extension soon enough, in essence asking for something even beyond Jaylen Brown money.
IN THE LANE
SOLVING THE Js: For as much faith as the Celtics showed in Jaylen Brown with his massive contract extension, it is not necessarily a move that needs to be immediately countered. This is not the Heat attempting to come up with answers for Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of playoff matchups against the Milwaukee Bucks or even for Kevin Durant when he was with the Brooklyn Nets. With Kristaps Porzingis in but Marcus Smart and Grant Williams out, the Celtics are more different than necessarily upgraded. Still, it will be interesting to see the Heat approach going forward with Caleb Martin, who has been mentioned in Damian Lillard trade rumors and who can opt into free agency next summer. Arguably the MVP of this past season’s Eastern Conference finals (an award that went to Jimmy Butler by a single vote), Martin stands as a Heat defensive option against both Brown and Jayson Tatum. Without Martin, it would further raise the two-way ante for Butler. Further, with Kristaps Porzingis in the Celtics’ mix, it potentially reduces the opportunities to utilize Adebayo as a primary defender on Tatum. Brown’s extension might have indirectly changed the Heat’s calculus with Martin.
RINGS TRUE: In South Florida last weekend for a game in the Big 3 halfcourt circuit at Kaseya Center, Mario Chalmers said he would be onboard with the notion of some type of Heat ring of honor at the team’s arena. While players such as LeBron James and Butler sooner enough will have their jerseys in the rafters alongside those of Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, there is a second tier of players from the franchise’s 35 seasons who arguably deserve a place in Heat posterity, players not necessarily of the level of retired jerseys, but of commemoration. “I would love that,” Chalmers said. “That would be a dream come true.” Such an approach would delineate the franchise’s ultimate stars while also allowing a place of appreciation for the likes of, say, Rony Seikaly, Grant Long, Glen Rice, Steve Smith, P.J. Brown, Dan Majerle, Jamal Mashburn, Chalmers, Goran Dragic and perhaps, if only for his one shining moment, Ray Allen. (It also would provide the Heat a means to reclassify those jerseys tucked in the rafters of Michael Jordan and Dan Marino.)
STILL A BUCKET: In the wake of the Big3’s visit to South Florida, former Heat forward Michael Beasley exited the weekend leading the league with his 21.8 scoring average. To put that into perspective (beyond, of course, the perspective of playing against some more than a decade older), Beasley is doing that in a league where games are played to 50. Beasley, 34, also leads the league with his 10.4 rebounds per game, ahead of the 9.6 of former Heat forward and teammate Rashard Lewis. Chalmers, 37, is fifth in the Big3 in assists.
STEPPING IN: Former Heat power forward Kyle Alexander not only has been signed by Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv, but among the players he reportedly beat out for that roster spot was former Heat center Hassan Whiteside. Alexander, 26, was with the Washington Wizards during summer league earlier this month. Whiteside, 34, had been playing in Puerto Rico, where he averaged 22.1 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. In another international move involving a former Heat player, guard Briante Weber has signed to play the coming season in Italy.
NUMBER
76. NBA players, according to Spotrac, who will earn at least $20 million this coming season, including the Heat’s Jimmy Butler ($45.2 million), Bam Adebayo ($32.6 million), Kyle Lowry ($29.7 million) and Tyler Herro ($27 million). As Sportico notes, 32 of the 50 largest contracts in North American sports, by annual value, are held by NBA players. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/ira-winderman-jaylen-brown-deal-has-heat-nba-following-the-money-by-playing-the-percentages/ | 2023-07-31T08:56:59 | 0 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/ira-winderman-jaylen-brown-deal-has-heat-nba-following-the-money-by-playing-the-percentages/ |
ATLANTA (AP) — Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $1.05 billion after another drawing without any tickets matching all winning numbers.
ATLANTA (AP) — Mega Millions jackpot climbs to $1.05 billion after another drawing without any tickets matching all winning numbers. | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/mega-millions-jackpot-climbs-to-1-05-billion-after-another-drawing-without-any-tickets-matching-all-winning-numbers/ | 2023-07-31T08:57:05 | 1 | https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/29/mega-millions-jackpot-climbs-to-1-05-billion-after-another-drawing-without-any-tickets-matching-all-winning-numbers/ |
Today's highlight
On July 30, 1945, the Portland class heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, having just delivered components of the atomic bomb to Tinian in the Mariana Islands during World War II, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; only 317 out of nearly 1,200 men survived.
On this date
In 1619, the first representative assembly in America convened in Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.
In 1729, Baltimore, Maryland, was founded.
In 1864, during the Civil War, union forces tried to take Petersburg, Virginia, by exploding a gunpowder-laden mine shaft beneath Confederate defense lines; the attack failed.
In 1916, German saboteurs blew up a munitions plant on Black Tom, an island near Jersey City, new Jersey, killing about a dozen people.
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In 1918, poet Joyce Kilmer, a sergeant in the 165th U.S. Infantry Regiment, was killed during the Second Battle of the Marne in World War I. Kilmer is remembered for his poem "Trees."
In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure making "In God We Trust" the national motto, replacing "E Pluribus Unum."
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a measure creating Medicare, which began operating the following year.
In 1980, Israel's Knesset passed a law reaffirming all of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
In 2008, ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was extradited to The Hague to face genocide charges after nearly 13 years on the run. (He was sentenced by a U.N. court in 2019 to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.)
In 2010, the Afghan Taliban confirmed the death of long time leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and appointed his successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.
In 2016, 16 people died when a hot air balloon caught fire and exploded after hitting high-tension power lines before crashing into a pasture near Lockhart, Texas, about 60 miles northeast of San Antonio.
In 2020, John Lewis was eulogized in Atlanta by three former presidents and others who urged Americans to continue the work of the civil rights icon in fighting injustice.
Ten years ago: U.S. army Pfc. Chelsea Manning was acquitted of aiding the enemy — the most serious charge she faced — but was convicted of espionage, theft and other charges at Fort Meade, Maryland, more than three years after she'd spilled secrets to Wikileaks. (The former intelligence analyst was later sentenced to up to 35 years in prison, but the sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in his final days in office.) | https://magicvalley.com/today-in-history/article_0600f892-17be-5b7b-8040-e941a052ff31.html | 2023-07-31T08:57:06 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/today-in-history/article_0600f892-17be-5b7b-8040-e941a052ff31.html |
SUNDAY
July 30, 2023
All times Eastern. Start times can vary based on cable/satellite provider. Confirm times on your on-screen guide.
Tough as Nails
CBS, 7 p.m. ■ Season Finale
The final three compete in the most challenging gauntlet yet for the title of Tough as Nails champion and the coveted winner's belt in the season finale, "Ready for Takeoff ."
HouseBroken
FOX, 8 p.m.
Two new episodes of the animated comedy HouseBroken air tonight. In "Who's a Party Pony?" Honey (voice of Lisa Kudrow) runs into a former patient and is shocked to see >where her advice led him. Then in "Who's the Cat-Chelorette?" the Gray One (Jason Mantzoukas) fights for his human's affection in a Bachelorette-style reality competition.
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To Kill a Stepfather
Lifetime, 9 p.m..
In this world TV premiere, Nicole Rey learns that her stepfather, Matthew, whom she hadn't seen in years, suffered a deadly fall down the stairs at the family home and that her estranged mother, Kate, has been arrested for his murder. As Nicole begins investigating what happened, she finds out that not everything is as it seems, as if someone wants to let this sleeping dog lie ... at any price. Stars Alexandra Camacho, Kelly McCart, Jamel King, Avis Wrentmore and Elyse Mirto.
D.I. Ray
PBS, 9 p.m. ■ Season Finale
As the first season concludes, Ray's (Parminder Nagra) personal and professional lives collide after she makes a shocking discovery. The series has been renewed for Season 2, expected to start production sometime this year.
Dark Winds
AMC, 10 p.m. ■ Season Premiere
Based on the iconic Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, AMC's breakout series returns for its sophomore season with a new showrunner, John Wirth of Hell on Wheels fame. The series follows Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon, The Son), who reunites with Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon, Roswell, New Mexico), his former deputy turned-private-eye, when their separate cases bring them together in pursuit of the same suspect. They find themselves in the bad lands of Navajo Country chasing a killer who's turned his sights on them to protect a secret that rips open old wounds and challenges Leaphorn's moral and professional code.
The Mega-Brands That Built America History, 9 p.m.
History, 10 p.m.
This new entry in History's That Built franchise moves to its regular time slot starting with tonight's episode, "The World Delivered," which looks at key people who helped transform the delivery and shipping industry into what we know today.
When Calls the Heart
Hallmark Channel, 10 p.m. ■ Season Premiere
This new entry in History's That Built franchise moves to its regular time slot starting with tonight's episode, "The World Delivered," which looks at key people who helped transform the delivery and shipping industry into what we know today.
Black Snow
AMC, 11:05 p.m. ■ New Series
This six-part crime series originally debuted on the streaming services Sundance Now and AMC+ back in February and now finds its way to AMC this month. Part coming-of age drama and part whodunit, the drama follows the mystery of a small-town murder that rocked the Australian South Sea Islander community. In 1995, 17-year-old Isabel Baker (Talijah Blackman-Corowa) was murdered. The crime shocked her tightknit community and left the town devastated, as the case was never solved and the killer never found. In 2020, the opening of a time capsule unearths a secret that puts cold-case detective James Cormack (Travis Fimmel) on the trail of the killer. | https://magicvalley.com/what-to-watch/article_93ac1913-c313-553d-9c78-211883e26954.html | 2023-07-31T08:57:12 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/what-to-watch/article_93ac1913-c313-553d-9c78-211883e26954.html |
Today's Birthday (07/30/23)— Benefits flow through your professional work this year. Prepare for fun at home this summer, before autumn inspires creative breakthroughs. Making a professional change this winter for new creative directions leads to exciting and fascinating springtime explorations. Catch a rising career tide.
To get the advantage, check the day's rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.
Aries (March 21-April 19)— Today is an 8 — Look for opportunities to advance your career and find them. Fortune amplifies initiative. Consider what you would love and discover it hiding in plain sight.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)— Today is an 8 — Your investigation is getting interesting. Grab a lucky opportunity. Explore another angle and win. Connect with an inspiring teacher or mentor. Discover buried treasure.
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Gemini (May 21-June 20)— Today is a 9 — Collaborate to grow your shared financial venture. Quick action can get especially lucrative results. Pull together to harvest and conserve a wonderful windfall.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)— Today is an 8 — Enjoy great conditions for improving physical performance. Stretch and focus on your breath. Learn new tricks. Connect with nature and friends for extra credit.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)— Today is a 9 — Find and follow an intriguing connection. You're especially lucky in love. Indulge diversions, enthusiasms and fun. Discover creative and romantic possibilities. Relax and enjoy.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)— Today is an 8 — Visions of domestic renewal inspire action. Discover forgotten treasures and heirlooms. Have fun with family. Share stories and treats. Encourage each other to grow.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)— Today is a 9 — Have fun with your family. Visions of domestic renewal inspire action. Discover forgotten treasures and heirlooms. Share stories and treats. Encourage each other to grow.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)— Today is a 9 — You're especially brilliant. Write and sketch your creative ideas. Things are starting to make sense. Prepare carefully and then launch to a growing audience.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)— Today is a 9 — Grab a lucky break with lucrative conditions. Don't fall asleep on your laurels. Listen and learn. Monitor your market and move quickly.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)— Today is a 9 — Dress for success. Actions speak louder than words. A personal opportunity beckons with no time to waste. Take charge for the results you want.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)— Today is a 7 — You're especially sensitive, creative and inventive. You can get what you need. Envision a passion or dream fulfilled.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)— Today is an 8 — Collaborative efforts get a boost. Actions now can have long-term benefits. Turbocharge teamwork with an inspiring vision. Play your part and together surge ahead.
— Tribune Content Agency | https://magicvalley.com/your-daily-astrology/article_666d47ff-234d-5080-98e3-da2b136d192a.html | 2023-07-31T08:57:18 | 1 | https://magicvalley.com/your-daily-astrology/article_666d47ff-234d-5080-98e3-da2b136d192a.html |
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The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders fell 11-8 to the Buffalo Bisons on Sunday . The RailRiders had three homers in the loss, including a career-high 23rd from Estevan Florial.
Buffalo took an early lead as the first batter of the game Nathan Lukes doubled to reach. Top prospect Spencer Horwitz singled him home for a 1-0 advantage.
The RailRiders snagged the lead back in the next frame. Franchy Cordero began the inning with a walk and Carlos Narvraez recorded a base hit. Jamie Westbrook smoked an RBI double for to tie things at one apiece. Rodolfo Duran drew a walk to load the bases. A ground ball off the bat of Wilmer Difo put SWB up 2-1.
In the third the Bisons bounced back. They plated three runs on four singles and a RailRiders error.
The home team added four more in the fifth inning. Ernie Clement led off with a double and Horwitz quickly batted him in for a 6-2 lead. After Addison Barger walked, Orelvis Martinez shot a ball 410 feet for a three-run homer. The Bisons moved the score to 9-2.
Buffalo tacked on another two after loading the bases in the sixth. A walk brought in one run and a force out drove in another.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre began their charge back in the bottom half. Duran launched a home run to left center field to make it 11-3.
The visitors chipped away at the deficit in the next frame. Brandon Lockridge led off with a base hit and Estevan Florial crushed his 23rd home run of the season. It was 11-5.
In the eighth inning, Westbrook followed with a long ball of his own. He sent it 413 feet to dead center. Duran singled and Difo doubled to put two in scoring position. Lockridge shot them both in with an RBI single to deep left. SWB trailed 11-8.
Andrew Bash (W, 2-0) pitched three and two thirds scoreless out of the bullpen. Brandon Eisert (S, 2) pitched an inning and two thirds for the save.
Mitch Spence (L, 8-6) got the start for the RailRiders allowing nine runs, eight earned, in five innings. Zach Greene allowed two runs in his frame. Matt Bowman and Greg Weissert each had a clean inning of work.
The RailRiders have tomorrow off as they travel back to PNC Field. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will take on Rochester at home for a six-game set beginning Tuesday, August 1st at 6:35 p.m.
Before you move on, we invite you to become a Times Leader Advocate. You'll receive some great benefits, including our Diamond Card with local discounts and deals, access to our E-Edition, a faster, reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Click now to support or get more information. | https://www.timesleader.com/sports/1615836/railriders-fall-to-bisons-2 | 2023-07-31T08:57:36 | 1 | https://www.timesleader.com/sports/1615836/railriders-fall-to-bisons-2 |
Woman who died during hiking trip remembered for adventurous, selfless spirit
LAS VEGAS (FOX5/Gray News) - Thirty-four-year-old Jessica Rosalie Rhodes was one of two women found dead in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park after going missing from a hiking trip on July 22.
The temperature in the park that day reached a high of approximately 113 degrees.
“It could’ve happened to any of us, doesn’t matter how good of shape you’re in, how prepared you are,” said Julie Johnston, Jessica Rhodes’ friend and owner of Camp Rhino, where she regularly exercised. “Nobody really knows what actually happened, but nobody could’ve been in better shape or more prepared to do something like that.”
Jessica Rhodes and 29-year-old Diana Matienzo Rivera were found separated, one on the trails and the other in a canyon. They were first reported missing by another group of hikers.
Her mother, Josephine Rhodes, said she believes her daughter was trying to help her friend.
“They were trying to get back, but they just didn’t make it and she didn’t want to leave her friend down there, so she tried to help her friend,” Josephine Rhodes said. “And that’s just the type of child she is.”
Family remembered Jessica Rhodes for her strength, smile and selflessness.
“Jessica, as a child, everybody is going to tell you, was always smiling. I don’t care what it is, she was always smiling,” Jessica Rhodes’ mother said.
Jessica Rhodes was a certified nursing assistant at Summerlin Hospital and in school to become a nurse. She was also a fitness enthusiast who competed and won often.
She even won a medal for her work as a first responder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Taking care of people, that’s what she loved to do,” Hannah Ariolae, Jessica Rhodes’ sister, said. “Her patients and stuff, she’d go above and beyond for them.”
Rhodes’ siblings, mother and her fitness family in Las Vegas are now remembering her for her adventurous spirit, and they want to encourage others to embrace the joys of life like she did.
“She just loved life. So when she went on the trail there, that’s what she liked to do,” Josephine Rhodes said.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/woman-who-died-during-hiking-trip-remembered-adventurous-selfless-spirit/ | 2023-07-31T08:58:19 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/woman-who-died-during-hiking-trip-remembered-adventurous-selfless-spirit/ |
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan's Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T08:58:19 | 1 | https://www.kvpr.org/npr-news/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 3:45 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T08:58:22 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 2:45 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kait8.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T08:58:47 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Empowerment" is the core competence of PE/VC institutions after investment. Asia Green Fund (AGF) has always adhered to the investment strategy of "pursuing both financial returns and environmental benefits", focused on the logic of "technology empowerment", grasped the development trend of SRDI industries, and promoted technological innovation to empower industrial convergence and innovative development. AGF continues to practice the "sustainable investment strategy" and has now formed an industrial ecosystem with deep linkage among the capital side (LPs), investment side (AGF), and industry side (science and technology enterprises), which realized the bidirectional empowerment between capital and industry.
AGF adheres to the principle of "30% investment and 70% management" and provides all-round services for portfolios in accordance with the investment and post-investment management mechanism of international head PE funds. AGF emphasizes proactive and personalized post-investment management, builds a unique team of customized services and post-investment supporting experts, provides "adaptive" solutions to various problems and demands of portfolios, and passes them the management methodology.
AGF has appended a professional marketing consultant department in the post-investment side, which is under the responsibility of Nison Yao, the new Operating Director. Mr. Yao has been deeply involved in the manufacturing industry since his employment. He has been in important positions in Marketing of local and multinational companies and delivered great results. He has rich practical experience in strategic positioning, marketing, and operation of enterprises. AGF helps portfolios to build specific clear business paths and market expansion plans, integrate green ecosystem resources for precise docking, and create sustainable value.
View original content:
SOURCE Asia Green Fund | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ | 2023-07-31T09:00:36 | 1 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Digital Entertainment Congress commenced on Thursday alongside ChinaJoy, the country's largest gaming event. Lu Xiaoyin, Co-CEO and President of Perfect World Co., Ltd, as well as the CEO of Perfect World Games, was among the esteemed guests in attendance.
During his keynote speech, Lu emphasized the rapid development of the Chinese gaming industry, which has greatly benefited from the country's "digitalization" strategies. He highlighted the industry plays a crucial role in promoting digitalization across various sectors, including empowering the real economy, driving technological innovation, and preserving cultural heritage.
Lu lauded Chinese games for their exceptional ability to embody the essence of Chinese culture, offering a wealth of inspiration for game development. In line with this approach, Perfect World integrates elements of China's cultural heritage into its games. For instance, the company has artfully incorporated China's intangible cultural heritage, Suzhou embroidery, into its mobile game "Tower of Fantasy", and showcased the beauty of Chinese traditional opera Huangmei Opera in another mobile game "Zhuxian".
Lu highlighted the inseparable connection between technology and the gaming industry. Specifically, he emphasized the pivotal role of digital intelligence technologies like generative AI in optimizing game content creation and production methods.
Perfect World recognized the potential of AI technology several years ago and took significant steps by establishing an AI center. This center serves as a hub for applying AI across different production chains, including NPC creation, modeling, painting, and story development.
The gaming industry is driven by technologies like VR, AR, and AI, which inject vitality into the broader economy. Perfect World has collaborated with local governments and scenic spots to incorporate digital scenes into tourism to offer tourists a captivating experience.
Lu emphasized Perfect World is a R&D-oriented enterprise, with high-quality products serving as the cornerstone of the company's growth. The company focuses on two main categories: "MMO+" and "card+". On one hand, it upgrades classic MMORPG genres, introducing mobile games like "New Swordsman", "World of Jade Dynasty", "Fantasy New Jade Dynasty", and "Perfect New World". On the other hand, it creates games of different genres, such as "One Punch Man: World", "Persona 5: The Phantom X" and "Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring".
Additionally, Perfect World actively pursues the distribution of its games overseas, with "Tower of Fantasy" achieving remarkable success since its release in August 2022, and soon to be launched on PlayStation.
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SOURCE Perfect World | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T09:00:42 | 1 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture and art can bring minds and the world together. With this in mind, the second episode of season three of the China Daily series Youth Power, "Unlocking the power of art: How cultural exchanges can connect the world," was broadcast online on July 30.
Gen Zers from China, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Thailand gathered at the Dalian campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and discussed how artistic beauty can bring the world together and how to face the challenges that artificial intelligence present to art.
What is the essence of beauty? What unique influence does Chinese art have on Gen Zers? What spiritual pursuits are reflected in Chinese art and aesthetics?
In this episode of Youth Power, each Gen Z guest brought an art piece that they believed would best represent the Chinese concept of art and beauty. In doing so they gained a deeper understanding of Chinese aesthetics, philosophy and culture.
Giacomo Bruni, an Italian studying at the China Academy of Art in Beijing, said brushes are the most important tools in expressing Chinese culture because they are central to calligraphy, writing poetry and painting.
"Like the hardness of the handle and the softness of the hair, the brush encapsulates the idea of yin and Yang," Bruni said. The brush not only encapsulates the creativity of the world, but also epitomizes the profound ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, he said.
Song De'ao, a Chinese Gen Zer, chose the official mascots for Chinese winter sports designed by a team at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts as his ideal representation of Chinese aesthetics.
Song, a member of the design team, recalled the inspiration for the mascot Xue Wa, which wears tiger-head hats, tiger-head shoes, and cloud patterns and longevity locks on the clothing. "The mascots reflect the lively and cheerful aesthetics in modern China," Song said.
Jiratchaya Phinyoworakul, a Thai studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, highlighted two features that distinguish Chinese artworks from those of other countries and cultures: cultural extensiveness and profoundness as well as a philosophy centering on harmony between humankind and nature.
The program host, Zhong Yutong, said it is through exchanges that Chinese arts increase in vibrancy and vitality.
"Chinese arts have so much to offer. And we've had wonderful exchanges with different arts and civilizations across the world."
Bruni said art Chinese art is all-encompassing, perfectly merging all types of art. He cited Chinese literati paintings, a kind of painting that expresses feelings and aspirations through natural scenery, as an example, illustrating that "they unify the intellectual world and the practical art world, which is something that is missing in Western countries".
Program guests said there is no absolute definition of art and no universally recognized standard of beauty. Lian Liia, a student from Russia, said "the standard of art is changing in the art history, but there is one thing that has never changed, namely people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty".
Phinyoworakul said art is tantamount to comfort. "Even little things can be art. A smile on your face, a flower, sunshine, everything can be art. Art is in our everyday life."
Concerning the combination and contradiction of traditional art and fast-developing AI art creation, Bruni said artists screen information like filters of society. They find beauty and create art, but do not mechanically record and present everything around them. However, this is not true of AI, because it cannot grasp the concept of beauty.
Sun Yuxin of China said AI could positively influence the development of art. "AI saves a lot of time for artists, and it helps them with a lot of basic work."
Gen Zers have also contributed their wisdom in helping the world appreciate the beauty of Chinese art. Promoting Chinese aesthetics through social media could help people understand it more directly, Phinyoworakul said.
Lian Liia, a student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University in Beijing, said, "We can promote Chinese culture as a lifestyle. For example, doing calligraphy or drinking tea to experience Chinese culture in our daily life."
Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.
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SOURCE China Daily | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ | 2023-07-31T09:00:49 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households.
Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation.
A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ | 2023-07-31T09:00:55 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ |
HANZHONG, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanzhong in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on his way back to Beijing on Saturday. During his visit to the municipal museum, Xi emphasized making good use of museums. He also called for efforts to expand the influence of Chinese culture.
"I was in Hanzhong in 2008 after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake to oversee the relief work. Hanzhong has always been in my heart over the years," Xi told local residents. Xi said he was delighted to see huge changes of the city since then.
With an exhibition area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the Hanzhong Museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province is not the grandest museum in China, but it is a historical telescope allowing visitors to have a retrospective view of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) history dating back to as far as 2,000 years ago.
Unlike many other museums across the country built to house more recent historical relics, the Hanzhong Museum itself embodies the history that encompasses three heritage sites with the ancient Hantai (Lit: Han palace), once the royal residence of the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, at its core.
Heritage sites-turned museum
Including the ruin of ancient Hantai, a notable feature of the Hanzhong Museum was it built in 1985 consisting of two other Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) heritage sites, the Baijiang altar and the "Yin Ma Chi," a pool facility common in ancient times for accommodating horses.
Visitors are first greeted by the ancient Hantai once they enter the museum, which is seven meters high. The millennium-old architecture was constructed using typical man-made rammed earth and its design characters show architectural aesthetics prominent in China's Qin (221BC-206BC), Han and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties.
Liao Shuguang, an architectural expert of ancient Chinese buildings, told the Global Times that the ancient Hantai's functions would change "according to history's change." It was once home to Liu Bang, but was later renovated in the Southern Song Dynasty to become a backyard garden with a gazebo on the building's roof.
Although the ancient Hantai changed roles, its historical importance remained unchanged as it witnessed Liu's founding of the Han Dynasty, one of the powerful dynasties in the Chinese history to have "unified yet diverse" cultural and political beliefs, historian Tao Zhongjun, told the Global Times.
"Including the belief of a 'unified country,' the Han Dynasty left behind a diverse legacy including the governing Confucius mindset and Silk Road exchanges with the western region of Asia and the world. They continue to inspire us today," Tao noted.
Aside from the ancient Hantai, the Baijiang altar, another major element of the museum, was built in 206BC. It was where the then governor Liu Bang would praise the talent and wisdom of his loyal officer Han Xin.
Museum expert Li Zhiming told the Global Times that such heritage sites turned cultural spaces are "living proof of Chinese history," and a good way of making use of the museum is to "properly maintain it while enriching its collection that possesses local cultural characters."
The art of Shudao
Hanzhong was a major stop along the ancient road system Shudao that connected China's Guanzhong Plain with the Chengdu Plain.
The Baoxie plank road, an ancient mountain road that traversed the Qinling Mountain, was also located in Hanzhong and brought an abundant supply of Shudao cultural artifacts.
Inside the Hanzhong Museum, there is a gallery dedicated to the ancient plank road. Shi Men Shi San Pin, also known as the 13 cliff stone carvings of the Shi Men, are a part of the museum's collection.
As an important section of the Shudao, Shi Men was a tunnel at the southern end of the Baoxie plank road. The walls of the tunnel as well as the cliffs of the Baoxie river, were carved with numerous historical inscriptions among which the 13 pieces collected by the museum were the "rarest of the rare," relic expert Xiang Zhengming told the Global Times.
Amongst the 13 carving pieces, the Shi Men Song (Lit: the Eulogy of Shi Men) is a highlight. It embodies the aesthetic essence of Han Dynasty's clerical script calligraphic style. In 1936, China's large-scale encyclopedia Cihai (lit: the sea of the words) took the two Chinese characters for "sea" and "word" discovered from the carving stones to be used on the cover.
"The collection at the Hanzhong Museum holds value in which one can look into China's calligraphic art and can be useful to historians in understanding the then social and cultural scenes," Xiang told the Global Times.
Some other carved pieces have also revealed the secrets of Han Dynasty's water project construction.
Including the 13 treasures, the Hanzhong Museum holds over 5,000 pieces of cultural artifacts that tell the changing cultural history of the city and the nation.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ | 2023-07-31T09:01:01 | 0 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ |
The Vehicle, Merchandise and Accessories Collaboration is part of Gogoro and MUJI's Joint "Recycling for Good" Sustainability Initiative that Enables the Public to Recycle Polypropylene Plastic (PP) Waste for use in the new Gogoro MUJI Smartscooters.
TAIPEI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced a collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and MUJI, the Tokyo-based consumer goods and lifestyle company. The newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME along with a range of merchandise and accessories were launched today at a press event in Taipei.
Created by Gogoro and MUJI, the Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME offer simplified Smartscooter designs that utilize recycled polypropylene (PP) body elements. Personally curated by Fukasawa, the Smartscooters adopt the classic MUJI design elements, unique rustic color palette and simple color tone philosophy to create a new urban mobility experience that is simple and comfortable yet unique.
"The most important thing in design is that it must always uphold the spirit of integrity towards people, the environment and life," said Naoto Fukasawa, world-renowned designer, author, educator and MUJI's advisory board member. "Both Gogoro and MUJI are quite popular brands, and it is very natural for them to cooperate in this way. It's not just one plus one equals two. Instead, let one plus one see a greater value."
Gogoro pioneered the mass market manufacturing of recyclable polypropylene plastics for vehicle body panels in 2019 with the Gogoro 3 Smartscooter and then across its full range of Gogoro Viva Smartscooters including Gogoro VIVA, Gogoro VIVA MIX and Gogoro VIVA XL. This innovative manufacturing process led to Gogoro's collaboration with MUJI.
"Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories," said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. "This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint 'Recycling for Good' initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters."
Recycling for Good - A Joint Sustainability Initiative
Gogoro and MUJI share a vision for sustainability and a core philosophy of giving back to the Earth. In response to this year's World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the companies joined together on June 5, 2023 to launch the "Recycling for Good" initiative in Taiwan. "Recycling for Good" encourages people in Taiwan to participate in recycling PP (polypropylene) plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.
Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI's PP storage series.
"MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro's commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI's business philosophy," said Akihiro Yoshida, general manager of MUJI Taiwan. "MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth."
Gogoro Sustainability
Today, more than 2.5 million Gogoro users have reduced carbon emissions by more than 680 million kilograms, and 100% recyclable polypropylene PP (Polypropylene) is used as the Smartscooter shell material to promote resource regeneration and friendly recycling. In addition, Gogoro has introduced 40% renewable energy in factories since 2022, and 100% use of green electricity in designated Gogoro stores, gradually moving towards the goal of fully using renewable energy by 2050.
Naoto Fukasawa / Product Designer
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University's Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. Fukasawa established and headed up IDEO's Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and founded NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN. For more information on Naoto Fukasawa, visit https://naotofukasawa.com.
About MUJI
Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as "no-brand quality goods." MUJI was founded in Japan in 1980 and now has more than 800 stores around the world, carrying more than 7,000 items. With the goal of making people's daily life pleasant, MUJI is globally recognized for its high-quality products that are functional, well designed and reasonably priced. Find us online at www.MUJI.com or Instagram: @muji_global and Twitter: @muji_net.
About MUJI Taiwan
MUJI Taiwan has been operating in Taiwan since 2004, and it has been nearly 20 years. MUJI Taiwan has always been committed to connecting with Taiwan and producing local products in Taiwan, hoping to provide customers with a good life. Find us online at www.muji.com/tw/zh_tw/store, Instagram: @muji_taiwan or Facebook: www.facebook.com/muji.tw.
About Gogoro
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles", Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and safety. The challenge is massive, but the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards, and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in densely populated cities is even greater. For more information, visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on Twitter: @wearegogoro.
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SOURCE Gogoro | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ | 2023-07-31T09:01:07 | 1 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ |
Overnight fire damages restaurant near downtown Matthews
Firefighters said the fire started in the kitchen at White Duck Taco Shop.
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 4:49 AM EDT|Updated: 10 minutes ago
MATTHEWS, N.C. (WBTV) - The cause of an overnight fire at a restaurant in Matthews remains unknown, officials said.
The fire inside White Duck Taco Shop on East John Street began in the kitchen, the Matthews Fire Department said.
Firefighters said nobody was inside the taco shop, but there was a person inside Yanni’s Bistro, which is in the same building. That person was not injured.
Officials have not yet said how much damage was caused by the fire.
The Mecklenburg County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the fire.
Related: Fire at popular northwest Charlotte restaurant deemed accidental
Copyright 2023 WBTV. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbtv.com/2023/07/31/overnight-fire-damages-restaurant-near-downtown-matthews/ | 2023-07-31T09:01:58 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/2023/07/31/overnight-fire-damages-restaurant-near-downtown-matthews/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 2:45 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kwch.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T09:04:22 | 1 | https://www.kwch.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistan held funerals on Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day as the death toll climbed to at least 45 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggests the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were all from the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which is headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban. Bajur was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan's Taliban government — before several Pakistani army offensives that ended in 2016 claimed to have driven them out of the area.
The cleric's supporters had gathered in Bajut on Sunday as part of their party's preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament's five-year term ends.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve the parliament in August to pave the way for the vote. Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Khan later on Sunday also condemned the bombing, as condolences continued to pour in from across the country. Dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the city of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll on Sunday was reported to be 44 but rose to 45 on Monday as a critically wounded person died at a hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack. The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/news-from-npr/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T09:04:31 | 0 | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/news-from-npr/2023-07-31/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-the-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
The top two running backs on the Seahawks’ depth chart are currently out of practice with injuries.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III has a groin injury, and rookie second-round pick Zach Charbonnet missed has a shoulder injury.
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said that with groin injuries to running backs, the team likes to be cautious, so Walker could be out a few weeks.
“He doesn’t feel bad. It’s not a terrible injury or anything like that. We just don’t want to aggravate it now and make it something that lingers through camp,” Carroll said, via ESPN.
As for Charbonnet, Carroll said the team isn’t sure how he hurt his shoulder and will need time to determine how long he’ll miss.
“It just kind of crept up on him, really,” Carroll said. “He didn’t get hit or anything like that. Just all the sudden, he started to feel something, so we’re just checking him out and being really cautious right now.”
Walker is coming off a rookie season in which he had 228 carries for 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns, finishing second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. He and Charbonnet are expected to be the 1-2 punch at running back this year, but with both of them down backups DeeJay Dallas and Kenny McIntosh will get plenty of work. | https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/seahawks-rbs-kenneth-walker-zach-charbonnet-out-with-injuries | 2023-07-31T09:05:09 | 1 | https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/seahawks-rbs-kenneth-walker-zach-charbonnet-out-with-injuries |
Woman who died during hiking trip remembered for adventurous, selfless spirit
LAS VEGAS (FOX5/Gray News) - Thirty-four-year-old Jessica Rosalie Rhodes was one of two women found dead in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park after going missing from a hiking trip on July 22.
The temperature in the park that day reached a high of approximately 113 degrees.
“It could’ve happened to any of us, doesn’t matter how good of shape you’re in, how prepared you are,” said Julie Johnston, Jessica Rhodes’ friend and owner of Camp Rhino, where she regularly exercised. “Nobody really knows what actually happened, but nobody could’ve been in better shape or more prepared to do something like that.”
Jessica Rhodes and 29-year-old Diana Matienzo Rivera were found separated, one on the trails and the other in a canyon. They were first reported missing by another group of hikers.
Her mother, Josephine Rhodes, said she believes her daughter was trying to help her friend.
“They were trying to get back, but they just didn’t make it and she didn’t want to leave her friend down there, so she tried to help her friend,” Josephine Rhodes said. “And that’s just the type of child she is.”
Family remembered Jessica Rhodes for her strength, smile and selflessness.
“Jessica, as a child, everybody is going to tell you, was always smiling. I don’t care what it is, she was always smiling,” Jessica Rhodes’ mother said.
Jessica Rhodes was a certified nursing assistant at Summerlin Hospital and in school to become a nurse. She was also a fitness enthusiast who competed and won often.
She even won a medal for her work as a first responder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Taking care of people, that’s what she loved to do,” Hannah Ariolae, Jessica Rhodes’ sister, said. “Her patients and stuff, she’d go above and beyond for them.”
Rhodes’ siblings, mother and her fitness family in Las Vegas are now remembering her for her adventurous spirit, and they want to encourage others to embrace the joys of life like she did.
“She just loved life. So when she went on the trail there, that’s what she liked to do,” Josephine Rhodes said.
Copyright 2023 KVVU via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/31/woman-who-died-during-hiking-trip-remembered-adventurous-selfless-spirit/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:20 | 1 | https://www.wymt.com/2023/07/31/woman-who-died-during-hiking-trip-remembered-adventurous-selfless-spirit/ |
The United States vs. Portugal: Live Stream, TV Channel & Game Info - August 1
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 3:45 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
A Group E matchup between the United States and Portugal, their third and final contest in the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, begins at 3:00 AM ET on August 1 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
The game is on FOX US,Fox Sports 1, if you're looking for how to watch.
Watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Fubo! Sign up for a free trial and start watching live sports without cable today!
How to Watch the United States vs. Portugal
- Game Day: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- Game Time: 3:00 AM ET
- TV Channel: FOX US,Fox Sports 1
- Location: Auckland, New Zealand
- Venue: Eden Park
Sign up for a Fubo free trial now to watch the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and more live sports!
The United States Group Stage Schedule
United States' Recent Performance
- The United States' last game was a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, taking 10 shots and outshooting by seven.
- The United States was led by Lindsey Horan, who scored her team's only goal versus .
- The United States' Sophia Smith two goals and one assist in two Women's World Cup games.
- So far in two Women's World Cup games, Horan has tallied two goals.
- Rose Lavelle has not scored but has one assist during Women's World Cup matches.
Get your 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup gear at Fanatics!
United States' 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Alyssa Naeher #1
- Ashley Sanchez #2
- Sofia Huerta #3
- Naomi Girma #4
- Kelley O'Hara #5
- Lynn Williams #6
- Alyssa Thompson #7
- Julie Ertz #8
- Savannah DeMelo #9
- Lindsey Horan #10
- Sophia Smith #11
- Alana Cook #12
- Alex Morgan #13
- Emily Sonnett #14
- Megan Rapinoe #15
- Rose Lavelle #16
- Andi Sullivan #17
- Casey Murphy #18
- Crystal Dunn #19
- Trinity Rodman #20
- Aubrey Kingsbury #21
- Kristie Mewis #22
- Emily Fox #23
Portugal Group Stage Schedule
Portugal's Recent Performance
- In its most recent action on July 27, Portugal claimed a 2-0 win against Vietnam. Portugal outshot Vietnam 28 to five.
- For Portugal, Francisca Nazareth and Telma Encarnacao each scored a goal.
- In Women's World Cup, Encarnacao has collected one goal (in two matches) and one assist for Portugal.
- Lucia Alves has not scored, but does have one assist for Portugal in Women's World Cup.
- In two Women's World Cup matches, Nazareth has one goal.
Portugal's 2023 Women's World Cup Roster
- Ines Pereira #1
- Catarina Amado #2
- Lucia Alves #3
- Silvia Rebelo #4
- Joana Marchao #5
- Andreia Jacinto #6
- Ana Rute #7
- Andreia Norton #8
- Ana Borges #9
- Jessica Silva #10
- Tatiana Pinto #11
- Patricia Morais #12
- Fatima Pinto #13
- Dolores Silva #14
- Carole Costa #15
- Diana Silva #16
- Ana Seica #17
- Carolina Mendes #18
- Diana Gomes #19
- Francisca Nazareth #20
- Ana Capeta #21
- Rute Costa #22
- Telma Encarnacao #23
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wymt.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:26 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/sports/betting/2023/08/01/2023-womens-world-cup-united-states-portugal-live-stream-tv/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Empowerment" is the core competence of PE/VC institutions after investment. Asia Green Fund (AGF) has always adhered to the investment strategy of "pursuing both financial returns and environmental benefits", focused on the logic of "technology empowerment", grasped the development trend of SRDI industries, and promoted technological innovation to empower industrial convergence and innovative development. AGF continues to practice the "sustainable investment strategy" and has now formed an industrial ecosystem with deep linkage among the capital side (LPs), investment side (AGF), and industry side (science and technology enterprises), which realized the bidirectional empowerment between capital and industry.
AGF adheres to the principle of "30% investment and 70% management" and provides all-round services for portfolios in accordance with the investment and post-investment management mechanism of international head PE funds. AGF emphasizes proactive and personalized post-investment management, builds a unique team of customized services and post-investment supporting experts, provides "adaptive" solutions to various problems and demands of portfolios, and passes them the management methodology.
AGF has appended a professional marketing consultant department in the post-investment side, which is under the responsibility of Nison Yao, the new Operating Director. Mr. Yao has been deeply involved in the manufacturing industry since his employment. He has been in important positions in Marketing of local and multinational companies and delivered great results. He has rich practical experience in strategic positioning, marketing, and operation of enterprises. AGF helps portfolios to build specific clear business paths and market expansion plans, integrate green ecosystem resources for precise docking, and create sustainable value.
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SOURCE Asia Green Fund | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:32 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Digital Entertainment Congress commenced on Thursday alongside ChinaJoy, the country's largest gaming event. Lu Xiaoyin, Co-CEO and President of Perfect World Co., Ltd, as well as the CEO of Perfect World Games, was among the esteemed guests in attendance.
During his keynote speech, Lu emphasized the rapid development of the Chinese gaming industry, which has greatly benefited from the country's "digitalization" strategies. He highlighted the industry plays a crucial role in promoting digitalization across various sectors, including empowering the real economy, driving technological innovation, and preserving cultural heritage.
Lu lauded Chinese games for their exceptional ability to embody the essence of Chinese culture, offering a wealth of inspiration for game development. In line with this approach, Perfect World integrates elements of China's cultural heritage into its games. For instance, the company has artfully incorporated China's intangible cultural heritage, Suzhou embroidery, into its mobile game "Tower of Fantasy", and showcased the beauty of Chinese traditional opera Huangmei Opera in another mobile game "Zhuxian".
Lu highlighted the inseparable connection between technology and the gaming industry. Specifically, he emphasized the pivotal role of digital intelligence technologies like generative AI in optimizing game content creation and production methods.
Perfect World recognized the potential of AI technology several years ago and took significant steps by establishing an AI center. This center serves as a hub for applying AI across different production chains, including NPC creation, modeling, painting, and story development.
The gaming industry is driven by technologies like VR, AR, and AI, which inject vitality into the broader economy. Perfect World has collaborated with local governments and scenic spots to incorporate digital scenes into tourism to offer tourists a captivating experience.
Lu emphasized Perfect World is a R&D-oriented enterprise, with high-quality products serving as the cornerstone of the company's growth. The company focuses on two main categories: "MMO+" and "card+". On one hand, it upgrades classic MMORPG genres, introducing mobile games like "New Swordsman", "World of Jade Dynasty", "Fantasy New Jade Dynasty", and "Perfect New World". On the other hand, it creates games of different genres, such as "One Punch Man: World", "Persona 5: The Phantom X" and "Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring".
Additionally, Perfect World actively pursues the distribution of its games overseas, with "Tower of Fantasy" achieving remarkable success since its release in August 2022, and soon to be launched on PlayStation.
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SOURCE Perfect World | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:39 | 1 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture and art can bring minds and the world together. With this in mind, the second episode of season three of the China Daily series Youth Power, "Unlocking the power of art: How cultural exchanges can connect the world," was broadcast online on July 30.
Gen Zers from China, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Thailand gathered at the Dalian campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and discussed how artistic beauty can bring the world together and how to face the challenges that artificial intelligence present to art.
What is the essence of beauty? What unique influence does Chinese art have on Gen Zers? What spiritual pursuits are reflected in Chinese art and aesthetics?
In this episode of Youth Power, each Gen Z guest brought an art piece that they believed would best represent the Chinese concept of art and beauty. In doing so they gained a deeper understanding of Chinese aesthetics, philosophy and culture.
Giacomo Bruni, an Italian studying at the China Academy of Art in Beijing, said brushes are the most important tools in expressing Chinese culture because they are central to calligraphy, writing poetry and painting.
"Like the hardness of the handle and the softness of the hair, the brush encapsulates the idea of yin and Yang," Bruni said. The brush not only encapsulates the creativity of the world, but also epitomizes the profound ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, he said.
Song De'ao, a Chinese Gen Zer, chose the official mascots for Chinese winter sports designed by a team at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts as his ideal representation of Chinese aesthetics.
Song, a member of the design team, recalled the inspiration for the mascot Xue Wa, which wears tiger-head hats, tiger-head shoes, and cloud patterns and longevity locks on the clothing. "The mascots reflect the lively and cheerful aesthetics in modern China," Song said.
Jiratchaya Phinyoworakul, a Thai studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, highlighted two features that distinguish Chinese artworks from those of other countries and cultures: cultural extensiveness and profoundness as well as a philosophy centering on harmony between humankind and nature.
The program host, Zhong Yutong, said it is through exchanges that Chinese arts increase in vibrancy and vitality.
"Chinese arts have so much to offer. And we've had wonderful exchanges with different arts and civilizations across the world."
Bruni said art Chinese art is all-encompassing, perfectly merging all types of art. He cited Chinese literati paintings, a kind of painting that expresses feelings and aspirations through natural scenery, as an example, illustrating that "they unify the intellectual world and the practical art world, which is something that is missing in Western countries".
Program guests said there is no absolute definition of art and no universally recognized standard of beauty. Lian Liia, a student from Russia, said "the standard of art is changing in the art history, but there is one thing that has never changed, namely people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty".
Phinyoworakul said art is tantamount to comfort. "Even little things can be art. A smile on your face, a flower, sunshine, everything can be art. Art is in our everyday life."
Concerning the combination and contradiction of traditional art and fast-developing AI art creation, Bruni said artists screen information like filters of society. They find beauty and create art, but do not mechanically record and present everything around them. However, this is not true of AI, because it cannot grasp the concept of beauty.
Sun Yuxin of China said AI could positively influence the development of art. "AI saves a lot of time for artists, and it helps them with a lot of basic work."
Gen Zers have also contributed their wisdom in helping the world appreciate the beauty of Chinese art. Promoting Chinese aesthetics through social media could help people understand it more directly, Phinyoworakul said.
Lian Liia, a student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University in Beijing, said, "We can promote Chinese culture as a lifestyle. For example, doing calligraphy or drinking tea to experience Chinese culture in our daily life."
Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.
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SOURCE China Daily | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:45 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households.
Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation.
A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:52 | 1 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ |
HANZHONG, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanzhong in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on his way back to Beijing on Saturday. During his visit to the municipal museum, Xi emphasized making good use of museums. He also called for efforts to expand the influence of Chinese culture.
"I was in Hanzhong in 2008 after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake to oversee the relief work. Hanzhong has always been in my heart over the years," Xi told local residents. Xi said he was delighted to see huge changes of the city since then.
With an exhibition area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the Hanzhong Museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province is not the grandest museum in China, but it is a historical telescope allowing visitors to have a retrospective view of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) history dating back to as far as 2,000 years ago.
Unlike many other museums across the country built to house more recent historical relics, the Hanzhong Museum itself embodies the history that encompasses three heritage sites with the ancient Hantai (Lit: Han palace), once the royal residence of the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, at its core.
Heritage sites-turned museum
Including the ruin of ancient Hantai, a notable feature of the Hanzhong Museum was it built in 1985 consisting of two other Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) heritage sites, the Baijiang altar and the "Yin Ma Chi," a pool facility common in ancient times for accommodating horses.
Visitors are first greeted by the ancient Hantai once they enter the museum, which is seven meters high. The millennium-old architecture was constructed using typical man-made rammed earth and its design characters show architectural aesthetics prominent in China's Qin (221BC-206BC), Han and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties.
Liao Shuguang, an architectural expert of ancient Chinese buildings, told the Global Times that the ancient Hantai's functions would change "according to history's change." It was once home to Liu Bang, but was later renovated in the Southern Song Dynasty to become a backyard garden with a gazebo on the building's roof.
Although the ancient Hantai changed roles, its historical importance remained unchanged as it witnessed Liu's founding of the Han Dynasty, one of the powerful dynasties in the Chinese history to have "unified yet diverse" cultural and political beliefs, historian Tao Zhongjun, told the Global Times.
"Including the belief of a 'unified country,' the Han Dynasty left behind a diverse legacy including the governing Confucius mindset and Silk Road exchanges with the western region of Asia and the world. They continue to inspire us today," Tao noted.
Aside from the ancient Hantai, the Baijiang altar, another major element of the museum, was built in 206BC. It was where the then governor Liu Bang would praise the talent and wisdom of his loyal officer Han Xin.
Museum expert Li Zhiming told the Global Times that such heritage sites turned cultural spaces are "living proof of Chinese history," and a good way of making use of the museum is to "properly maintain it while enriching its collection that possesses local cultural characters."
The art of Shudao
Hanzhong was a major stop along the ancient road system Shudao that connected China's Guanzhong Plain with the Chengdu Plain.
The Baoxie plank road, an ancient mountain road that traversed the Qinling Mountain, was also located in Hanzhong and brought an abundant supply of Shudao cultural artifacts.
Inside the Hanzhong Museum, there is a gallery dedicated to the ancient plank road. Shi Men Shi San Pin, also known as the 13 cliff stone carvings of the Shi Men, are a part of the museum's collection.
As an important section of the Shudao, Shi Men was a tunnel at the southern end of the Baoxie plank road. The walls of the tunnel as well as the cliffs of the Baoxie river, were carved with numerous historical inscriptions among which the 13 pieces collected by the museum were the "rarest of the rare," relic expert Xiang Zhengming told the Global Times.
Amongst the 13 carving pieces, the Shi Men Song (Lit: the Eulogy of Shi Men) is a highlight. It embodies the aesthetic essence of Han Dynasty's clerical script calligraphic style. In 1936, China's large-scale encyclopedia Cihai (lit: the sea of the words) took the two Chinese characters for "sea" and "word" discovered from the carving stones to be used on the cover.
"The collection at the Hanzhong Museum holds value in which one can look into China's calligraphic art and can be useful to historians in understanding the then social and cultural scenes," Xiang told the Global Times.
Some other carved pieces have also revealed the secrets of Han Dynasty's water project construction.
Including the 13 treasures, the Hanzhong Museum holds over 5,000 pieces of cultural artifacts that tell the changing cultural history of the city and the nation.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ | 2023-07-31T09:06:58 | 0 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ |
Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell faces sentencing in deaths of 2 children and her romantic rival
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison without parole Monday as she is sentenced in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife.
The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece’s ex survived an attempt later that year.
Monday’s sentencing will take place at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho. Judge Steven W. Boyce is expected to hear testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan.
The case began in July 2019, when Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in a suburban Phoenix home. Cox told police he acted in self defense. He was never charged in the case and died later that year of what authorities determined were natural causes.
Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, a self-published author who wrote doomsday-focused fiction loosely based on Mormon teachings. She moved to Idaho with her kids and brother to be closer to him.
The children were last seen alive in September 2019. Police discovered they were missing a month later after an extended family member became worried. Their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard the following summer.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married in November 2019, about two weeks after Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy, was killed. Tammy Daybell initially was described as having died of natural causes, but an autopsy later showed she had been asphyxiated, authorities said.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald argued during the trial that there was no evidence tying Vallow Daybell to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met Chad Daybell and fell for his “weird” apocalyptic religious claims. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.
Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives and she was a “sexual goddess” who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.
Vallow Daybell’s former friend Melanie Gibb testified during the trial that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into “zombies,” including JJ and Tylee.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/idaho-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-faces-sentencing-deaths-2-children-her-romantic-rival/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:03 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/idaho-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-faces-sentencing-deaths-2-children-her-romantic-rival/ |
Highly experienced Corporate Financier and Business Builder Will Partner with René Obermann to Further Accelerate the Growth and Momentum of the Firm's European Business
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Warburg Pincus, a leading global growth investor, today announced the appointment of Andrew Sibbald as a Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe. Mr. Sibbald will work alongside veteran investor and current Co-Head of Europe, René Obermann, based in Berlin. Mr. Sibbald will succeed Adarsh Sarma, who will remain a Managing Director and Partner with the Firm, focusing on his existing portfolio. Jim Neary, Co-Head of U.S. Private Equity, will work closely with Andrew, René and the European team to support the firm's global strategy, portfolio management and new investments.
Based in London, Mr. Sibbald joins Warburg Pincus from Evercore, where he most recently served as Chairman and Senior Managing Director of Evercore's European investment banking business. He was previously the Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Lexicon Partners which was acquired by Evercore in 2011. With over 35 years of financial services experience, Mr. Sibbald has advised on many notable M&A and corporate finance transactions including recently: Arcmont on its sale to Nuveen; Global Risk Partners on its sale to Brown & Brown; and AA on its sale to Warburg Pincus and TowerBrook Capital.
"Andrew's impressive expertise and deep-rooted experience, particularly in Europe, advising leading companies on a variety of sophisticated transactions will serve our portfolio and investing teams well as we continue to navigate complex market dynamics," said Chip Kaye, CEO, Warburg Pincus. "We look forward to welcoming Andrew to Warburg Pincus and want to thank Adarsh for his 18+ years of service in the US and Europe," continued Jim Neary, Managing Director, Co-Head of U.S. Private Equity, Warburg Pincus.
"I have long admired the success and culture of Warburg Pincus and I'm thrilled to be joining the firm. I have enormous respect for René and look forward to working closely with him and the team in Europe to drive further positive momentum in the business here. Warburg Pincus has an incredibly strong reputation for creating effective partnerships with management teams all over the world to deliver sustainable value and growth, as well as attractive returns for its investors. I strongly believe that the firm's long established global platform together with its local networks and insights provide real advantages to the management teams and businesses that partner with us," said Andrew Sibbald.
Warburg Pincus is one of the leading private equity investors in Europe. Since the firm's first European transaction in 1983, the firm has invested more than $15B in over 130 companies in 23 European countries. The firm has one of the largest pools of available private equity capital in Europe and seeks to partner with management teams that are building, transforming or acquiring businesses with the potential to be market leaders with enduring value.
Prior to founding Lexicon Partners in 2000, Mr. Sibbald was a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he led a team specializing in M&A in the financial institutions sector. He was previously a Partner in The Phoenix Partnership.
About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global growth investor. The firm has more than $83 billion in assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 250 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 21 private equity and 2 real estate funds, which have invested more than $112 billion in over 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Contact
Kerrie Cohen | Managing Director, Head of Communications
T: +1 212 878 9207
E: kerrie.cohen@warburgpincus.com
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SOURCE Warburg Pincus | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/andrew-sibbald-joins-warburg-pincus-co-head-europe/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:05 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/andrew-sibbald-joins-warburg-pincus-co-head-europe/ |
The Vehicle, Merchandise and Accessories Collaboration is part of Gogoro and MUJI's Joint "Recycling for Good" Sustainability Initiative that Enables the Public to Recycle Polypropylene Plastic (PP) Waste for use in the new Gogoro MUJI Smartscooters.
TAIPEI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced a collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and MUJI, the Tokyo-based consumer goods and lifestyle company. The newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME along with a range of merchandise and accessories were launched today at a press event in Taipei.
Created by Gogoro and MUJI, the Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME offer simplified Smartscooter designs that utilize recycled polypropylene (PP) body elements. Personally curated by Fukasawa, the Smartscooters adopt the classic MUJI design elements, unique rustic color palette and simple color tone philosophy to create a new urban mobility experience that is simple and comfortable yet unique.
"The most important thing in design is that it must always uphold the spirit of integrity towards people, the environment and life," said Naoto Fukasawa, world-renowned designer, author, educator and MUJI's advisory board member. "Both Gogoro and MUJI are quite popular brands, and it is very natural for them to cooperate in this way. It's not just one plus one equals two. Instead, let one plus one see a greater value."
Gogoro pioneered the mass market manufacturing of recyclable polypropylene plastics for vehicle body panels in 2019 with the Gogoro 3 Smartscooter and then across its full range of Gogoro Viva Smartscooters including Gogoro VIVA, Gogoro VIVA MIX and Gogoro VIVA XL. This innovative manufacturing process led to Gogoro's collaboration with MUJI.
"Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories," said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. "This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint 'Recycling for Good' initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters."
Recycling for Good - A Joint Sustainability Initiative
Gogoro and MUJI share a vision for sustainability and a core philosophy of giving back to the Earth. In response to this year's World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the companies joined together on June 5, 2023 to launch the "Recycling for Good" initiative in Taiwan. "Recycling for Good" encourages people in Taiwan to participate in recycling PP (polypropylene) plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.
Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI's PP storage series.
"MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro's commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI's business philosophy," said Akihiro Yoshida, general manager of MUJI Taiwan. "MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth."
Gogoro Sustainability
Today, more than 2.5 million Gogoro users have reduced carbon emissions by more than 680 million kilograms, and 100% recyclable polypropylene PP (Polypropylene) is used as the Smartscooter shell material to promote resource regeneration and friendly recycling. In addition, Gogoro has introduced 40% renewable energy in factories since 2022, and 100% use of green electricity in designated Gogoro stores, gradually moving towards the goal of fully using renewable energy by 2050.
Naoto Fukasawa / Product Designer
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University's Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. Fukasawa established and headed up IDEO's Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and founded NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN. For more information on Naoto Fukasawa, visit https://naotofukasawa.com.
About MUJI
Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as "no-brand quality goods." MUJI was founded in Japan in 1980 and now has more than 800 stores around the world, carrying more than 7,000 items. With the goal of making people's daily life pleasant, MUJI is globally recognized for its high-quality products that are functional, well designed and reasonably priced. Find us online at www.MUJI.com or Instagram: @muji_global and Twitter: @muji_net.
About MUJI Taiwan
MUJI Taiwan has been operating in Taiwan since 2004, and it has been nearly 20 years. MUJI Taiwan has always been committed to connecting with Taiwan and producing local products in Taiwan, hoping to provide customers with a good life. Find us online at www.muji.com/tw/zh_tw/store, Instagram: @muji_taiwan or Facebook: www.facebook.com/muji.tw.
About Gogoro
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles", Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and safety. The challenge is massive, but the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards, and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in densely populated cities is even greater. For more information, visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on Twitter: @wearegogoro.
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SOURCE Gogoro | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:05 | 1 | https://www.wymt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Empowerment" is the core competence of PE/VC institutions after investment. Asia Green Fund (AGF) has always adhered to the investment strategy of "pursuing both financial returns and environmental benefits", focused on the logic of "technology empowerment", grasped the development trend of SRDI industries, and promoted technological innovation to empower industrial convergence and innovative development. AGF continues to practice the "sustainable investment strategy" and has now formed an industrial ecosystem with deep linkage among the capital side (LPs), investment side (AGF), and industry side (science and technology enterprises), which realized the bidirectional empowerment between capital and industry.
AGF adheres to the principle of "30% investment and 70% management" and provides all-round services for portfolios in accordance with the investment and post-investment management mechanism of international head PE funds. AGF emphasizes proactive and personalized post-investment management, builds a unique team of customized services and post-investment supporting experts, provides "adaptive" solutions to various problems and demands of portfolios, and passes them the management methodology.
AGF has appended a professional marketing consultant department in the post-investment side, which is under the responsibility of Nison Yao, the new Operating Director. Mr. Yao has been deeply involved in the manufacturing industry since his employment. He has been in important positions in Marketing of local and multinational companies and delivered great results. He has rich practical experience in strategic positioning, marketing, and operation of enterprises. AGF helps portfolios to build specific clear business paths and market expansion plans, integrate green ecosystem resources for precise docking, and create sustainable value.
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SOURCE Asia Green Fund | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:11 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/asia-green-fund-post-investment-management-method-nurtured-service-help-portfolios-with-high-quality-development/ |
LOGAN, Utah, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyrusher, the professional e-bike producer, will launch pre-sales of the Nitro, the company's first mid-motor model, in late-July. This is an ebike with great comfort and speed for your 2023 riding adventure. Riders will enjoy a pleasant and effortless ride on the Nitro, as well as greater power, speed and control compared to a hub motor electric bike.
The Nitro, appearing as the first mid-motor model, integrates design aesthetics, technological innovation and a variety of other factors to ensure riders have a pleasant and smooth riding experience that exceeds expectations.
An attractive aesthetic design style - three color options
The Nitro follows the color-rich design style of the Cyrusher models while incorporating its own design aesthetics, making it a colorful option for many riders. The Nitro has a color-blocking design that keeps the black color of the rear frame while varying the fork gradient colorways to create a unique frame style. The Nitro is available in three color options, black red, and blue, to suit different rider preferences.
The ultimate speed experience - the mid-motor configuration
There is no doubt that this mid-motor Nitro was developed to meet the needs of the rider. The highly effective mid-mounted motor, which has been improved to provide an unprecedented level of power, is the most significant addition to the updated Nitro. The utterly improved 1000W Bafang mid-drive motor makes the e-bike's ride feel more dynamic responding readily to the rider even at maximum speed. To optimise the bike's balance, the mid-mounted motor is incorporated directly into the pedals and cranks. This also results in more efficient power transmission from the motor and higher climbing ability and weight lifting capability.
In addition, unlike other hub motor categories, the Nitro delivers 160 Nm of torque power, offering more flexibility for speed variation and a genuinely powerful speed sensation.
Powerful energy supply - 48V 20Ah Samsung Li-battery
The battery that powers the mid-mounted engine on the Nitro is still as secure, water-resistant and durable as the usual model. In combination with the mid-motor's more efficient power transmission, the 48V 20Ah battery allows the bike to cover up to 85 miles with its reliable capacity. Along with extending the vehicle's lifespan and durability, it can efficiently charge up to 800 cycles, making it an extremely cost-effective option.
Safe braking capability - hydraulic brakes
To improve braking power, Nitro chose twin-piston calipers. The twin-piston calipers allow for a larger surface area of contact with the brake rotors which increases the friction when the brakes are applied. Hydraulic brakes enable quicker braking reactions and improved traffic safety. The extra engine cut-off feature ensures that the brakes can be applied quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency, providing an extra layer of safety and security. The Nitro helps the rider cycle freely on the road and stop easier, achieving a better balance between thrill and safety.
Solid road pioneering - puncture-resistant fat tires
Nitro, with a 26*4 fat tire, is developed to be a powerful means of transportation. Fat tires offer much better traction and cushioning than regular tires, allowing you to easily navigate through difficult terrains like sand and mud. Therefore, Nitro is a great tool for exploring the city and the outdoors, with the ability to twist and turn through crowded streets, climb steep slopes and ride along soft beaches. Besides providing stability on slippery surfaces, Nitro can handle higher speeds with less chance of blowouts.
The top comfort escort - front and rear air shock absorption
The powerful Nitro is a full suspension electric bike with front and rear air suspension, guaranteeing maximum comfort. It offers better cushioning than previous generations. The adjustable front and rear air suspension features the highest configuration, allowing it to take on more challenging terrain without sacrificing comfort. It offers 135mm of thread that can be adjusted separately for terrain variations, boosting the damping effect for an enjoyable riding experience.
Reliable load capacity - upgraded to 200kg load capacity
The Nitro was designed with a mid-motor that reduces the bike's center of gravity, giving it outstanding balance. This allows the bike to carry up to 200kg of cargo. Additionally, its high load capacity ensures that the bike's weight doesn't negatively impact its performance.
Smooth gear transport - Shimano 10-speed transmission
The drive system's reliability is essential in order to ensure that the Nitro will be able to take full advantage of its improved high torque capabilities. The Shimano transmission helps to reduce wear and tear on the chain, making it more durable and efficient. The 10-speed pedal assist mode option gives riders the flexibility to choose the speed setting that perfectly suits their needs, ensuring that the bike can be tailored to meet the requirements of any type of rider.
All the details are there - the accessories
The Nitro comes with its own Led front and rear tail lights which provide excellent illumination and make sure that the rider is able to ride in dimly lit conditions. And, the Nitro has an updated Bafang back-lit display that allows the rider to more clearly track data such as speed, battery life, range and pedal assist levels.
Reliable after-sales service
The Cyrusher team consistently prioritizes the customer's needs and provides them with outstanding service. The team is available for customer inquiries and feedback 24/7 and offers fast and efficient response times. A long-term guarantee with a two-year product warranty backs the Nitro. The reliable customer service demonstrates Cyrusher's commitment to customer satisfaction, giving Cyrusher a distinct competitive edge.
Price tag
Priced at $4499, the powerful Nitro opens up even more riding possibilities for riders. The Nitro is equipped with a powerful engine and advanced features such as an adjustable suspension and quick brakes. This makes it a great choice for riders looking for a performance-oriented ride. If you are interested in the powerful Nitro, you can find more details on the official website.
What is the significance of the development of a Nitro?
Sustainable energy solution for a greener planet
Cyrusher has always been committed to green and sustainable development, exporting green travel vehicles worldwide and launching high-quality electric mobility tools to support sustainable development. By developing Nitro, Cyrusher demonstrates its commitment to its original goal. Nitro is an innovative and powerful electric bike that offers riders the ultimate convenience, comfort and performance. The company is helping to reduce carbon footprints and support a green earth by encouraging more people to cycle.
Leading the industry to new heights
A healthy competitive relationship provides a favourable opportunity for the industry to upgrade and change. The Cyrusher e-bike has been designed to maintain its own unique characteristics while responding to the changing market trends and offering more competitive value-for-money models to meet the needs of cyclists of all ages and performance levels. The launch of the Nitro is Cyrusher's newest work in the mid-motor field. With high quality range, powerful running ability and ultimate comfort, it is undoubtedly the most competitive product of its kind. Cyrusher will keep improving its technology and services in the future to offer better value to more riders and set a new benchmark for the sector.
A constant insight into customer needs
The Nitro is based on the company's insights into user needs and changing industry standards. Cyrusher insists on being user-centred, with high-quality components that have been repeatedly researched, tested and polished over a long period of time. The Nitro integrates comfort, safety and stability to bring riders the ultimate rewarding experience beyond expectations. The Nitro can be used freely on any road and with the wind blowing gently in your face, you'll have a more comfortable and enjoyable riding experience. Cyrusher is always moving forward and making great strides.
About Cyrusher
Cyrusher is a reputable producer of electric bicycles for professionals that have been successfully marketed in more than 10 nations worldwide. The brand's electric bicycles pass rigorous international quality tests and meet CE, UL, Rhos and FCC requirements. Additionally, Australia, China, the EU, Japan, Korea and the USA have registered and approved the brand. An offline store test-ride service has also been introduced in a number of nations, including the USA, UK and France. Cyrusher will keep expanding its range of vehicles to satisfy the needs of more riders, offering a solution for zero-carbon, fast and convenient urban commuting.
Cyrusher Contact:
UK official website: www.cyrusher.co.uk
US official website: www.cyrusher.com
French official website: www.cyrusher.fr
German official website: www.cyrusher.de
Phone: 01134900889
Email: support@cyrusher.com
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SOURCE cyrusher | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:18 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Digital Entertainment Congress commenced on Thursday alongside ChinaJoy, the country's largest gaming event. Lu Xiaoyin, Co-CEO and President of Perfect World Co., Ltd, as well as the CEO of Perfect World Games, was among the esteemed guests in attendance.
During his keynote speech, Lu emphasized the rapid development of the Chinese gaming industry, which has greatly benefited from the country's "digitalization" strategies. He highlighted the industry plays a crucial role in promoting digitalization across various sectors, including empowering the real economy, driving technological innovation, and preserving cultural heritage.
Lu lauded Chinese games for their exceptional ability to embody the essence of Chinese culture, offering a wealth of inspiration for game development. In line with this approach, Perfect World integrates elements of China's cultural heritage into its games. For instance, the company has artfully incorporated China's intangible cultural heritage, Suzhou embroidery, into its mobile game "Tower of Fantasy", and showcased the beauty of Chinese traditional opera Huangmei Opera in another mobile game "Zhuxian".
Lu highlighted the inseparable connection between technology and the gaming industry. Specifically, he emphasized the pivotal role of digital intelligence technologies like generative AI in optimizing game content creation and production methods.
Perfect World recognized the potential of AI technology several years ago and took significant steps by establishing an AI center. This center serves as a hub for applying AI across different production chains, including NPC creation, modeling, painting, and story development.
The gaming industry is driven by technologies like VR, AR, and AI, which inject vitality into the broader economy. Perfect World has collaborated with local governments and scenic spots to incorporate digital scenes into tourism to offer tourists a captivating experience.
Lu emphasized Perfect World is a R&D-oriented enterprise, with high-quality products serving as the cornerstone of the company's growth. The company focuses on two main categories: "MMO+" and "card+". On one hand, it upgrades classic MMORPG genres, introducing mobile games like "New Swordsman", "World of Jade Dynasty", "Fantasy New Jade Dynasty", and "Perfect New World". On the other hand, it creates games of different genres, such as "One Punch Man: World", "Persona 5: The Phantom X" and "Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring".
Additionally, Perfect World actively pursues the distribution of its games overseas, with "Tower of Fantasy" achieving remarkable success since its release in August 2022, and soon to be launched on PlayStation.
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SOURCE Perfect World | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:24 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Culture and art can bring minds and the world together. With this in mind, the second episode of season three of the China Daily series Youth Power, "Unlocking the power of art: How cultural exchanges can connect the world," was broadcast online on July 30.
Gen Zers from China, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Thailand gathered at the Dalian campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and discussed how artistic beauty can bring the world together and how to face the challenges that artificial intelligence present to art.
What is the essence of beauty? What unique influence does Chinese art have on Gen Zers? What spiritual pursuits are reflected in Chinese art and aesthetics?
In this episode of Youth Power, each Gen Z guest brought an art piece that they believed would best represent the Chinese concept of art and beauty. In doing so they gained a deeper understanding of Chinese aesthetics, philosophy and culture.
Giacomo Bruni, an Italian studying at the China Academy of Art in Beijing, said brushes are the most important tools in expressing Chinese culture because they are central to calligraphy, writing poetry and painting.
"Like the hardness of the handle and the softness of the hair, the brush encapsulates the idea of yin and Yang," Bruni said. The brush not only encapsulates the creativity of the world, but also epitomizes the profound ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, he said.
Song De'ao, a Chinese Gen Zer, chose the official mascots for Chinese winter sports designed by a team at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts as his ideal representation of Chinese aesthetics.
Song, a member of the design team, recalled the inspiration for the mascot Xue Wa, which wears tiger-head hats, tiger-head shoes, and cloud patterns and longevity locks on the clothing. "The mascots reflect the lively and cheerful aesthetics in modern China," Song said.
Jiratchaya Phinyoworakul, a Thai studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, highlighted two features that distinguish Chinese artworks from those of other countries and cultures: cultural extensiveness and profoundness as well as a philosophy centering on harmony between humankind and nature.
The program host, Zhong Yutong, said it is through exchanges that Chinese arts increase in vibrancy and vitality.
"Chinese arts have so much to offer. And we've had wonderful exchanges with different arts and civilizations across the world."
Bruni said art Chinese art is all-encompassing, perfectly merging all types of art. He cited Chinese literati paintings, a kind of painting that expresses feelings and aspirations through natural scenery, as an example, illustrating that "they unify the intellectual world and the practical art world, which is something that is missing in Western countries".
Program guests said there is no absolute definition of art and no universally recognized standard of beauty. Lian Liia, a student from Russia, said "the standard of art is changing in the art history, but there is one thing that has never changed, namely people's pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty".
Phinyoworakul said art is tantamount to comfort. "Even little things can be art. A smile on your face, a flower, sunshine, everything can be art. Art is in our everyday life."
Concerning the combination and contradiction of traditional art and fast-developing AI art creation, Bruni said artists screen information like filters of society. They find beauty and create art, but do not mechanically record and present everything around them. However, this is not true of AI, because it cannot grasp the concept of beauty.
Sun Yuxin of China said AI could positively influence the development of art. "AI saves a lot of time for artists, and it helps them with a lot of basic work."
Gen Zers have also contributed their wisdom in helping the world appreciate the beauty of Chinese art. Promoting Chinese aesthetics through social media could help people understand it more directly, Phinyoworakul said.
Lian Liia, a student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University in Beijing, said, "We can promote Chinese culture as a lifestyle. For example, doing calligraphy or drinking tea to experience Chinese culture in our daily life."
Youth Power, organized by China Daily and first broadcast in June 2021, aims to build a global platform of communication and exchange, focusing on the interests and ideas of Generation Z. The program comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches, with topics related to anything of current interest in the world.
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SOURCE China Daily | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:30 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gen-zers-see-power-art-connecting-world/ |
- Back to Hogwarts returns on 1st September, inviting Harry Potter fans from all over the world to mark the moment the Hogwarts Express departs from King's Cross for the start of term
- Fans can join themed events, watch parties, digital and real-life celebrations that promise to be bigger and better than ever
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on Harry Potter's birthday, Wizarding World announces the return of its Back to Hogwarts celebrations, alongside a search for the UK's most enthusiastic Harry Potter fan to lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
The Harry Potter books, written by J.K. Rowling have had a huge impact on fans around the globe, having sold over 600 million copies worldwide, been distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into over 85 languages since they were first published by Bloomsbury and Scholastic 25 years ago.
Beginning as a fan celebration, Back to Hogwarts is recognised as one of the biggest days in any Harry Potter fan's calendar – marking the moment when students would board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dressed in their finest cosplay, thousands of fans make the trip to London's King's Cross station each year and more come together online to raise their wands for the countdown and share their love of the stories.
Bringing Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together, this year celebrations are bigger than ever with the launch of a UK competition for one lucky fan between age five and seventeen years old to get the chance to travel to King's Cross and help host the countdown on 1st September. The competition is live and young wizards and witches wishing to enter can submit a video of their best countdown online (via a parent or guardian) by 11.59pm on 7th August.
The magic doesn't stop there! This lucky winner (plus a parent or guardian) will get the chance to pack their trunks once again to come back to the capital with a complete package of Harry Potter experiences. The ultimate Harry Potter London Breaks Experience gives this fan the opportunity to discover the filmmaking magic of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter and see the critically acclaimed stage production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. To top it off, the winner will receive an incredible merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop. Full details on prize entry can be found here.
Until 3rd September an array of magical experiences awaits at King's Cross as fans get the chance to sip on Butterbeer, play Hogwarts Legacy on PlayStation®5 courtesy of Warner Bros. Games, and enjoy LEGO® Harry Potter giveaways and photo opportunities. Additionally, in celebration of the publication of The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, fans will also be able to spin Bloomsbury's giant wand spinner and find out whose wand they are best suited to, with free gifts up for grabs for those taking part.
Festivities aren't contained to the station… why not relive the movie magic on the big screen? Theatres around the world will be putting on special Harry Potter screenings for Back to Hogwarts. In the UK, Everyman will screen all eight films at Everyman Kings Cross and select Harry Potter movies at their cinemas nationwide. ODEON will present Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets nationwide over the course of the weekend. US fans can get their fix at Cinemark where more than 250 theatres will be showing an exclusive re-release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1&2. Down Under? Join in the fun at 15 locations of Village Cinemas across Victoria, Australia as they host screenings of the final two Deathly Hallows films in the iconic series. Further theatres and locations will be announced soon, including screenings in Barcelona and Madrid.
Pam Lifford, President, Global Brands, Franchises and Experiences, at Warner Bros. Discovery, said: "Back to Hogwarts is a day cherished by Harry Potter fans of all ages, from all over the world. Just like their passion for the magic of the stories, their celebrations grow every year! 2023 is set to be a year like no other – we will see fan world record attempts in Germany, high octane quiz competitions in France and of course, the UK's search to find the perfect person to join that amazing countdown. We are so proud to offer new and exciting ways to bring fans together and give them new ways to celebrate the Harry Potter magic – there's nothing quite like Back To Hogwarts!"
Check out Wizarding World Digital at www.wizardingworld.com for all the Back to Hogwarts updates, including the latest UK activity and info on what's happening in Italy, Germany, France, Japan, China and more. Look out for news too on how to get involved with Harry Potter Watch Parties (MAX US subscribers will be able to join and watch-along on 1st September) and when to tune into the Back to Hogwarts Digital Showcase.
Join the global community of millions of members following the fun on social and don't forget to sign up to the Harry Potter Fan Club!
Website: www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club.
Instagram: @wizardingworld https://www.instagram.com/wizardingworld/?hl=en
Hashtag: #BacktoHogwarts
About The Wizarding World
In the years since Harry Potter was whisked from King's Cross station onto Platform nine and three quarters, his incredible adventures have left a unique and lasting mark on popular culture. Eight blockbuster Harry Potter films based on the original stories by J.K. Rowling have brought the magical stories to life and today, the Wizarding World is recognised as one of the world's best-loved brands.
Representing a vast interconnected universe, it also includes three epic Fantastic Beasts films, Harry Potter & The Cursed Child – the multi-award-winning stage-play, state-of-the-art video and mobile games from Portkey Games, innovative consumer products, thrilling live entertainment (including four theme park lands) and insightful exhibitions, as well as a forthcoming Harry Potter TV series.
This expanding portfolio of Warner Bros. Discovery owned Wizarding World experiences also includes Harry Potter New York – the iconic flagship store, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo, and the Harry Potter Shop online and retail shops.
The Wizarding World continues to evolve to provide Harry Potter fans with fresh and exciting ways to engage. For the worldwide fan community, and for generations to come, it welcomes everyone in to explore and discover the magic for themselves.
About Back to Hogwarts
On 1st September, fans from all generations and corners of the globe come together to celebrate a very special day in the wizarding world calendar: Back to Hogwarts. Having started as an organic fan celebration many years ago, today Back to Hogwarts is an annual tradition recognised as one of the biggest moments in the Harry Potter fan's calendar when wizards and witches board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for a year of magical adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a unique celebration, each year fans come together online and in real life to celebrate the magic of these beloved stories and unite with their community.
UK Activity - About The Competition
Parents and guardians can enter their child by 7th August to help lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown at 11.00am on 1st September 2023 at King's Cross station and win a bundle of Harry Potter prizes.
The Wizarding World is searching for an enthusiastic, confident young fan to lead all the young wizards, witches and Muggles in the countdown moment. For the opportunity to lead the countdown, the parent or guardian of the applicant must send a video lasting no longer than 20 seconds, counting down from ten, showing how they would lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
Entrants must be based in the UK and Northern Ireland, aged between 5 and 17 years old, and details for entering the competition are detailed at https://www.wizardingworld.com/terms/back-to-hogwarts-2023-uk-countdown-competition-terms
Entries must be sent via email to BackToHogwarts@premiercomms.com and must be sent via a file sharing platform such as WeTransfer or DropBox.
The opportunity to enter opened at 12.00am on 31st July and will close at 11.59pm on 7th August. The successful applicant will be informed by 18th August.
The Competition Prize
- Lead the fans in a countdown at 11.00am BST to launch the Hogwarts Express announcement on 1st September 2023
- First to enter Back to Hogwarts fan zone at King's Cross station
- Wizarding World London Breaks - Ultimate Experience: 1 nights' accommodation, 2x tickets to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, 2x tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for winner and one parent/guardian – to be redeemed at a later date
- A Wizarding World merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop
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SOURCE Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:37 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rhythmic hum of spinning blades slicing through the salty sea breeze, rows of white giants stick out of the Yellow Sea like something out of a science fiction novel. This is the world's first crop of offshore wind turbines in an intertidal zone - the Longyuan Rudong Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm - in East China's Jiangsu Province, an area characterized by rapid industrialization and urbanization.
For senior engineer Ji Xiaoqiang, this crop of windmills is not only a technological marvel, but a childhood dream come true. Today, a total of 150 turbines generate 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 223,000 households. Such results bring comfort to Ji, whose childhood memories are filled with occasional large-scale blackouts.
Each turbine is a testament to China's unwavering commitment to stably harnessing the power of nature while serving industrialization needs, and China's wise solutions to a cleaner future for many developing countries in the world.
China has accelerated its pace in implementing clean energy solutions, building the world's largest clean power generation system, exporting successful lessons, becoming an important force in promoting global clean energy development, and committing to making green, affordable electricity truly accessible to millions of households.
Huge potential to be tapped
Visiting the Longyuan Offshore Demonstration Wind Farm, Global Times reporters were impressed by the colossal turbines fitted to each windmill, as well as the size of the blades, each of which is half the size of the Eiffel Tower.
How did Chinese engineers manage to transport these giants from land to sea using domestically innovated technologies?
Ji Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the offshore engineering department at the Jiangsu Longyuan Offshore Wind Power Co, Ltd (Longyuan Power), affiliated with the China Energy Investment Corporation, explained that the turbines are partially assembled on shore, and then shipped out to sea where each blade is attached with surgical precision to the top of a turbine. Every angle must be accurate to generate maximum power.
On a narrow 90-meter-high operating platform hanging over the Yellow Sea, Ji makes his rounds at the wind farm, carefully inspecting and servicing the turbines - a job not for the faint of heart.
"Sticking chopsticks in tofu" is the most vivid metaphor for the intertidal wind power foundation construction.
China has abundant offshore wind energy storage. According to China's National Meteorological Bureau's estimates, the sea area within the 5 to 25-meter water depth line, or intertidal zone, has a potential generating capacity of about 200 million kilowatts. That means one hour of electricity generation could power at least 92 million homes for a year, according to calculation.
Take Jiangsu as an example. Its coastal area has abundant, peaceful wind resources, and strong grid structures, making it a great choice for the development of a wind power industry, Ji told the Global Times. But offshore exploration is far more difficult than onshore.
China's offshore wind power development lagged in the early stages. Ji and his fellow engineers have long been trying to figure out how to change the game.
It wasn't until 2011 that Ji and his team finally found the answer which marked the start of the era of large-scale Chinese offshore wind power generation.
A difficult conquest
Initially, Ji and his colleagues attempted to choose concrete-poured foundations as they typically would for onshore windfarms. However, experience on land is hard to transfer. Even a millimeter-level deviation in verticality could pose a risk of hundreds of tons of generator towers collapsing into the sea, Ji said.
"We learned that the mainstream foreign solution was to put a sleeve at the connection between the foundation and the tower, fill it with the grouting material, and use the sleeve to balance the inclination. This sleeve acts as a key piece of equipment, like a 'waist,' for balancing the entire body of the generator. However, high-strength grouting material for the sleeve was not available domestically at that time, and relying on imports was too expensive and not wise for commercial use," Ji explained.
Against this backdrop, Ji and his team deliberated with experts, brainstormed multiple solutions, and finally created an innovative pile driver, which is like a giant hand that can grip a single pile and keeps it vertical when it is hammered into the seabed, maintaining the verticality error rate at below 0.2 percent.
This eliminates the need for a transition sleeve and grouting material, dramatically reduces overall costs, and increases construction speed, fully meeting the needs of large-scale construction.
"It's a historic moment for our offshore wind power in China, and this innovative solution is now widely used in the domestic market. This can be learned by many countries that are eager to develop clean energy at a high speed," Ji said.
Such innovative attempts are never smooth sailing. This plan encountered failures in its first two attempts. It nearly cost the project all early investment, and Ji was also dogged by doubts expressed at home and abroad.
But it did not deter this young engineer. He quickly made adjustments to the solution, and polished the details with his team. It wasn't until days later, when cheers erupted after a successful third pile drive, that Ji set off firecrackers that he'd been saving for that very moment.
Ji looked at the wind turbines, which his team nicknamed "white dolphins," emerging from the seaside in front of him and sighed with relief that people would not experience power outages caused by unstable voltage and industrial power overloads as he did as a child.
Ji told the Global Times that the marginal cost of wind power is relatively low, and China's solution is a good reference for coastal countries.
Harmony with nature
Along the coast of Rudong, flying birds and sea windmills decorate the distant skyline. Bird watching enthusiasts from across the country gather here as the sun sets, to observe rare birds such as the spoon-billed Snipe, armed with state-of-the-art cameras, a beautiful and impressive scene.
Harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is a basic principle in China's ecological civilization construction and a distinct feature of China's vivid and effective practice along its path to modernization.
Moreover, ecological civilization is a new requirement in the realization of harmonious development between humanity and nature. Such a principle is also upheld by China's offshore wind power development.
In 2012, Longyuan Power, for example, signed China's earliest marine ecological restoration agreement with local governments for offshore wind farms. At present, it has made an investment of about 56 million yuan in ecological conservation in Jiangsu Province, for Yellow Sea breeding and release efforts, wetland environmental improvement, bird protection facility construction, and marine environment tracking and monitoring.
Technology export
On June 28, with the completion of the final blade's mounting, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was successfully installed in East China's Fujian Province on the offshore wind farm owned by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
China's approach to offshore wind from scratch offers a solution to many countries, especially with regard to coastal regions, on how they can personalize their own energy development with innovative technologies, to achieve harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, which are part of a global community of shared future.
In 2022, China's wind power installed capacity reached 365 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world for the 13th consecutive year. The figure was about 1.4 times that of the EU at the end of 2020 and 2.6 times that of the US, according to data released by China's National Energy Administration.
China's cost-effective offshore wind power technology marks a historic leap in the country's wind power from following others to be a world leader. China has also exported some homemade wind turbines to countries including Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
China's efforts to promote sustainable development and energy security for all nations demonstrate a commitment to global well-being.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:43 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-chinas-offshore-wind-power-facilitates-harmonious-human-nature-coexistence-contributes-wisdom-worlds-carbon-reduction-goals/ |
HANZHONG, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanzhong in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on his way back to Beijing on Saturday. During his visit to the municipal museum, Xi emphasized making good use of museums. He also called for efforts to expand the influence of Chinese culture.
"I was in Hanzhong in 2008 after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake to oversee the relief work. Hanzhong has always been in my heart over the years," Xi told local residents. Xi said he was delighted to see huge changes of the city since then.
With an exhibition area of nearly 2,000 square meters, the Hanzhong Museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province is not the grandest museum in China, but it is a historical telescope allowing visitors to have a retrospective view of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220) history dating back to as far as 2,000 years ago.
Unlike many other museums across the country built to house more recent historical relics, the Hanzhong Museum itself embodies the history that encompasses three heritage sites with the ancient Hantai (Lit: Han palace), once the royal residence of the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, at its core.
Heritage sites-turned museum
Including the ruin of ancient Hantai, a notable feature of the Hanzhong Museum was it built in 1985 consisting of two other Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD25) heritage sites, the Baijiang altar and the "Yin Ma Chi," a pool facility common in ancient times for accommodating horses.
Visitors are first greeted by the ancient Hantai once they enter the museum, which is seven meters high. The millennium-old architecture was constructed using typical man-made rammed earth and its design characters show architectural aesthetics prominent in China's Qin (221BC-206BC), Han and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties.
Liao Shuguang, an architectural expert of ancient Chinese buildings, told the Global Times that the ancient Hantai's functions would change "according to history's change." It was once home to Liu Bang, but was later renovated in the Southern Song Dynasty to become a backyard garden with a gazebo on the building's roof.
Although the ancient Hantai changed roles, its historical importance remained unchanged as it witnessed Liu's founding of the Han Dynasty, one of the powerful dynasties in the Chinese history to have "unified yet diverse" cultural and political beliefs, historian Tao Zhongjun, told the Global Times.
"Including the belief of a 'unified country,' the Han Dynasty left behind a diverse legacy including the governing Confucius mindset and Silk Road exchanges with the western region of Asia and the world. They continue to inspire us today," Tao noted.
Aside from the ancient Hantai, the Baijiang altar, another major element of the museum, was built in 206BC. It was where the then governor Liu Bang would praise the talent and wisdom of his loyal officer Han Xin.
Museum expert Li Zhiming told the Global Times that such heritage sites turned cultural spaces are "living proof of Chinese history," and a good way of making use of the museum is to "properly maintain it while enriching its collection that possesses local cultural characters."
The art of Shudao
Hanzhong was a major stop along the ancient road system Shudao that connected China's Guanzhong Plain with the Chengdu Plain.
The Baoxie plank road, an ancient mountain road that traversed the Qinling Mountain, was also located in Hanzhong and brought an abundant supply of Shudao cultural artifacts.
Inside the Hanzhong Museum, there is a gallery dedicated to the ancient plank road. Shi Men Shi San Pin, also known as the 13 cliff stone carvings of the Shi Men, are a part of the museum's collection.
As an important section of the Shudao, Shi Men was a tunnel at the southern end of the Baoxie plank road. The walls of the tunnel as well as the cliffs of the Baoxie river, were carved with numerous historical inscriptions among which the 13 pieces collected by the museum were the "rarest of the rare," relic expert Xiang Zhengming told the Global Times.
Amongst the 13 carving pieces, the Shi Men Song (Lit: the Eulogy of Shi Men) is a highlight. It embodies the aesthetic essence of Han Dynasty's clerical script calligraphic style. In 1936, China's large-scale encyclopedia Cihai (lit: the sea of the words) took the two Chinese characters for "sea" and "word" discovered from the carving stones to be used on the cover.
"The collection at the Hanzhong Museum holds value in which one can look into China's calligraphic art and can be useful to historians in understanding the then social and cultural scenes," Xiang told the Global Times.
Some other carved pieces have also revealed the secrets of Han Dynasty's water project construction.
Including the 13 treasures, the Hanzhong Museum holds over 5,000 pieces of cultural artifacts that tell the changing cultural history of the city and the nation.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:50 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-heritage-sites-turned-hanzhong-museum-enrich-han-dynastys-cultural-abundance/ |
BlackBerry QNX and BlackBerry IVY to serve as the software foundation for alliance's EV projects
WATERLOO, ON and TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced that the Mobility in Harmony (MIH) Consortium, a Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, (Foxconn)-initiated group, that seeks to create an open ecosystem to transform and accelerate innovation within the electric vehicle industry, has selected BlackBerry to provide the foundation for its next-generation platform.
MIH will use a range of BlackBerry software and services to serve as the safe and secure software foundation for the consortium's open and agnostic electric vehicle platform with a unique modular design approach. Project X, one of the MIH EV projects, will be a single-row three-seater geared towards Asian consumers, and is set to be unveiled in Japan in late 2023. MIH will also release six-seater and nine-seater vehicle platforms in the coming years to provide more vehicle segment choices, and to enable greater innovation.
As part of the agreement, MIH will utilize the company's trusted, safety-certified BlackBerry® QNX® product portfolio and award-winning cloud-connected, automotive AI platform, BlackBerry IVY™, including QNX Software Development Platform (SDP 7.1) licenses, QNX middleware technologies, as well as engineering professional services for system-level integration, performance optimization, and solution validation.
"MIH is committed to driving an open and agnostic ecosystem, with a focus that goes beyond just electric vehicles. Our ambition lies in crafting intelligent user experiences that enhance smart living and redefine the future of mobility and green logistics. BlackBerry's alignment with MIH's vision makes them the perfect partner for our goals. We anticipate deeper collaboration to realize our shared vision to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry and we're thrilled about our partnership with BlackBerry," said Jack Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at MIH Consortium.
Mattias Eriksson, President, BlackBerry IoT commented: "The Foxconn-led MIH Consortium has articulated an ambitious and compelling vision focused on accelerating innovation in the EV ecosystem. As the leading foundational software for the intelligent edge, BlackBerry QNX helps our customers and partners turbocharge their software development efforts. Companies all over the world, deploy BlackBerry's high-performance, safe and secure foundational software to allow their own internal resources to focus on layers higher up in the software stack. They trust us for the 'plumbing,' so they can confidently dedicate their work to software directly impacting their customers' experiences. This accelerates development, improves safety and security, while reducing overall costs. We are excited to join the MIH consortium and look forward to helping them execute on their vision of transforming the overall EV industry."
For more information about the MIH Consortium please visit: MIH | Mobility in Harmony (mih-ev.org).
For more information on how BlackBerry QNX can help with building the safe and secure vehicles of tomorrow, please visit: BlackBerry.QNX.com.
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 235M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.
For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.
Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.
About MIH Consortium
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), a global leader in smart manufacturing, introduced MIH, its software and hardware open platform for EVs, in 2020 and initiated the formation of the MIH Consortium in 2021. Foxconn aims to position MIH as the "Android system of the EV industry." Foxconn is inviting automakers, manufacturers, and supply chain partners to join the MIH to collaborate. MIH's mission is to lower barriers to entry into the EV industry, accelerate innovation, and shorten development cycles by realizing key technologies and developing reference designs and standards. Currently, the MIH has more than 2,600 members.
For More: https://www.mih-ev.org/
Media Contacts:
BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-7273
mediarelations@BlackBerry.com
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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ | 2023-07-31T09:07:56 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ |
The Vehicle, Merchandise and Accessories Collaboration is part of Gogoro and MUJI's Joint "Recycling for Good" Sustainability Initiative that Enables the Public to Recycle Polypropylene Plastic (PP) Waste for use in the new Gogoro MUJI Smartscooters.
TAIPEI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced a collaboration with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and MUJI, the Tokyo-based consumer goods and lifestyle company. The newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME along with a range of merchandise and accessories were launched today at a press event in Taipei.
Created by Gogoro and MUJI, the Gogoro VIVA ME and Gogoro VIVA MIX ME offer simplified Smartscooter designs that utilize recycled polypropylene (PP) body elements. Personally curated by Fukasawa, the Smartscooters adopt the classic MUJI design elements, unique rustic color palette and simple color tone philosophy to create a new urban mobility experience that is simple and comfortable yet unique.
"The most important thing in design is that it must always uphold the spirit of integrity towards people, the environment and life," said Naoto Fukasawa, world-renowned designer, author, educator and MUJI's advisory board member. "Both Gogoro and MUJI are quite popular brands, and it is very natural for them to cooperate in this way. It's not just one plus one equals two. Instead, let one plus one see a greater value."
Gogoro pioneered the mass market manufacturing of recyclable polypropylene plastics for vehicle body panels in 2019 with the Gogoro 3 Smartscooter and then across its full range of Gogoro Viva Smartscooters including Gogoro VIVA, Gogoro VIVA MIX and Gogoro VIVA XL. This innovative manufacturing process led to Gogoro's collaboration with MUJI.
"Naoto Fukasawa offers such a fresh and unique approach to simplicity, functionality and beauty in everything he creates, so it was an honor to work with him on our new Smartscooter designs and accessories," said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. "This collaboration between Gogoro, MUJI and Naoto Fukasawa establishes a strong unified voice in promoting sustainable lifestyles in Taiwan and across the region, not just for transportation but across all aspects of life. Our joint 'Recycling for Good' initiative promotes the reduction of urban pollution through encouraging the public to recycle plastics at Gogoro and MUJI stores and their reuse in our new Smartscooters."
Recycling for Good - A Joint Sustainability Initiative
Gogoro and MUJI share a vision for sustainability and a core philosophy of giving back to the Earth. In response to this year's World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the companies joined together on June 5, 2023 to launch the "Recycling for Good" initiative in Taiwan. "Recycling for Good" encourages people in Taiwan to participate in recycling PP (polypropylene) plastic waste at Gogoro and MUJI stores and empower them to take small actions toward building a more sustainable future.
Polypropylene objects recovered during the Recycling for Good initiative are screened, cut, granulated, reshaped and regenerated into the body panels of the newly unveiled Gogoro Smartscooters. The polypropylene body material is also made of the same material as MUJI's PP storage series.
"MUJI and Gogoro are continuing the concept of a sustainable lifestyle and together have created this new series of Gogoro Smartscooters that are optimized for life and the environment. Gogoro's commitment to being a sustainable business is aligned with MUJI's business philosophy," said Akihiro Yoshida, general manager of MUJI Taiwan. "MUJI is not just a store that sells goods, but it creates a simple and pleasant life through comprehensive sustainable thinking and takes practical action for sustainability of society and the earth."
Gogoro Sustainability
Today, more than 2.5 million Gogoro users have reduced carbon emissions by more than 680 million kilograms, and 100% recyclable polypropylene PP (Polypropylene) is used as the Smartscooter shell material to promote resource regeneration and friendly recycling. In addition, Gogoro has introduced 40% renewable energy in factories since 2022, and 100% use of green electricity in designated Gogoro stores, gradually moving towards the goal of fully using renewable energy by 2050.
Naoto Fukasawa / Product Designer
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Graduated from Tama Art University's Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Having honed his craft for seven years, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries, he returned to Japan in 1996. Fukasawa established and headed up IDEO's Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 and founded NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN. For more information on Naoto Fukasawa, visit https://naotofukasawa.com.
About MUJI
Mujirushi Ryohin, MUJI in Japanese, translates as "no-brand quality goods." MUJI was founded in Japan in 1980 and now has more than 800 stores around the world, carrying more than 7,000 items. With the goal of making people's daily life pleasant, MUJI is globally recognized for its high-quality products that are functional, well designed and reasonably priced. Find us online at www.MUJI.com or Instagram: @muji_global and Twitter: @muji_net.
About MUJI Taiwan
MUJI Taiwan has been operating in Taiwan since 2004, and it has been nearly 20 years. MUJI Taiwan has always been committed to connecting with Taiwan and producing local products in Taiwan, hoping to provide customers with a good life. Find us online at www.muji.com/tw/zh_tw/store, Instagram: @muji_taiwan or Facebook: www.facebook.com/muji.tw.
About Gogoro
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles", Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage battery availability and safety. The challenge is massive, but the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards, and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in densely populated cities is even greater. For more information, visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on Twitter: @wearegogoro.
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SOURCE Gogoro | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ | 2023-07-31T09:08:03 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/muji-gogoro-naoto-fukasawa-collaborate-new-gogoro-smartscooters-new-range-merchandise-accessories/ |
For almost two years, in a small corner of the internet, a kind of revolt has been brewing.
Members of Body Liberation Baltimore, a community organization run through a private Facebook page, reject the notion that thin bodies are the only good bodies. Through virtual support groups and in-person gatherings for people who have been harmed by anti-fat bias, they spread what co-founder Emma Kaufman jokingly calls the “Good News”: Weight loss and diet culture don’t have to rule your life.
While moderators of the online community make clear they are pro-body autonomy and won’t criticize anyone for trying to lose weight, they don’t allow diet talk in support groups or on the Facebook page. They screen out posts that include calorie counts, macro-grams, pounds or other information that could be triggering for people recovering from eating disorders — which includes many of the group’s more than 200 members.
Followers of body liberation, a movement that sprang from activism in the late 1960s and ‘70s against weight-based discrimination and bias, believe all bodies are worthy of respect and dignity. Body Liberation Baltimore strives to provide community to people who believe that body liberation is for everyone, said Alicia Castaneda Hatfield, a member of group’s leadership team.
“That doesn’t just mean folks in bigger bodies, but folks who have different abilities, folks with eating disorder histories,” she said. “We want people to feel really unashamed and joyful within the bodies that they get to live this life through.”
In recent years — amplified by popular podcasts like Maintenance Phase and books like Sabrina Strings’ “Fearing The Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia” — there’s been a growing understanding of weight-based discrimination and the harm it can cause.
People who are fat (a term many prefer over medicalized descriptions like “overweight” or euphemisms such as “curvy” or “plus-sized”) face bias in every area of their lives. They’re hired less, promoted less and paid less — and no federal laws bar weight discrimination in the workplace. Doctors spend less time with their fat patients, and many people report being misdiagnosed, with their symptoms attributed to their weight without the consideration of other possible causes.
There have been some recent wins for the body acceptance movement. In May, after months of lobbying from the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) and other advocates, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed into law a ban on weight-based discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation. Lawmakers in New Jersey and Massachusetts are considering similar measures, and weight discrimination is prohibited in Michigan and Washington state, along with some cities.
A “Health At Every Size” medical framework — one in which doctors accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes, and encourage intuitive eating, a nondieting approach that includes listening to one’s body when deciding when and what to eat — also is growing in popularity, including in Baltimore.
Health Care for the Homeless, a nonprofit that provides medical and behavioral health services to people experiencing housing instability, aims to eventually train all of its staff on the approach, said Arie Hayre-Somuah, the organization’s racial equity and inclusion health specialist.
In June, the American Medical Association recognized the limitations of doctors using the body mass index, although it didn’t throw the measure out entirely. The index, a calculation based on a person’s weight and height, has faced criticism for not being relevant to the bodies of women and people of color and for not taking into account muscle mass, lifestyle or other health-related factors. It was designed in the 1830s using a sample of white, European men.
However, even as awareness of anti-fat bias increases, so does the size of the diet industry. The global weight loss and weight management market, valued at an estimated $175.4 billion in 2022, is expected to grow to $282.5 billion by 2028. Ozempic, a drug from manufacturer Novo Nordisk that helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels, has dominated headlines this year as people scramble to obtain it for weight loss.
The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated challenges faced by people at risk for developing eating disorders and those already struggling with one. As stress, isolation and body shaming soared, so too did hospital stays and emergency department visits for eating disorders.
But a year into the outbreak, Kaufman’s recovery from a severe eating disorder was starting to finally stick after 13 years of struggling and going in and out of treatment. She’d recently had an epiphany: She could either embrace the body she had, or eventually die from her eating disorder.
The choice was easy, she said. Immediately, she began inundating herself with podcasts, books and YouTube videos hosted by fat activists and people who had found body liberation as a way out of their own eating disorders.
“Having justice be the through-line for my recovery has been a really sustainable way for me to stay on track,” Kaufman said. “I wouldn’t wish what I went through on my worst enemy. And if there’s any way I can save someone their time, their money, their life — I lost 13 years. So I’m trying to make sure everyone has as much of their life that they can live with joy as possible.”
While searching for a community of like-minded people, Kaufman came across a body positivity Facebook page that Dundalk resident Destiny DiMattei created before the pandemic.
By the time DiMattei met with Kaufman at a Starbucks in September 2021, that group had fizzled out. But DiMattei, who uses they/them and she/her pronouns, was ready to try again. Nearly two years later, they said they’ve found as much comfort in Body Liberation Baltimore as they’ve provided as a support group leader.
“I’ve gotten so much support from this group,” DiMattei said.
Body Liberation Baltimore hosts two virtual support groups per month — one for everyone and one just for people in larger bodies. The group also hosts support groups on holidays, like Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving, when people might need extra encouragement or a way to vent. Members also meet in person once per month at a restaurant, a market or, most recently, a pool party.
The number of fat activism and body acceptance groups around the country has grown in recent years, said Tigress Osborn, board chair for NAAFA, the fat acceptance group that pushed for New York to pass its ban on weight discrimination.
On Facebook, there’s the 1,000-member DMV Fat-Positive Community, which Jay McCrossin — who helps lead Body Liberation Baltimore — runs with their partner, Mycroft Masada Holmes. Erin Foxworthy, another leader with Body Liberation Baltimore, helps run the local chapter of Fat Girls Hiking, which organizes outdoor meet-ups for people in larger bodies and gives tips on where to find plus-size hiking and other athletic gear.
While NAAFA used to have local chapters, it now focuses on providing virtual support to people who don’t have a community group near them, Osborn said. The national organization has existed since 1969, but even before that, Osborn said, fat people were gathering around kitchen tables and other informal settings to talk body liberation.
“As long as people have been shaming bodies, there have been fat people who were sort of, ‘Middle fingers up to your body shaming. I’m going to live my life,’” she said.
The body acceptance movement has evolved over the years, becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Activists point to studies that show most diets fail and that weight is a poor proxy for health.
Now there’s a better understanding that everyone — regardless of how healthy they are — deserves dignity and respect, said Rosie Young, another Body Liberation Baltimore leader.
Similar to Kaufman, Young started learning about body liberation while recovering from an eating disorder. But she continued to struggle, even after discovering the movement. The missing ingredient, she learned, was community, which she found first while living in California, and later in Body Liberation Baltimore, after moving to Maryland.
“When you’re going against the mainstream culture of diet culture, it’s really swimming upstream,” she said. “You need other people around you to give you strength.” | https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-body-liberation-baltimore-20230731-5hscram5nneijb2cpevrxkgsjm-story.html | 2023-07-31T09:08:43 | 0 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-body-liberation-baltimore-20230731-5hscram5nneijb2cpevrxkgsjm-story.html |
37-year-old woman killed in two-vehicle crash in Tuscaloosa County
A 37-year-old woman was killed Friday in a two-vehicle crash in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency officials said.
Jessica R. Kelley of Woodstock was critically injured when the 2018 Toyota Highlander that she was driving struck a 2012 Hyundai Elantra driven by Tanner L. Gilliland, 27, of Jasper. The crash happened about 10:30 a.m. on Interstate 59 near the 98 mile marker, about two miles south of Bucksville.
After the initial collision, the Toyota overturned several times. Kelley was airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where she later succumbed to injuries and was pronounced dead on Saturday.
Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said they are investigating the fatal crash and did not immediately provide any other information. | https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2023/07/30/37-year-old-woman-killed-in-two-vehicle-crash-in-tuscaloosa-county/70495711007/ | 2023-07-31T09:08:47 | 1 | https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2023/07/30/37-year-old-woman-killed-in-two-vehicle-crash-in-tuscaloosa-county/70495711007/ |
Who will start at quarterback for Alabama football? There’s a better question to ask
Let's talk cake.
Nick Saban did in Nashville. He shared that carrot cake is his favorite, and he told the story of his grandmother Anna Saban who "used to bake the best cakes in the world," Saban said. The future Alabama football coach would stand by the oven, continually asking when the cake would be done. Grandma Saban would stress if she took the cake out of the oven too soon, it would turn to mush.
Saban used this story as an analogy for the quarterback competition between Ty Simpson, Jalen Milroe and Tyler Buchner, emphasizing the Crimson Tide needed to allow it to play out and "let the cake bake until somebody separates themselves."
Following this analogy, there are two primary questions: When will the cake be ready? Perhaps Sept. 2 or Sept. 9. And what type of cake will it be? Red velvet? Carrot cake? Cheesecake? Strawberry shortcake? Birthday cake? Translated to football: When will Saban announce a starter, and who will be the starting quarterback?
Those are the low-hanging fruit questions, though. There's a better question to ask — What does Alabama need its quarterback to be?
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That should ultimately decide who starts for the majority of the 2023 season. All indications are the Crimson Tide doesn't need its quarterback to be Bryce Young, nor should that be the expectation. He's the first quarterback in program history to win the Heisman Trophy. Then, he ended up the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the first during Saban's time at Alabama.
Former offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien and the staff ran the offense around Young, which made sense. But having a quarterback of that caliber can become a crutch both in play calling and for the players around him. Many times, that didn't slow Alabama in 2022; Young could play super hero and will his way to making the offense work. Other times, the Crimson Tide needed more. Sometimes, other players stepped up. Too often not enough did, though.
The supporting cast around the starting quarterback this season figures to be improved, perhaps greatly. New additions such as running back Justice Haynes, receiver Malik Benson and tight end CJ Dippre figure to make an impact early. Plus, young receivers such as Isaiah Bond, Kendrick Law, Emmanuel Henderson and Kobe Prentice sit in a prime spot to take a big step forward in their sophomore seasons. Tight end Amari Niblack figures to have an opportunity to do the same in his sophomore season. With veterans such as running back Jase McClellan and receivers Ja'Corey Brooks and Jermaine Burton also in the fold, Alabama has plenty of intriguing weapons competing for snaps.
In other words, playmakers don't figure to be in short supply. Maybe not all will be big-time threats, but there should be enough who emerge from that group.
So where does Alabama's starting quarterback fit into the picture? That might change throughout the season and depend on the circumstance, but more likely than not, he needs to be the orchestra's conductor.
He doesn't have to play every instrument, nor does he need to be the best musician. Instead, he needs to keep everyone on the same page. Alabama's starting quarterback, with the depth UA has at running back, receiver and tight end, needs to let the playmakers make the plays. Meanwhile the quarterback must minimize mistakes such as turnovers, forcing plays and missing receivers.
Saban would call that playing winning football.
"Our quarterback is a unique position in that you distribute the ball on every play," Saban said in Nashville, "whether you hand it off, whether you choose the play that we run, whether you hand it off or whether you throw an advantaged throw, making decisions in the passing game to throw it to the right guys at the right time and the right place and accurately. So who can do that with the most consistency and be a leader on our team who has an impact on the other players is also important."
Saying Alabama needs a game manager probably is too simple and not completely accurate. There will be times he needs to make plays; it will just be less often than the offense under Young in 2022.
If the new quarterback becomes the point guard Alabama needs, this season the Crimson Tide might be able to enjoy a celebratory national-championship cake.
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News/USA TODAY Network. Reach him via email: nkelly@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly. | https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sports/college/football/2023/07/31/alabama-football-quarterback-battle-nick-saban-ty-simpson-jalen-milroe-tyler-buchner/70415367007/ | 2023-07-31T09:08:53 | 0 | https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sports/college/football/2023/07/31/alabama-football-quarterback-battle-nick-saban-ty-simpson-jalen-milroe-tyler-buchner/70415367007/ |
Carlos De Oliveira — the second person to be charged alongside Donald Trump in a case involving the alleged hoarding of sensitive government materials at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in a federal courthouse in Miami.
What to expect at Carlos De Oliveira’s arraignment in Trump documents case
Donald Trump and his longtime valet, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, were charged in the case last month and face additional counts in the indictment that charged De Oliveira. Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty.
Here’s what to know about De Oliveira and the charges against him. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/31/carlos-de-oliveira-arraignment-trump-employee-classified-documents-case/ | 2023-07-31T09:11:24 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/31/carlos-de-oliveira-arraignment-trump-employee-classified-documents-case/ |
Democrats are worried about a potential drop next year in turnout among Black voters, the party’s most loyal constituency, who played a consequential role in delivering the White House to President Biden in 2020 and will be crucial in his bid for reelection.
But in key states like Georgia, the center of Democrats’ plans to mobilize Black voters in large margins for Biden in 2024, turnout in last year’s midterms was much lower among younger and male Black voters, according to internal party analysis.
The drop in Black turnout has become a focus for Democratic leaders as the party reorients to next year’s presidential contest. Biden’s election in 2020 hinged on narrow victories in states like Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that former president Donald Trump had won in 2016. Democratic activists are cautioning that the party can’t afford to let support from Black voters slip.
W. Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, shared a dire assessment of Democrats’ potential turnout problems with Black men. In many of the battleground states, he said many Black men are “sporadic or non-voters,” meaning they are registered, but have voted in one or none of the past three presidential elections. Robinson said Democrats spend too much time focused on converting “conservative-leaning White women” in the suburbs who they see as swing voters. Instead, he said, they should focus more on turning out Black men, viewing them as swing voters who are debating whether to vote or stay home.
“The Democratic Party has been failing epically at reaching this demographic of Black men — and that’s sad to say,” Robinson said. “Black men are your second-most stable base overwhelmingly, and yet you can’t reach them in a way that makes your work easier.”
Biden’s political team says it has received the message and is taking action, especially among younger Black men.
“We have to meet them where they are and we have to show them why the political process matters and what we have accomplished that benefits them,” said Cedric L. Richmond, a former Biden adviser who is now a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee. He said there will be a clear focus on making Black voters aware of how they have benefited from Biden administration policies, learning from the errors of past Democratic efforts that fell short.
“We will not make the mistake that others made of not drawing all the connections,” he said.
Black voter advocates say the challenge is particularly acute among Black men, many of whom say they feel alienated from the political process and were hurt by policies pushed by both parties that led to increased incarceration and a decline in manufacturing jobs decades ago. Many say their lives haven’t improved regardless of which party was in power, and are dispirited after the country elected Trump, life was upended by a global pandemic and violence worsened in urban areas.
Many Democrats interviewed said they were less worried about Black women, whose voting enthusiasm has historically been more robust than that of Black men. Black women were a huge factor in Biden’s victory in 2020. Advocates expect that trend to continue, particularly with Vice President Harris on the ticket and the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who both made history as the first Black women in their roles.
Terrance Woodbury, chief executive of HIT Strategies, a polling firm focused on young, non-White voters, has been shopping around a PowerPoint presentation to liberal groups warning of the need to act soon to convince Black voters that they have benefited from Biden’s time in office.
Part of the problem, he argues, is that the party’s focus on Trump and Republican extremism is less likely to motivate younger Black men than arguments focused on policy benefits. The messaging, he has argued, must focus on how Black communities have benefited from specific policies.
His own polling has shown that voters’ belief that their vote doesn’t matter is the greatest barrier to voting among Black Americans.
A Washington Post/Ipsos poll of Black Americans in May found a tepid reaction to Biden’s reelection. Just 17 percent said they would be enthusiastic if he wins another term, 48 percent said they’d be satisfied but not enthusiastic, 25 percent said they’d be dissatisfied but not angry and 8 percent said they’d be angry about another Biden term. The poll also found that nearly 8 in 10 Black Americans say they would not consider voting for Trump over Biden and that 54 percent would be “angry” if Trump were to become president again.
Brittany Smith, the executive director of the Philadelphia-based Black Leadership PAC (BLP), which is working to turn out Black voters, said she has noticed a change in how Black people respond to her get-out-the vote efforts in recent years. In the past, she simply needed to remind people of where and when to vote. Now, she said, many express a cynicism about politics that requires a deeper level of persuasion.
“There’s not a night I don’t go to sleep thinking about what turnout will look like in 2024,” Smith said.
““When you think about election cycle to election cycle, [Black voters] have been telling us for a long time what matters,” Smith added. “They want to put food on the table, a roof over their head, send kids to good schools, live in neighborhoods that are safe. I don’t think the issues are new, it’s the way we talk about them and the way we’re centering the voice of the people who live in these communities.”
Some Republicans say they see an opportunity to siphon off some of those disenchanted Black voters in next year’s presidential election with messaging on some key issues. Jay Williams, a longtime GOP strategist in Georgia and founder of the Stoneridge Group, a Republican firm, said school choice and transgender and LGBTQ+ issues, especially as they relate to children and schools, could harm Democrats among their reliable base.
“My guess is Democrats for the foreseeable future will continue to do well [with Black voters], but I think there’s some cultural issues that don’t typically resonate with the Black community as a whole and frankly a lot of minority communities,” Williams said. “Republicans will be able to peel some folks off based on that, depending on the area. It could be a real wedge issue for us.”
Williams acknowledged any growth in support among Black voters could be harder for the GOP if Trump is the nominee — and there will be many other groups, including suburban White women, that the party will have to worry about in that case. He added that he expects Republicans to have a better return on investment with other minority voting blocs, such as Latinos and Asian Americans, “because I don’t think they’re as in lockstep with the Democrats as the Black voter bloc is.”
Meanwhile, Democrats say they are significantly more worried that Black voters will sit it out rather than defect to the Republicans.
Sharif Street, a Pennsylvania state senator and the chairman of the state Democratic Party, said it’s incumbent on the party to give people not just something to vote against, like Trump, but something to vote for.
“Ultimately, the Democratic Party is in the right place substantively on all of those issues,” he said. “But we’ve got to understand that people don’t just know that. We have to message to people so that they know where we are, and being better than the Republicans is not always enough to get people motivated to vote.”
In Detroit, liberal organizers targeting Black turnout have made education about how politics work a centerpiece of their pitch, along with concrete examples of policies that have benefited people from state and federal legislation.
“There is a slow leaking of Black men from the base because the issues that they care about aren’t being addressed,” said Branden Snyder, executive director of Detroit Action, whose organizers tell people the exercise is more like writing a Yelp review to spur change. “We have politics that were created by both Democrats and Republicans that don’t get to the heart of what our community cares about.”
But Malcolm Kenyatta, a Black Pennsylvania state representative who is an official surrogate for the Biden reelection campaign, said that Black voters will come out for Biden next year if Democrats can articulate Biden’s successes.
“This is like being married. You have to spend just as much time, maybe even more time, on the people who show up for you every time as you do for the people who don’t,” Kenyatta said. “What Black folks care about is what everybody cares about, to be able to take care of their community, to be able to live in a community that is safe … If the president is able to do what he is doing now, which is tout his record, I think we are going to be fine.”
Many advocates say that work needs to start early and be consistent. Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Votes Matter, said the resources needed to successfully mobilize Black voters and fight voter suppression in key states were too little and came too late in 2022. He pointed to places like North Carolina and Wisconsin, which had Black Democratic Senate candidates, but said the party didn’t prioritize investments there.
“Everybody knows that there’s no path, whether it’s President Biden or any other Democrat, federal or state, there’s no path to win that does not involve massive turnout from Black voters,” Albright said. “But they can’t just think that it’s just going to happen on its own. They’ve got to invest in making that happen.”
It’s a message also stressed by Mandela Barnes, the first Black lieutenant governor in Wisconsin, who ran for the Senate in 2022 and lost by only 26,000 votes, much of which could be attributed to depressed turnout in the heavily Black city of Milwaukee. He is working now to help organizations invest in and engage voters year-round and not just show up in October of an election year and tell people to vote. He’s also trying to support diverse candidates who might be overlooked by the national Democratic establishment.
“In a swing state like Wisconsin, we could very well be the tipping point … If we show up, we win,” Barnes said. “This country, and that power, is in the hands of Black voters, and we have to take that power seriously.”
Scott Clement contributed to this report. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/31/democrats-black-voters-2024-election-biden/ | 2023-07-31T09:11:30 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/31/democrats-black-voters-2024-election-biden/ |
As Americans find ways to cope with an unusually sweltering summer, many of them have taken to bodies of water to cool off. But at least two people who ventured to freshwater swimming holes this summer have died after contracting an amoeba that devours brain tissue.
Here’s what to know about Naegleria fowleri, where it’s found and how to recognize or avoid an infection. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/07/31/brain-eating-amoeba-symptoms-treatment/ | 2023-07-31T09:11:36 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/07/31/brain-eating-amoeba-symptoms-treatment/ |
The women’s World Cup continues Monday with the final round of matches in Group B. Co-host nation Australia will advance to the knockout stage with a win over Canada, will need help with a draw and will be eliminated with a loss. The Canadians will advance with a win or a draw and would need help with a loss. In the other match being played simultaneously, Nigeria will advance with a win or a draw against Ireland. Both games begin at 6 a.m. Eastern. Follow along for live updates and highlights.
Here’s what to know
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End of carouselCanada is in strong position to move on after its come-from-behind win over Ireland in its most recent match Wednesday. The Canadians are looking to advance out of the group stage for the third consecutive time.
The Australians are in danger of an early exit after their loss to Nigeria on Thursday. The Matildas have advanced beyond the group stage in four straight World Cups, and failing to do so at home would be unthinkable.
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Skip to end of carousel
End of carouselCanada is in strong position to move on after its come-from-behind win over Ireland in its most recent match Wednesday. The Canadians are looking to advance out of the group stage for the third consecutive time.
The Australians are in danger of an early exit after their loss to Nigeria on Thursday. The Matildas have advanced beyond the group stage in four straight World Cups, and failing to do so at home would be unthinkable.
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7 min ago | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/31/canada-australia-world-cup-live-soccer/ | 2023-07-31T09:11:43 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/31/canada-australia-world-cup-live-soccer/ |
For all of the plundering of college football conference realignment, it hadn’t fleeced an entire region. It was merely a matter of time, not a respectful nod to tradition. The latest phase of greedy mayhem left the Pac-12 dangling, jeopardizing the identity of football on the West Coast.
With the conference down to nine members and still lacking a long-term media rights deal, every Pac-12 school is left to scramble on its own. No one can be firmly committed because survival doesn’t lend itself to loyalty. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff, who inherited a disaster when he replaced Larry Scott two years ago, seems to have been blindsided by the departures. He projects genuine confidence about the future, but the conference may be unsalvageable. If so, a storied football region would be reduced to shards spread across competing leagues. For the first time, there wouldn’t be a dominant conference organized by and managed for the west.
It would be a shame. But let’s not stop with a single Pac-12 lament. Don’t underestimate the negative impact it would have on the very thing conference realignment seeks to do: add significant value to traditionally regional leagues by pursuing national interest.
This is the strategy of shortsighted television executives interested in filling slots across multiple time zones with the most easily compelling matchups they can imagine. On the surface, it makes sense to pay a premium to have a sprawling Big Ten slate on fall Saturdays, but visibility doesn’t guarantee passionate engagement.
Sports fans have provincialism in their DNA. Their backyard is the priority. Rivalries with neighbors, recruiting battlegrounds and long histories fuel their emotional intrigue. During the regular season, that’s the weekly draw — familiarity, not made-for-TV randomness. Maryland men’s basketball fans feel it when they struggle to get up for Big Ten matchups with Michigan State and Indiana the way they anticipated ACC showdowns with Duke and North Carolina.
In all college sports, a great charm of the postseason is that secondary pursuit of national bragging rights, the satisfaction of curiosity about how a style of play that dominated a league will fare against the rest of the country. Tournaments are team vs. team, conference vs. conference, distinct region vs. distinct region. It’s not the same when a super conference eliminates tradition and diminishes the mystery.
Yet college football forced us down this path two years ago. When Texas and Oklahoma committed to join the SEC, realignment became an existential threat to all of the other conferences. It used to be that every laughable new geographical alliance simply added girth to familiarity. The altered leagues still had the same markers. You could pretend the potbellies on the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 were an unavoidable part of the need to grow in the sports marketplace. It wasn’t as if the movement of Missouri or Louisville or Nebraska or West Virginia or Utah changed the identity of any of these conferences.
Then the two preeminent programs in the Big 12 bounced. A year later, the Pac-12 lost Los Angeles. Despite the College Football Playoff preparing to expand to 12 teams, there’s an access issue among the so-called Power Five conferences. The SEC and Big Ten have reestablished themselves as the true power brokers, and everyone else is trying to survive. The ACC is in decent shape, for now, because it has a grant-of-rights TV deal through 2036 complicating any school’s wandering eye. That left the Big 12 and Pac-12 with a warning: Pivot or perish.
Behind aggressive new commissioner Brett Yormark, the Big 12 beefed up its numbers and solidified a six-year, $2.3 billion media rights deal. Colorado’s homecoming marks the fifth program to join the conference since Texas and Oklahoma decided to leave. With 13 members — and probably a 14th at some point — the Big 12 has a chance to survive, though adding teams from Florida, Ohio and Utah certainly changes its flavor. Still, the conference needs an elite top rung to emerge. Otherwise, a league organized by and managed for the southwest will stray further from relevance.
You can’t ignore the symbolism of the Big 12 taking back Colorado from the Pac-12. Yormark is determined to rebound. Kliavkoff is dangerously close to letting his conference rot. The inactivity and lack of urgency from Pac-12 university presidents have long been a recurring theme. It’s easy to deride USC and UCLA as opportunists, but the painful reality is that neither would have had reason to leave if the conference had cared to keep up with the times. They didn’t just exit; they evacuated a conference that cannot maximize its worth.
The shrinking Pac-9 hasn’t had a progressive idea since 2010, when it was a 10-team league with a plan to gut the Big 12. The idea was to form the Pac-16. To get Texas and Oklahoma to flee, Scott would also add Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Colorado. It would have formed a super conference nearly a dozen years before the threat of the super conference era became real. But Texas decided against it and chose instead to create the Longhorn Network with ESPN. Later, Scott expanded the conference by inviting Utah and Colorado. Then he botched the formation of the Pac-12 Networks, which have never proved as lucrative as he promised. His ambition died soon after.
On the field, the Utes added a competitive benefit. The Buffaloes have been the grass stuck in the league’s cleats. In 12 seasons as a member, Colorado has a 27-76 conference record, a .262 winning percentage. Overall, the Buffaloes are 48-94, a .338 winning percentage. They have finished two seasons above .500, one of which came during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign in which they went 4-2. Deion Sanders will be the seventh coach, counting interims, to lead the Buffaloes during their Pac-12 era.
And now they’re the ones who no longer feel weighed down.
To survive the uncertainty, the conference is tasked with defying its reputation and transforming into a forward-thinking entity. It must start with saving face on the long-anticipated media rights deal and then come up with a creative financial model and overall plan that satisfies the interests of Oregon and Washington, the most valuable assets it has left. Every move, including expansion, must be considered with a retention pecking order in mind. And it could be a moot point if the Big 12 covets Arizona and decides to make another quick move.
No matter what happens, West Coast teams will continue to be a factor in college football. But they’re not certain to have an influential league of their own to offer all the innovation and fireworks they have long produced.
Right now, that makes the Pac-12 the joke of college football. It wouldn’t be funny, though, if an entire region of a segmented sport felt it truly didn’t matter. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/31/college-football-greed-ambition/ | 2023-07-31T09:11:49 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/31/college-football-greed-ambition/ |