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African partners take a photo together to mark their attendance at the enlisted leader conference. The 2022 Africa Senior Enlisted Leaders Conference serves as a venue for all participating nations to collaborate with and learn from each other while discussing key challenges faced across the continent and avenues to discuss how we can best work together to address those challenges.
This work, Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference [Image 6 of 6], by SSG Flor Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392303/leadership-example-africom-hosts-senior-enlisted-conference | 2022-08-29T09:52:40Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392303/leadership-example-africom-hosts-senior-enlisted-conference | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
From left to right, California's National Guard State Sergeant Major Lynn Williams and Nigeria's Warrant Officer Abdullahi Baba make notes during the 2022 Africa Senior Enlisted Leaders Conference. California and Nigeria have worked together in the State Partnership Program since 2006.
This work, Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference [Image 6 of 6], by SSG Flor Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392304/leadership-example-africom-hosts-senior-enlisted-conference | 2022-08-29T09:52:46Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392304/leadership-example-africom-hosts-senior-enlisted-conference | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — It’s back to school for students across Southern New England which means those big yellow school buses will be back out and about.
Across the country, school districts are struggling with a shortage of bus drivers, but what about Rhode Island?
First Student is the largest bus operator in the state, which contracts with about a dozen districts including Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, Warren, Jamestown and more.
Just like other industries, the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on their driver workforce, but Bill Roche, Head of First Student, says they are cautiously optimistic heading into the new year.
While they are always looking to find additional drivers, so far this year First Student has hired more than 140 employees, including 70 since June alone.
“Certainly the pandemic of 2020 put a damper on our recruitment and our hiring process, but I think we’ve made some great strides this year,” Roche said. “[We have] made some adjustments, raised wages significantly through our union contracts. We’ve also added some additional benefits, whether it’s paid holidays or paid sick time.”
He added they also have more than a dozen drivers in training who should be hitting the road in about a week or so.
They have also added more routes compared to last year and have worked to hold onto the employees they already had.
“There’s always going to be a challenge, there’s no doubt about it,” Roche said. “Typically over the summer, we lose anywhere between 10-20% of employees. This summer we’ve lost less than 10%. We put a full court press on retention efforts and we kept our employees because we value our employees.”
Roche says they are always hiring CDL drivers, who operate the traditional 40-foot buses, as well as van drivers and bus aides.
If you are interested in applying you’re urged to visit their website. | https://www.wpri.com/back-to-school/is-there-a-school-bus-driver-shortage-in-ri/ | 2022-08-29T10:05:05Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/back-to-school/is-there-a-school-bus-driver-shortage-in-ri/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Drones are sniffing out landmines in Ukraine
The landmines that plague Ukraine following six months of drawn-out fighting have a new enemy as minesweeping teams get a boost from high-tech drones.
The big picture: As much as 62,000 square miles of Ukrainian land could be "contaminated" by mines, per Kyiv's most recent estimate. Removing all those explosives-in-waiting will take years, if not decades.
Why it matters: Landmines are indiscriminate, killing both soldiers and civilians, and pose a threat even well after a conflict ends.
- Mines killed or injured at least 7,073 people around the world in 2020, per the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. Civilians made up 80% of those casualties, and among that group, at least half were children.
- Drones, robots and similar tech can help reduce the inherent danger of locating buried mines.
Driving the news: Canadian drone-maker Draganfly is supplying de-mining groups in Ukraine with a handful of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) decked out with a suite of sensors designed to map areas with suspected mines.
- Those sensors can include magnetometers, several different kinds of cameras, radar and more, says Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell.
- Draganfly expects to have nearly two dozen mine-spotting drones flying in Ukraine by year's end.
Each kind of sensor has strengths and weaknesses.
- Magnetometers, for instance, aren't useful for detecting mines largely made of plastic (as many are). But combining data from each sensor can help suss out mines from other buried "clutter," as mine hunters call harmless detritus.
- Machine learning is helping to automate the process, with minesweeping software getting better at distinguishing between mines and clutter over time.
Yes, but: The drones can't dig up mines themselves. They're basically spotters, pointing out potential areas of interest for human investigators.
- De-mining is still grueling work, and drones won't make a major difference until and unless the approach can be scaled — which will take time and money.
What they're saying: "The standard now for de-mining is largely just using chopsticks with little prodders to poke in the ground," says Fronefield Crawford III, a Franklin & Marshall College professor who's part of a group working on mine detection using land-based robots. "So using technology really is overdue for this kind of project."
- Drones, he says, have an advantage over rovers in that they're "not subject to the variations of the terrain," meaning they won't get stuck on hills or rocks — but they also have to be capable of hauling heavy sensors and cameras.
- Still, Crawford adds, "as drone technology improves, I'm sure that drones will become a more and more important piece of the mission."
What analysts initially believed would be a days-long battle in Ukraine quickly become a war of attrition, and the longer the fighting continues, the nastier the landmine problem will get.
- The United States, meanwhile, has committed $89 million to anti-landmine efforts in Ukraine.
What's next: The lessons Draganfly and de-mining groups learn about drone-based minesweeping in Ukraine could be replicated in other heavily mined countries, like Afghanistan. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/drones-landmines-ukraine | 2022-08-29T10:05:05Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/drones-landmines-ukraine | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy
High water mark for House insurgents
It's a banner year for insurgent House candidates: 2022 is posting the second-highest number of primary losses for House members since 1948.
Why it matters: Rising populism is weakening the shield of incumbency.
Driving the news: Reps. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) both lost their primaries on Tuesday.
- As is often the case in redistricting years, the two Democrats were the victims of shifting district lines that pitted Maloney against a colleague and forced Jones to abandon his district.
By the numbers: To date, in this cycle, 14 House incumbents have failed to secure their party’s nomination.
- 2020 saw the most successful primary challenges in a non-redistricting year since 1974, suggesting this is part of a trend, not a one-off.
The big picture: The only year since the 1940s that saw more House primary losses than 2022 was 1992, when 19 incumbents lost renomination, according to data from Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
- Many factors contributed to that 1992 record: A presidential election that swept Bill Clinton to power. Redistricting. The House Bank scandal. And lingering political impacts of recession.
Between the lines: Aside from redistricting, the bulk of this year's losses can be attributed to two major clashes:
- Former President Trump’s effort to purge disloyalty from the GOP, especially those who voted for his impeachment like Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Peter Meijer (R-Mich.).
- The struggle between progressive Democrats and the establishment, with moderates like Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and leftists like Andy Levin (D-Mich.) losing to their ideological foes. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/house-insurgents-primary-losses | 2022-08-29T10:05:11Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/house-insurgents-primary-losses | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Everyone wants to save money on their TV bills, which can exceed $200 a month in some cases when you include streaming services and internet.
Unfortunately, scammers are posing as employees of your cable or satellite company -- all to get your personal information, or credit card numbers.
Tim Hoff's quiet moments keep getting interrupted by phone calls about his TV bill.
"One day it will be Spectrum, the next day DirecTV," he said. And his phone's caller ID often shows the company's name, in what's known as a "spoofed" call.
He says the callers promise to lower his bill if he just gives them some personal information, like account numbers.
"They tell me, ''we're offering a reduction on your TV.' So I can see how you might buy into that. You want lower rates, you give them your information." Hoff said.
The caller can be friendly or threatening
More and more people are getting calls like this, typically offering you a discount or rebate, though they can also be threatening, claiming you are behind on your payments and will be disconnected.
Mike Pedelty, a spokesperson for Spectrum, told us if you're hearing about a problem with your account for the first time over the phone, it's probably a scam call.
"If you think you're caught up on your bill," he said, "and all of a sudden you get this call, that's a red flag. We wouldn't be calling, and we certainly are not harassing customers."
Adam Levin, cyber security expert, and host of the podcast "What the Hack," says customers should also be on alert for strange payment requests such as buying and giving gift card numbers.
"Gift cards are the same thing as cash. People have to understand that," he said. "There's really no way to track it and there's no way to recall it."
Cable and satellite providers hope a new technology called STIR/SHAKEN will soon stop these spoofed calls, making it impossible for scammers to put phony phone numbers on your caller ID.
But the rollout is taking time.
If you get a strange call, Pedelty suggests you hang up and call the customer service number on your bill (not the number that called you.)
When Tim Hoff does that, he said, "they say it is not us, it is a scam call."
He wants you to know that, too, so you don't waste your money.
_________________________
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For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com | https://www.fox17online.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/you-need-to-know-about-this-slick-cable-or-satellite-tv-scam | 2022-08-29T10:09:51Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/you-need-to-know-about-this-slick-cable-or-satellite-tv-scam | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A fuel leak interrupted NASA's launch countdown for its new moon rocket early Monday, reappearing in the same place that saw seepage during a dress rehearsal back in the spring.
Launch controllers halted the tanking operation, which already was running an hour late because of thunderstorms offshore. They slowly resumed the process to confirm that it was, indeed, a hydrogen fuel leak and not faulty sensors, but alarms forced another temporary pause as precious minutes in the countdown ticked away.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket is the most powerful ever built my NASA, out-muscling even the Saturn V that carried astronauts to the moon a half-century ago.
This test flight, if successful, would put a crew capsule into lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
No astronauts were inside the Orion capsule atop the rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Instead, three test dummies were strapped in for the lunar-orbiting mission, expected to last six weeks.
Even with no one on board, thousands of people jammed the coast to see the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket soar. Vice President Kamala Harris flew into Orlando with her husband, but had yet to make the hour-long drive to Cape Canaveral for the planned liftoff.
The next launch attempt wouldn’t be until Friday at the earliest.
- See live updates here!
Hydrogen fuel leaks marred NASA's countdown test back in April, prompting a slew of repairs. The demo was repeated with more success in June, but that, too, experienced some leakage. Managers said they would not know for certain whether the fixes were good until attempting to load the rocket's tanks with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cold fuel on Monday.
Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team also had to deal with a communication issue involving the Orion capsule.
Engineers scrambled to understand an 11-minute delay in the communication lines between Launch Control and Orion that cropped up late Sunday. Although the problem had cleared by Monday morning, NASA needed to know why it occurred before committing to launch.
This first flight of NASA's 21st-century moon-exploration program, named Artemis after Apollo's mythological twin sister, is years overdue. Repeated delays have led to billions in budget overruns; this demo alone costs $4.1 billion.
Assuming the test goes well, astronauts would climb aboard for the second flight and fly around the moon and back as soon as 2024. A two-person lunar landing could follow by the end of 2025. NASA is targeting the moon's south pole.
During Apollo, 12 astronauts landed on the moon from 1969 through 1972, with stays of no more than a few days. NASA is looking to establish a lunar base during Artemis, with astronauts rotating in and out for weeks at a time. The next step would be Mars, possibly in the late 2030s or early 2040s. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national-news/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket | 2022-08-29T10:10:03Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national-news/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket | 0 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | 8 |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A fuel leak interrupted NASA's launch countdown for its new moon rocket early Monday, reappearing in the same place that saw seepage during a dress rehearsal back in the spring.
Launch controllers halted the tanking operation, which already was running an hour late because of thunderstorms offshore. They slowly resumed the process to confirm that it was, indeed, a hydrogen fuel leak and not faulty sensors, but alarms forced another temporary pause as precious minutes in the countdown ticked away.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket is the most powerful ever built my NASA, out-muscling even the Saturn V that carried astronauts to the moon a half-century ago.
This test flight, if successful, would put a crew capsule into lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
No astronauts were inside the Orion capsule atop the rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Instead, three test dummies were strapped in for the lunar-orbiting mission, expected to last six weeks.
Even with no one on board, thousands of people jammed the coast to see the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket soar. Vice President Kamala Harris flew into Orlando with her husband, but had yet to make the hour-long drive to Cape Canaveral for the planned liftoff.
The next launch attempt wouldn’t be until Friday at the earliest.
- See live updates here!
Hydrogen fuel leaks marred NASA's countdown test back in April, prompting a slew of repairs. The demo was repeated with more success in June, but that, too, experienced some leakage. Managers said they would not know for certain whether the fixes were good until attempting to load the rocket's tanks with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cold fuel on Monday.
Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team also had to deal with a communication issue involving the Orion capsule.
Engineers scrambled to understand an 11-minute delay in the communication lines between Launch Control and Orion that cropped up late Sunday. Although the problem had cleared by Monday morning, NASA needed to know why it occurred before committing to launch.
This first flight of NASA's 21st-century moon-exploration program, named Artemis after Apollo's mythological twin sister, is years overdue. Repeated delays have led to billions in budget overruns; this demo alone costs $4.1 billion.
Assuming the test goes well, astronauts would climb aboard for the second flight and fly around the moon and back as soon as 2024. A two-person lunar landing could follow by the end of 2025. NASA is targeting the moon's south pole.
During Apollo, 12 astronauts landed on the moon from 1969 through 1972, with stays of no more than a few days. NASA is looking to establish a lunar base during Artemis, with astronauts rotating in and out for weeks at a time. The next step would be Mars, possibly in the late 2030s or early 2040s. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national-news/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket | 2022-08-29T10:10:03Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national-news/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket | 1 | 0 | green-iguana-35 | 8 |
One of Chris Rock’s most well-known skits centers around Robitussin, an over-the-counter cough suppressant that was evidently a cure-all in the comedian’s childhood home.
In many ways, Toyota’s venerable 2JZ-GTE engine has become a similar cure-all solution in the performance automotive world. Show car needs a hook? 2JZ. Car’s got rust? A 2JZ will help you outrun it. Quarter-mile passes too slow? Just add 2JZ. And the almighty 2JZ-GTE solves problems even faster when the factory twin turbos are jettisoned for one single, usually rather sizable turbine.
None of the six cylinder engine’s praise is unwarranted, mind you. With the correct rubber compound applied to a drag car’s rear wheels and a properly-built 2JZ up front, the earth might just spin in the opposite direction when the light turns green.
Hyperbole and jest aside, 2JZ development has been incredibly impressive for a very long time. In North America, Titan Motorsports has been at the forefront of it.
The Florida-based operation has built quite a name for itself through deep knowledge of the 2JZ and a certain copper-colored MkIV Toyota Supra drag machine. The car is legendary and keeps Titan’s name familiar in any discussion regarding 2JZ performance.
Titan has been synonymous with high-performance 2JZs and Supras for so long that prior to gathering information for this article I had no idea that the company’s founder, Nero Deliawal, was originally a car audio enthusiast. In the late ’90s, Nero went to his first ‘Mexico’ street race and the hunt for higher SPLs was replaced with one for lower ETs. Self-described as “very competitive”, Nero lost himself in determining the ins and outs of what makes a car scramble down the quarter mile quicker.
Even back then his car of choice was the Supra, and Nero was able to make up for his relative lack of driving skill by generating more engine power. Eventually, Nero’s driving skill would sync up with his mechanical skill and he began to win quite a few races. At that time drag racing an import vehicle with success was akin to black magic, so Nero began documenting and sharing his successes.
There’s not a soul in the world that would describe drag racing as a frugal hobby, and very quickly Nero realized he needed a way to fund his race program. In that regard, Titan Motorsports started out of necessity. If Nero had the platform knowledge and people were already asking him for parts, he might as well sell a few to cover his operating costs.
Parts that were performance-oriented in nature – which most were – were tested thoroughly. ‘Race on Sunday sell on Monday’ is a term coined long before Titan was in business, but it directly applies to the company’s success.
Business growth and the growth of Titan’s drag racing program ran in parallel, and it wasn’t long before everyone knew who they were. If you wanted to build a fast Supra from proven results, it was hard to overlook Titan Motorsports.
The quarter-mile records broken in their wake didn’t hurt the company’s street credibility either.
Back in 2002, a mere two years after the business started, Nero and his team sent their Supra down the quarter mile in 9.42 seconds at 157.6mph (253.6km/h). They achieved this using street radials, a feat that was practically unfathomable at the time. Titan also contributed to Ebrahim Kanoo and Gary White’s effort in building a Supra that could run the quarter mile in the high 5-second zone at 240mph.
A business that once fit within a standard garage has grown into an operation that occupies a 25,000 square-foot facility. The expansion has not just been physical; Titan Motorsports has grown beyond just the Supra and today dabbles in a bit of everything, from imports to exotics.
Their new facility has a fabrication shop, an R&D department and a few work bays. Whether you need lower ETs or simply have your engine’s oil changed, they are well-equipped for both.
The Next ChapterSo why the sudden Titan Motorsports admiration? Well, as much as the internet feigned disinterest with the GR Supra upon release, it’s still a rather capable car with good bones. Yes, the A90’s engine was developed in the BMW factory, not Toyota’s, but at the end of the day the B58 was begging for proper private development.
Titan Motorsports could have buried their head in the sand and stuck with the old faithful 2JZ, but what fun would that be? In a world where the MkIV and MkV Supra exist, why not have both? Using their knowledge of turbo engines and drag racing, Titan were one of the first to get a B58-powered GR Supra to an 8-second quarter mile.
With nearly a quarter century of race-specific development behind them going into the GR platform, it’s maybe a little scary to think of where Titan Motorsports is going to take these cars. Partnering with companies like CSF, Titan has all the runway needed to make the A90 Supra as fierce a competitive platform as its predecessor.
Can they do it? So far all signs point to yes, and we can’t wait to see how.
Dave Thomas
Instagram: stanceiseverythingcom
Photos by Yaheem Murph
Instagram: yaheemmurph | http://www.speedhunters.com/2022/08/the-titans-of-supra-tuning-then-and-now/ | 2022-08-29T10:20:49Z | speedhunters.com | control | http://www.speedhunters.com/2022/08/the-titans-of-supra-tuning-then-and-now/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
There are two ways to read the charts in USD/CAD at the moment so I'll elaborate on both first before giving an overview and some thoughts on meshing them both together. Let's take a look at the daily chart first:
At first glance, the push to fresh highs since 15 July isn't all that impressive. We are now seeing price run up against a previous swing region around 1.3076-83 but that was broken previously on 14 July in a push towards 1.3200. The upside move was short-lived but it also sets out higher resistance region for the pair to work with in the more immediate term.
But when you look at the weekly chart:
There is more clarity here in the sense that the previous highs from May to July were all actually pinned down by the 200-week moving average (blue line). The 1.3200 mark also provides an additional layer of resistance but the price action to start the week is indubitably now more bullish as we are seeing USD/CAD trade above the key level, which is seen at 1.3026 currently.
Upon that, we could be looking towards the 50.0 Fib retracement level of the swing move lower from March 2020 to May 2021 at 1.3337 as a potential area for gains to stall.
So, while the daily chart may appear unimpressive and suggests that the pair is still somewhat trading within the confines of recent price action, the weekly chart suggests a potentially stronger technical push by buyers. There's no right or wrong in reading into both but when viewing the context of price action as seen by the May to July highs, my view is that the weekly chart holds more significance so any notable price action there has more potential to be respected in that sense. | https://www.forexlive.com/news/usdcad-looks-to-come-up-for-air-in-latest-push-higher-20220829/ | 2022-08-29T10:25:29Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/usdcad-looks-to-come-up-for-air-in-latest-push-higher-20220829/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Kansas City Council last week overwhelmingly passed the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan, formed with public input over two years, that will guide the city’s future climate policy with a focus on equity. Nomin Ujiyediin speaks with KCUR’s Savannah Hawley about why restaurants and utilities initially opposed the plan, and how it could reshape Kansas City.
Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.
Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.
You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate | https://www.kcur.org/podcast/kansas-city-today/2022-08-29/kansas-citys-big-swing-for-carbon-neutrality | 2022-08-29T10:38:15Z | kcur.org | control | https://www.kcur.org/podcast/kansas-city-today/2022-08-29/kansas-citys-big-swing-for-carbon-neutrality | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Across Cultures, People Associate ‘Attractive’ Faces With More Intelligence, Trustworthiness: Study
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It’s called the “what is beautiful is good” principle — the idea that attractive people must also be better human beings. Of course, this isn’t inherently true of the world, but it describes a dominant perception people seem to have about physical attractiveness, also called the “halo effect.” Many studies have looked into this, albeit from a Western lens — but a new one analyzed data from 45 countries to conclude that the positive bias toward pretty people extends across cultures.
Published last week in Current Psychology, the study encompassed 11 world regions to find that across all of them, “male and female faces rated as more attractive were [also] rated as more confident, emotionally stable, intelligent, responsible, sociable, and trustworthy.” The “attractiveness halo effect,” the researchers found, applied in more regions than previously thought.
The “halo effect” is a nearly 100 year-old concept, which posits that people tend to rate others they find physically attractive as having positive qualities — like intelligence, confidence, empathy — too. This inevitably leads to attractive people amassing greater success — whether in terms of professional growth, education, or even prison sentences.
In the present study, 11,000 participants were recruited to rate 120 photos using 13 adjectives, all of which describe a social quality (such as confidence, intelligence, weirdness, and so on.) Across regions, participants rated the attractive faces as having more positive social qualities, and the ones they rated to be unattractive, having more negative ones — this is the “beauty goggles’ effect, where attractiveness clouded judgments leading to a heightened perception of positive personality traits,” according to Carlota Batres, a psychology professor from the Franklin and Marshall College, and co-author of the study.
These findings have disquieting implications — they show how culturally constructed beauty norms can cause people to have an unfair positive bias toward “beautiful” people. We used to think, for instance, that facial attractiveness signaled physically healthy people with good immune systems. Research has debunked this perception — and yet, the halo effect continues.
Related on The Swaddle:
How Online Skincare Routines Obscure the Privilege Required for Good Skin
But the “halo effect” also signals larger cultural blindspots when it comes to perceptions of beauty. There are even troubling eugenicist roots to the idea that beautiful people are inherently better people. Consider the fact that Nazi ideology proscribed Aryan features — blue eyes and blond hair — as defining characteristics of a superior race of human beings by way of intellect, disposition, and quality. The eugenics movement that picked up steam across Western societies linked physical attractiveness with a person’s inherent worth, and posited that only these individuals be encouraged to procreate.
Who and what we find physically attractive isn’t just a dark historical legacy; it continues to be marred with prejudice. “‘Pretty’ is most often synonymous with being thin, white, able-bodied, and cis, and the closer you are to those ideals, the more often you will be labeled pretty — and benefit from that prettiness,” wrote Janet Mock in Allure. One example (of several) of how pretty people benefit from it is being scored higher in examinations. Recent research has also pointed out how our beauty norms are constantly in flux, but they’re dictated by the media we consume. And with the media being rooted in bias, norms around beauty continue to reproduce systemic hierarchies that define what beauty is for us.
There’s a reason why the beauty industry is as much of a behemoth as it is: it relies upon a relatively homogenous conception of attractiveness and uses the halo effect back at us. Think of fairness cream advertisements, for instance, that used to attribute fairer skin with higher success in job interviews or romantic encounters.
But beauty, attraction, and desire are all heavily constructed norms. To take it for granted that attractiveness is a natural rather than social fact, then, is to keep pretty privilege not only intact, but also entrench it further. In fact, it becomes one of the axes through which the historically privileged maintain their dominion in social hierarchies. The idea of “physical attraction,” then, is one that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, as its prejudices quickly become obvious. Who is considered attractive within this paradigm is thus political: as writer Christina Dhanraj puts it in the context of caste and desirability, “… is it possible to feel desire when you haven’t already worked towards wanting to desire that person? Haven’t been conditioned into wanting to desire that person, socialized into desiring that person?” | https://theswaddle.com/across-cultures-people-associate-attractive-faces-with-more-intelligence-trustworthiness-study/ | 2022-08-29T10:38:15Z | theswaddle.com | control | https://theswaddle.com/across-cultures-people-associate-attractive-faces-with-more-intelligence-trustworthiness-study/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Kansas 3rd District race between Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids and Republican Amanda Adkins is a rematch from 2020.
The newly drawn district, with the addition of rural counties and the subtraction of half of urban Wyandotte County, leans more Republican than it did before. But Davids has a potent advantage that she didn’t have last time.
The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade has reshaped the political landscape, and nowhere more so than in Kansas. Davids is running hard on abortion rights, an issue that Kansas Republicans have used to pummel Kansas Democrats for decades.
Davids volunteer Nancy Pence says that ending federal protection for abortion rights has shattered political norms.
“We’re on uncharted ground now,” Pence said recently, stepping away from training new volunteers. “And I think that astute politicians look at this and say, 'This is something I should pay attention to.'”
It would be hard to overstate the impact of the political upheaval in Kansas. The landslide vote on Aug. 2 defeating a proposed constitutional amendment that would have ended protection for abortion rights in the state was a major upset, bringing out a record number of voters to the polls.
A subsequent forced recount funded by supporters of the amendment only confirmed the breadth of the victory for abortion rights advocates like Davids.
“When 50 years of precedent protecting our rights was overturned and removed, people got scared, they got anxious, lives were upended and people got angry,” Davids said.
Davids has tried to harness that anger. Her campaign has held a news conference and produced ads reminding voters that Adkins was on the losing side of the abortion amendment vote.
Davids noted that Adkins was campaign manager for former governor and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, a staunch opponent of abortion rights, and that Adkins has said she believes life begins at conception.
Adkins’ campaign did not respond to requests for comment. But she has said that Davids is in lockstep with President Joe Biden and supports Biden initiatives that Adkins says have driven inflation.
Adkins hasn’t retreated from her opposition to abortion rights, but she isn't making that clear-cut difference between her and Davids an issue. The Republican and the Democrat have reversed their usual roles in Kansas politics, with the Democrat now on the offensive against a Republican on abortion rights.
“It’s always an issue for the right,” said Kansas political consultant Stephanie Sharp. “Always, always, always.”
Sharp, a moderate Republican who served three terms in the Kansas House , said the abortion ballot issue unearthed a fundamental disconnect between voters and their representatives, showing that the Kansas electorate holds far more nuanced views on the issue than the Republican politicians it has elected to run the state.
And Sharp said that the huge primary turnout exposed a potential voting bloc for a candidate like Davids, who is trying to activate often lethargic middle-of-the-road voters.
“There’s a segment of the population that never ever votes in primaries," Sharp said. "So you take the Democrats and unaffiliateds who voted in this primary, and then the Republicans who voted in this primary, who never voted in a primary before, those are your moderates. And that’s your margin of victory, easily.”
The same kind of political calculus is happening around the country, with vulnerable Democrats from Iowa to Michigan and Pennsylvania to Virginia leaning into abortion rights. Polls show most Americans disagree with the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision and that abortion rights will be a factor when they vote in November.
Pence, the Davids volunteer, said she was concerned that the shock of states like Missouri banning abortion after the fall of Roe would fade before the midterms.
But so far, there’s no indication that is happening. | https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2022-08-29/post-roe-urgency-throws-a-lifeline-to-kansas-democratic-rep-sharice-davids-in-redrawn-3rd-district | 2022-08-29T10:38:17Z | kcur.org | control | https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2022-08-29/post-roe-urgency-throws-a-lifeline-to-kansas-democratic-rep-sharice-davids-in-redrawn-3rd-district | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Summer vacation has come to an end, as Monday is the first day of school for many children in Massachusetts.
This year will be different from back-to-school last year, and the most similar to those of pre-pandemic times, with limited COVID-19 protocols in place.
Back to school 2022 will not feature mandatory face coverings, social distancing, or hybrid schedules. The state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced in mid-August that they will not recommend surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals, contact tracing, or the test-to-stay program.
State guidance says that COVID precaution strategies should focus on vulnerable and symptomatic individuals, while allowing the rest of the students to return to normal operations.
Anyone who tests positive should follow DPH isolation guidelines; returning to class once symptoms subside, following five days of isolation. Upon return, students should wear a mask for an additional five days. Students can reduce their number of absences by live streaming classes, if possible.
Any building closures due to COVID-19 will be treated like snow day closures, with additional days added to the end of the year if school falls below 180 days of instruction. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus/first-day-of-school-comes-with-fewer-covid-restrictions/ | 2022-08-29T10:39:08Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus/first-day-of-school-comes-with-fewer-covid-restrictions/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(The Hill) – Marijuana use reached a record high in new polling, as for the first time more Americans said they smoke marijuana than reported smoking cigarettes in the last week.
Sixteen percent of Americans in a new Gallup poll reported smoking marijuana, up from 12 percent last year and more than double the all-time low of 7 percent.
Fewer Americans, at 11 percent, reported smoking cigarettes in the past week, down from 16 percent last year and a far fall from a peak at 45 percent in the 1950s.
It’s the highest percentage of reported marijuana use and the lowest percentage of past-week cigarette use since Gallup started asking those questions in 2013 and 1944, respectively.
Nearly half of U.S. adults now report having tried marijuana, up from 4 percent when Gallup first surveyed about its use in 1969.
Despite increasingly common use of the drug, Americans remain evenly split on whether marijuana is having a negative or positive effect on society.
Yet more than two-thirds of Americans, at 68 percent, think the drug should be legal, a record-high maintained from last year’s polling.
Six states could vote on ballot measures legalizing marijuana in the November midterm elections, and should they pass, will join 19 others in legalizing recreational marijuana.
Conducted July 5-26, the surveys on marijuana and tobacco use polled 1,013 U.S. adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/marijuana-use-hits-record-high-in-new-gallup-poll/ | 2022-08-29T10:39:27Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/marijuana-use-hits-record-high-in-new-gallup-poll/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A fuel leak interrupted NASA’s launch countdown for its new moon rocket early Monday, reappearing in the same place that saw seepage during a dress rehearsal back in the spring.
Launch controllers halted the tanking operation, which already was running an hour late because of thunderstorms offshore. They slowly resumed the process to confirm that it was, indeed, a hydrogen fuel leak and not faulty sensors, but alarms forced another temporary pause as precious minutes in the countdown ticked away.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA, out-muscling even the Saturn V that carried astronauts to the moon a half-century ago.
This test flight, if successful, would put a crew capsule into lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
No astronauts were inside the Orion capsule atop the rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Instead, three test dummies were strapped in for the lunar-orbiting mission, expected to last six weeks.
Even with no one on board, thousands of people jammed the coast to see the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket soar. Vice President Kamala Harris flew into Orlando with her husband, but had yet to make the hourlong drive to Cape Canaveral for the planned liftoff.
The next launch attempt wouldn’t be until Friday at the earliest.
Hydrogen fuel leaks marred NASA’s countdown test back in April, prompting a slew of repairs. The demo was repeated with more success in June, but that, too, experienced some leakage. Managers said they would not know for certain whether the fixes were good until attempting to load the rocket’s tanks with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cold fuel on Monday.
Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team also had to deal with a communication issue involving the Orion capsule.
Engineers scrambled to understand an 11-minute delay in the communication lines between Launch Control and Orion that cropped up late Sunday. Although the problem had cleared by Monday morning, NASA needed to know why it occurred before committing to launch.
This first flight of NASA’s 21st-century moon-exploration program, named Artemis after Apollo’s mythological twin sister, is years overdue. Repeated delays have led to billions in budget overruns; this demo alone costs $4.1 billion.
Assuming the test goes well, astronauts would climb aboard for the second flight and fly around the moon and back as soon as 2024. A two-person lunar landing could follow by the end of 2025. NASA is targeting the moon’s south pole.
During Apollo, 12 astronauts landed on the moon from 1969 through 1972, with stays of no more than a few days. NASA is looking to establish a lunar base during Artemis, with astronauts rotating in and out for weeks at a time. The next step would be Mars, possibly in the late 2030s or early 2040s.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.wspa.com/news/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket/ | 2022-08-29T10:57:59Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ISLAMABAD (AP) — International aid was reaching Pakistan on Monday, as the military and volunteers desperately tried to evacuate many thousands stranded by widespread flooding driven by “monster monsoons” that have claimed more than 1,000 lives this summer.
Cargo planes from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates began the international rush to assist the impoverished nation, landing on Sunday in Islamabad carrying tents, food and other daily necessities. Trucks carrying tents, food, and water arranged by Pakistan were also being dispatched to various parts of the country by the National Disaster Management Authority for tens of thousands of flood victims.
They were among the nations that pledged to help Pakistan tackle the crisis after officials called for international help. The United Nations will launch an international appeal for Pakistani flood victims on Tuesday in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif on Monday said the rains are the heaviest Pakistan has seen in three decades.
“I saw floodwater everywhere, wherever I went in recent days and even today,” Sharif said in Charsadda, one of the devastated towns. He said the planes carrying aid from some countries have already reached Pakistan, and he predicted more.
Sharif has said the government would provide housing to all those who lost their homes.
However, many people displaced by floods say they not only lost their homes but their crops and small shops, as well.
“I am sitting with my family in a tent, and how can I go out to work? Even if I go out in search of a job, who will give me any job as there is water everywhere,” asked Rehmat Ullah, a flood victim in Charsadda in the northwest.
Zarina Bibi, another flood victim, said soldiers evacuated her by boat.
“We were given a tent and food by soldiers and volunteers,” she said. Bibi cried when she said her house had collapsed in floods. “Floodwater will recede soon, but we have no money to rebuild our home,” she said.
Rehan Ali, 24, a laborer in the country’s southern Sindh province, reported a similar ordeal.
He said he cannot rebuild his home without government help, and right now he was unable to work to get food for his family. So, Ali said, he was relying on donatons.
The exceptionally heavy monsoon rains that triggered flash floods across the country have affected 33 million Pakistanis, damaged nearly 1 million homes and killed at least 1,061 people.
Pakistani authorities say this year’s devastation is worse than in 2010, when floods killed 1,700 people. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the country’s military chief, said Sunday that his country may take years to recover. He appealed to Pakistanis living abroad to generously donate to the flood victims.
Floods and rains have caused devastation in Pakistan at a time when the country is facing one of the worst economic crises. Pakistan says it recently narrowly avoided a default, and later Monday IMF’s executive board was expected to approve the release of the much-awaited $1.7 billion for this Islamic nation.
Pakistan and the IMF originally signed the bailout accord in 2019. But the release of a $1.7 billion tranche has been on hold since earlier this year, when the IMF expressed concern about Pakistan’s compliance with the deal’s terms under former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.
Khan was also expected to launch a fundraising campaign Monday evening for flood victims.
Last week, the United Nations in a statement said that it has allocated $3 million for U.N. aid agencies and their partners in Pakistan to respond to the floods and this money will be used for health, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation services in flood-affected areas, focusing on the most vulnerable.
Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s climate minister, has described the unusual rainfall as a “monster monsoon.” She says Pakistan suffered heavier rains this year mainly because of climate change, which also caused fire in forests.
However, critics say Pakistan’s government has hardly any interest in building new dams and water reservoirs.
The unprecedented monsoon season has affected all four of the country’s provinces. Floods have destroyed more than 150 bridges and numerous roads have been washed away, making rescue operations difficult. Authorities say they were using military planes, helicopters, trucks and boats to evacuate people from marooned people and deliver much-need aid to them.
However, many survivors complain they were still waiting for help or they received too little assistance from the government after being displaced because of floods. Some people say they got tents but not food. Pakistan charities were also active in flood-hit areas, and the government says everyone should contribute to help flood victims.
The government has deployed at least 6,500 soldiers to help civilian authorities in rescue and relief operations across the country.
____
Associated Press Writers Mohammad Farooq from Shikar Pur, Sindh and Riaz Khan from Peshawar contributed to this story | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-international-aid-reaches-flood-ravaged-pakistan/ | 2022-08-29T10:59:33Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-international-aid-reaches-flood-ravaged-pakistan/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TUBAS, West Bank (AP) — At least 85 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year as Israeli forces have carried out nightly raids in cities, towns and villages, making it the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2016.
The military says the vast majority were militants or stone-throwers who endangered the soldiers. The tally, from the Palestinian Health Ministry, includes Palestinians who carried out deadly attacks inside Israel.
But it also includes several civilians, including a veteran journalist and a lawyer who apparently drove unwittingly into a battle zone, as well as local youths who took to the streets in response to the invasion of their neighborhoods.
The length and frequency of the raids has pulled into focus Israel’s tactics in the West Bank, where nearly 3 million Palestinians live under a decades-long occupation and Palestinians view the military’s presence as a humiliation and a threat.
Israeli troops have regularly operated across the West Bank since Israel captured the territory in 1967.
Israel says it is dismantling militant networks that threaten its citizens, and that it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians. Palestinians say the raids are aimed at maintaining Israel’s 55-year military rule over territories they want for a future state — a dream that appears as remote as ever, with no serious peace negotiations held in over a decade..
Israel stepped up the operations this past spring after a string of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis killed 17 people, some carried out by militants from the West Bank. There have been no deadly attacks since May, but the relentless military operations have continued.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported 85 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem since the start of the year.
With four months to go this year, that already is the highest number since 2016, the tail-end of a previous wave of violence, when 91 Palestinians were killed, according to yearly data compiled by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
The ministry’s tally includes attackers and known militants, but also the veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and a 58-year-old man who was shot in the head outside a bakery earlier this month. The Israeli military says both might have been hit by Palestinian gunfire but has not provided evidence to substantiate its claims.
The dead include 17 teens under the age of 18, as well as six women, according to the ministry. Israel says that teenagers and women are often involved in violence, while critics accuse the army of using excessive force in many cases.
Israel is also holding more than 600 Palestinians without charge or trial in what’s known as administrative detention — the highest in six years.
Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general who now heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said the heightened pace of operations is the result of the recent wave of attacks and the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to crack down on militants in the areas it administers.
The Palestinian Authority is mired in a crisis of legitimacy largely stemming from its cooperation with Israel on security matters. Palestinian officials say they will not help police the occupation, especially if there is no hope that doing so will lead to independence.
Rights groups say that while some Israeli missions are aimed at combatting specific threats, others are intended as a show of force, or to protect the growing population of Jewish settlers.
Ori Givati is the head of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group opposed to the occupation that gathers testimonies of former Israeli soldiers. Some soldiers recall carrying out mock arrests, in which fully armed soldiers raid a home in the middle of the night — for training purposes.
Even more common, Givati says, are so-called “stimulus and response” operations, which he said he took part in himself when he served in the West Bank. In those, Israeli troops roll through Palestinian areas, sometimes with lights and speakers on, hoping to lure stone-throwers or gunmen into the streets so they can arrest or confront them.
“The way we occupy the Palestinians is by creating more and more friction, making our presence felt,” Givati said. “We invade their towns, their cities, their homes.”
In a statement, the army denied the allegations, saying it acts “solely against threats and terrorist operatives who pose a security threat” in Israel and the West Bank.
Israel says it investigates all cases in which Israeli troops are suspected of killing civilians, but rights groups say most of those investigations are quietly closed with soldiers rarely facing serious repercussions.
There were two notable exceptions this year.
The killing of Abu Akleh, a veteran on-air correspondent, prompted numerous independent investigations that concluded she was likely killed by Israeli fire. Israel denies targeting her and says it is still investigating.
There was also the death in January of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old who died shortly after Israeli soldiers bound and blindfolded him and left him in the cold. In that case, senior officers were reprimanded and stripped of leadership roles.
Both were American citizens, and the U.S. raised both cases with Israel. Last week, Israel discharged four soldiers after they were caught on camera beating and kicking two detained Palestinians.
There was no such uproar over Salah Sawafta, who was shot outside the bakery as he returned from dawn prayers in the West Bank town of Tubas earlier this month. Israeli troops, who had gone to arrest suspected militants, were engaged in a firefight with Palestinian gunmen.
His family believes he was killed by an Israeli sniper in a building across the street. Zakreya Abu Dollah, the bakery owner who witnessed the shooting, said he saw Israeli soldiers fanned out on the street but no Palestinian gunmen or stone-throwers in the immediate area.
The military says it is investigating and that Sawafta might have been hit by a stray bullet fired by Palestinian militants.
Jehad Sawafta said his late brother, who made a living trading animal feed, had no connection to any political faction or militant group.
Salah had a son and four daughters, one of whom was engaged to be married this past Friday. The father of the bride was killed a week before the wedding.
“His second daughter was supposed to be married on Aug. 26, but then everything got turned upside down,” Jehad said. “Those girls adored their father because he provided a good and dignified life for them.”
___
Krauss reported from Ottawa, Ontario. Associated Press reporter Ami Bentov in Caesarea, Israel, contributed. | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-palestinian-toll-mounts-as-israel-steps-up-west-bank-raids/ | 2022-08-29T11:00:01Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/world-news/ap-international/ap-palestinian-toll-mounts-as-israel-steps-up-west-bank-raids/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Capital Markets
Firms buy Sh9.5bn Safaricom stake as small traders sell off
Monday August 29 2022Local institutional investors have acquired shares worth Sh9.5 billion in Safaricom following the exit of domestic shareholders and foreigners, reversing the government’s objective of boosting Kenyan retail investors’ stake in the country’s most profitable firm.
Regulatory filings with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) show that local institutional investors including insurance firms and pension schemes bought 340.7 million shares between August 2020 and July 2022.
This followed the sale of 305.4 million shares by foreign fund managers and 37.4 million stocks by domestic investors, who have continued to exit the telecom operator since its listing in 2008.
ALSO READ: New study to guide listing charges for the Nairobi bourse
July regulatory filings show that domestic investors, including citizens of East African countries, now hold 1.51 billion units of the telco’s stock equivalent to a 3.79 percent stake.
Foreign investors including asset managers such as BlackRock, JPMorgan and Fidelity have meanwhile more than doubled their combined stake to 10.17 percent from five percent over the same period.
“Local East African fund managers have picked up from some selling by local individuals as well as the bulk of selling which has been done by foreign institutional investors,” said Eric Musau, a research analyst at Standard Investment Bank (SIB).
Safaricom’s record of paying dividends and the ease of exit from the counter has made the share a favourite with institutional investors and foreigners.
It has become a must-have stock for most institutional investors who nowadays transact trades in the telco’s shares worth billions of shillings per day.
On Friday, for instance, it accounted for 70.9 percent or 4.55 million of the 6.42 shares that exchanged hands at the Nairobi bourse.
Local institutional investors, excluding the Treasury, Vodafone and Vodacom, had an 11.1 percent stake in July worth Sh124.7 billion, up from 6.62 percent in May 2013.
Analysts say the local high-net-worth investors have taken advantage of the falling Safaricom share to buy on the cheap.
The share has dropped from Sh44.65 in August last year to Friday’s closing price of Sh28.05, with their eyes on dividends and capital gains.
Safaricom share accounts for 52 percent of the entire stock market value.
A minimal fall in the Safaricom share price creates an impression that the market is underperforming despite other counters recording gains.
Already, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has flagged the dominance of five companies — including Safaricom — in the 65-stock Nairobi bourse as a big risk, with the performance of their shares dictating whether the market goes up or down on any given day.
Retail investors have been net sellers of Safaricom shares since the telco hit the stock market where its share price initially dropped sharply below the IPO offer price of Sh5 to hit a low of Sh2.50.
ALSO READ: Use of shares for loans tumbles to 54 percent
Nearly 300,000 retail investors exited before and midway through the telco’s long-term stock rally which gained momentum from December 2012. The government allocated local investors 4.8 billion shares or nearly half of the 10 billion units sold in the IPO as a deliberate policy to help them share in the telco’s prosperity.
“Key among the government’s privatisation objectives is the need to broaden the shareholding of State-owned corporations among Kenyans, as well as to deepen the capital market and raise resources for infrastructure development,” the Treasury wrote in Safaricom’s IPO prospectus.
The government raised Sh50 billion from the IPO by selling 10 billion shares equivalent to a 25 percent stake in the telco to individuals, local firms and foreign investors.
The hype surrounding the offer saw retail investors apply for 22.6 billion shares or 4.7 times the 4.8 billion units that they were ultimately allocated.
Retail investors paid a total of Sh24 billion for the shares which would have a current market value of Sh134.6 billion, assuming the investors held on to all the stocks to date.
The investors have, however, sold a total of 3.2 billion shares over the years, leaving them with 1.5 billion units now valued at Sh42 billion.
Besides capital gains, those who sold their shares in the early years have missed out on lucrative dividends that Safaricom has paid.
The telco has so far made cumulative cash distributions of over half a trillion shillings in its life as a publicly-traded firm. Some individual investors, including billionaires, have benefited the most from Safaricom as they have continued to accumulate the company’s shares.
Chirag Minesh Solanki and Kalavati Menesh Solanki are top individual shareholders with a stake worth Sh980 million.
Billionaire investor John Kibunga Kimani now holds 18.1 million shares worth Sh486 million, according to the July records. He started buying the telco’s shares at the IPO when retail investors were required to apply for a minimum of 2,000 shares.
A total of nine local individual investors hold 122.4 million shares valued at Sh3.43 billion.
Safaricom posted a 1.7 percent drop in net profit to Sh67.49 billion in the year to March, the first results that include its Ethiopian operations.
ALSO READ: Brokerage firms choking as bearish run at NSE lingers
The Ethiopia business reported a net loss of Sh4.8 billion in the 10 months ended March, reflecting the startup costs in a period when it did not have revenue.
Safaricom Ethiopia, in which the Kenyan multinational holds a 55.7 percent stake, was issued an operating licence in July 2021.
The stake held by individuals is expected to continue dropping going forward as local and foreign institutional investors gather more assets and deploy them in buying Safaricom and other stocks. | https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/markets/capital-markets/firms-buy-sh9-5bn-safaricom-stake-as-small-traders-sell-off-3929290 | 2022-08-29T11:01:50Z | afar.com | control | https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/markets/capital-markets/firms-buy-sh9-5bn-safaricom-stake-as-small-traders-sell-off-3929290 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
She is a legend of the small screen. Trudie Goodwin starred as stalwart sergeant June Ackland in The Bill for more than two decades from 1984 before joining the cast of ITV soap Emmerdale. She was the longest-serving member of the police drama's cast, and also a world record-holder as the longest-serving actor to portray a police character.
Trudie then went on to star in Emmerdale from 2011-2015 as Georgia Sharma. Since then she's been constantly linked with a return to TV with rumours that The Bill is set to return.
But Trudie isn't the only member of her family to enjoy household name status. Her youngest daughter Elly rose to fame as La Roux. The Grammy award-winning singer is best known for the hits For The Kill and Bulletproof and has released an album as recently as 2020.
Read more: The stars of Heartbeat, The Bill and London's Burning who went on to live ordinary lives
This itch to make it as a music star was not borne out of Trudie, as it was in fact her husband and Elly's father Kit Jackson who provided this inspiration. Elly was also a big reason why Trudie left the famous cop drama, as when she said she didn't want to attend university, it lifted a heavy financial burden of the TV actress' shoulders.
Unsurprisingly Trudie is very proud of Elly, who along with her older daughter has chased a career in music. She told the Daily Record : “It’s very strange. She’s a lot more famous than I am because she is known worldwide. We had no expectations of them performing. But both of my daughters are musicians and songwriters. Music has always been a massive part of their life, not through me but through my husband. He is an actor but also an extremely good musician.
“In retrospect, acting is probably a kinder profession than the music industry. But the main thing is that they are doing something they are passionate about and are very lucky to be doing something they love. An awful lot of people never have that opportunity in their whole lives. Once I realised there was no putting either of them off, I tried to support them.”
Susanna Reid lost 1.5 stone on diet that didn't include exercise
Urban Outfitters in Tunbridge Wells has confirmed when it is opening
The Kent areas facing the biggest energy bills after October price hike
Cost of living crisis: Brits can claim £150 towards energy bills from £144m little-known fund
Kent is the 13th most expensive place to rent a holiday cottage Which? finds | https://www.kentlive.news/news/celebs-tv/trudie-goodwin-the-bill-daughter-7521565 | 2022-08-29T11:04:36Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/celebs-tv/trudie-goodwin-the-bill-daughter-7521565 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A burglar who went on a break-in spree was spotted on CCTV and identified by a tattoo on his neck. Dale Pearson targeted three properties in Maidstone on Tuesday May 24.
Police say that at around 1am he smashed his way into a snooker club in Buckland Hill and stole £120 from the cash register and a quantity of coins. He then walked to a nearby bowls club and damaged a window to gain entry to a secure building.
He left this property empty-handed and then walked up a drive in Buckland Hill to enter a porch on the front of a house. When the property owners reported the burglaries officers trawled through CCTV, spotting the culprit outside the snooker club and entering the porch in Buckland Hill.
Read more: Susanna Reid lost 1.5 stone on diet that didn't include exercise
Local officers identified Pearson from a distinctive tattoo on his neck, and forensic examination at the first break-in recovered his fingerprint from inside the cash register. Pearson, of Tudeley Lane, Tonbridge, was arrested on 21 June. He was later charged with three burglaries.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday 25 August and was sentenced to two years and 146 days’ imprisonment. Detective Constable Chris Welham, of Maidstone CID, said: ‘Pearson is a prolific burglar and his criminal record was a consideration when he was sentenced.
‘He did not consider the effect his actions would have on the victims, who were targeted in the hours of darkness, and was purely focused on stealing anything of value during his crime spree. A jail term is entirely appropriate in these circumstances.’
READ NEXT: | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/burglary-spree-criminal-caught-after-7521603 | 2022-08-29T11:04:46Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/burglary-spree-criminal-caught-after-7521603 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, today announced that as a result of its strategic review of the business, Albemarle has chosen to retain its Catalysts business under a separate, to-be-named entity and wholly owned subsidiary of Albemarle. This structure is intended to allow the Catalysts business to respond to unique customer needs and global market dynamics more effectively while also achieving its growth ambitions.
In response to the accelerating energy transition, the Catalysts business announced in September 2021 a retooled strategy focused on new geographies in India and Southeast Asia, attractive crude-to-chemical technologies, renewable diesel to serve a larger hydrotreated vegetable oil market, and pyrolysis oil treatment for bio-oil (synthetic) fuel. Albemarle simultaneously announced a strategic review of the Catalysts business to determine the best way to support its strategy for growth.
During the review, Albemarle considered a wide range of value creation opportunities for the Catalysts business including a joint venture with a partner, a spin-off or sale, or Albemarle retaining the business. The company conducted due diligence with multiple parties, including strategic and financial sponsors, but in the end determined that the best value for Albemarle was to hold the business as a separate entity.
"We are confident that there is significant value in the Catalysts business that can address the needs of the evolving global market and create growth for customers, employees, and our shareholders," said Albemarle CEO Kent Masters. "We believe that retaining the business under this new structure is the best path to that outcome."
The process to move the Catalysts business to its new legal structure is underway and is expected to be finalized in approximately 18 months. The business will continue to be led by Raphael Crawford, current president of the Catalysts global business unit.
About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts. We think beyond business as usual to power the potential of companies in many of the world's largest and most critical industries, such as energy, electronics, and transportation. We actively pursue a sustainable approach to managing our diverse global footprint of world-class resources. In conjunction with our highly experienced and talented global teams, our deep-seated values, and our collaborative customer relationships, we create value-added and performance-based solutions that enable a safer and more sustainable future.
We regularly post information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding our company, our businesses, and the markets we serve.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the information presented in this press release, including, without limitation, information related to the timing of restructuring the Catalysts business, the benefits and opportunities associated with the restructuring of the Catalysts business, anticipated return on opportunities, and including all information relating to matters that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from the views expressed. Factors that could cause Albemarle's actual results to differ materially from the outlook expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include, without limitation: changes in economic and business conditions; changes in financial and operating performance of its major customers and industries and markets served by it; the timing of orders received from customers; the gain or loss of significant customers; fluctuations in lithium market pricing, which could impact our revenues and profitability particularly due to our increased exposure to index-referenced and variable-priced contracts for battery grade lithium sales; changes with respect to contract renegotiations; potential production volume shortfalls; competition from other manufacturers; changes in the demand for its products or the end-user markets in which its products are sold; limitations or prohibitions on the manufacture and sale of its products; availability of raw materials; increases in the cost of raw materials and energy, and its ability to pass through such increases to its customers; technological change and development, changes in its markets in general; fluctuations in foreign currencies; changes in laws and government regulation impacting its operations or its products; the occurrence of regulatory actions, proceedings, claims or litigation (including with respect to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and foreign anti-corruption laws); the occurrence of cyber-security breaches, terrorist attacks, industrial accidents or natural disasters; the effect of climate change, including any regulatory changes to which it might be subject; hazards associated with chemicals manufacturing; the inability to maintain current levels of insurance, including product or premises liability insurance, or the denial of such coverage; political unrest affecting the global economy, including adverse effects from terrorism or hostilities; political instability affecting our manufacturing operations or joint ventures; changes in accounting standards; the inability to achieve results from its global manufacturing cost reduction initiatives as well as its ongoing continuous improvement and rationalization programs; changes in the jurisdictional mix of its earnings and changes in tax laws and rates or interpretation; changes in monetary policies, inflation or interest rates that may impact its ability to raise capital or increase its cost of funds, impact the performance of its pension fund investments and increase its pension expense and funding obligations; volatility and uncertainties in the debt and equity markets; technology or intellectual property infringement, including cyber-security breaches, and other innovation risks; decisions it may make in the future; future acquisition and divestiture transactions, including the ability to successfully execute, operate and integrate acquisitions and divestitures and incurring additional indebtedness; continuing uncertainties as to the duration and impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; performance of Albemarle's partners in joint ventures and other projects; changes in credit ratings; and the other factors detailed from time to time in the reports Albemarle files with the SEC, including those described under "Risk Factors" in Albemarle's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Albemarle assumes no obligation to provide any revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Capstone, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is pleased to announce two promotions within its Carolinas and Virginia team. Ron Corrao has been promoted to managing director and Eric Liebich to director of the multi-family investment sales team. They are joined by an experienced team of investment sales advisors, including Cole Carns located in Richmond, VA; Thomas Colaiezzi, Jourdan Sullivan, and Matt Weinstein located in Charlotte, NC; and Travis Cundiff located in Capstone's new Raleigh office alongside Chief Executive Officer, Mike Mosher.
Corrao joined Capstone in 2014 and quickly made his mark as one of the top producers in the region. Liebich joined the team in 2018, and he was the fastest growing sales team member firmwide in 2021 with a 573% increase in sales from the prior year. Regarding the recent expansion of the team, Corrao said: "We are excited for the growth of our team throughout the Southeast, and for the opportunity to mirror the results we experienced in expanding our Virginia footprint where we have $300M+ in sales volume sold and under contract this year. We are confident in the work ethic and expertise of our team, and we look forward to continuing to partner with our clients and ensuring they receive the best brokerage experience throughout the Carolinas and Virginia."
This team expansion represents the latest in Capstone's growth throughout the Southeast after bringing on managing directors, Jake Reid and Chad DeFoor, to join Tyler Hogan in our Atlanta, GA office. Reid and Defoor each have over 20 years of experience in the Georgia market and the team represents over $5.5 billion in multifamily sales. "We are excited to join the #1 privately owned multifamily brokerage company that is focused on continued national growth while maintaining a client-centric approach," said Reid.
Established in 2008, Capstone has completed transactions nationwide totaling more than $12B in sales volume. Capstone's clientele ranges across the private, public, institutional, and non-profit sectors with diverse multi-housing expertise across conventional apartment assets, student housing, affordable housing, manufactured housing, multi-housing development sites, and capital placement.
The combination of Capstone's various service lines with this dynamic, experienced team in the firm's Southeast region will further solidify Capstone's industry position as one of the nation's fastest growing multifamily investment sales firms.
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NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Attention Missfresh Limited ("Missfresh") (NASDAQ: MF) shareholders:
The Law Offices of Vincent Wong announce that a class action lawsuit has commenced on behalf of investors. This lawsuit is on behalf of persons who purchased or otherwise acquired Missfresh securities pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and related prospectus issued in connection with Missfresh's June 2021 initial public offering.
If you suffered a loss on your investment in Missfresh, contact us about potential recovery by using the link below. There is no cost or obligation to you.
ABOUT THE ACTION: The class action against Missfresh includes allegations that the Company made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Missfresh provided false financial figures in its registration statement and related prospectus issued in connection with the Company's June 2021 initial public offering; (2) Missfresh would need to amend its financial figures; (3) Missfresh, among other things, had lesser net revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2021; and (4) as a result, defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times and negligently prepared.
DEADLINE: September 12, 2022
Aggrieved Missfresh investors only have until September 12, 2022 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. You are not required to act as a lead plaintiff in order to share in any recovery.
Vincent Wong, Esq. is an experienced attorney who has represented investors in securities litigations involving financial fraud and violations of shareholder rights. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:
Vincent Wong, Esq.
39 East Broadway
Suite 304
New York, NY 10002
Tel. 212.425.1140
E-Mail: vw@wongesq.com
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Kia Among Most Innovative Mass Market Brands in New Study
- Kia ranked second among mass market brands
- All-new study ranks advanced technology in new vehicles
IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kia has ranked second among mass market brands in the J.D. Power 2022 Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study. The new study rates advanced technologies in new vehicles with an innovation score and Kia continued its strong momentum following high ranks in the J.D. Power 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) and Automotive, Performance, Executive and Layout (APEAL) study with a place among the eight most innovative brands.
"Kia is still beaming over its impressive rankings in the J.D. Power VDS and APEAL studies, and being recognized among the most innovative brands cements Kia's status as a universal leader in the industry," said Steve Center, COO and EVP, Kia America. "With such high customer satisfaction in a variety of areas including design, dependability, and now innovation, we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to drive forward in all areas of development."
The J.D. PowerTech Experience Index (TXI) looks at 35 automotive technologies that are divided into several categories: convenience; emerging automation; energy and sustainability; and infotainment and connectivity. The study is based on responses from 84,165 owners who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership of new 2022 model-year vehicles.
Kia America – about us
Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kia America continues to top automotive quality surveys and is recognized as one of the 100 Best Global Brands. Kia serves as the "Official Automotive Partner" of the NBA and offers a range of gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electrified vehicles sold through a network of over 750 dealers in the U.S., including several cars and SUVs proudly assembled in America.
For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com. To receive custom email notifications for press releases the moment they are published, subscribe at www.kiamedia.com/us/en/newsalert.
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SHANGHAI, Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pylon Technologies (Pylontech), a dedicated battery energy storage system (BESS) provider, has announced it has been named as one of the 2022 Forbes China 50 Most Innovative Companies in the new energy field.
Pylontech is one of the few companies with independent R&D and manufacturing capabilities for core components used in energy storage including battery cells, modules and battery management systems. The release of the China 50 Most Innovative Companies list honours businesses that create a major impact on their business model, R&D investment, self-growth, corporate governance and other elements driven by innovation.
Inclusion in the list demonstrates Pylontech's aptitude for innovation and leadership within the renewable and sustainable sector and represents significant and additional recognition after gaining entry into the MSCI Index. As a global leading energy storage system(ESS) provider, Pylontech has served residential, industrial, and utility sectors for decades.
Pylontech vice president Geoffrey Song said: "It's a great honor to be named on Forbes China 50 Most Innovative Companies. The inclusion strengthens our confidence to continue to invest in the R&D of more innovative products. We will continue to focus on energy storage development and adhere to innovation and R&D to achieve net zero carbon emissions."
The company and its subsidiaries currently own 194 patents totally according to its latest 2022 Semiannual Report released on Aug. 26th, 2022. And this report also indicates that Pylontech's R&D to revenue rate in the first half year of 2022 reaches 6.99% and investment on R&D achieved a 132.40% increase over first half year of 2021, which is a fulfillment to its strategy of high investment in R&D.
With a sustainable future around the corner, integration of innovative storage solutions and renewable power generation will maximize the benefits of an interconnected energy ecosystem. By placing innovation ability at the core, Pylontech is committed to driving the development of the energy storage industry and creating a world of green energy with customers and partners over the world.
About Pylontech
Pylontech was founded in 2009 as a dedicated battery storage system (BSS) provider by consolidating its expertise in electrochemistry, power electronics and system integration. By providing reliable and affordable ESS solutions, the company have enabled the market position as one of the top suppliers of lithium battery storage globally by its 7-years increasing rate by double.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, today announced that as a result of its strategic review of the business, Albemarle has chosen to retain its Catalysts business under a separate, to-be-named entity and wholly owned subsidiary of Albemarle. This structure is intended to allow the Catalysts business to respond to unique customer needs and global market dynamics more effectively while also achieving its growth ambitions.
In response to the accelerating energy transition, the Catalysts business announced in September 2021 a retooled strategy focused on new geographies in India and Southeast Asia, attractive crude-to-chemical technologies, renewable diesel to serve a larger hydrotreated vegetable oil market, and pyrolysis oil treatment for bio-oil (synthetic) fuel. Albemarle simultaneously announced a strategic review of the Catalysts business to determine the best way to support its strategy for growth.
During the review, Albemarle considered a wide range of value creation opportunities for the Catalysts business including a joint venture with a partner, a spin-off or sale, or Albemarle retaining the business. The company conducted due diligence with multiple parties, including strategic and financial sponsors, but in the end determined that the best value for Albemarle was to hold the business as a separate entity.
"We are confident that there is significant value in the Catalysts business that can address the needs of the evolving global market and create growth for customers, employees, and our shareholders," said Albemarle CEO Kent Masters. "We believe that retaining the business under this new structure is the best path to that outcome."
The process to move the Catalysts business to its new legal structure is underway and is expected to be finalized in approximately 18 months. The business will continue to be led by Raphael Crawford, current president of the Catalysts global business unit.
About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts. We think beyond business as usual to power the potential of companies in many of the world's largest and most critical industries, such as energy, electronics, and transportation. We actively pursue a sustainable approach to managing our diverse global footprint of world-class resources. In conjunction with our highly experienced and talented global teams, our deep-seated values, and our collaborative customer relationships, we create value-added and performance-based solutions that enable a safer and more sustainable future.
We regularly post information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding our company, our businesses, and the markets we serve.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the information presented in this press release, including, without limitation, information related to the timing of restructuring the Catalysts business, the benefits and opportunities associated with the restructuring of the Catalysts business, anticipated return on opportunities, and including all information relating to matters that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from the views expressed. Factors that could cause Albemarle's actual results to differ materially from the outlook expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include, without limitation: changes in economic and business conditions; changes in financial and operating performance of its major customers and industries and markets served by it; the timing of orders received from customers; the gain or loss of significant customers; fluctuations in lithium market pricing, which could impact our revenues and profitability particularly due to our increased exposure to index-referenced and variable-priced contracts for battery grade lithium sales; changes with respect to contract renegotiations; potential production volume shortfalls; competition from other manufacturers; changes in the demand for its products or the end-user markets in which its products are sold; limitations or prohibitions on the manufacture and sale of its products; availability of raw materials; increases in the cost of raw materials and energy, and its ability to pass through such increases to its customers; technological change and development, changes in its markets in general; fluctuations in foreign currencies; changes in laws and government regulation impacting its operations or its products; the occurrence of regulatory actions, proceedings, claims or litigation (including with respect to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and foreign anti-corruption laws); the occurrence of cyber-security breaches, terrorist attacks, industrial accidents or natural disasters; the effect of climate change, including any regulatory changes to which it might be subject; hazards associated with chemicals manufacturing; the inability to maintain current levels of insurance, including product or premises liability insurance, or the denial of such coverage; political unrest affecting the global economy, including adverse effects from terrorism or hostilities; political instability affecting our manufacturing operations or joint ventures; changes in accounting standards; the inability to achieve results from its global manufacturing cost reduction initiatives as well as its ongoing continuous improvement and rationalization programs; changes in the jurisdictional mix of its earnings and changes in tax laws and rates or interpretation; changes in monetary policies, inflation or interest rates that may impact its ability to raise capital or increase its cost of funds, impact the performance of its pension fund investments and increase its pension expense and funding obligations; volatility and uncertainties in the debt and equity markets; technology or intellectual property infringement, including cyber-security breaches, and other innovation risks; decisions it may make in the future; future acquisition and divestiture transactions, including the ability to successfully execute, operate and integrate acquisitions and divestitures and incurring additional indebtedness; continuing uncertainties as to the duration and impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; performance of Albemarle's partners in joint ventures and other projects; changes in credit ratings; and the other factors detailed from time to time in the reports Albemarle files with the SEC, including those described under "Risk Factors" in Albemarle's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Albemarle assumes no obligation to provide any revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.
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As a professional mediator for more than 15 years, Sarah Augustine has brought together people on opposite sides of an issue with patience and gentle guidance. She’s calm, focused and a good listener.
Augustine was executive director of the Dispute Resolution Center of Yakima and Kittitas Counties from January 2017 to June 30. The role included work with government agencies and community organizations, with some of that work continuing. Augustine also chaired the Washington State Redistricting Commission, which redraws congressional and legislative district boundaries every 10 years based on updated census population numbers.
She is the mother of a young teenage son and helps with the ranch she and husband Dan Peplow operate outside White Swan, along with teaching, speaking and writing. Augustine’s first book, ”The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery,” was published in 2021.
Throughout that time and even before it, Augustine has also strongly advocated for the rights of Indigenous people around the world. The work has become a bigger focus for her in recent years, and Augustine has a new role at an organization she co-founded with two Mennonite pastors in 2014.
On July 1, Augustine began as executive director of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition. It’s a group of Anabaptist leaders working with church communities to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. As summarized in her book, the Doctrine of Discovery is a set of laws rooted in the 15th century that gave Christian governments the moral and legal right to seize lands they “discovered” despite those lands already being populated by Indigenous peoples.
“Legitimized by the church and justified by a misreading of Scripture, the Doctrine of Discovery says a land can be considered ‘empty’ and therefore free for the taking if inhabited by ‘heathens, pagans, and infidels,’” the book summary notes.
The organization Augustine co-founded with Mennonite pastors Sheri Hostetler and Anita Amstutz has three focal points, Augustine said: providing educational materials and tools to church leaders and members to understand the doctrine and its impact; encouraging people to support Indigenous people and issues; and impacting and even dismantling laws and policies that remove Indigenous peoples from their lands.
The Doctrine of Discovery is not something people learn about in school, Augustine said, so education is crucial.
“It’s invisible to people who benefit from it,” she said.
Personal history, public battles
The complicated legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery continues to impact Indigenous communities, land and sovereignty. That includes a 2005 case before the U.S. Supreme Court brought by the city of Sherrill, N.Y., against the Oneida Indian Nation.
And in November, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act. That 1978 law was passed in response to the disproportionately high rate of forced removal of Native children from their traditional homes, which took them from Native American cultures.
Augustine has extensive knowledge about those and other cases that demonstrate the broad impact of the Doctrine of Discovery. She has supported and written and taught others about Indigenous peoples’ rights — and the continuing battles to secure and preserve them — devoting so much time that it basically became a second job.
“I think this is my life’s work. I’ve burned the midnight oil for so many years,” she said. Holding down a full-time job while working for the rights of Indigenous people around the world in her spare time, she decided to fine-tune her focus.
“I love the DRC so much; it’s hard to let that go,” Augustine said. “It’s great work but I just couldn’t do it all anymore.”
Her health also requires greater attention. Augustine was diagnosed in January with multiple sclerosis after she started to lose her vision, though she said she probably started to have symptoms 10 years ago. Her new role allows her to work from home, which helps safeguard her health, though she still travels within and beyond the Yakima Valley.
She’s careful, but it’s also personally important for her to do everything she can.
“I grew up in the underclass,” Augustine said. “I had a difficult start.”
Augustine grew up in New Mexico and is a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant. As she shares in her book, Augustine’s father never knew his mother; he was removed from his family at birth in 1943.
“He grew up in a home for Native American boys and was subject to habitual abuse, forced labor and malnutrition,” she wrote. “He was not one of the exceptions who was able to rise above his conditions.
“As his daughter, I grew up subject to abuse, homelessness and hunger. Like many Indigenous people in my generation, I came to understand my own story in middle age, through the truth and reconciliation process that took place in Canada.”
Her work with the Indigenous Wayana people in Suriname, a small country in South America, also brought her past into a focus for the future. Augustine and Peplow took a global health research trip to Suriname in 2004 and witnessed a growing gold mining presence, displaced families and probable poisoning of water and food supplies.
The couple established a nonprofit organization, the Suriname Indigenous Health Fund, in 2005.
“When I started working in Suriname, I started seeing patterns in my life. These people are removed from their lands ... and the people I’m from have lost everything because of executive order,” Augustine said. “When I was seeing this happen in South America in real time, I was trying to find out ... the origin.”
And reading a book by legal historian and professor Robert J. Miller, “Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny,” is when “I really learned about the Doctrine of Discovery for the first time,” Augustine said.
‘A dynamo for justice’
Augustine has devoted years to dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery, a passion clearly shared by coalition co-founders Sheri Hostetler of San Francisco and Anita Amstutz of Albuquerque, N.M. They had wanted to hire Augustine so she could focus on that work and the timing was ideal, Hostetler said.
“Sarah is such a dynamo for justice and she’s been doing a lot of activism,” Hostetler said. “We’ve all been participating in activism, but she has been really doing so much activism around the world and she’s been doing it all as a volunteer.”
“The fact that she’s able to commit to this full time is going be amazing. I’ve already seen the fruits of that,” she said. “It’s been amazing to see what’s already been happening.”
Amstutz offered an example. Within a month of Armstrong’s hiring, she coordinated with coalition members the signing of an amicus brief by 42 churches to submit to the U.S. Supreme Court to support the Indian Child Welfare Act, Amstutz said in an email.
“She has also worked and will continue to be a strong voice at world forums on Indigenous rights, including the United Nations, World Conference of Churches and traveling to Washington to meet with Congress in order to effect changes in policy around the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other international bodies,” she said.
The opportunity for Augustine to devote herself to the work came at a perfect time for her and the coalition, Hostetler said. It began a year ago when a member of Hostetler’s church, First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, read Augustine’s book and said the church should hire her for that work, Hostetler said.
Hostetler mentioned the coalition, and the church member made a donation toward a salary. That spurred two salary fundraisers, which brought results much faster than supporters expected, she said.
“We had this dream of hiring Sarah full time and felt like maybe a decade from now. In the course of about four to six months, it just became apparent this was going to happen,” Hostetler said. “Not only is it coming at a great time for Sarah, but also a great time for the coalition.”
Amstutz is hopeful the coalition will continue to expand its witness regarding decolonization and protection of Indigenous and land-based rights, she said, as well as increase awareness in churches around The Reparative Justice Network.
“I am also aware that Sarah brings decades of expert engagement around public policy and the legal framework to change existing laws that do harm,” she added. “I look forward to her leadership in advocating to change local, regional, national and international policies that impact ongoing economic colonization of land-based peoples.” | https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/former-director-of-dispute-resolution-center-working-with-church-leaders-and-others-to-dismantle-the/article_9d7988c8-1cdc-11ed-a739-efb8c65d0382.html | 2022-08-29T11:13:26Z | yakimaherald.com | control | https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/former-director-of-dispute-resolution-center-working-with-church-leaders-and-others-to-dismantle-the/article_9d7988c8-1cdc-11ed-a739-efb8c65d0382.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
For months, French shoppers have been complaining about a lack of mustard on the shelves. The shortages have largely been caused by a drought in Canada, the world's largest exporter of mustard seeds.
Copyright 2022 NPR
For months, French shoppers have been complaining about a lack of mustard on the shelves. The shortages have largely been caused by a drought in Canada, the world's largest exporter of mustard seeds.
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.klcc.org/npr-food/npr-food/2022-08-29/a-drought-in-canada-is-making-it-impossible-to-find-mustard-in-france | 2022-08-29T11:14:46Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-food/npr-food/2022-08-29/a-drought-in-canada-is-making-it-impossible-to-find-mustard-in-france | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
- Preclinical development milestone achieved in connection with ongoing IND-enabling studies to support evaluation of Pol Theta Helicase Inhibitor DC as combo with niraparib
- Potential to realize preclinical and clinical milestones up to $20 million total for preclinical to early Phase 1 clinical, including up to $10 million aggregate through IND effectiveness
- Targeting first-in-human clinical evaluation of Pol Theta Helicase Inhibitor DC in combination with niraparib in H1 2023 for patients having tumors with HRD
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. , Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:IDYA), a synthetic lethality focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics, announced that it has achieved a preclinical development milestone in connection with ongoing IND-enabling studies for its Pol Theta Helicase Development Candidate (DC).
"We are excited to advance our Pol Theta Helicase Inhibitor DC toward the clinic. The achievement of this preclinical milestone supplements our balance sheet and reflects the continued progress IDEAYA and GSK are making to enable first-in-human studies with this development candidate in the first half of next year," said Michael White, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of IDEAYA Biosciences.
The Pol Theta Helicase Inhibitor DC is a potential first-in-class small molecule inhibitor of the helicase domain of DNA Polymerase Theta. IDEAYA is collaborating with GSK on IND-enabling studies to support the evaluation of the Pol Theta Helicase DC in combination with niraparib, GSK's PARP inhibitor, for patients harboring tumors with BRCA or other homologous recombination (HR) mutations or homologous recombination deficiency (HRD).
IDEAYA and GSK are targeting an IND submission for the Pol Theta Helicase DC, subject to satisfactory completion of ongoing IND-enabling studies, to enable first-in-human studies in the first half of 2023.
GSK will lead clinical development for the Pol Theta program pursuant to its global, exclusive license to develop and commercialize the Pol Theta Helicase Inhibitor DC. GSK is responsible for all research and development costs for the program. IDEAYA is eligible to receive total development and regulatory milestones of up to $485 million aggregate, inclusive of preclinical and clinical milestones of up to $20 million aggregate for advancing the Pol Theta Helicase DC through early Phase 1 clinical.
Upon potential commercialization, IDEAYA will be eligible to receive up to $475 million of commercial milestones and tiered royalties on global net sales by GSK, its affiliates and their sublicensees ranging from high single digit to sub-teen double digit percentages, subject to certain customary reductions.
IDEAYA is a synthetic lethality focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics for patient populations selected using molecular diagnostics. IDEAYA's approach integrates capabilities in identifying and validating translational biomarkers with drug discovery to select patient populations most likely to benefit from its targeted therapies. IDEAYA is applying its research and drug discovery capabilities to synthetic lethality – which represents an emerging class of precision medicine targets.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to (i) the timing of IND submission and first-in-human clinical evaluation of Pol Theta Helicase DC combination with niraparib and (ii) the potential achievement of and/or receipt of future GSK milestone payments. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause IDEAYA's preclinical and clinical development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including IDEAYA's programs' early stage of development, the process of designing and conducting preclinical and clinical trials, the regulatory approval processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing drug products, IDEAYA's ability to successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual property, the effects on IDEAYA's business of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and other matters that could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to fund operations. IDEAYA undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of IDEAYA in general, see IDEAYA's recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 15, 2022 and any current and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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SOURCE IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/29/ideaya-announces-achievement-first-milestone-ongoing-collaboration-with-gsk-potential-first-in-class-pol-theta-helicase-inhibitor-development-candidate/ | 2022-08-29T11:14:54Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/29/ideaya-announces-achievement-first-milestone-ongoing-collaboration-with-gsk-potential-first-in-class-pol-theta-helicase-inhibitor-development-candidate/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Fuel shortages have forced many Sri Lankans to ditch their cars and cycle instead. Colombo's mayor even opened new bike paths. Doctors and environmentalists call it a silver lining. But will it last?
Copyright 2022 NPR
Fuel shortages have forced many Sri Lankans to ditch their cars and cycle instead. Colombo's mayor even opened new bike paths. Doctors and environmentalists call it a silver lining. But will it last?
Copyright 2022 NPR | https://www.klcc.org/npr-science-environment/npr-science-environment/2022-08-29/many-sri-lankans-have-switched-to-cycling-due-to-fuel-shortages | 2022-08-29T11:15:11Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-science-environment/npr-science-environment/2022-08-29/many-sri-lankans-have-switched-to-cycling-due-to-fuel-shortages | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The most powerful rocket NASA has ever built is set to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday on its way toward a rendezvous with the moon, in what the space agency is billing as a giant leap in returning humans to the lunar surface for the first time in a half-century.
The 30-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped by an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, was rolled out earlier this month to the same historic launch complex used by the mighty Saturn V during the Apollo moonshots that ended in 1972. Engineers are busy with preflight procedures for the SLS and, if all goes well, a final countdown and liftoff will happen sometime Monday morning.
This first mission of Artemis — named after the twin sister of Apollo — is a trial run of hardware needed to go back to the moon for longer stays and more science.
"It is an incredible step for all of humankind," NASA astronaut Nicole Mann told NPR's All Things Considered. "This time going to the moon to stay. And it's really the building blocks for our exploration to Mars."
The Artemis program, expected to have an ultimate price tag of $93 billion, promises to refocus NASA's long-term human space-flight goals, paving the way for eventually establishing a crewed base near the moon's south pole and crewed missions to Mars.
But one key piece of the program — the vehicle that will actually land — will not be part of the first Artemis mission. Elon Musk's SpaceX has been contracted to build a lunar variant of its Starship to take astronauts to the surface. The vehicle has yet to be tested in orbit. Another component of the original Artemis program, Gateway, a sort of deep-space way station for astronauts to and from a future moon base, is also still under development.
It's a modern mission with a retro look
The SLS sports stretched versions of the solid-rocket boosters used by the space shuttle, which last flew more than a decade ago, as well as four RS-25 engines that were refurbished and are being reused after previously flying on shuttle missions. The rocket's upper stage will be powered by a type of engine first developed in the late 1950s.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage and upper stage. Boeing's chief engineer for the SLS program, Noelle Zietsman, says that in building the giant rocket, engineers drew from the "foundations and fundamentals" of the Saturn V and space shuttle years.
"We've got our missions that we're focused on right now to the moon," she says. "But [the SLS] is for deep space exploration. ... So, the capability is much greater and larger beyond just the moon landing."
The cone-shaped Orion spacecraft, which will take up to four astronauts into lunar orbit on future missions, resembles the Apollo-era "command module." Finally, a European service module, attached to Orion, is comparable in function to Apollo's service module and will provide propulsion, electricity, water, oxygen and climate control to future crews.
"When you look at the rocket, it almost looks retro," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said earlier this month. "But it's a totally different, new, highly sophisticated, more sophisticated rocket and spacecraft."
The six-week Artemis I test flight will send Orion into what is known as a distant retrograde orbit, an oblong circuit that will take it just 62 miles from the moon's surface at one point and well beyond the moon at another.
Artemis I's Orion will fly without some life support systems and crew support items or a docking system, which won't be needed on the first flight, says Mike Hawes, Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin, which is building the capsule.
Instead, three mannequins equipped with radiation and vibration sensors will sit in. "Getting the radiation profile and having a long exposure in this unique lunar orbit is really important to us as we get ready to fly crew," Hawes says.
NASA is planning to fly four astronauts aboard Artemis II in 2024, with Artemis III set for the program's first landing a year later. The space agency says the program will eventually put the first woman and first person of color on the moon. But delays and cost overruns have plagued Artemis, and its predecessor, Constellation, for years. A NASA Inspector General report issued last year predicted that the space agency would "exceed its timetable" for the first Artemis moon landing "by several years."
After liftoff, Artemis I will enter low-Earth orbit, where Orion's service module will unfurl solar panels before boosting itself into a higher orbit in preparation for a four-day trip to lunar orbit.
Artemis could be key in getting to Mars
On a future landing, NASA hopes to be able to mine water ice that has been confirmed deep in polar craters that never see sunlight — a critical resource for drinking, breathable oxygen and to eventually produce rocket fuel. A lunar base could prove an invaluable stepping stone for crewed flights to Mars, where the moon's low gravity would make such missions easier to launch.
NASA recently announced 13 sites near the moon's south pole as candidates for the Artemis III surface mission a few years from now. Those locations have been chosen for ease of landing, exposure to sunlight so that a spacecraft can generate solar power, and their nearness to possible permanently shadowed ice deposits.
"The lunar south pole is an absolutely extraordinary geologic terrain," says David Kring, a lunar geologist at the Center for Lunar Science & Exploration in Houston, Texas. "We are going to learn so much about the evolution of the moon."
"When we better understand the evolution of the moon, we are going to be better understanding the evolution of our own planet Earth," he adds.
A polar mission, however, will be something new. It represents a departure from Apollo, which placed a dozen astronauts at sites all nearer the moon's equator.
"The topography looks a bit more remarkable at the south, just because the sun angle is so low," says Bethany Ehlmann, associate director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies at the California Institute of Technology.
Ehlmann leads a team responsible for Lunar Trailblazer, a robotic mission set for next year that will produce detailed maps of those permanently shadowed crater regions that could contain ice.
At the south pole, "the terrain is comparable" to the Apollo landing sites nearer the equator, she says. "And frankly, landing systems are better now than in the 1970s."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-science-environment/npr-science-environment/2022-08-29/nasa-is-launching-its-most-powerful-rocket-ever-to-the-moon-with-sights-on-mars | 2022-08-29T11:15:17Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-science-environment/npr-science-environment/2022-08-29/nasa-is-launching-its-most-powerful-rocket-ever-to-the-moon-with-sights-on-mars | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SEATTLE — When the U.S. homicide rate jumped nearly 30% in 2020, experts hoped it was a temporary blip — a fleeting symptom of pandemic pressures and civil unrest.
"I lost a couple of people around that time, due to gun violence," says LaMaria Pope, who works for a youth outreach program in the Seattle area called "Choose 180."
Three summers later, she says that violence persists, and young people are more likely to be armed with a gun.
"Sixteen, and 17, 18 and up — they only feel safe if they have one. It's becoming a jacket — they can't leave the house without one," she says.
Hopes for a rapid decline in the pandemic murder spike are fading. National statistics for 2022 aren't yet available, but you can get a sneak peak from an informal year-to-date tally of murders in major cities compiled by data analyst Jeff Asher. The total count in those cities has dipped slightly lower than last year, but it's still well above pre-pandemic levels. And in 40% of the cities listed, homicides are trending higher.
Some of the worst trouble spots are cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore, where year-to-date homicides are rivaling the high tallies of 2020 and 2021.
In Portland, Ore., the mayor has declared an "emergency" over gun violence, as the city struggles to reel in an annual murder count that shot up to 88 in 2021, from 36 in 2019.
Even some smaller cities, such as Little Rock, Ark., are in danger of eclipsing last year's murder numbers.
"This is definitely not the '90s"
But it's not just that the numbers remain high. The nature of the gun violence itself has changed, according to those who watch these crimes closely.
"This is definitely not the '90s, what we're seeing," says Elyne Vaught, a prosecutor in King County, Wash. He's part of a program called "Shots Fired," which counts and categorizes illegal shootings in a county that includes Seattle. The program seeks to identify people at risk of getting involved in the violence, and intervene by offering social services delivered by non-profits.
"The '90s was more gang-oriented, there was much more organized, sort of targeted shootings," Vaught says. "Today, it's petty offenses, petty conflicts, reckless shootings."
Vaught says you can see the "rise in reckless-type shootings" in the county statistics, where the number of shots fired has more than doubled, compared to the same period in 2019, and with more shots fired per victim.
Police around the country have noticed this trend. A new report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association points to "incidents of individuals indiscriminately shooting into large crowds while discharging massive amounts of ammunition," such as the April mass shooting in downtown Sacramento.
The chiefs point to the availability of extended ammunition magazines, as well as the growing popularity of "auto sear" switches, small after-market devices that turn semi-automatic Glock pistols into illegal automatics, capable of spraying bullets. (Similar attachments are also exist for AR-15-style rifles, but police worry more about handguns, which are used far more often in crimes.)
Post-pandemic "gunplay"
Anecdotally, gunfire has become a more common sound in many urban and suburban areas. Jimmy Hung, chief deputy for the juvenile division of the King County Prosecutor's Office, says he's noticed the change.
"I live in West Seattle and I've never felt, like, leaving my house, I was in danger of being shot — I still don't," Hung says. "But having lived there now for nearly 20 years, I can confidently say that when I sleep at night and I have my window open, I certainly hear more gunshots today than I did when I first moved into the neighborhood."
Hung wonders if those shots are connected to a rise in the "demonstrative" use of guns by young men.
A 16-year-old we're calling "G" recalls being at a party in the same neighborhood — West Seattle — and observing exactly that. (We're withholding his name, given his age and the topic.)
"All we hear is 'pop-pop-pop,' " he says, describing the incident.
He says it started with a dispute between two groups of young people, and took an ominous turn when some came back holding backpacks in front of them, one hand concealed inside.
"That only means, usually, two things," he says. "Either they're having a hard time finding something. Or — it's usually just them holding a gun, ready to pull it out and fire."
Gun violence often starts online
"G" says he doesn't have a gun, and most of the guns he sees in the hands of acquaintances are on social media.
"Mostly Snapchat," he says. "[The videos are] them usually smoking in a car and then holding out a gun, flashing the laser sight. Just saying, 'Hey, I have this, don't mess with me. Be scared of me, basically.' "
When the guns come out in person, he says it's often after warnings online. For instance, someone will post the video of a fistfight, which in turn will prompt others to promise to avenge the loser.
"One of the friends might say, 'Oh, I'm gonna slide for you. I'm going to slide real quick with a pole on me,' " G says, where the term "pole" is slang for gun.
"That usually means, 'Hey, we don't care that you lost, but we're gonna go get the deed done,' " he says.
Temple University criminologist Jason Gravel, who studies how young people acquire and use guns, says the role of social media may be the biggest change of the last few recent years.
"It might look like some random shooting on the street, but if that was preceded by a bunch of verbal threats online or in social media, you don't see the first part of the conflict, you just see the end result," Gravel says.
More guns, more shootings?
At the "Choose 180" program in suburban Seattle, Lemaria Pope thinks the year-long closure of in-person schooling in the region led to many kids discovering guns.
"Kids were finding their parents' guns, because they're in the house, no school, no work. I definitely think during that pandemic, it just opened up a window," Pope says.
There may have been more guns around for kids to find. Firearms dealers reported record sales during the pandemic, and a recent article in the Annals of Internal Medicine estimates that 2.9% of U.S. adults became new gun owners. By extension, the authors estimate 5 million children were "newly exposed" to firearms in their households.
At the prosecuting attorney's office, Hung believes irresponsible gun owners are part of the problem.
"I don't believe that we have emphasized or prioritized enough the secure storage of guns or the responsible ownership of guns," he says. "And so kids are gaining access to guns either through, you know, theft or people misplacing them and them just getting in the wrong hands."
Less risk of getting caught
Others reject this explanation for heightened gun violence, saying people who want guns have always found ways to get them.
Anthony Branch, 26, got into trouble for carrying a gun when he was a teen. Watching the gun culture in his neighborhood, he thinks more minors and felons are carrying guns illegally now for one simple reason: "Defund the police," as he puts it.
"They're only going to search for priorities," he says of the Seattle Police Department, which lost hundreds of officers after the protests that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
At the same time, he acknowledges the violence itself may also be a deciding factor.
"What are you gonna do when you win the fight, and somebody shoots you? Or you have a beef that's so bad that you lose the fight, and they still shoot you?" he asks. "So that's why you have all these young people — and older cats too — want to carry so much. Because of the uncertainty of it."
Criminologist Gravel says society should take seriously the fact that people in certain communities feel so unsafe, they want to carry guns.
"When you look at the rates of violence, if you lived in that community, I don't know if I would blame you if you wanted to carry a gun for protection," he says. "It's not entirely irrational to do so, even if it puts them more at risk."
As to the question of whether the pandemic-era violence is here to stay, Gravel says the jury is still out.
"There's a lot of research that suggests that violence is kind of operates like a contagion," he says. "It's going to take a while until the chain of conflicts that started in 2020 ends — and it might never end! It might take a while for it to die down on its own if we don't intervene and try to stop these conflicts before they happen."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-top-stories/npr-top-stories/2022-08-29/shootings-spiked-during-the-pandemic-the-spike-now-looks-like-a-new-normal | 2022-08-29T11:15:29Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-top-stories/npr-top-stories/2022-08-29/shootings-spiked-during-the-pandemic-the-spike-now-looks-like-a-new-normal | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
JUNO BEACH, Fla., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) today announced that members of the senior management team will participate in various investor meetings throughout the end of August and the month of September. They plan to discuss, among other things, long-term growth rate expectations for NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners. A copy of the presentation materials is available at www.NextEraEnergy.com/investors or www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com.
NextEra Energy, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, which is America's largest electric utility that sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million customer accounts, or more than 12 million people across Florida. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive clean energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from seven commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2022 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that "Change the World" and received the S&P Global Platts 2020 Energy Transition Award for leadership in environmental, social and governance. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
NextEra Energy Partners, LP
NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). NextEra Energy Partners acquires, manages and owns contracted clean energy projects with stable, long-term cash flows. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy Partners owns interests in geographically diverse wind, solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. as well as natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas and Pennsylvania. For more information about NextEra Energy Partners, please visit: www.NextEraEnergyPartners.com.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning long-term growth rate expectations. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and its business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require it to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory, operational and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy; disallowance of cost recovery based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects or the imposition of additional tax laws, tariffs, duties, policies or assessments on renewable energy or equipment necessary to generate it or deliver it; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or constitutional ballot and regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy; effects on NextEra Energy of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of its operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy resulting from risks related to project siting, planning, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements, as well as supply chain disruptions; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail gas distribution system in Florida and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy's gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's risk management tools associated with its hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas; exposure of NextEra Energy to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in over-the-counter markets; impact of negative publicity; inability to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's ability to fund its liquidity and capital needs and meet its growth objectives; inability to maintain current credit ratings; impairment of liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NextEra Energy Partners, LP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, and its effects on NextEra Energy's business. NextEra Energy discusses these and other risks and uncertainties in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (together with its subsidiaries, NEP) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NEP's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements concerning long-term growth rate expectations. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "aim," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NEP and its business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause NEP's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties could require NEP to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders is affected by wind and solar conditions at its renewable energy projects; Operation and maintenance of renewable energy projects and pipelines involve significant risks that could result in unplanned power outages, reduced output or capacity, personal injury or loss of life; NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects can be materially adversely affected by weather conditions, including, but not limited to, the impact of severe weather; NEP depends on certain of the renewable energy projects and pipelines in its portfolio for a substantial portion of its anticipated cash flows; NEP may pursue the repowering of wind projects or the expansion of natural gas pipelines that would require up-front capital expenditures and could expose NEP to project development risks; Terrorist acts, cyberattacks or other similar events could impact NEP's projects, pipelines or surrounding areas and adversely affect its business; The ability of NEP to obtain insurance and the terms of any available insurance coverage could be materially adversely affected by international, national, state or local events and company-specific events, as well as the financial condition of insurers. NEP's insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; NEP relies on interconnection, transmission and other pipeline facilities of third parties to deliver energy from its renewable energy projects and to transport natural gas to and from its pipelines. If these facilities become unavailable, NEP's projects and pipelines may not be able to operate or deliver energy or may become partially or fully unavailable to transport natural gas; NEP's business is subject to liabilities and operating restrictions arising from environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, compliance with which may require significant capital expenditures, increase NEP's cost of operations and affect or limit its business plans; NEP's renewable energy projects or pipelines may be adversely affected by legislative changes or a failure to comply with applicable energy and pipeline regulations; Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) may claim certain immunities under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and Mexican law, and the Texas pipeline entities' ability to sue or recover from Pemex for breach of contract may be limited and may be exacerbated if there is a deterioration in the economic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico; NEP does not own all of the land on which the projects in its portfolio are located and its use and enjoyment of the property may be adversely affected to the extent that there are any lienholders or land rights holders that have rights that are superior to NEP's rights or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management suspends its federal rights-of-way grants; NEP is subject to risks associated with litigation or administrative proceedings that could materially impact its operations, including, but not limited to, proceedings related to projects it acquires in the future; NEP's operations require NEP to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations of the U.S. government and Mexico; NEP is subject to risks associated with its ownership interests in projects that are under construction, which could result in its inability to complete construction projects on time or at all, and make projects too expensive to complete or cause the return on an investment to be less than expected; NEP relies on a limited number of customers and is exposed to the risk that they may be unwilling or unable to fulfill their contractual obligations to NEP or that they otherwise terminate their agreements with NEP; NEP may not be able to extend, renew or replace expiring or terminated power purchase agreements (PPA), natural gas transportation agreements or other customer contracts at favorable rates or on a long-term basis; If the energy production by or availability of NEP's renewable energy projects is less than expected, they may not be able to satisfy minimum production or availability obligations under their PPAs; NEP's growth strategy depends on locating and acquiring interests in additional projects consistent with its business strategy at favorable prices; Reductions in demand for natural gas in the United States or Mexico and low market prices of natural gas could materially adversely affect NEP's pipeline operations and cash flows; Government laws, regulations and policies providing incentives and subsidies for clean energy could be changed, reduced or eliminated at any time and such changes may negatively impact NEP's growth strategy; NEP's growth strategy depends on the acquisition of projects developed by NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) and third parties, which face risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, the environment, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; Acquisitions of existing clean energy projects involve numerous risks; NEP may continue to acquire other sources of clean energy and may expand to include other types of assets. Any further acquisition of non-renewable energy projects may present unforeseen challenges and result in a competitive disadvantage relative to NEP's more-established competitors; NEP faces substantial competition primarily from regulated utilities, developers, independent power producers, pension funds and private equity funds for opportunities in North America; The natural gas pipeline industry is highly competitive, and increased competitive pressure could adversely affect NEP's business; NEP may not be able to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms, which would have a material adverse effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and pursue other growth opportunities; Restrictions in NEP and its subsidiaries' financing agreements could adversely affect NEP's business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; NEP's cash distributions to its unitholders may be reduced as a result of restrictions on NEP's subsidiaries' cash distributions to NEP under the terms of their indebtedness or other financing agreements; NEP's subsidiaries' substantial amount of indebtedness may adversely affect NEP's ability to operate its business, and its failure to comply with the terms of its subsidiaries' indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on NEP's financial condition; NEP is exposed to risks inherent in its use of interest rate swaps; Widespread public health crises and epidemics or pandemics may have material adverse impacts on NEP's business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; NEE has influence over NEP; Under the cash sweep and credit support agreement, NEP receives credit support from NEE and its affiliates. NEP's subsidiaries may default under contracts or become subject to cash sweeps if credit support is terminated, if NEE or its affiliates fail to honor their obligations under credit support arrangements, or if NEE or another credit support provider ceases to satisfy creditworthiness requirements, and NEP will be required in certain circumstances to reimburse NEE for draws that are made on credit support; NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NEER) or one of its affiliates is permitted to borrow funds received by NEP's subsidiaries and is obligated to return these funds only as needed to cover project costs and distributions or as demanded by NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP (NEP OpCo). NEP's financial condition and ability to make distributions to its unitholders, as well as its ability to grow distributions in the future, is highly dependent on NEER's performance of its obligations to return all or a portion of these funds; NEER's right of first refusal may adversely affect NEP's ability to consummate future sales or to obtain favorable sale terms; NextEra Energy Partners GP, Inc. (NEP GP) and its affiliates may have conflicts of interest with NEP and have limited duties to NEP and its unitholders; NEP GP and its affiliates and the directors and officers of NEP are not restricted in their ability to compete with NEP, whose business is subject to certain restrictions; NEP may only terminate the Management Services Agreement among, NEP, NextEra Energy Management Partners, LP (NEE Management), NEP OpCo and NextEra Energy Operating Partners GP, LLC (NEP OpCo GP) under certain limited circumstances; If the agreements with NEE Management or NEER are terminated, NEP may be unable to contract with a substitute service provider on similar terms; NEP's arrangements with NEE limit NEE's potential liability, and NEP has agreed to indemnify NEE against claims that it may face in connection with such arrangements, which may lead NEE to assume greater risks when making decisions relating to NEP than it otherwise would if acting solely for its own account; NEP's ability to make distributions to its unitholders depends on the ability of NEP OpCo to make cash distributions to its limited partners; If NEP incurs material tax liabilities, NEP's distributions to its unitholders may be reduced, without any corresponding reduction in the amount of the IDR fee; Holders of NEP's units may be subject to voting restrictions; NEP's partnership agreement replaces the fiduciary duties that NEP GP and NEP's directors and officers might have to holders of its common units with contractual standards governing their duties and the NYSE does not require a publicly traded limited partnership like NEP to comply with certain of its corporate governance requirements; NEP's partnership agreement restricts the remedies available to holders of NEP's common units for actions taken by NEP's directors or NEP GP that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duties; Certain of NEP's actions require the consent of NEP GP; Holders of NEP's common units currently cannot remove NEP GP without NEE's consent and provisions in NEP's partnership agreement may discourage or delay an acquisition of NEP that NEP unitholders may consider favorable; NEE's interest in NEP GP and the control of NEP GP may be transferred to a third party without unitholder consent; NEP may issue additional units without unitholder approval, which would dilute unitholder interests; Reimbursements and fees owed to NEP GP and its affiliates for services provided to NEP or on NEP's behalf will reduce cash distributions from NEP OpCo and from NEP to NEP's unitholders, and there are no limits on the amount that NEP OpCo may be required to pay; Increases in interest rates could adversely impact the price of NEP's common units, NEP's ability to issue equity or incur debt for acquisitions or other purposes and NEP's ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders; The liability of holders of NEP's units, which represent limited partnership interests in NEP, may not be limited if a court finds that unitholder action constitutes control of NEP's business; Unitholders may have liability to repay distributions that were wrongfully distributed to them; The issuance of securities convertible into, or settleable with, common units may affect the market price for NEP's common units, will dilute common unitholders' ownership in NEP and may decrease the amount of cash available for distribution for each common unit; NEP's future tax liability may be greater than expected if NEP does not generate net operating losses (NOLs) sufficient to offset taxable income or if tax authorities challenge certain of NEP's tax positions; NEP's ability to use NOLs to offset future income may be limited; NEP will not have complete control over NEP's tax decisions; and, Distributions to unitholders may be taxable as dividends. NEP discusses these and other risks and uncertainties in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of this news release. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NEP undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.; NextEra Energy Partners, LP | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/29/nextera-energy-nextera-energy-partners-meet-with-investors-throughout-end-august-month-september/ | 2022-08-29T11:16:20Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/08/29/nextera-energy-nextera-energy-partners-meet-with-investors-throughout-end-august-month-september/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
I am sure that one of the main skills that a trader should acquire is the ability to make decisions out of Meta Position. But what is it?
The term Meta Position is widely used in NLP and means not just a “neutral” and detached position but more like integrated one. A person takes up this position when they grow over their polarities and starts a new level of development. Out of this state of mind, a person can easily make fresh and adequate decisions. However, Meta Position in the understanding of NLP and psychotherapy needs a long way to reach, while I think that each trader can from time-to-time return to a holistic, integrated state of mind. To make terms clear, I will later on call this “observer state”.
if you are just taking your first steps in trading, then I advise you to read the article about how to become a trader.
To put it very simply, in trading one does not only need to watch the market but also needs to watch themselves watching the market. We do not only manage our capital – open and close positions, decide upon adequate investing volume; but we also manage ourselves – set up our perception, try to acquire self-control, etc. Some are more successful in it, some are less, and some pay little attention to it, preferring more and more optimised trading systems.
In my opinion, if traders devoted at least 30% of their time spent on perfecting their trading (creating and optimising trading systems) to the development of their emotional intelligence, consciousness, and thinking skills, their work would become much more efficient.
Why would one return themselves to a neutral, detached state of mind from time to time? If we do not do it, we risk trading with a clear bias toward our positions and trading scenarios. This pushes our perception into tough framework that will be hard to escape. And if we our work de-synchronises with the market, such a nosedive will be even harder to stop.
The easiest way to get back to the observer state is to write down immediately all your thoughts, feelings, and emotions into a log. Psychologists agree that writing down a text manually, with a pen/pencil on paper if more efficient than typing it on a PC because this way we build a better connection with our subconscious.
Read more on this topic in the article about emotional intelligence.
There are several techniques that you can try. For example, you can get into the observer state using the technique of spatial anchors. Try placing an extra chair near your workspace; it will be an “observer chair”. Your task is to stop being the trader for some time and turn into the observer. Such a simple thing can be real help. Edward de Bono called such a change of mind-states a change of “thinking hats”. He called certain states of mind “hats”: a white one for a neutral position, a red one for concentration on emotions, etc.
Also, you can return to a more centered state of mind using your breath and concentration on certain points of your body. For each person, this will work differently; however, try to hold your attention on a spot slightly below your navel (closer to the middle of your body), and register what you feel. The main task is to find a spot that will return you to a more balanced state of mind. Holding your attention on certain body parts is used as a self-regulation method in many martial arts, and traders may also use them.
The goal of such practices is to keep your emotions from dominating over you when you are making decisions; dominating you neither consciously, nor subconsciously, and let you return control to your-self. You can spend many years in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis (increasing your emotional pain threshold) – or you can work individually on yourself, improving your skills of self-control and self-regulation. I think this type of practice is more available, and even more importantly – in the process, the person takes up all the responsibility on themselves, thus being in a more mature position in their life. However, in certain cases, if your emotions are too intense (your pain threshold is low), you should better address an expert.
Alternatively, you might switch to a higher timeframe because this is the solution of self-control issues for many traders.
By Andrey Goilov, Analyst at RoboForex | https://www.forexlive.com/Education/meta-position-and-centered-consciousness-20220829/ | 2022-08-29T11:21:52Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/Education/meta-position-and-centered-consciousness-20220829/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
At the lows today earlier in the session, it looked like AUD/USD was poised for a firm break to the downside but now we're seeing a recheck of the technicals as dollar gains ease slightly. The pair is still down 0.4% to 0.6865 but is at least keeping just above the 38.2 Fib retracement level at 0.6855 for the time being.
For sellers, a firm daily close below that will be much needed to establish the next downside leg in the pair. They are still in the hunt amid the prevailing trading sentiment but there's still no breakthrough yet.
After Fed chair Powell reaffirmed the central bank's resolve in fighting inflation, there isn't much else for traders to work with to start the new week. The continuation of the Friday theme is the ongoing narrative and we might get just a bit more of that before markets start to reassess things again ahead of the US jobs report at the end of this week.
As such, the technicals will play a vital role in dictating the pace of any moves at the moment. For now, the dollar is in command but besides a clear momentum break in cable, there are still key technical levels in play for other pairs as seen above with AUD/USD as well. | https://www.forexlive.com/news/audusd-hunts-for-the-next-leg-lower-amid-firmer-dollar-softer-risk-20220829/ | 2022-08-29T11:21:58Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/audusd-hunts-for-the-next-leg-lower-amid-firmer-dollar-softer-risk-20220829/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
- Natural gas is one of the most watched commodity in the financial world, these days.
- Some would claim that there is some news driven hype around this asset, and it may be time to look at technical hints, such as a failed breakout above resistance and the inability, so far, to capture the $10 round number
- The volume profile and the EMA20 on the daily timeframe, is guiding this short trade idea, whereby the reward vs risk, makes the trade legit, IMHO
- To mitigate risk, professional traders typically scale out of trades with a number of partial profit taking and exits. I show where to consider doing that according to the technical junctions shown in the below technical analysis video for natural gas futures, applicable starting 29 August, 2022.
Trade natural gas at your own risk only. Visit ForexLive.com for technical analysis on a variety of financial assets. | https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/natural-gas-futures-natgas-technical-analysis-and-trade-idea-short-20220829/ | 2022-08-29T11:22:04Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/natural-gas-futures-natgas-technical-analysis-and-trade-idea-short-20220829/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
State and local officials recently wrapped up work on pedestrian improvements in Occoquan.
Occoquan, Prince William County and the Virginia Department of Transportation partnered for the work along Mill Street between Washington and Ellicott streets.
The updates include five crosswalks and nine ramps with detectable warning domes that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The improvements … are pretty dramatic,” Occoquan Mayor Earnest W. Porta Jr. said at a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This has a lot of advantages for us both in terms of the way it directs traffic as well as the safety for pedestrians.”
The $310,000 project started in 2018 when the town and county applied for a grant under VDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program.
County Supervisor Kenny Boddye, D-Occoquan, said the project is “relatively small,” but “the collaborative effort that led to this project and the impact to the community are large and worth celebrating.”
“The project will significantly improve pedestrian safety and accessibility and reflects the town and the county’s commitment to equity in transportation,” Boddye said in a news release. “Additionally, the project supports the town and the county’s shared goals of providing walkable destinations for residents and visitors to enjoy local establishments, recreational opportunities and the abundant natural resources and history of the town of Occoquan.” | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/officials-celebrate-occoquan-upgrades/article_472a1ab2-2760-11ed-ac5b-6baaed9c29f7.html | 2022-08-29T11:25:51Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/officials-celebrate-occoquan-upgrades/article_472a1ab2-2760-11ed-ac5b-6baaed9c29f7.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Oakton Cougars, by virtue of a blowout, and the Langley Saxons, with a six-point victory, were the two local high-school football teams that won opening games of the 2022 season the night of Aug. 26.
Oakton scored early and often in blanking the host Lewis Lancers, 39-0, in a non-district game. Langley won 34-28 over the visiting Yorktown Patriots in a big Liberty District showdown.
For Oakton, the Cougars led 18-0 at the end of the first quarter and were on their way. Liden Krush threw two first-period touchdown passes, the first to Noah Toole then the second to John Mead, and Matthew Hershey had a two-yard scoring run in the quarter. Toole had three catches for 41 yards on one of those scoring drives.
Mead caught another touchdown pass later in the game and also threw a scoring pass off of a flanker reverse.
On defense, Owen Day, Jacob Bradshaw, Brennan Humphrey and Alex DiLeonardo had four of Oakton's multiple sacks. Oakton also blocked multiple punts.
Langley led 21-7 in its win against Yorktown, then had to recover an onside kick with 37 seconds to play in the game to secure the victory.
Yorktown is the defending Liberty District champion and had won 10-straight league games over a two-season streak. Langley last defeated Yorktown in 2015, suffering six straight losses to the team until the Aug. 26 win.
"We scrapped in there and survived and won a big game," Langley coach Dave Murray said.
The Saxons were led on offense by quarterback Brendan Mansinne. The senior, who was hurt and missed most of last season, was on target all game long, completing 21 of 27 passes for 241 yards and four touchdowns.
"He is a super accurate passer and we were able to get into our spread passing attack pretty well," Murray said.
His scoring passes covered nine, 34 and 63 yards to Daren Mosleh and eight yards to Connor Campbell. Dustin Mosleh ran four yards for Langley's other touchdown and Daren Mosleh kicked three extra points. Mansinne ran for a two-point conversion.
Daren and Dustin Mosleh are twin brothers.
"The twins are special to us," Murray said. "Daren and Dustin can both be runningbacks and wide receivers. Those three [including Mansinne] have worked so hard in the offseason."
Daren Mosleh had 10 catches for 161 yards and gained 29 yards rushing. Campbell had five catches for 35 yards and Dustin Mosleh had three for 25. Vincent Shen, Michael Thomas and Blake Thompson all had one catch.
* The Madison Warhawks began their season the way the 2021 campaign started with an opening-game loss to the Stone Bridge Bulldogs. Madison lost at home Aug. 26, 17-16, as defending Class 5 state champion Stone Bridge made a walk-off 35-yard field goal.
Madison, which finished 13-2 last season and second in the Class 6 state tourney, trailed in the game, 7-3 in the first half, then led 16-7 in the fourth quarter. Stone Bridge scored its final 10 points in the final 5 minutes.
Madison gained 205 total yards and had 11 first downs, with Angelo Jreige rushing for 92 yards and a touchdown and Mac Lewis completing 11 of 22 passes for 97 yards, including a 16-yard scoring pass to Cord Yates (three catches, 33 yards).
Cater Casto booted a 22-yard field goal and one extra point for Madison.
Sonny Endicott had four catches for 30 yards and Nolan Wilbricht three for 31 for the Warhawks.
On defense for Madison, Kevin Chadwick, Michael Delgado, Eric Anderson, Elias Novario and Matthew Remy were among tackling leaders.
Stone Bridge had 212 total yards.
* In the McLean Highlanders' 47-13 loss to the host West Potomac Wolverines, McLean gained 279 total yards, 145 rushing and 134 on the ground, and had nine first downs and two turnovers.
McLean's touchdowns came in the second and fourth quarters. The Highlanders trailed 26-7 at halftime. | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/langley-oakton-win-football-openers/article_43791d9e-2730-11ed-a2f3-0bbf90bb6074.html | 2022-08-29T11:25:59Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/langley-oakton-win-football-openers/article_43791d9e-2730-11ed-a2f3-0bbf90bb6074.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Wakefield Warriors at home and the Yorktown Patriots on the road lost their opening games of the high-school football season the night of Aug. 26.
Wakefield was blown out by the Fairfax Lions, 52-14, in a non-district game, while Yorktown lost to the Langley Saxons, 34-28, in a Liberty District contest.
The Warriors fell behind early and trailed 33-0 at halftime. Wakefield’s two touchdowns came in the fourth period on a 21-yard run by Frank Turcios Sorto and a four-yard run by Bryant Cruz-Lemus. Mario Pinedo-Quiroga kicked two extra points.
Michael Hutchinson was Wakefield’s leading rusher with 41 yards, Turcios Sorto ran for 24 and Antonio Smith for 22. The team gained 131 yards on the ground.
Passing, Wakefield quarterback Cruz was 3 of 8 for 36 yards and one interception. Kobe Davis had two catches for 32 yards and Daniel Bryan one for 4.
The Warriors lost two fumbles.
In its second game on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m., Wakefield host the West Potomac Wolverines (1-0).
Yorktown is the defending Liberty champion. The loss to Langley snapped the Patriots’ two-season, 10-game winning streak against league rivals and its six-year victory string against Langley.
For Yorktown, which trailed 21-7 at halftime, in the loss runningback Miles Fang had a big night with 128 yards rushing on 15 carries and touchdown runs of 49 and eight yards. He also caught one pass for three yards.
Xander Starks ran for 70 yards and caught two passes for 36 yards and a touchdown, covering 18 yards from James Yoest.
Yoest ran 24 yards for Yorktown’s other touchdown. He gained 51 yards on the ground and completed 7 of 13 passes for 104 yards.
Yorktown’s Miles Rosman caught three passes for 56 yards and Charlie Taylor one for nine.
Yorktown had two turnovers and was hurt by 19 penalties for 246 yards, including penalties the nullified some big gains on offense and one long touchdown.
“That was a big loss. We weren’t really to play and we played as poorly as we have in a long time,” Yorktown coach Bruce Hanson. “Now we have to get back to work and correct a lot of things.”
Hanson credited Langley for having a productive controlled passing attack.
“We just didn’t have a good read on Langley, because we didn’t pick up much from them when we watched their scrimmages,” Hanson said. “They didn’t show much in those games. Their quarterback was an accurate passer.”
Langley passed for 241 yards.
There were 37 penalties in the game, which lasted 3 hours and 16 minutes.
On defense, Yorktown recovered two fumbles.
The Patriots host Wilson from D.C. at 7 p.m. in their next game Sept. 1, which is a non-district contest. | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/wakefield-yorktown-lose-season-openers/article_c63018c4-272f-11ed-8e34-7b2dfa70467b.html | 2022-08-29T11:26:01Z | insidenova.com | control | https://www.insidenova.com/sports/wakefield-yorktown-lose-season-openers/article_c63018c4-272f-11ed-8e34-7b2dfa70467b.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Everyone wants to save money on their TV bills, which can exceed $200 a month in some cases when you include streaming services and internet.
Unfortunately, scammers are posing as employees of your cable or satellite company -- all to get your personal information, or credit card numbers.
Tim Hoff's quiet moments keep getting interrupted by phone calls about his TV bill.
"One day it will be Spectrum, the next day DirecTV," he said. And his phone's caller ID often shows the company's name, in what's known as a "spoofed" call.
He says the callers promise to lower his bill if he just gives them some personal information, like account numbers.
"They tell me, 'we're offering a reduction on your TV.' So I can see how you might buy into that. You want lower rates, you give them your information." Hoff said.
The caller can be friendly or threatening
More and more people are getting calls like this, typically offering you a discount or rebate, though they can also be threatening, claiming you are behind on your payments and will be disconnected.
Mike Pedelty, a spokesperson for Spectrum, told us if you're hearing about a problem with your account for the first time over the phone, it's probably a scam call.
"If you think you're caught up on your bill," he said, "and all of a sudden you get this call, that's a red flag. We wouldn't be calling, and we certainly are not harassing customers."
Adam Levin, cyber security expert, and host of the podcast "What the Hack," says customers should also be on alert for strange payment requests such as buying and giving gift card numbers.
"Gift cards are the same thing as cash. People have to understand that," he said. "There's really no way to track it and there's no way to recall it."
Cable and satellite providers hope a new technology called STIR/SHAKEN will soon stop these spoofed calls, making it impossible for scammers to put phony phone numbers on your caller ID.
But the rollout is taking time.
If you get a strange call, Pedelty suggests you hang up and call the customer service number on your bill (not the number that called you.)
When Tim Hoff does that, he said, "they say it is not us, it is a scam call."
He wants you to know that, too, so you don't waste your money.
_________________________
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For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com | https://www.katc.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/you-need-to-know-about-this-slick-cable-or-satellite-tv-scam | 2022-08-29T11:26:51Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/you-need-to-know-about-this-slick-cable-or-satellite-tv-scam | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The final days of August are going to look and feel like the first few days of the month, hot and muggy with scattered showers.
Rain isn't going to be as blanketing as it was last week, although there's still going to be plenty of rain popping up in the afternoon.
Most of these showers will arrive a long a sea breeze that will fire up later in the day and interact with a deep layer of atmospheric moisture.
Highs will sit in the upper 80s and the heat index well into the 90s through the afternoon, so the heat is certainly sticking around.
As we go through the rest of the week we will gradually see some drier air move into the region which will help with rain chances.
The tropics are looking much more active across the Atlantic Basin, but currently isn't anything that will have any impact on Louisiana.
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Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers | https://www.katc.com/news/late-summer-weather-to-kick-off-the-work-week | 2022-08-29T11:26:57Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/late-summer-weather-to-kick-off-the-work-week | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON — This week marks 10 weeks until election day and for most of the summer — when gas prices were breaking records — many thought the election could be a landslide victory for Republicans.
While history is undoubtedly still on the side of the GOP, Democrats have made major inroads in recent weeks, fueling speculation that this midterm may be historically close.
HISTORY AND POLLS FAVOR GOP
For most of this year, the conventional thinking was a political "red wave" was going to sweep the country.
That happened to Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton in 1994 and Barack Obama in 2010.
Americans tend to vote against the party that controls the White House.
President Joe Biden's poll numbers certainly are contributing to that belief. It's one reason why Republicans are still projected to take back the House of Representatives.
RealClearPolitics, a non-partisan website, has averaged all of Biden's recent polling. Right now, the Biden has around a 42% approval rating and 55% of the country disapproves of him.
However, something is happening with the political tides in this country that is giving Democrats some hope — despite Biden's poor numbers.
REASON FOR HOPE FOR DEMOCRATS
One reason Democrats are feeling more optimistic is because they actually passed some of their priorities.
Between climate change reform, prescription drug changes and student loan forgiveness, that may just be enough to motivate some Democrat voters who usually sit out midterm elections.
Of course, Republicans voted against those issues and the new policies will likely motivate their voters too.
Another reason is the price of gasoline. Last month, gas prices averaged $4.36/gallon. Last week, they averaged $3.88/gallon.
Prices are getting closer to what they averaged back in 2021.
In fact, a recent NBC news poll listed "threats to democracy" as the No. 1 issue on minds of voters this election.
Gas prices and inflation were No. 2.
Democrats think they have a better shot at keeping races close across the country if voters are thinking about something other than the price of gas, an issue that favors Republicans.
Another reason this election may be tight down the stretch is because of recent election results and abortion rights.
In New York last week, few polls had Democrat Pat Ryan winning his congressional race.
However, Ryan won after he focused his campaign primarily on abortion.
In conservative-learning Kansas this month, voters defeated a measure that would have created new restrictions.
Those results are leading some political observers to wonder if Democrats are stealing some Republican voters over the issue of abortion.
Not to mention, Republicans have selected a number of Senate candidates who have never held office before, so they are not as familiar to voters
That is true with Republican Senate candidates in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia. | https://www.katc.com/news/national-politics/why-the-november-midterm-election-is-now-expected-to-be-close | 2022-08-29T11:27:03Z | katc.com | control | https://www.katc.com/news/national-politics/why-the-november-midterm-election-is-now-expected-to-be-close | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Fuel leaks and a possible crack discovered during final liftoff preparations threatened to delay the launch of NASA’s mighty new moon rocket Monday morning on its shakedown flight with three test dummies aboard.
As precious minutes ticked away, NASA repeatedly stopped and started the fueling of the Space Launch System rocket with nearly 1 millions gallons of super-cold hydrogen and oxygen because of a leak. The fueling already was running nearly an hour late because of thunderstorms offs Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The leak appeared in the same place that saw seepage during a dress rehearsal back in the spring.
Then a second apparent leak in a valve turned up, officials said.
Later in the morning, a crack or some other defect was spotted on the core stage — the big orange fuel tank with four main engines on it — with frost appearing around the suspect area, NASA officials said. Engineers began studying the buildup.
The rocket was set to lift off on a mission to put a crew capsule into orbit around the moon. The launch represents a major milestone in America’s quest to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago.
NASA’s assistant launch director, Jeremy Graeber, said after the repeated struggles with the first leak that the space agency would have to decide whether to go forward with the Monday morning launch.
“We have a lot of work to get to that point,” Graeber cautioned.
If Monday’s launch can’t go forward, the next launch attempt wouldn’t be until Friday at the earliest.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA, out-muscling even the Saturn V that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon.
No astronauts were inside the rocket’s Orion capsule. Instead, three test dummies were strapped for the six-week mission, scheduled to end with the capsule’s splashdown in the Pacific in October.
Even though no one was on board, thousands of people jammed the coast to see the rocket soar. Vice President Kamala Harris was expected among the VIPs.
The launch is the first flight in NASA’s 21st-century moon-exploration program, named Artemis after Apollo’s mythological twin sister.
Assuming the test goes well, astronauts would climb aboard for the second flight and fly around the moon and back as soon as 2024. A two-person lunar landing could follow by the end of 2025.
The problems seen Monday were reminiscent of NASA’s space shuttle era, when hydrogen fuel leaks disrupted countdowns and delayed a string of launches back in 1990.
Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team also had to deal with a communication problem involving the Orion capsule.
Engineers scrambled to understand an 11-minute delay in the communication lines between Launch Control and Orion that cropped up late Sunday. Although the problem had cleared by Monday morning, NASA needed to know why it occurred before committing to a launch.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket/ | 2022-08-29T11:35:43Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/fuel-leak-interrupts-launch-countdown-of-nasa-moon-rocket/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
California on track to pass tough internet privacy rules for kids
California's legislature is on track to pass tough online privacy rules for kids this week, as the state once again pushes past the federal government in internet regulation.
Why it matters: Any rules California sets are sure to spur copycat laws in other states and could push Congress to act on similar nationwide legislation.
What's happening: The proposal, AB2273, the California Age Appropriate Design Code, is poised to pass the state Senate and Assembly this week and then move onto Governor Gavin Newsom's desk for signature, sources following the proposal told Axios.
- Newsom has not publicly commented on the bill. He recently rolled out a new plan aimed at increasing access to mental health services for youth in California.
Details: The California proposal resembles new rules passed last year in the U.K. that govern how tech firms can target kids with push notifications, require messaging controls, and provide other features intended to keep minors safe online.
- The bill, which includes hefty fines for noncompliance, puts California's attorney general in charge of enforcement. One tech industry win is an amendment that gives potential violators a "cure" period of 90 days before any fines.
The California bill targets online services "likely to be accessed by children" under 18.
- Industry reps pushed unsuccessfully for that age to be lower.
- The U.S. law governing children's online privacy, COPPA, applies to sites specifically targeted to children and protects those under 13.
What they're saying: "While this bill has improved, we remain concerned about its unintended consequences in California and across the country," Dylan Hoffman, TechNet's California executive director, told Axios. TechNet represents tech firms like Amazon, Apple, eBay, Google, Meta and Snap.
- "It's another example of why we need a federal privacy law that includes universal standards to protect kids online instead of a patchwork of state laws that creates confusion and compliance complications for businesses," Hoffman said.
- "We’ve been working with stakeholders including industry representatives throughout the legislative process and have made every effort to address their practical concerns without watering down the protections the bill would provide to youth,” Nichole Rocha, a former California legislature privacy employee who's now head of U.S. Affairs for 5Rights Foundation, sponsor of AB 2273, told Axios.
- One industry lobbyist familiar with the situation described the current text of the bill, which is likely to be its final form, as not perfect, but a "workable standard [companies] can start thinking through."
The other side: Bill opponents say a major component of AB2273, age authentication via "estimating the age of child users," is overly burdensome and invasive for users.
- "[AB2273] would erect digital barriers throughout the Internet for everyone; drive some businesses out of the industry entirely; expose everyone, including children, to greater privacy and security risks; strip vulnerable users of access to sensitive information they need; create chilling effects that discourage critical and whistleblower content; shrink the Internet for California minors; and put California minors at a permanent professional disadvantage," Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University Law School, wrote in a August 22 op-ed.
By the numbers: Tech and other groups have been lobbying in the 2021-22 California legislative session on AB2273, per state filings viewed by Axios.
- Amazon spent $211,124 lobbying the California legislature in the 6th quarter of the 2021-22 session, including on AB2273. Sources familiar with lobbying around the bill tell Axios Amazon is especially concerned about the impact of AB2273, especially its age component.
- TechNet spent $458,428 in California lobbying in 2021-22, including on AB2273. Also for 2021-22 in California, including on AB2273, TikTok spent $37,500; the News Media Alliance spent $20,000; Snap spent $190,000; Google spent $47,000 and Twitter spent $16,000.
What's next: The bill will be voted on in the state Senate as early as Monday and is expected to pass the assembly quickly after. If signed by Newsom, the law would take effect July 1, 2024. | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/california-childrens-internet-privacy-rules | 2022-08-29T11:35:43Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/california-childrens-internet-privacy-rules | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
What’s Next usually focuses on, well, what’s next. But today we're going back in time.
Two of Axios' visual journalists, Aïda Amer and Shoshana Gordon , curated a series of images showing what people in bygone eras imagined the future would bring. Why it matters: Our wildest dreams are sometimes not too far off from reality, and though we may not get the details right, it's striking how often we get close .
Robot conductors:
1939: Elektro, a mechanical man at the New York World's Fair, "conducts" a cellist. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2017: "Yumi" becomes the first robot to conduct a charity opera concert. Photo: Laura Lezza/Getty Images Drones:
1929: Sci-fi character Buck Rogers operates the control board of "an air-ball." This illustration originally appeared in Philip Francis Nowlan's novella "The Airlords of Han" in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories . Image: via Wikimedia Commons 2018: A drone pilot wears a first-person view headset in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Electric trains:
~1900: "Electric trains" by French artist Jean-Marc Côté and other artists. Around 1900, they created "En L’an 2000," a series of postcards predicting what life would look like a century later. Image: via Wikimedia Commons 2022: A Japan Railways shinkansen bullet train leaves the platform in the town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. Photo: Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images Autonomous cleaning:
~1900s: "Electric scrubbing" by Côté et al., as part of the series, "En L'an 2000." Image: via Public Domain Review 2021: A robot named "Franzi" cleans the entrance area of a hospital in Munich Neuperlach, Germany. Photo: Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images Yes but: Some predictions haven't panned out — at least not yet.
1893: W. Cade Gall thought this outfit would be all the rage in 1993. Image: via Public Domain Review 1709: A Brazilian priest’s design for a flying machine. Image: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images ~1900: German chocolate company Theodore Hildebrand & Son created this postcard for the Paris World's Fair, predicting that by 2000, we would be able to walk on water with the aid of personal balloons. 1924: Science and Invention magazine showing a happy couple, with their vital readings well matched by an electrochemical computer and read out on a meter needle. Image: via Internet Archive | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/future-past-artists | 2022-08-29T11:35:49Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/future-past-artists | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Krispy Kreme launches Artemis moon doughnut Monday
Krispy Kreme is commemorating NASA's planned launch of the Artemis I rocket Monday with a special cheesecake cream-filled doughnut dubbed the "Artemis moon doughnut."
Driving the news: NASA's Space Launch System rocket is set to lift off on an uncrewed journey to the moon on Monday morning, Axios' Miriam Kramer reports.
Why it matters: The mission represents a major milestone for NASA as the space agency works to send people back to the lunar surface for the first time since the 1970s.
What's happening: The Artemis moon doughnut will be available Monday, Aug. 29, at participating shops nationwide, Krispy Kreme said in a news release.
- The filled doughnut is dipped in "cookies 'n Kreme icing" with a swirl of cookie pieces.
Flashback: This is not the first time Krispy Kreme tied a special doughnut to a space mission.
- In February 2021, it had the red Mars doughnut to mark the historic landing of NASA's Perseverance Rover.
Meanwhile, NASA plans to send some much-loved children's toys to the moon on the Artemis I mission including Snoopy and Lego figures, Axios’ Rebecca Falconer reports.
More from Axios: | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/krispy-kreme-artemis-moon-donut-nasa-launch | 2022-08-29T11:36:01Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/08/29/krispy-kreme-artemis-moon-donut-nasa-launch | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Atlanta hosts Tour Championship amid PGA conflict
Atlanta unintentionally became the host site for a sort-of PGA Tour convention last week during a Tour Championship that was as much about the politics of golf as the game itself.
Driving the news: The tournament at East Lake Golf Club not only delivered the excitement of top players competing for an incredible amount of cash — the $75 million prize pool was the largest in history — but it also was a week in which the PGA Tour shot back at LIV Golf, the rebellious tour financially backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
Why it matters: The feud between the PGA and LIV is about more than just recruiting players to one side or the other. It's become a bitter battle over the value of traditions, money and even, to some, the victims of 9/11.
- And in many ways, Atlanta and Georgia have stepped into the center of global controversy.
- Big-name Tour defenders like Rory McIlroy, who won this weekend's championship in rather inspiring fashion, spent their time in Atlanta last week campaigning to keep top LIV prospects from leaving.
Catch up quick: LIV Golf launched in June as a direct competitor to the more than 90-year-old PGA Tour. Immediately, the PGA suspended the players who left, including superstars Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
- Still, the LIV money was too good to resist. Several more golfers split, including Patrick Reed — who as it happens played one year at the University of Georgia before being dismissed from the team amid allegations that he cheated and stole from teammates.
- By midsummer, LIV defections were common among fans, too — many liked the zingy LIV format of shorter tournaments, lighter atmospheres and concerts afterward.
- Late July brought the gasoline toss of former President Trump hosting a LIV event at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. Survivors and families of 9/11 victims protested, citing ties between the Saudi government funding and the hijackers who carried out the 2001 attacks.
Another Georgia tie: In early August, several LIV players filed a 105-page complaint asking for a restraining order against the PGA. It included allegations that Augusta National representatives had been working behind the scenes on behalf of the PGA Tour, Golfweek reported.
The latest: Ahead of the final tournament of its playoffs at East Lake, commissioner Jay Monahan announced major changes coming to the Tour as part of a broader strategy to avoid losing more golfers to LIV, Axios' Jeff Tracy reported.
- McIlroy, one of the Tour's staunchest defenders, announced a new virtual golf league launching in 2024 in partnership with the PGA Tour. Its intro video is unmistakably firing shots at LIV.
- Adding to the intrigue, McIlroy was paired with Cameron Smith in the first round at East Lake. Smith is the No. 2 player in the world and rumored to be LIV's next signee.
The bottom line: Georgia is a swing state in more than just politics.
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16 mins ago - Food and Drink
Deals to grab during Austin Restaurant Week
Starting Thursday, you can snag deals at your favorite restaurants knowing that your money is going to a good cause.
The big picture: Austin Restaurant Week is back.
Why it matters: Restaurants, bars and breweries will offer prix-fixe menus, specialty menu items and drink specials from Sept. 1–11, with a portion of the sales going toward the Central Texas Food Bank.
Deals to snag: Here are delicious bargains we're eyeing.
- Hillside Farmacy will offer a $20 "old fashioned Happy Meal" lunch with a burger and cocktail.
- Fast-casual Italian joint Uncle Nicky's will offer a $20 lunch, while Carpenters Hall will offer a $60 dinner and specialty cocktail.
- Foreign & Domestic will offer a $40 dinner.
- Bar Peached announced a three-course dinner for $40 in addition to a $13 Flor de Luna cocktail.
The bottom line: You have many more to choose from. More than 80 establishments will participate in this year's Restaurant Week.
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16 mins ago - Sports
Bears finish preseason undefeated
The Bears beat the Browns, 21-20, Saturday night in Cleveland.
- It's the Bears' first undefeated preseason since 1994.
Why it matters: Players, including Justin Fields, were auditioning for the new coaching staff for regular season roster spots.
- The second-year quarterback played deep into the first half, throwing for three touchdowns.
What's more: The Bears defense kept the Browns' starters out of the end zone.
- There were great efforts from rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon and new defensive tackle Justin Jones.
- And that was with over 20 players on the injury report, including several projected starters, such as Roquan Smith and Eddie Jackson.
Yes, but: The backups, including QB Trevor Siemian, struggled.
What's next: The Bears' roster must be cut to 53 players by 3pm tomorrow.
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Columbus teachers approve new contract, 4% raises
Columbus teachers will get 4% annual base pay raises and all schools will be "climate controlled" by 2025, per the new three-year contract that ended last week's strike.
By the numbers: 71% of Columbus Education Association members who attended a meeting yesterday afternoon approved the agreement.
State of play: The unconventional gathering at Huntington Park had all the makings of a sporting event — a band, loudspeaker play-by-play, cheering and booing — plus what union spokesperson Regina Fuentes called a "home run" of a deal.
Yes, but: Several members spoke against the agreement, with some suggesting they further extend the strike to force a better one.
What's next: Teachers and students return to classrooms today for their first day of in-person school.
- Meanwhile, the Columbus Board of Education will meet at 8am today to ratify the contract and make it official. We'll break down details tomorrow.
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1 hour ago - Business
Ohio's fastest-growing companies
Ohio is home to 135 of the nation's fastest-growing companies, according to the latest Inc. 5000 list.
- The list highlights businesses that experienced significant revenue growth from 2018–2021.
Why it matters: The dozens in Columbus' metro area showcase our diverse and rapidly growing industries, from real estate and tech to insurance and health care.
- The list includes familiar names like Lower mortgage company — the Crew stadium's namesake — and Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.
- A total of 34 Central Ohio businesses created $1.5 billion in combined revenue over that period.
👀 One eye-popping stat: They and 101 other Ohio companies on the Inc. 5000 list added more than 34,000 jobs in those three years — or nearly the entire population of Upper Arlington.
😎 Of note: Axios made the list at No. 2,227. We grew by 264% between 2018 and 2021.
- Just sayin'.
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A Christian cell phone company plans to take over Texas school boards
Patriot Mobile, a North Texas-based cell phone service reseller that markets itself as "America's only Christian conservative wireless provider" was the driving financial force behind the election of 11 new school board members in four suburban North Texas districts.
Driving the news: Patriot Mobile helped elect the majority of members in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, which recently passed a controversial new set of conservative policies dubbed "Don't Say Trans."
Why it matters: The policies, which include prohibitions on teachers discussing anything related to critical race theory or "gender fluidity," are part of a major push from both Patriot Mobile's political arm — Patriot Mobile Action — and the state GOP.
- "Ultimately we want to expand to other counties, other states and be in every state across the nation," Leigh Wambsganss, executive director of Patriot Mobile Action and vice president of government and media affairs at Patriot Mobile, told conservative talk show host Mark Davis earlier this summer.
The big picture: Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has told conservatives that to "save the nation," they need to target school boards, repeatedly spotlighting Patriot Mobile.
- "The school boards are the key that picks the lock," Bannon said during an interview with Patriot Mobile's president, Glenn Story, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas earlier this month, according to NBC News.
Between the lines: School districts are the front line in the political battle for Texas. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke has rooted his campaign on school funding and safety, while Gov. Greg Abbott has made fears of conservative parents a cornerstone of his bid for re-election.
What happened: Earlier this year, Patriot Mobile Action hired two national GOP consulting firms — Vanguard Field Strategies and Axiom Strategies — to help target school board races in the suburbs of Tarrant County, the largest conservative county in the country.
- The PAC spent more than $600,000 backing 11 school board candidates running in Southlake, Grapevine-Colleyville, Keller and Mansfield — all of whom won their races.
- The group sent out thousands of political mailers warning that sitting school board members were endangering students with "woke" ideologies. One ad featured a photo of a child and the words, "They're not after you, they're after me."
What we're watching: Last week the Republican Party of Texas made a fundraising appeal praising GCISD's new policies, saying the party is "working to bring this conservative policy" to every school district in the state.
- Patriot Mobile says they've doubled their subscriber base, and plan to give $1.5 million to conservative causes over the next year.
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Why gas prices in Denver will increase in 2024
Denver's persistent smog will force its drivers to pay more for gas starting in summer 2024.
Why it matters: The pending price hike is top of mind as the EPA prepares to act this fall and it is putting pressure on Gov. Jared Polis just as he seeks re-election.
State of play: This fall, U.S. environmental officials are poised to reclassify the northern Front Range as a "severe" violator of federal ozone standards, a downgrade from the current "serious" level.
- The move would force gas stations to sell reformulated fuel that is designed to burn cleaner and pollute less as part of broader measures to reduce smog.
By the numbers: The price per gallon of gas would increase 20 to 30 cents, according to AAA Colorado analysis, but eventually moderate. An oil and gas industry estimate puts the added cost closer to 51 cents per gallon, the Denver Post reports.
- “It’s going to hurt our wallets," AAA spokesperson Skyler McKinley said.
The intrigue: Polis set the state on a path toward tougher enforcement in 2019 after he declined to seek a delay for the state to meet the federal ozone benchmarks.
- Now, he wants the federal government to not impose the reformulated gas mandate and questioned its effectiveness.
- Instead, he argues the state's push to put more electric vehicles on the road is better.
The other side: Environmental advocates who typically align with the governor object to the effort to skirt the rules. “They had chance after chance to avoid this situation. And rather than take the steps they needed to, they blew it,” Jeremy Nichols, director of the climate and energy program for WildEarth Guardians, told CPR.
The big picture: About 25% of the gasoline sold in the U.S. is reformulated, and high-smog areas in 16 states and the District of Columbia are under federal mandates to use it, according to the EPA.
- The cities on the list include: Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago and Houston.
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Meals on Wheels to launch a $10 million Des Moines expansion
A Meals on Wheels (MOW) program in Des Moines would move and expand under a $10 million project outlined before the City Council this month.
Why it matters: It helps address food insecurity and social isolation problems among a growing segment of older residents, allowing them to live healthier and longer in their own homes.
- There's a high probability the local program will end if fundraising is not successful, former Des Moines City Council member Christine Hensley — a chairperson of the project's campaign — told city officials.
Catch up fast: WesleyLife Community Services has operated MOW for 15 years from a site in DSM's Sherman Hill neighborhood that's run largely by volunteers and donations.
- Its low- or no-cost meals are delivered each weekday to the homes of around 1,000 military veterans and people who are 60 or older.
Yes, but: The program's current site is inadequate. A small kitchen and inefficiencies like having no dishwasher or garbage disposal limits its services, said Hensley.
Driving the news: More than $5.6 million has been raised in a $8.3 million campaign launched earlier this year to relocate to Drake University's former education building at 3206 University Ave.
- Des Moines City Council last week allocated $600,000 to the project.
Details: The new site includes plans for a commercial kitchen, allowing the program to more than triple the number of meals it currently provides.
- A hydroponic garden planned on the site would be the first of its kind among national MOW programs, producing an estimated 10,000 pounds of produce each year, Hensley said.
The intrigue: The site will also include leased space for a restaurant.
- The restaurant will have its own kitchen and is not part of the MOW fundraising efforts, Hensley told City Council members.
What's next: Fundraising continues. Renovations are expected to begin later this year and completed in 2023.
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Morning routine: The Slow Down Coffee Co. in Des Moines
Morning routines may seem extra important for coffee shop owners, but for Drew Kelso, they've become the most difficult thing to develop since starting The Slow Down Coffee Co. in Highland Park.
- In 2020, he left the corporate world to start Slow Down with his wife, Kara. Then the pandemic started, forcing them to be flexible and stray away from any routines.
These days, flexibility remains key for Kelso. His typical mornings center around Highland Park, chatting with his neighbors, and just being present in the shop for whatever may come up.
- "We weren't anticipating giant spikes in inflation or COVID lasting into three years and all the supply chain issues with that," Kelso said. "So it just feels like there's always something new every day."
⏰ Wake up: 7am — around the time the shop opens. He swapped a car for an e-bike and commutes to the shop everyday.
🍳 Breakfast: Kelso waits until he gets to the shop before grabbing coffee and eating a blueberry muffin.
- "I've been hooked on our Red Eyes lately."
📱 What he's reading: Social media, emails and local news. "I just have been pretty much locally focused."
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1 hour ago - News
Study: Marijuana legalization ➡️ increased consumption
Adults in states where weed is legal use it 24% more than in states where it's illegal.
Why it matters: While it seems obvious, a new study presents strong evidence that legalization causes increased use at a time when marijuana consumption is rising across the country.
- Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Colorado studied marijuana use by more than 3,400 adult twins — ideal subjects who tend to share genes, socioeconomic status and parental influences.
State of play: Michigan is one of 19 states where marijuana is legal for recreational use; 37 states have legalized medicinal use.
- Recorded marijuana use nationwide is at an all-time high among adults aged 19-30, with 43% using in the past year and 29% in the last month.
Yes, but: All that weed use might not be a bad thing.
- Study co-author John Hewitt said in a statement that increased use, "may be associated with less alcohol-related problems, and otherwise does not, in general, seem to have adverse consequences."
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ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2022) Jon Stewart emcees the closing ceremony for athletes, families, and friends for the 2022 DoD Warrior Games, August 28, 2022. The Warrior Games are composed of over 200 wounded, ill and injured service members and veteran athletes, competing in 12 adaptive sporting events Aug. 19-28, 2022 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Giselle Gonzalez)
This work, 2022 DoD Warrior Games Closing Ceremony [Image 23 of 23], by SPC Giselle Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392337/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 2022-08-29T11:39:45Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392337/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
How to navigate Metro's upcoming service disruptions
Riding Metro is going to be a lot more complicated for users of the Yellow and Blue lines starting next week.
What’s happening: Major construction involving the new Potomac Yard station and the aging Yellow Line infrastructure will cause significant service disruptions over the next eight months.
- From Sept. 10 to Oct. 22, Metro will connect the new Potomac Yard station to the existing tracks. The six Blue and Yellow Line stations south of Reagan National will be closed during that time.
- From Sept. 10 through May 2023, all Yellow Line service will stop for extensive work on the line’s more than 40-year-old tunnel and bridge.
Why it matters: Depends on where you live. Riders reliant on Blue or Yellow Line service to get to and from Northern Virginia will be most affected, but anyone who uses Metrorail to get to DCA or who frequents the Yellow Line will likely experience longer wait times and crowded commutes.
Between the lines: Metro says it will increase Blue and Green Line frequencies while the Yellow Line is down – but that depends on the return of some additional 7000-series trains.
Zoom in: The Yellow Line bridge crosses the Potomac and is between the Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza.
- Needed repairs include waterproofing the tunnel, strengthening its lining, and replacing communication cables used by multiple jurisdictions.
The new Potomac Yard station, which will go between the DCA and Braddock Road stations, is expected to open this fall, according to Metro.
Paige’s thought bubble: Plenty of folks, myself included, chose where to live based on proximity to one of these lines, and so the upcoming changes are incredibly inconvenient. But, to Metro’s credit, they’ve been warning us about the disruptions for months and there are a few viable alternate travel options (see below).
Detour: Here are some other ways to get around during the upcoming construction projects.
Metro riders will hopefully avoid shelling out buckets of extra money for rideshares during the upcoming Metro projects thanks to these alternate options:
The Virginia Railway Express is free for the month of September and between certain stations in October. The commuter rail service goes from the Northern Virginia suburbs to Union Station and it has two lines, Fredericksburg and Manassas.
- Details: VRE has ample capacity on both its trains and parking lots (most of which are free and largely empty). But, trains don’t run on weekends and generally only run northbound in the morning and southbound in the evening.
- Pricing once the free promotion ends varies based on trip length. According to the VRE app, a single ride on the Fredericksburg Line from Franconia/Springfield to Union Station is $7.80. A seven-day pass for the same trip is $62.40.
Seven free Metro shuttles will be available during the six-week project impacting the six stations south of DCA.
- Details: Two local shuttles will run during all Metrorail hours; two express shuttles will be available from 4:30am to 9pm and from 6:30am to 9pm on weekends; three limited shuttles will be available during rush hour.
The three limited-stop shuttles that run during weekday rush hour will continue running from late October to May during the Yellow Line construction.
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ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2022) Athletes, families, and friends celebrate during the closing ceremony for the 2022 DoD Warrior Games, August 28, 2022. The Warrior Games are composed of over 200 wounded, ill and injured service members and veteran athletes, competing in 12 adaptive sporting events Aug. 19-28, 2022 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Giselle Gonzalez)
This work, 2022 DoD Warrior Games Closing Ceremony [Image 23 of 23], by SPC Giselle Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392344/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 2022-08-29T11:40:25Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392344/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2022) Athletes, families, and friends celebrate during the closing ceremony for the 2022 DoD Warrior Games, August 28, 2022. The Warrior Games are composed of over 200 wounded, ill and injured service members and veteran athletes, competing in 12 adaptive sporting events Aug. 19-28, 2022 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Giselle Gonzalez)
This work, 2022 DoD Warrior Games Closing Ceremony [Image 23 of 23], by SPC Giselle Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392346/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 2022-08-29T11:40:38Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392346/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Investors looking for a bargain might want to consider these 10 dividend stocks. Every stock on this list is near its 52-week lows, so this could present investors with a chance to buy the dip.
What’s more, all of these stocks’ ex-dividend dates are coming up soon, so you still have a chance to grab some shares and benefit from their dividend distribution in the near future.
Here is the full list: JWN, SPB, SLG, SSNC, UHS, BRKR, BAX, OTEX, SLM, SWK. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/10-stocks-you-can-still-catch-before-their-ex-dividend-date | 2022-08-29T11:41:01Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/10-stocks-you-can-still-catch-before-their-ex-dividend-date | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Anglo Pacific Group (GB: APF) pleased shareholders by posting a 303% increase in its portfolio contribution of $92.8 million in the first half. The pre-tax profit during the period increased from $11.2 million to $130 million. The company benefited from a surge in coal prices following the Russia-Ukraine war.
The highlight of its results was the royalty income from the Kestrel mine in Queensland. The Queensland government recently revised its royalty rates, which benefited the company in a big way.
On the financial front, the company was able to reduce its net debt to $20.5 million, down from $90 million in December 2021. The record performance helped the company to reduce its debt to such a great extent and to provide financial strength for future growth.
Considering the healthy balance sheet, the company is well-positioned for more acquisitions and better shareholder returns. It announced a quarterly dividend of 1.75p per share to be paid by the end of August 2022. Anglo Pacific has a dividend yield of 4.38% as compared to the sector average of 1.99%.
What does the Anglo Pacific Group do?
Anglo Pacific Group is a UK-based royalty business. The company invests in natural resources projects and earns royalties from them.
It mainly invests in non-precious metals such as iron ore, steel-making coal, copper, nickel, cobalt, etc. The company is diversified in terms of assets and locations, which gives it an advantage in mitigating risks and managing better cash flows.
The road ahead
The company is betting big on future-facing commodities such as copper, nickel, cobalt, uranium, and vanadium. It will attach around 90% of its revenue to these commodities by 2026.
In the last few years, the company has shifted its focus towards renewable energy to reduce its dependency on coal and other fossil fuels. Along with meeting its sustainable goals, the company is also looking at developing its portfolio to meet the high demand as the world is moving towards such commodities.
Anglo Pacific share price forecast
According to TipRanks’ analyst rating consensus, Anglo Pacific stock has a Strong Buy rating, based on four Buy recommendations.
The APF price target is 337.5p with an upside potential of 112%. The analyst price targets range from a low of 250p to a high of 390p.
Richard Hatch from Berenberg Bank, who rates stocks from the basic material sector is very bullish on the stock. After the company announced results, he reiterated his buy rating with a target price of 390p. This price suggests an upside of 145% from the current price.
Hatch said now was a better time to be buying, as, “The company is well positioned to take advantage of less demanding deal valuations given the recent softening of the commodity complex.”
Conclusion
The company is looking at strong long-term growth, as it sits on a portfolio of future commodity baskets. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/anglo-pacific-delivers-record-performance-as-royalty-income-increases | 2022-08-29T11:41:07Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/anglo-pacific-delivers-record-performance-as-royalty-income-increases | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2022) Athletes, families, and friends celebrate during the closing ceremony for the 2022 DoD Warrior Games, August 28, 2022. The Warrior Games are composed of over 200 wounded, ill and injured service members and veteran athletes, competing in 12 adaptive sporting events Aug. 19-28, 2022 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Giselle Gonzalez)
This work, 2022 DoD Warrior Games Closing Ceremony [Image 23 of 23], by SPC Giselle Gonzalez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392354/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 2022-08-29T11:41:18Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7392354/2022-dod-warrior-games-closing-ceremony | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is equipped with technologies developed by two American aerospace behemoths, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT). These aerospace-technology providers are hoping for solid prospects if the SLS rocket successfully achieves its mission in the Artemis I program of NASA.
It is worth noting that NASA is preparing for the final leg of the launch of the SLS rocket on August 29.
Under the Artemis I program, the federal agency intends to fire its 98-meter tall SLS rocket into space, which will help to launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft toward the moon.
In light of this event, the contributions made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin in this project are briefly discussed below. Also, a consolidated chart designed using TipRanks’ Stock Comparison tool and Wall Street’s take on the two tech companies is provided below.
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)
The $97.7-billion company has expertise in making human space flights, satellites, rockets, missiles, launch systems, commercial airplanes, and military-grade aircraft. For NASA’s Artemis I mission, Boeing has provided the core and upper stages and avionics for the SLS moon rocket.
Also, Boeing is the biggest contractor for the SLS rocket and has played a critical role in assembling rocket parts at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The company said, “We’re providing both the brains and muscle to make the next generation of human spaceflight possible.”
It is evident from the above discussion that the success of the Artemis I mission is very critical for Boeing, as it would boost the company’s space business. Notably, LMT’s space ventures with NASA are accounted for under the Defense, Space & Security segment.
Is BA Stock a Good Buy?
Wall Street is highly optimistic about the prospects of Boeing. Analysts’ opinion on TipRanks suggests that Boeing stock could be a good buy.
BA stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 11 Buys and two Holds. Also, BA’s average price forecast of $213.33 represents 29.66% upside potential from the current level. Shares of Boeing have declined 24.4% in the past year.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)
The security and aerospace company has expertise in providing technology systems and products and related services to domestic and international government and commercial clients. The $114.3-billion company has built the Orion spacecraft that will be launched toward the moon by the SLS rocket.
This astronaut capsule will be unmanned and have the capabilities of detaching itself from the launch rocket. For now, the capsule has been programmed to orbit the moon and return to the earth after 42 days.
Lockheed Martin is counting on the success of the Artemis I mission, as it will open gates to NASA’s bigger venture of sending the human race back to the lunar surface in a couple of years. The results of Lockheed Martin’s business with NASA are accounted for under its Space segment.
Is Lockheed Martin a Buy or Sell?
Wall Street appears to be both cautious and optimistic about the prospects of LMT. Therefore, a wait-and-watch approach could be the best idea for prospective investors.
On TipRanks, analysts have assigned eight Hold ratings on LMT stock versus three Buys. The stock’s consensus rating is a Moderate Buy. LMT’s average price target is $473.45, which represents 9.82% upside potential from the current level. Over the past year, shares of LMT have grown 19.1%.
Concluding Remarks
The success of the Artemis I program would be a win-win situation for NASA as well as Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
For NASA, this success would mean that the deferral agency could proceed with its Artemis II program, to be launched in 2024, and the Artemis III program scheduled for 2025. While the second program is to test the success of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft with a four-member crew, the third program aims at sending a crew of four people to the lunar surface.
As of now, it is evident that a successful phase I of the Artemis program could be a game-changer for Boeing’s and Lockheed Martin’s prospects in space programs.
Read full Disclosure | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/ba-lmt-will-their-future-skyrocket-with-nasas-artemis-i-mission | 2022-08-29T11:41:20Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/ba-lmt-will-their-future-skyrocket-with-nasas-artemis-i-mission | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Centamin (GB:CEY) is a mining company that deals in the exploration and development of gold. It is headquartered in Jersey and has operations in Egypt, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire.
The company’s stock has been unstable in the last year, and it had been trading down by 3.3%. The downfall was mainly because the production numbers were hit due to the damage to assets in Burkina Faso.
However, since July, the stock has been in a recovery mode and has gained more than 12% in the last 3 months. The company’s strong performance in the first half of 2022 and production guidance numbers have led to the upward movement in the stock.
Production is back on track
The company witnessed the benefits of its reinvestment programs in its production as well as costs in the first half of 2022. The revenue during this period was $382 million from total gold sales of 2,03,587 ounces. The revenue increased by 4% as compared to the first half of 2021.
Rising costs of $931/ounce remain a concern and will hit the upper end of the cost guidance number. However, the company is taking some initiatives to control costs, and the benefits should be visible in 2023.
One such initiative is the 36MW solar plant, on which production will start in the third quarter of 2022. This will add significant cost benefits for the company.
In the first half, the company also made some significant investments in its Sukari mine in Egypt. Even though it led to more capex during the period, it also helped to push more projects towards completion. In 2022, the Sukari mine’s gold production will touch five million ounces after 13 years of operations.
Centamin has maintained its production guidance between 4,30,000 and 4,60,000 ounces for the full year.
Centamin’s dividends
The company announced an interim dividend of $02.5 U.S. cents per share. This will hit the company with a payment of $29 million.
The company’s dividend yield of 8.68% makes it an attractive investment for income investors.
Are Centamin shares a good buy?
According to TipRanks’ analyst rating consensus, Centamin stock is a Strong Buy. The stock has three buy ratings.
The CEY price target isv142.99p, with a high and a low forecast of 189.3p and 109.9p, respectively. The price target implies a change of 54.3% from the current price level.
Conclusion
The company has a clear road of production ahead and the numbers will climb from here. When combined with higher prices of gold, this will cover the costs and boost profitability.
Centamin is backed by gold, which is treated as a safe haven during uncertain times. And, with the higher production numbers and cost savings, the overall story remains bullish. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/centamin-stock-the-gold-miner-for-your-safe-returns | 2022-08-29T11:41:26Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/centamin-stock-the-gold-miner-for-your-safe-returns | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In today’s “Expert Spotlight,” we will look at two top picks that senior Jefferies analyst Brandon Couillard is optimistic about. Couillard is the Senior Vice President of Jefferies and an expert in the Healthcare space, with a special focus on Dental, Diagnostics & Life Science Tools. Couillard has deep experience covering U.S.-based healthcare stocks and he is highly optimistic about Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) and Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A).
Couillard’s Rank Among TipRanks Experts
According to TipRanks’ Star Ranking System, Couillard ranks #40 among all 8,000 analysts tracked on TipRanks and #59 among the 21,761 overall experts in the TipRanks universe.
Remarkably, Couillard has had an overall success rate of 69% with an average return of 22.6% over the past year. Moreover, during the same period, his calls generated an alpha of 9.3% and 9.1% over the S&P 500 (SPX) and the sector, respectively.
To date, his best rating has been on Exact Sciences Corp. (EXAS). Couillard generated a humongous 450% return on his Buy recommendation on EXAS stock between the period May 4, 2016, to May 4, 2017.
Couillard is Optimistic about Keysight Technologies
Keysight Technologies provides electronic design and test instrument equipment, and software worldwide. Its products are used across various industries from electronics and automotive to semiconductors and defense. KEYS stock has lost 17.6% year-to-date vis-à-vis gaining 14.8% over the past three months.
Recently, Keysight reported solid beat-and-raise results for the third quarter of Fiscal 2022. Adjusted earnings of $2.01 per share (30% year-over-year growth) came in 22 cents higher than analysts’ estimates. Similarly, revenue rose 10.4% year-over-year to $1.38 billion, beating analysts’ consensus by $30 million.
Impressed by Keysight’s robust results, Couillard lifted the price target on KEYS to $200 (19.7% upside potential) from $175 and maintained a Buy rating.
Couillard believes Keysight’s “exposure to multiple tech megatrends (5G, electric vehicle/Autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, and Internet of Things (IoT)) & favorable mix (~60% into R&D apps / ~35% recurring software + service) should continue to enable more durable growth vs prior cycles.”
Notably, Couillard boasts a success rate of 79% on KEYS stock, with an impressive average return of 33.08%.
Is Keysight Stock a Buy?
On TipRanks, KEYS stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on eight Buys and three Holds. The average Keysight Technologies price target of $194.36 implies 16.3% upside potential to current levels.
Couillard Remains Bullish About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies is an American life sciences company that provides instruments, software, services, and consumables for the entire laboratory workflow. Agilent stock has lost 16.7% year-to date vis-à-vis gaining 2% over the past three months.
Like Keysight, Agilent also exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for both earnings and revenue for its Q3 FY22 results. The company even raised its forecast for Fiscal 2022.
Encouraged by Agilent’s beat-and-raise results and consistent execution, Couillard raised the price target on A stock to $158 (21.7% upside potential) from $151, while maintaining a Buy rating. Moreover, Couillard has confidence in Agilent’s sustained momentum backed by strong orders and an increasing backlog. Interestingly, Couillard boasts a success rate of 82% on A stock with an average return of 23.43%.
Is Agilent a Good Investment?
Analysts are highly optimistic about Agilent Technologies and consider it a good investment at current levels. On TipRanks, A stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating based on nine Buys and two Holds. The average Agilent price forecast of $151.82 implies 16.9% upside potential to current levels.
Ending Thoughts
With so much experience in the healthcare space and considering his impeccable track record, investors may choose to follow Couillard’s investment choices to earn reasonable returns. Notably, TipRanks accumulates the recommendations of several Top Experts, which can be considered while making investment choices to maximize returns. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/five-star-analyst-brandon-couillard-favors-these-2-stocks | 2022-08-29T11:41:38Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/five-star-analyst-brandon-couillard-favors-these-2-stocks | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Alternative asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSE:BAM.A) (NYSE:BAM) is known for investing in capital projects, with the most recent being a $30 billion deal with Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC). Even though the stock has lost 16.3% so far this year, the company’s strategy of making the right investment decisions to ensure its long-term growth increases the appeal of BAM.A stock.
What Does Brookfield Asset Management Do?
Headquartered in Canada, Brookfield Asset Management has assets under management worth $750 billion spread across, credit, equity, renewable power, real estate, and infrastructure segments. It also offers alternative investment products to pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and financial institutions across the world.
The Deal with Intel
Last week, BAM.A’s subsidiary Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) signed an agreement with Intel to invest up to $15 billion to build two semiconductor chip production factories in Chandler, Arizona. In return, BIP will get a 49% stake in the project. Additionally, Intel will put an equal amount for the remaining 51% stake.
The deal expands an agreement that the two companies signed in February. For Brookfield, this investment is similar to private equity investments in infrastructure like fiber and data centers and is expected to close by the end of this year.
Q2 Results at a Glance
On August 11, Brookfield Asset Management released its financial results for the second quarter of 2022. Revenues increased to $23.26 billion from $18.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. However, net income declined to $1.48 billion versus $2.43 billion in the previous year, primarily due to a rise in interest expenses, higher depreciation and amortization, and a fall in the value of its assets.
Commenting on the results, Nick Goodman, the Chief Financial Officer of Brookfield, said “We delivered strong results in the second quarter, supported by our resilient global portfolio of inflation-protected real assets and record levels of fundraising. We have a record of $111 billion of cash and capital available for investment after generating $1.5 billion of net income and $1.2 billion of cash flow. We had asset sales of $21 billion and deployed $20 billion into new investments.”
Is BAM.A Stock a Buy?
On the back of the company’s robust results, two analysts reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. This translates to a consensus rating of Strong Buy on TipRanks. BAM.A’s average price target of C$79.36 implies upside potential of 23.8%.
Just like analysts, bloggers and insiders are positive about BAM.A stock. TipRanks data shows that financial bloggers are 92% Bullish on the stock, compared to the sector average of 68%, and corporate insiders have bought $1.1 million worth of BAM.A stock in the last three months.
Read full Disclosure | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/heres-what-makes-brookfield-asset-management-tsebam-a-stock-appealing | 2022-08-29T11:41:45Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/heres-what-makes-brookfield-asset-management-tsebam-a-stock-appealing | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Oil and gas companies, Rockhopper Exploration (GB:RKH) and Hurricane Energy (GB:HUR) have a perfect score of 10 as per the TipRanks Smart Score Tool.
This tool is designed to give an investor confidence to choose safe stocks that can provide comfort in uncertain times. According to this tool, all the stocks are measured on various parameters and a score is assigned between 1 and 10.
It’s been quite an amazing year for energy stocks in general. The increasing prices of oil and gas are benefiting these companies.
Both Rockhopper and Hurricane have shown tremendous growth in their share prices in the last year, and, based on their perfect scores, the trend is expected to continue.
Let’s discuss the stocks in detail.
Rockhopper Exploration Stock
Rockhopper is a UK-based oil and gas exploration company, mainly operating in the Falkland Islands and the Greater Mediterranean region.
The stock recently came into the news when it surged around 80% in one day after the company received compensation of £160 million in an arbitration dispute with Italy.
The case was started in 2017 after the government of Italy banned the company’s drilling activities in the Ombrina Mare oilfield in the Adriatic Sea. This win is a positive milestone for the company after devoting a lot of time and effort to it.
The company is now mainly focused on the Falklands’ Sea Lion project, which has 500 million barrels of highly marketable recoverable oil. The company owns a 30% interest in the project and is betting big on this, with the expectation of significant value generation for all stakeholders.
Is Rockhopper a good investment?
According to TipRanks’ analyst rating consensus, Rockhopper stock is a Moderate Buy.
The stock has one buy rating from analyst Charlie Sharp of Canaccord Genuity. Sharp is bullish on the energy and utility sector and has an average return of 70.5% on this stock.
The RKH target price is 21.93p, implying an upside of 47.1%.
Hurricane Energy Stock
Hurricane Energy is an oil and gas company that explores resources from natural basement reservoirs. The company has a presence in the UK region with a focus on the Atlantic margin, west of Shetland.
The company’s shares have recovered massively in the last year with almost 250% return. This was a result of the combined effect of the company’s strong performance along with the current oil market demand.
2021 was truly a year of transformation for the company. It was able to convert its losses from $625 million in 2020 to profits of $18.2 million in 2021. The company is now able to focus more on growth opportunities instead of just being able to survive financially.
Another highlight for Hurricane is that it has paid its outstanding debt of $78.5 million in July 2022 and is now a debt-free company. Being a smaller company in terms of operations, this is an amazing feat. The company’s healthy cash situation, stable operations, and rising oil prices make the outlook look promising.
Hurricane Energy share price forecast
According to TipRanks’ analyst rating consensus, Hurricane Energy stock is a Moderate Buy, based on one buy rating.
The HUR target price is 9p, which shows a change of 16.7% from the current price level.
Conclusion
The advantage of investing in small-cap stocks is that the investors will be a part of their companies’ journey when and if they become big players in the long run. Considering this, both the stocks could be good portfolio addition from the energy sector.
With great returns also comes great risks. The energy stocks are defeating the markets currently but are also facing headwinds from rising inflation which increases the cost of producing oil. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/two-small-cap-energy-stocks-with-a-perfect-10-on-tipranks-smart-score-tool | 2022-08-29T11:41:51Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/two-small-cap-energy-stocks-with-a-perfect-10-on-tipranks-smart-score-tool | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
3M (NYSE:MMM), an American multinational conglomerate, recently faced a huge setback in the ongoing lawsuits over the company’s Combat Arms Earplug Version 2 products. According to the latest ruling by a United States Bankruptcy Court judge, Jeffrey Graham, in the Southern District of Indiana, Aearo Technologies’ request for imposing a preliminary injunction on the huge pile of combat earplugs lawsuits against its parent company, 3M, has been denied.
The judge took the decision due to a lack of evidence that could substantiate the proposition that Aearo’s bankruptcy reorganization plan will be compromised if the lawsuits against 3M were conducted. The ruling will result in 3M having to deal with more than 230,000 lawsuits over selling faulty military earplugs.
Commenting on the court’s decision, the company said, “We are disappointed in the court’s ruling today and will be filing an appeal. Further litigation in the MDL court benefits no one,” Bloomberg stated in a report.
It is worth noting here that 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in Indiana on July 26 over the combat earplugs lawsuits. Moving on, Aearo has put $1 billion in trust to settle the lawsuits and agreed to indemnify its parent company for all liabilities related to the earplugs.
As a result of the latest court ruling, 3M will have to continue defending itself in the federal court, which costs the company nearly $3.8 million a week, a Wall Street Journal stated.
Is 3M Stock a Buy, Sell or Hold?
3M stock seems to have lost its appeal as a potential investment. According to TipRanks, MMM stock has a Moderate Sell rating based on eight Holds and four Sells. 3M’s average price target of $138.33 signals that the stock may surge nearly 7.1% from current levels.
On the contrary, financial bloggers on TipRanks are 89% Bullish on 3M, compared to the sector average of 67%. Further, retail investors seem to be positive about 3M stock, as they have increased their holdings in MMM stock by 1.4% in the last 30 days.
Final Thoughts
Following the unfavorable court ruling on August 26, MMM stock saw its biggest one-day rout of 9.5% since April 2019. The avalanche of lawsuits indicates that the company is exposed to the threat of facing a huge financial liability. The lawsuits currently make up about 30% of all pending cases in the federal courts in the United States, per a Reuters report. According to the report, 3M has seen defeat in 10 of the 16 earplug cases that have gone under trial so far. It has paid nearly $265 million in total to 13 plaintiffs.
Read full Disclosure. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/indiana-court-denies-any-relief-to-3m-nysemmm | 2022-08-29T11:41:57Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/indiana-court-denies-any-relief-to-3m-nysemmm | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Meta Platforms (META) has finally agreed to settle a four-year-long drawn class-action lawsuit that sought damages from Facebook for allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access and exploit the private information and data of end-users. Shares of the social-media giant are down 1.5% in the early trading hours today.
Details of the Lawsuit
The lawsuit alleged that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, had collected and exploited personal data belonging to millions of Facebook users without their consent.
Both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica denied the allegations filed over the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. The companies stated that they did not engage in any wrongdoing. Later in 2018, Cambridge Analytica declared bankruptcy and was shut down.
According to a court filing on Friday, Meta agreed to pay the fines in the U.S. as well as the U.K in relation to the alleged lawsuit.
Further, both parties have requested the court to put the class-action lawsuit on hold for 60 days, allowing them time to finalize the settlement.
Is Meta a Good Stock to Buy?
On TipRanks, analysts are cautiously optimistic about Meta stock, which has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 27 Buys, five Holds, and two Sells. Meta Platforms’s average price forecast of $224.21 implies 38.59% upside potential.
Final Thoughts
Meta Platforms may have to pay a very hefty amount in damages in the coming days, depending on the terms of the agreement that will be made public in the next 60 days or, maybe, before the company’s third-quarter earnings, which are slated to release on November 2.
Read Full Disclosure | https://www.tipranks.com/news/meta-platforms-nasdaqmeta-agrees-to-settle-long-overdue-cambridge-analytica-lawsuit | 2022-08-29T11:42:03Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/meta-platforms-nasdaqmeta-agrees-to-settle-long-overdue-cambridge-analytica-lawsuit | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Moderna (MRNA) stock fell on August 26, the day the company announced that it was suing its rival Pfizer (PFE) together with its partner BioNTech (BNTX). Moderna’s move also seemed to spark a sell-off in other COVID-19 vaccine stocks, as shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and AstraZeneca (AZN) also dropped.
Massachusetts-based Moderna was among the first companies to come out with COVID-19 vaccines. The Moderna vaccine is marketed under the Spikevax brand. The company has developed a special booster vaccine targeted at the Omicron virus variant.
Moderna Sues Pfizer in Patent Dispute
Moderna has decided to sue Pfizer and BioNTech for allegedly infringing its patents. Pfizer and BioNTech collaborated to develop their COVID-19 vaccine that sells under the Comirnaty brand. Moderna’s Spikevax and Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccines are both based on the messenger RNA technology (mRNA technology).
According to Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech copied its mRNA technology without permission to develop Comirnaty. It is suing its rivals in the U.S. and Germany. Moderna is seeking damages in the lawsuit, though it is limiting its claims to Comirnaty sales made after March 8, 2022. Moreover, Moderna will not seek damages for Comirnaty sales in situations where the U.S. government would be liable.
A win could see Moderna walk away with a large sum of money. However, Pfizer has said it plans to defend itself vigorously against Moderna’s patent infringement allegations, suggesting this could be a long-drawn legal fight. The dispute could distract the attention of Moderna’s management team. Moreover, if Pfizer prevails in the lawsuit, Moderna’s stock could take a major hit.
Moderna shares dropped 3.8% to $136.70 on August 26, the day it announced the Pfizer patent lawsuit. Pfizer stock fell 2.3%, while BioNTech stock was down 4%. Moderna stock has plunged more than 40% year-to-date.
What is the Prediction for Moderna Stock?
Wall Street is cautiously optimistic on Moderna stock. According to TipRanks’ analyst rating consensus, MRNA stock is a Moderate Buy based on four Buys, five Holds, and one Sell. The average Moderna stock prediction of $217.89 implies over 59% upside potential.
TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that retail investor sentiment is currently Very Positive on Moderna. In the past 30 days, 7.8% of the top-performing retail portfolios tracked by TipRanks increased their exposure to MRNA stock.
Final Thoughts
Moderna seems to be making a high-stakes gamble. If the patent lawsuit against Pfizer and its partner BioNTech succeeds, Moderna could pocket huge amounts of money in compensation. However, Moderna stock could sink if the rivals prevail in the lawsuit. Moreover, the lawsuit coming at a time when the world is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic could also present a public relations challenge for Moderna.
Read the full Disclosure | https://www.tipranks.com/news/moderna-nasdaqmrna-stock-pfizer-lawsuit-presents-opportunity-and-challenge | 2022-08-29T11:42:09Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/moderna-nasdaqmrna-stock-pfizer-lawsuit-presents-opportunity-and-challenge | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
U.S. stock futures dipped on Monday morning as investors gauged Friday’s update from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) moved 0.85% lower, while those on the S&P 500 (SPX) lost 0.98%, as of 5.37 a.m. EST, Monday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) futures dipped 1.23%.
Any hopes of the Fed’s pivot from its hawkishness were dashed on Friday, when Powell reinforced the Fed’s stance. Now that July’s inflation data came below expectations, many were hoping that the Fed would ease its policy. However, Powell did not mince his words while reinstating that more aggressive interest rate hikes are on the way this year and that the central bank will not depend on a month or two of positive inflation data.
Now, investors are left to second-guess the effects of more rate hikes on the economy’s health. Once again, investors are reassessing their risk positioning and pulling out of risky bets. Being most sensitive to interest rates, the technology sector was hit the hardest.
Wall Street was overwhelmed on Friday, even as experts had warned that it might be too early for the Fed to pivot. The global crypto market cap dropped around 2% over the last day with Bitcoin falling below $20,000. Moreover, by the end of Friday’s regular trading, the S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq 100 had fallen sharply by 3.37%, 3.03%, and 4.1%, respectively, wiping out the gains accrued in the August rally.
Moreover, bond yields rose, putting further pressure on the equity market (the bond and stock markets move inversely). The yield on the 2-year Treasury note climbed 0.062% to hit 3.454%, the highest yield since November 2007.
This week awaits August’s nonfarm payrolls data, which will be revealed on Friday. This report will give us more insights into how the labor market is navigating inflation and rising interest rates. So far, most data linked to the labor market have indicated resilience.
Investors are also looking forward to last week’s initial jobless claims on Thursday, giving more information on the unemployment situation of the economy. On the brighter side, claims for unemployment benefits reduced to 243,000 in the week ended August 19 from the preceding week’s 245,000.
Also, it was revealed that the U.S. GDP had contracted at a slower pace in the second quarter than initially estimated. The GDP in the June-end quarter declined 0.6% year-over-year instead of the 0.9% reported earlier. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/stock-market-today-monday-august-29-what-you-need-to-know | 2022-08-29T11:42:16Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/stock-market-today-monday-august-29-what-you-need-to-know | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Earnings season is getting into its final stretch and while most of the S&P 500 companies have already submitted their reports, this week will see results from one retail heavyweight and one semiconductor behemoth.
Tuesday – August 30
CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD)
The cyber-security company is scheduled to report on its Q2 after the market closes on Tuesday. Analysts are forecasting EPS of $0.28 vs. $0.11 in last year’s Q2, while revenues are expected to fall in the $516.5M range. CRWD has beaten analysts’ consensus for eight quarters in a row, but the stock has lost more than 32% in the last 52 weeks.
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY)
Best Buy has already published preliminary numbers for the quarter and the picture is dark. The electronics-centered retailer provided downsized guidance due to macroeconomic pressures and inflation. The forecast for the whole year was cut and moreover, the company is decimating its headcount and laying off workers. After the new update, analysts expect EPS of $1.29 and revenues of $10.24B.
Also on the list for Tuesday: Chewy (NASDAQ:CHWY), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), PVH (NYSE: PVH) and ChargePoint (NASDAQ: CHPT). Chinese internet giant Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) is also slated to report its Q2 report after the market close, and you can see what TipRanks’ website traffic tool forecast for the company.
Wednesday – August 31
Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA)
Another cybersecurity company slated to report its quarterly report is Okta. The stock has been on a roller coaster since the last time it published quarterly report. Overall, the stock did not give investors too much to cheer about as it lost more than 58% YTD.
Analysts are expecting the company to report EPS of $-0.30 and revenues of $430M and change. Over the last eight quarters, OKTA beat revenue and EPS estimates every single quarter.
Also on the list for Wednesday: Meme stock darling Express (NASDAQ:EXPR), Nutanix (NASDAQ:NTNX), Chico’s (NYSE:CHS) And Five Below (NASDAQ: FIVE).
Thursday – September 1
Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)
After dismal performance from chip maker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and PC maker Dell (NYSE:DELL), another semiconductor giant is about to present what it has up its sleeve on Thursday, after the market closes.
Broadcom is one of the industry’s top 5 companies and analysts are expecting an EPS of $9.55 and revenue of $8.41B. Broadcom has beaten analysts’ forecast in the past eight straight quarters.
Lululemon Athletics (NASDAQ: LULU)
The yoga and athletic premium apparel maker always attracts many eyes to its quarterly report. Ahead of the reports, analysts are ranking the stock a Moderate Buy with price targets ranging from $200 to $505.
Since the beginning of 2022, LULU has lost almost 20% of its value and is now trading down 37% from its 52-week peak. Analysts are forecasting an EPS of $1.86 and revenue of $1.77B. Like AVGO, Lululemon beat analysts’ expectations eights quarters in a row.
Also on the list for Thursday: American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) and Signet Jewelers (NYSE:SIG). | https://www.tipranks.com/news/the-week-ahead-in-earnings-avgo-bby-and-lulu-in-focus | 2022-08-29T11:42:22Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/the-week-ahead-in-earnings-avgo-bby-and-lulu-in-focus | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Walmart (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, is planning to purchase the remaining 47% of Massmart shares it does not already own, according to a Reuters report.
Massmart said the deal will help to ovehaul its operations and loss making business. According to the report, Walmart would pay 6.4B rand ($377.6M) for the block of shares. If approved by its shareholders, Massmart shares would be delisted from the JSE.
In pre-market action, WMT stock has lost just under 0.6%, at last check.
Is Walmart a Good Buy?
Wall Street is cautiously optimistic about Walmart stock. According to TipRanks, WMT is a Moderate Buy based on 16 Buys versus six Holds and no Sells. The average Walmart stock price prediction of $151.77 implies about 16% upside potential to current levels. | https://www.tipranks.com/news/walmart-nysewmt-is-buying-south-africas-massmart | 2022-08-29T11:42:28Z | tipranks.com | control | https://www.tipranks.com/news/walmart-nysewmt-is-buying-south-africas-massmart | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NASA could launch Artemis I today, the first of several missions that will include mankind’s return to the moon, but a hydrogen leak could prevent it from taking off today.
The launch window for the spacecraft is set to begin at 8:33 a.m. ET. The window closes around 10:30 p.m. ET. If NASA cannot launch the rocket on Monday, it will have to wait until Friday.
It is the first of several launches as part of the Artemis program, which NASA hopes will prepare humanity to go further than the moon.
The next Artemis mission isn’t scheduled until 2024. While Artemis I will be unmanned, Artemis II will send four astronauts on a flyby of the moon. Artemis III is expected to include a crewed mission to the moon's surface. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/artemis-i-launch-window-to-begin-as-nasa-tries-to-fix-leak | 2022-08-29T11:45:13Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/artemis-i-launch-window-to-begin-as-nasa-tries-to-fix-leak | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Thiruvananthapuram: With the CPM naming Kerala Local Self-Government Department Minister M V Govindan as the new party State secretary, a rejig of the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet has become imminent. However, according to party sources, the same is likely to occur only after Onam.
The vacancies created in the Cabinet by the exit of Govindan, and Saji Cherian, who earlier resigned as the Culture minister, need to be filled.
Speculations are also rife that the party leadership might resort to more changes in the Cabinet in the wake of reports that the performance of some ministers are not up to the mark.
If the party decides to address complaints that the ‘inexperience’ of ministers is showing, it may bring back seniors who were in the first Pinarayi Vijayan Ministry.
It removed seniors like K K Shailaja by adopting a policy that none other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from that Ministry should be given another chance.
With Govindan being elevated to the top party post in the state, another leader from Kannur, A N Shamseer, is tipped to replace the former in the Cabinet. Likewise, Alappuzha MLA P P Chitharanjan stands a chance to become a minister as there is no one in the Ministry representing the coastal district after Saji Cherian’s resignation.
The names of certain other State Committee members, who are MLAs, are also doing the rounds.
Will the Speaker be changed?
There is intense speculation that Speaker M Rajesh may be brought into the Cabinet and replaced by Veena George as Speaker. However, the leadership is giving no hints in this regard. Another theory doing the rounds is that Minister V Sivankutty may be appointed as the Thiruvananthapuram District Secretary, with Anavoor Nagappan getting elected into the State Secretariat. However, the party is satisfied with the functioning of Sivankutty in his capacity as a minister. | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/cpm-shamseer-chitharanjan-cabinet-reshuffle.amp.html | 2022-08-29T12:02:29Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/cpm-shamseer-chitharanjan-cabinet-reshuffle.amp.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Monday announced a bonus of Rs 4,000 for the state sector employees in connection with the upcoming Onam festival. They would also be eligible to avail of a festival advance of Rs 20,000, said finance minister K N Balagopal in a statement here on Monday.
Those government employees, who are not entitled to receive a bonus, would get Rs 2,750 as a special festival allowance, the finance minister said.
All the government sector employees would be entitled to a festival advance of Rs 20,000. Last year, staff received Rs 15,000 as festival advance.
Part-time and contingent staff would get the advance of Rs 6,000 on their salaries, the minister added.
Service pensioners and employees under the contributory pension scheme would be paid a special festival allowance of Rs 1,000.
The benefits and assistance would reach over 13 lakh employees and labourers working in the government sector, the minister said.
(With input from PTI) | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/kerala-govt-announces-onam-bonus-of-rs-4000-festival-advance-of-rs-20000.html | 2022-08-29T12:02:37Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/kerala-govt-announces-onam-bonus-of-rs-4000-festival-advance-of-rs-20000.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday said the construction at Vizhinjam port cannot be halted and any complaints with regard to the project can be raised at appropriate forums.
Justice Anu Sivaraman, while hearing a plea by Adani Ports seeking protection from the protesters, said the agitation must not affect the ongoing project.
"The protests can be registered but it cannot affect the project. If there are any complaints against the project, it can be raised at the appropriate forum. Protests can be registered in a lawful manner," the court said.
Meanwhile, Adani Ports told the court that the police were aiding the protesters.
However, the protesters who were party to the plea, told the court that the agitation was going on in a peaceful manner.
The Adani Ports, which is constructing the Vizhinjam port in Thiruvananthapuram had on August 25, moved the High Court seeking protection from protesters.
The Adani Group, in its plea, said the ongoing agitation was a threat to the life of its employees and the police and the government were not taking any action in this regard.
The company had also told the court that even though it had approached the government seeking protection, no steps were initiated.
A large number of coastal people have been staging an intense protest outside the main entrance of the multi-purpose seaport, located at nearby Mulloor, since last week pressing their seven-point charter of demands including to stop the construction work and to conduct a coastal impact study in connection with the multi-crore project.
The protesters have been alleging that the unscientific construction of groynes, the artificial sea walls known as "pulimutt' in local parlance, as part of the upcoming Vizhinjam port was one of the reasons for the increasing coastal erosion in the district.
Giving details of the purported measures being taken by the state government, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had recently told the Assembly that the government was considering providing rented accommodation to rehabilitate the displaced fisherfolk and the District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram has been entrusted with the task which includes fixation of rent.
He also claimed that the state government has launched a Rs 2,450 crore worth project to rehabilitate the fisherfolk displaced due to coastal erosion and CRZ regulations. | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/vizhinjam-port-construction-cant-be-halted-kerala-high-court.html | 2022-08-29T12:02:49Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/vizhinjam-port-construction-cant-be-halted-kerala-high-court.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Kochi: The Kerala government has not put on hold its ambitious SilverLine semi high-speed rail project which had triggered widespread protests and political debates in the state.
The CPM-led Left government on Monday told the high court that it will go ahead with land acquisition procedures for the mega project. The government informed the court that it has stopped the socio-impact assessment. The state had witnessed a series of protests in areas where officials planted survey marker stones as part of the socio-impact assessment.
Th government told the court that the central government has given an in-principle approval for the project. However, it said the Centre was yet to make its stand on the project clear. Various central government departments have been taking different stands, the state government said.
The court asked the state government to furnish the status of the cases registered against people who had protested against the rail corridor project.
The state government, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had taken an aggressive stand on implementing the project ever since it retained power in the assembly polls last year.
However, the government apparently softened its push for the project after LDF suffered a huge setback in the Thrikkakara assembly bypoll in June.
The SilverLine row was reignited recently after Vijayan told the assembly that his government has not abandoned the project. He said it will have to be approved by the central government,
Vijayan said the SilverLine project was necessary for the state's development as a high speed or semi-high speed rail was necessary in Kerala and such trains cannot be run on the existing tracks according to experts.
He said that the state government had gone ahead with various surveys and a social impact assessment (SIA) study due to an in-principle approval for the project and the initial indications from the Centre that it would green-light the semi-high speed rail corridor.
However, the Centre was hesitating now due to the interference of some people, the CM said.
"But what needs to be seen is that the project will have to be approved by the Centre. They will have to. If not now, then in the future. Therefore, the state government has not abandoned the project," Vijayan said.
At the same time, he also conceded that without the Centre's approval, the state cannot say it will go ahead with the project.
He was responding to the Congress-led UDF opposition's queries in the assembly as to whether the cases lodged against those who protested against laying of survey stones would be withdrawn since the project has not yet received any approval from the Centre.
The opposition also alleged that false cases have also been lodged against those who protested against the survey stone laying.
On the criminal cases lodged, Vijayan said that action was not taken against those opposing the project, but against those who disrupted law and order and destroyed public property.
Therefore, the state government was not considering withdrawing cases against such persons, he added.
The Kerala government's ambitious SilverLine project, which is expected to reduce travel time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod to around four hours, is being opposed by the Congress-led UDF, which has been alleging that it was "unscientific and impractical" and will put a huge financial burden on the state.
The proposed 530-km stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod would be developed by K-Rail, a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Railway Ministry for developing railway infrastructure in the southern state.
Starting from the state capital, SilverLine trains will have stoppages at Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode and Kannur before reaching Kasaragod.
(With inputs from PTI) | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/will-go-ahead-with-land-acquisition-for-silverline-kerala-govt-tells-high-court.html | 2022-08-29T12:03:01Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2022/08/29/will-go-ahead-with-land-acquisition-for-silverline-kerala-govt-tells-high-court.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Man wounded in shooting at store parking lot
Published: Aug. 29, 2022 at 7:17 AM EDT|Updated: 45 minutes ago
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A man sustained critical injuries after he was shot in the parking lot of a convenience store in the Russell neighborhood.
Louisville Metro police were called to Shorty’s Food Mart in the 1700 block of W. Broadway around 11 p.m. Sunday.
The victim was rushed to University Hospital for treatment.
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information can leave the information anonymously by calling the LMPD Crime Tip Line at 502-574-LMPD (5673) or by using the department’s online crime tips portal.
Copyright 2022 WAVE. All rights reserved. | https://www.wave3.com/2022/08/29/man-wounded-shooting-store-parking-lot/ | 2022-08-29T12:03:48Z | wave3.com | control | https://www.wave3.com/2022/08/29/man-wounded-shooting-store-parking-lot/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Nationwide SNAP, EBT outage left millions unable to make payments at stores, some systems restored
A nationwide outage was reported on Sunday with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, leaving more than a million people without the ability to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards to make payments at retail stores.
Agencies in Massachusetts and South Carolina reported on Sunday that customers are unable to make purchases with their EBT cards.
The South Carolina Department of Social Services tweeted Sunday that it is aware of processing issues of EBT cards due to "a third party processor outage impacting programs in multiple states."
The department later tweeted that all systems were restored, resolving the processing issues.
FILE - A customer shops in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on July 20, 2022. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
SECRET SERVICE RETURNS $286M IN FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED COVID RELIEF LOANS TO SBA
The Massachusets Department of Transitional Assistance also said in a tweet that EBT card processing in the state was affected but later said that the issue was resolved.
DownDetector reported a substantial increase in EBT card outages on Sunday morning and early afternoon, but they decreased throughout the afternoon.
FOX Business reached out to the United States Department of Agriculture for comment. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/nationwide-snap-ebt-outage-left-millions-unable-to-make-payments-at-stores-some-systems-restored | 2022-08-29T12:09:25Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/nationwide-snap-ebt-outage-left-millions-unable-to-make-payments-at-stores-some-systems-restored | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Six CPD cars damaged by fireworks and rocks as police try to disperse crowds in Pilsen
CHICAGO - Half a dozen Chicago police cars were damaged after crowds threw fireworks, rocks and bricks at them Sunday morning in the Pilsen neighborhood.
Police responded to a call of an officer in distress around 3 a.m. in the 600 block of West Cermak Road when they were approached by a group of people obstructing the intersection, police said.
Officers tried to break up the crowd who then started lobbing fireworks, rocks and bricks at their squad cars, police said.
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In all, six squad cars were damaged, according to police.
Police did not say if anyone was taken into custody. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/six-cpd-cars-damaged-by-fireworks-and-rocks-as-police-try-to-disperse-crowds-in-pilsen | 2022-08-29T12:09:31Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/six-cpd-cars-damaged-by-fireworks-and-rocks-as-police-try-to-disperse-crowds-in-pilsen | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Unruly crowds, 'drifting' cars take over Chicago intersections
CHICAGO - Chicago police responded to multiple calls of drifting and drag racing Sunday morning with at least one person being taken into custody.
The first incident took place around 1:50 a.m. where there were reports of "drag racing" and multiple cars were blocking the intersection of Madison and Morgan streets, according to police.
An 18-year-old was given a citation for obstructing the rear license plate of his car, which was also impounded, police said.
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Roughly an hour later, officers tried to pull over a car that was seen drifting and doing donuts about a mile away in the intersection of Clinton Street and Upper Wacker Drive, police said.
During the traffic stop, the suspect drove forward and a police officer had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck, police said.
Omar Daaboul, 19, was arrested and charged with one felony count of aggravated assault of a peace officer. He was also issued five traffic citations.
Omar Daaboul | Chicago police
Six Chicago police cars were damaged Sunday morning in the Pilsen neighborhood as Chicago police tried to disperse crowds blocking another intersection in the 600 block of West Cermak Road.
Similar chaos erupted early Saturday as cars and crowds blocked the intersection of Wacker and Columbus drives. Police said two people were cited for misdemeanors and one car was impounded. | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/unruly-crowds-drifting-cars-take-over-chicago-intersections | 2022-08-29T12:09:37Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/unruly-crowds-drifting-cars-take-over-chicago-intersections | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Social Exclusion Is a More Common Form of Bullying Than Physical, Verbal Attacks: Study
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Bullying is a form of abuse that is often employed to harm or intimidate people. But when we hear of someone being bullied, the images that often come to mind are those of physical aggression or verbal attacks. But deliberately isolating people — either by excluding them from group activities or shunning them completely — is also a form of bullying too, albeit a covert one. That’s precisely why social exclusion is sometimes described as “bullying, incognito.” And, according to a new study, it’s actually a more common form of bullying, too.
Published in Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, the study was based on an assessment of more than 14,000 students enrolled in middle and high schools across parts of the U.S. Also called “relational aggression” — since it harms one’s social status, impacting their social relationships — social exclusion was found to be the most common form of bullying.
The study may have only included school students, but that doesn’t mean social exclusion as a bullying tactic, isn’t perpetrated upon — and practiced by — adults.
“Bullies often create an inner circle of compliant colleagues who will not threaten their reign, while purposefully excluding talented and curious employees who could question them… Exclusion is effective in reaching this goal, for humans’ innate need to belong makes some willing to abandon their values and beliefs in order to gain access to the inner circle,” Dorothy Suskind, an assistant professor at Longwood University in Virginia, wrote in Psychology Today.
Social exclusion is enacted through a multitude of strategies. One is by poisoning people’s minds against someone — either by using one’s social capital to force people to carry out their bidding, by disclosing any sensitive, marginalizing information they may have about their target of bullying, or simply, by spreading lies about the target. This is all done in a bid to ensure their exclusion. Another tactic a bully might use is to shame their target in public for trying to approach and interact with others, thereby preventing them from being integrated into groups. The more obvious and common tactic, though, is purposefully leaving people out with the deliberate intention of hurting them through exclusion.
Related on The Swaddle:
Many Indian Families Express Care Through ‘Bullying,’ Creating Patterns of Abuse
The fact that social exclusion appears to be an act of omission than one of commission creates the impression that it’s less damaging. But just because it seems more subtle and indirect compared to tangible, physical aggression, doesn’t actually make it less harmful.
“When a kid is excluded from social activities by their peers at school, the outcomes for that kid both short-term and long-term will be just as detrimental as if they got kicked, punched, or slapped every day,” noted co-author Chad Rose, who is the director of the University of Missouri Bullying Prevention Lab.
As Suskind had noted, “Exclusion is one of those fly-under-the-radar strategies in the bully’s playbook that results in the victim’s thwarted sense of belonging and intense and prolonged psychological suffering… [T]he exclusion is purposeful, calculated, and repeated, resulting in the victim’s body registering the hurt similarly to physical pain.” But since the pain inflicted, here, is less visible than the wounds resulting from physical aggression, people tend to downplay the torment that their classmates and colleagues experience.
The perception of social exclusion not being nearly as harmful as visible forms of aggression also enables its perpetuation — allowing it to continue unaddressed through any form of intervention. “We teach the famous tagline, ‘See something, say something,’ but in practice, it is hard for kids to intervene and assess conflicts quickly — it’s hard even for adults. If we see two kids in a physical fight, we feel an obligation to break it up. But when we see kids being excluded by their peers, adults don’t always seem to view it as equally damaging, and that’s the scary part,” Rose explained.
By virtue of not even recognizing — and, by extension, acknowledging — social exclusion as bullying, bystanders can end up reinforcing it, irrespective of their intentions, Rose adds. This happens because, in the absence of any opposition, social exclusion can seem like a “group attack,” when in reality, it’s often “the product of a single person’s determination in making you feel bad,” as an article on Psych Central suggests.
Related on The Swaddle:
The Stereotype That Abusers Are ‘Bad’ People Can Prevent Survivors From Recognizing Real‑Life Abuse
However, learning about social exclusion as a form of bullying might lead one to wonder whether they would be deemed a “bully” for simply not wanting to hang out with a specific person they dislike. The answer to that is: no; simply avoiding a person doesn’t make one a bully — unless there’s an intent to hurt them through deliberate exclusion.
“It’s very natural to simply not get on with someone and you may not necessarily want them in your group chat or online gaming crew… It’s not bullying behavior if you simply don’t gel with someone and you don’t particularly want to interact with them — but it’s important that you still act in a civil and polite manner,” explains a primer by the Anti-Bullying initiative of the Diana Award. “The general rule is that if you are purposefully excluding someone because you know it will upset them — that is bullying behavior.” The intent, here, adds the element of hostility that transforms mere avoidance into exclusion, and by extension, into abusive behavior.
Given that relational aggression isn’t just restricted to schools and makes its way into adult dynamics, too, acknowledging the damage it can do, and trying to be alert of it being done to people around us, might help in a number of ways. As Rose noted, “Bullying does not begin or end with the school bells; it is a community issue.”
Greater awareness can, perhaps, deter bullies from engaging in the tactics — understanding the behavior is wrong could, potentially, make it more unacceptable socially. In doing so, perhaps, it can stop people from perpetuating — or worse, normalizing — social exclusion, gradually curbing its prevalence.
Recognition of social exclusion as a form of bullying might also allow the ones being excluded to feel that their pain is valid — as one hopes the present study has done. | https://theswaddle.com/how-social-exclusion-is-a-more-common-form-of-bullying-than-physical-verbal-attacks/ | 2022-08-29T12:09:47Z | theswaddle.com | control | https://theswaddle.com/how-social-exclusion-is-a-more-common-form-of-bullying-than-physical-verbal-attacks/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Chicago braces for strong storms Monday
CHICAGO - Strong to severe storms are possible today with much of our area placed in the Storm Prediction Center’s "Enhanced" risk zone.
All storm hazards are in play with damaging straight-line winds as the primary threat.
Prime timing for these potential storms will be 1 p.m. to 7pm. Otherwise, it will be hot and humid with highs not far from 90 degrees.
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The rest of the work week looks quiet with ample sunshine, lower humidity and highs close to seasonable normal around 80 degrees | https://www.fox32chicago.com/weather/chicago-severe-storms-monday | 2022-08-29T12:09:49Z | fox32chicago.com | control | https://www.fox32chicago.com/weather/chicago-severe-storms-monday | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
New Delhi: Days after he resigned from the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad has alleged that he was 'forced' to leave the party, and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'showing humanity'.
Speaking to the media here on Monday, he said the Congress does not respect its leaders and "people don't know about our contribution to the party".
While praising the Prime Minister, he said, "I had understood Modi was a crude man as he is not married, does not have children but he has shown his humane side when he spoke in Parliament about the incident that happened with the Gujarati tourists when I was the Chief Minister."
Azad was responding to the allegation leveled against him by the Congress leaders, who had said that "Azad has been Modi-fied' and will join the BJP".
He said, "The party is full of illiterates, especially those who are working on clerical posts. Those who know J&K, I can't increase one vote of BJP."
He also said that Rahul Gandhi was not interested in politics despite efforts from the party. "It was Rahul who hugged the Prime Minister in Parliament not me," Azad said and added that since the letter seeking reform in the Congress was written in 2020, the party has a problem as no one wants to be questioned.
In his resignation letter, Azad had said, "Unfortunately, the situation in the Congress party has reached such a point of no return that now 'proxies' are being propped up to take over the leadership of the party. This experiment is doomed to fail because the party has been so comprehensively destroyed that the situation has become irretrievable. Moreover, the 'chosen one' would be nothing more than a puppet on a string."
He said at the national level Congress has conceded the political space available to the BJP and state-level space to regional parties.
"This all happened because the leadership in the past eight years has tried to foist a non-serious individual at the helm of the party," he alleged without naming Rahul Gandhi. | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2022/08/29/ghulam-nabi-azad-resignation-rahul-gandhi-narendra-modi.html | 2022-08-29T12:15:38Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2022/08/29/ghulam-nabi-azad-resignation-rahul-gandhi-narendra-modi.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on some of the petitioners for seeking adjournment of hearing on pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state, saying it would not permit "this kind of forum shopping".
The apex court, which issued notice to the Karnataka government on the pleas, observed that the petitioners in the matter had repeatedly sought early hearing and when these pleas have been listed, a letter has been circulated requesting for adjournment.
"This is not acceptable. You asked for early hearing time and again. Now, it is listed, and you ask for this," said a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia.
"We will not permit forum shopping. That is all. Come tomorrow for arguments. We will hear you tomorrow," the bench said at the outset.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Karnataka, said a letter has been circulated in the matter.
"Can I make one request, if it appeals to your lordships. They are the petitioners. So, in view of the letter circulated, your lordships possibly consider not to pass any order adverse to them. Can your lordships consider issuing notice?," Mehta told the bench.
He said if notice is issued on these pleas, at least one stage would be over and arguments in the matter could be heard on the next date.
The bench issued notice to the state and other respondents on these pleas and posted them for hearing on September 5.
One of the advocates, appearing for some of the petitioners, said these matters came up suddenly in the cause list on Saturday and there are some advocates who have to come for the hearing in the apex court from Karnataka.
"Karnataka takes only two-and-a-half hour flight," the bench observed.
Mehta said a question of law was involved in the matter and no counter may be required to be filed.
When the bench posted the matter for hearing on September 5, one of the advocates requested that two weeks' time may be given.
"Come on Monday (September 5)," the bench said.
When the counsel said the matter may be listed for hearing on a non-miscellaneous day in the apex court, the bench said if need will arise, it would take up the matter on a non-miscellaneous day.
"May I request. Your lordships may give two weeks. It will not make much difference," one of the counsels said.
The bench said the petitioners were earlier asking for hearing in the matter.
The solicitor general said he has the list and these matters were mentioned for listing six times.
The counsel said hearing was sought earlier because those days, exams were going to take place, and now they have to prepare the brief.
"So, you would have argued without preparation in those days?" Mehta asked.
The bench observed, "This kind of a forum shopping, we will not permit."
A total of 24 petitions, including those challenging the high court verdict, were listed for hearing before the top court.
Several petitions have been filed in the apex court against the March 15 verdict of the Karnataka High Court verdict holding that wearing of hijab is not a part of the essential religious practice which can be protected under Article 25 of the Constitution.
The high court had dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, the high court had said.
In one of the pleas filed in the top court, the petitioner said the high court has erred in creating a dichotomy of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience wherein the court has inferred that those who follow a religion cannot have the right to conscience.
"The high court has failed to note that the right to wear hijab comes under the ambit of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is submitted that the freedom of conscience forms a part of the right to privacy," it said.
The plea said the petitioner had approached the high court seeking redressal for the alleged violation of their fundamental rights against the state government order of February 5, 2022, issued under Sections 7 and 133 of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983.
The high court had maintained that the government has the power to issue impugned order dated February 5, 2022, and no case is made out for its invalidation.
By the said order, the Karnataka government had banned wearing clothes that disturb equality, integrity, and public order in schools and colleges, which the Muslim girls had challenged in the high court.
Challenging the February 5 order of the government, the petitioners had argued before the high court that wearing the Islamic headscarf was an innocent practice of faith and an Essential Religious Practice (ERP) and not a mere display of religious jingoism. | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2022/08/29/sc-notice-karnataka-hijab-ban.amp.html | 2022-08-29T12:15:44Z | onmanorama.com | control | https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2022/08/29/sc-notice-karnataka-hijab-ban.amp.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(The Hill) – Marijuana use reached a record high in new polling, as for the first time more Americans said they smoke marijuana than reported smoking cigarettes in the last week.
Sixteen percent of Americans in a new Gallup poll reported smoking marijuana, up from 12 percent last year and more than double the all-time low of 7 percent.
Fewer Americans, at 11 percent, reported smoking cigarettes in the past week, down from 16 percent last year and a far fall from a peak at 45 percent in the 1950s.
It’s the highest percentage of reported marijuana use and the lowest percentage of past-week cigarette use since Gallup started asking those questions in 2013 and 1944, respectively.
Nearly half of U.S. adults now report having tried marijuana, up from 4 percent when Gallup first surveyed about its use in 1969.
Despite increasingly common use of the drug, Americans remain evenly split on whether marijuana is having a negative or positive effect on society.
Yet more than two-thirds of Americans, at 68 percent, think the drug should be legal, a record-high maintained from last year’s polling.
Six states could vote on ballot measures legalizing marijuana in the November midterm elections, and should they pass, will join 19 others in legalizing recreational marijuana.
Conducted July 5-26, the surveys on marijuana and tobacco use polled 1,013 U.S. adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/marijuana-use-hits-record-high-in-new-gallup-poll/ | 2022-08-29T12:22:40Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/marijuana-use-hits-record-high-in-new-gallup-poll/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Everyone wants to save money on their TV bills, which can exceed $200 a month in some cases when you include streaming services and internet.
Unfortunately, scammers are posing as employees of your cable or satellite company -- all to get your personal information, or credit card numbers.
Tim Hoff's quiet moments keep getting interrupted by phone calls about his TV bill.
"One day it will be Spectrum, the next day DirecTV," he said. And his phone's caller ID often shows the company's name, in what's known as a "spoofed" call.
He says the callers promise to lower his bill if he just gives them some personal information, like account numbers.
"They tell me, 'we're offering a reduction on your TV.' So I can see how you might buy into that. You want lower rates, you give them your information." Hoff said.
The caller can be friendly or threatening
More and more people are getting calls like this, typically offering you a discount or rebate, though they can also be threatening, claiming you are behind on your payments and will be disconnected.
Mike Pedelty, a spokesperson for Spectrum, told us if you're hearing about a problem with your account for the first time over the phone, it's probably a scam call.
"If you think you're caught up on your bill," he said, "and all of a sudden you get this call, that's a red flag. We wouldn't be calling, and we certainly are not harassing customers."
Adam Levin, cyber security expert, and host of the podcast "What the Hack," says customers should also be on alert for strange payment requests such as buying and giving gift card numbers.
"Gift cards are the same thing as cash. People have to understand that," he said. "There's really no way to track it and there's no way to recall it."
Cable and satellite providers hope a new technology called STIR/SHAKEN will soon stop these spoofed calls, making it impossible for scammers to put phony phone numbers on your caller ID.
But the rollout is taking time.
If you get a strange call, Pedelty suggests you hang up and call the customer service number on your bill (not the number that called you.)
When Tim Hoff does that, he said, "they say it is not us, it is a scam call."
He wants you to know that, too, so you don't waste your money.
_________________________
Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").
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For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com | https://www.wtxl.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/you-need-to-know-about-this-slick-cable-or-satellite-tv-scam | 2022-08-29T12:24:31Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/you-need-to-know-about-this-slick-cable-or-satellite-tv-scam | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON — This week marks 10 weeks until election day and for most of the summer — when gas prices were breaking records — many thought the election could be a landslide victory for Republicans.
While history is undoubtedly still on the side of the GOP, Democrats have made major inroads in recent weeks, fueling speculation that this midterm may be historically close.
HISTORY AND POLLS FAVOR GOP
For most of this year, the conventional thinking was a political "red wave" was going to sweep the country.
That happened to Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton in 1994 and Barack Obama in 2010.
Americans tend to vote against the party that controls the White House.
President Joe Biden's poll numbers certainly are contributing to that belief. It's one reason why Republicans are still projected to take back the House of Representatives.
RealClearPolitics, a non-partisan website, has averaged all of Biden's recent polling. Right now, the Biden has around a 42% approval rating and 55% of the country disapproves of him.
However, something is happening with the political tides in this country that is giving Democrats some hope — despite Biden's poor numbers.
REASON FOR HOPE FOR DEMOCRATS
One reason Democrats are feeling more optimistic is because they actually passed some of their priorities.
Between climate change reform, prescription drug changes and student loan forgiveness, that may just be enough to motivate some Democrat voters who usually sit out midterm elections.
Of course, Republicans voted against those issues and the new policies will likely motivate their voters too.
Another reason is the price of gasoline. Last month, gas prices averaged $4.36/gallon. Last week, they averaged $3.88/gallon.
Prices are getting closer to what they averaged back in 2021.
In fact, a recent NBC news poll listed "threats to democracy" as the No. 1 issue on minds of voters this election.
Gas prices and inflation were No. 2.
Democrats think they have a better shot at keeping races close across the country if voters are thinking about something other than the price of gas, an issue that favors Republicans.
Another reason this election may be tight down the stretch is because of recent election results and abortion rights.
In New York last week, few polls had Democrat Pat Ryan winning his congressional race.
However, Ryan won after he focused his campaign primarily on abortion.
In conservative-learning Kansas this month, voters defeated a measure that would have created new restrictions.
Those results are leading some political observers to wonder if Democrats are stealing some Republican voters over the issue of abortion.
Not to mention, Republicans have selected a number of Senate candidates who have never held office before, so they are not as familiar to voters
That is true with Republican Senate candidates in Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia. | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national-politics/why-the-november-midterm-election-is-now-expected-to-be-close | 2022-08-29T12:24:37Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/news/national-politics/why-the-november-midterm-election-is-now-expected-to-be-close | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. is in “good spirits” after he was shot multiple times in a possible carjacking.
According to the Commanders, Robinson sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the incident. Head coach Ron Rivera said late Sunday he had just visited Robinson at the hospital.
“He is in good spirits and wanted me to thank everyone for their kind words, prayers & support,” Rivera tweeted. “He wants his teammates to know he appreciates them all for reaching out and he loves them all & will be back soon doing what he does best.”
NBC Washington reported that two juveniles attempted to steal Robinson’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. A gun was found at the scene of the incident, police told NBC Washington.
Robinson is set to start his rookie NFL season after five seasons at the University of Alabama, where he won two national titles. After primarily serving as a backup for four seasons, he was among the SEC’s top running backs in 2021, earning first-team All-SEC honors. | https://www.wtxl.com/sports/washington-running-back-robinson-jr-shot-during-apparent-carjacking | 2022-08-29T12:24:49Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/sports/washington-running-back-robinson-jr-shot-during-apparent-carjacking | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TALLAHASSEE — Temperatures will still warm to the upper 80s and low 90s, but storms will return Monday afternoon.
Storms will develop through the mid-afternoon hours.
Gusty wind and frequent lightning will be possible with some storms.
Our biggest concerns will be focused on the heavy amounts of rain possible with some storms.
Localized flooding may occur.
Avoid areas where water flows over roadways.
Afternoon storms will be a trend in this week’s forecast overall. | https://www.wtxl.com/weather/weather-news/first-to-know-forecast-localized-flooding-under-heavy-rain-this-week | 2022-08-29T12:24:55Z | wtxl.com | control | https://www.wtxl.com/weather/weather-news/first-to-know-forecast-localized-flooding-under-heavy-rain-this-week | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BERLIN (AP) — A girl who was on vacation from Italy with her parents has died after a stone statue fell on her at a hotel in Munich, German police said Sunday.
The 7-year-old was hit by the roughly 440-pound statue in the courtyard of the hotel on Friday evening, police said.
People at the scene were able to free the child and call emergency services, but she died later at a Munich hospital.
It wasn’t clear why the statue toppled over. Police said an investigation was ongoing. | https://www.wpri.com/news/national/girl-7-dies-after-440-pound-statue-falls-on-her-while-on-vacation/ | 2022-08-29T12:26:54Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/national/girl-7-dies-after-440-pound-statue-falls-on-her-while-on-vacation/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (WROC) — New York State Police arrested 43-year-old Jeffrey Kuney of Canandaigua on criminal sex and drug charges on Wednesday.
Troopers said the charges were made after a victim came forward with allegations upon learning that Kuney was previously arrested for first-degree rape back in July.
Investigators also seized cocaine and prescription drugs from Kuney. Investigators added that Kuney allegedly gave the drugs to one of his victims.
Kuney was charged with first-degree criminal sex act and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Kuney was processed and is currently awaiting arraignment at Ontario County Jail. Other victims of Kuney are encouraged to call Troop E of the New York State Police at (585) 398-4100. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ny-man-arrested-for-criminal-sex-and-drug-possession/ | 2022-08-29T12:28:00Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ny-man-arrested-for-criminal-sex-and-drug-possession/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
GENEVA (AP) — Lawyers for Israeli diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz urged a Swiss appeals court on Monday to throw out testimony from a former first lady of Guinea that contributed to his conviction for corruption.
The case involves an alleged plot, dating to the mid-2000s, in which Steinmetz’s BSGR Group squeezed out a rival for mining rights for vast iron ore deposits in Guinea’s southeastern Simandou region. The case has exposed the shady and complex world of deal-making and cutthroat competition in the lucrative mining business.
The prosecutor’s office has argued that from 2005 onward, Steinmetz crafted a pact of corruption with Guinean President Lansana Conte, who ruled the West African country from 1984 until his death in 2008, and with Mamadie Toure, his fourth wife, involving the payment of nearly $10 million.
Appearing before a Geneva appeals court on Monday, Steinmetz’s lawyer, Daniel Kinzer, said the terms and circumstances of a deal between Toure and the FBI in the United States were unclear, and defense lawyers never had a chance to question her — depriving Steinmetz of the chance for a fair trial and the right to cross-examine her, he said.
He said Swiss state prosecutors had “deliberately” excluded defense teams from any pretrial questioning of Toure in the United States, where she lives. She has reached an agreement with U.S. authorities in the case.
Toure did not appear for the original trial in January last year. At its conclusion, Steinmetz was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a 50-million-Swiss franc ($51.5 million) fine. Two other defendants received lesser penalties.
“It’s easier to falsely accuse a defendant when you don’t have to look at them,” Kinzer said. “The defense team was never able to cross-examine Madame Toure.”
He said a “face-to-face confrontation” was required under both Swiss law and from rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.
Geneva state prosecutor Yves Bertossa countered, however, that such accounts were admissible, but that they had to be used “with a certain prudence.” he said it was an “extraordinary” insinuation that U.S. or Swiss prosecutors might be “in cahoots” with Toure, and said that other material elements to the case — like written contracts, bank statements, and evidence from wiretaps — were sufficient to uphold conviction.
The appeal is expected to run through Sept. 7. A verdict is expected at a later date.
Backers of the Israeli tycoon insist that the lower court didn’t get a full understanding of the facts of the case, and believe that the court wanted to set an example that Switzerland — which has had a reputation over the years for secretive financial dealings — can hold financial kingpins to account when necessary.
After the verdict, Swiss transparency group Public Eye hailed a “landmark ruling” that showed the court could see through a “slick” legal defense.
Steinmetz, 66, has denied the charges and remains free pending the appeal. If the conviction is upheld, his lawyers can appeal to the Swiss federal court. He was in court Monday.
In its court filing, the prosecutor’s office said BSGR won exploration and exploitation licenses in Guinea between 2006 and 2010 in Guinea’s southeastern Simandou region, while its competitor — Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto — was stripped of its mining rights on two sites in the region.
Steinmetz’s defense team says a mountain range in the area holds some of the world’s largest untapped deposits of iron ore, and the standoff has stifled any hopes to reap them — and offer a potential windfall for an impoverished country. They say BSGR was the first company to study the feasibility of mining iron ore in the area. | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-israeli-tycoon-appeals-corruption-conviction-in-swiss-court/ | 2022-08-29T12:32:24Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-israeli-tycoon-appeals-corruption-conviction-in-swiss-court/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TOKYO (AP) — Major South Korean battery maker LG and Japanese automaker Honda are investing $4.4 billion in a joint venture in the United States to produce batteries for Honda electric vehicles in the North American market, the two companies said Monday.
The plant’s site is still undecided, but construction will begin in early 2023, with mass production of advanced lithium-ion battery cells to start by the end of 2025, they said.
The joint venture is to be set up this year, with the closing of the deal subject to regulatory approval.
“Our joint venture with Honda, which has significant brand reputation, is yet another milestone in our mid- to long-term strategy of promoting electrification in the fast-growing North American market,” said LG Energy Solution Chief Executive Youngsoo Kwon.
The plant will produce batteries exclusively for Honda vehicles assembled in North America, including the company’s Acura luxury brand, according to a joint statement.
LG, a leading manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and power systems, already makes them in joint ventures with U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford Motor Co., as well as South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group. The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, but has operations across the world, including the U.S., China and Australia.
Demand for electric vehicles is expected to grow in the U.S. and many other nations because of concerns about climate change and pollution, as well as rising gas prices. All of the world’s top automakers are strengthening their EV lineups.
“Honda is working toward our target to realize carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities the company is involved in by 2050,” said Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe.
A new U.S. law includes a tax credit of up to $7,500 that could be used to defray the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle. But to qualify for the full credit, the electric vehicle must contain a battery built in North America with 40% of the metals mined or recycled on the continent. | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-lg-honda-to-set-up-us-joint-venture-to-make-ev-batteries/ | 2022-08-29T12:32:31Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/business/ap-business/ap-lg-honda-to-set-up-us-joint-venture-to-make-ev-batteries/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BEIJING (AP) — More than 100,000 people have been moved to safer areas by Monday as heavy rains brought flood risks to a region of southwest China that was devastated by a heatwave and drought for most of the summer.
Heavy rain was forecast for parts of Sichuan province and Chongqing city through at least Tuesday. Chongqing, a megacity built in a hilly area and that also oversees the surrounding mountains and countryside, issued a flash flood warning for both days.
The Sichuan emergency management administration said Monday that 119,000 people have been evacuated. One village under the jurisdiction of Guangyuan city recorded 18.8 centimeters (7.4 inches) of rain, state broadcaster CCTV said. The city was one of two in Sichuan most affected by the drought.
A national level IV emergency response for floods, the lowest in a four-tier system, is in effect in Sichuan, Chongqing and neighboring Gansu and Shaanxi provinces to the north. The hard, sunbaked soil left by the heatwave increases the risk of natural disasters when it rains, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The shift in the weather brought some relief from the heat, and full power was restored to factories in Sichuan after two weeks of restrictions stemming from reduced hydropower output.
The rain should help farmers whose rice, spicy Sichuan peppers and other crops were withering during an extended drought that reduced community reservoirs to mostly cracked earth.
Temperatures topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in what meteorologists called the strongest heat wave in China since record-keeping began in 1961.
Power in Sichuan for commercial and industrial use “has been fully restored,” CCTV said on its website. Household demand for air conditioning declined as temperatures moderated and the rainfall was starting to replenish hydroelectric reservoirs.
Hydropower generation in the province was up 9.5% from its low point, the state broadcaster reported. Daily power use by households declined by 28% from a peak of 473 million to 340 million kilowatt hours, the report said, citing Zhao Hong, marketing director for State Grid’s Sichuan subsidiary.
“The contradiction between power supply and demand in Sichuan will be basically resolved in the next three days,” Zhao was quoted as saying.
The falling hydropower production prompted Sichuan utilities to step up the use of coal-fired power plants, temporarily setting back efforts to reduce carbon and other emissions.
The share of power in Sichuan that comes from coal has jumped to 25% from 10% with 67 generating stations running at full capacity, according to Caixin, a Chinese business news magazine.
Sichuan usually is seen as a clean power success story in China, getting 80% of its electricity from hydropower. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-chinas-drought-hit-areas-get-rain-bringing-flood-risks/ | 2022-08-29T12:32:57Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-chinas-drought-hit-areas-get-rain-bringing-flood-risks/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
STOCKHOLM (AP) — An employee of an animal park in southwestern Sweden was gored to death by an eland, Swedish media reported Monday.
The man, a foreign national, was taking the antelopes into stables after the park had closed, police spokesman Robert Loeffel told Swedish broadcaster SVT.
The goring happened late Sunday at the Oland Animal and Entertainment Park on the southwestern island of Oland. Police said the case is being considered a “workplace accident,” which is standard procedure.
It was not known precisely what happened inside the enclosure. The identity and citizenship of the deceased employee was not given.
The eland is the world’s largest antelope.
As of Monday, the park had closed for the season, according to its website. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-man-gored-to-death-by-antelope-in-swedish-animal-park/ | 2022-08-29T12:33:41Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-man-gored-to-death-by-antelope-in-swedish-animal-park/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top security agency on Monday identified a second Ukrainian that it alleged was involved in the killing of the daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologue.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main KGB successor agency, said that Ukrainian national Bogdan Tsyganenko helped prepare the killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Alexander Dugin, who was described by some in the West as “Putin’s brain.”
The FSB charged that Tsyganenko provided the main suspect, Natalya Vovk, with a fake ID and fake license plates, and helped her assemble an explosive device that was planted in Dugina’s car.
Tsyganenko, 44, arrived in Russia via Estonia on July 30 and left the country the day before the killing, the FSB said.
Dugina, a 29-year-old commentator with a nationalist Russian TV channel, died when a remotely controlled explosive device planted in her SUV blew up on the night of Aug. 20 as she was driving on the outskirts of Moscow, ripping the vehicle apart and killing her on the spot, authorities said.
Both she and her father, who is a philosopher, writer and political theorist, ardently supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine.
The FSB said Dugina’s killing was “prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services” and accused Vovk of carrying out the killing and then fleeing to Estonia.
Vovk, according to the FSB, arrived in Russia in July with her 12-year-old daughter and rented an apartment in the building where Dugina lived in order to shadow her. The agency alleged that Vovk and her daughter were at a nationalist festival that Dugin and his daughter attended just before the killing.
The FSB said Vovk used a license plate for Ukraine’s Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region to enter Russia and a Kazakhstan plate in Moscow before switching to a Ukrainian one to cross into Estonia. It released video and photos of the suspect from surveillance cameras at the border crossings, while driving the car in Moscow and at the entrance to the Moscow apartment building.
The agency said Monday that Tsyganenko provided Vovk with a Kazakh license plate and Kazakh ID documents belonging to a real person named Yulia Zaiko. It didn’t offer any details as to how Vovk obtained other license plates and whether those were fake, too.
Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement in Dugina’s death. Estonian authorities said they have not received any formal requests or inquiries from Russia regarding Vovk. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-russia-identifies-2nd-suspect-in-death-of-nationalist-dugina/ | 2022-08-29T12:34:10Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/ap-international-news/ap-russia-identifies-2nd-suspect-in-death-of-nationalist-dugina/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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