'Unbelievable' Odegaard transforms Arsenal and gets Saka smiling again
Five Point Holdings, LLC ( NYSE:FPH – Get Free Report ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 87,100 shares, an increase of 28.3% from the November 30th total of 67,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 507,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Five Point Price Performance FPH opened at $3.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.49. The company has a market capitalization of $530.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.45. Five Point has a 1-year low of $2.60 and a 1-year high of $4.39. Five Point ( NYSE:FPH – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $17.01 million during the quarter. Five Point had a return on equity of 2.57% and a net margin of 26.19%. Insider Activity at Five Point Hedge Funds Weigh In On Five Point Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Five Point in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Five Point in the third quarter valued at $73,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Five Point in the third quarter valued at $76,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Five Point during the 3rd quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Five Point by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 36,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 17,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.09% of the company’s stock. About Five Point ( Get Free Report ) Five Point Holdings, LLC, through its subsidiary, Five Point Operating Company, LP, owns and develops mixed-use and planned communities in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and San Francisco County. The company operates in four segments: Valencia, San Francisco, Great Park, and Commercial. It sells residential and commercial land sites to homebuilders, commercial developers, and commercial buyers; operates and owns a commercial office, research and development, medical campus, and other properties; and provides development and property management services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Five Point Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Five Point and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .So far in December, there have been 24 launch attempts worldwide. There will be no let-up during the holiday period, with at least seven more launches planned for this week. The SpaceX launch manifest for this week includes a single customer payload and three batches of Starlink satellites. SpaceX’s target of 136 launches for the year could still be achieved, but the recent scrub of the Astranis: From One To Many mission casts doubt on whether the 136 launch target will be met. Elsewhere, India will launch a satellite docking experiment mission, and Russia plans to launch an Earth observation satellite mission. China is preparing for a single launch from Jiuquan this week. 🛰️ Filling of Resurs-P No. 5 satellite with fuel and compressed gases had been completed at Baikonur cosmodrome, after which the satellite was transported to MIK No. 112 for the final stage of pre-flight preparation. 🚀The launch of Resurs-P No. 5 is scheduled for late Dec 2024.... pic.twitter.com/lOZhYap9YB — Russian Embassy in South Africa 🇷🇺 (@EmbassyofRussia) December 17, 2024 Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1b | Resurs-P No. 5 On Wednesday, Dec. 25, at 07:45:42 UTC, Russia will launch a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. As described by Roscosmos, the payload consists of one satellite writing, “The Resurs-P spacecraft No. 5 is designed for high-precision, detailed wide-selective and hyperspectral optical-electronic observation of the Earth’s surface to study natural resources, control pollution, and environmental degradation, search for mineral deposits, assess the state of the ice situation, monitoring emergency situations, creating and updating topographic and navigation maps.” The Soyuz 2.1b rocket used for this mission features decals describing it as the 2,000th R-7 rocket to be launched. The R-7 series was first built in 1957 as a missile but quickly became the workhorse of Soviet and Russian space missions. The current Soyuz models are direct developments of the original R-7 model, with two major variants: the Soyuz 2.1a, which serves as a base version, and the Soyuz 2.1b, which utilizes a more powerful third stage. Soyuz 2.1b is powered by four RD-107A engines on the first stage (arranged around the second, core stage), a single RD-108A engine on the core stage, and an RD-0124 engine on the third stage. Each stage uses liquid oxygen and kerosene (RP-1) as propellants. The 2,000th R-7 decal on the Soyuz 2.1b booster. (Credit: Roscosmos) CAS Space Kinetica-1 | Unknown Payload A Kinetica-1 rocket will launch an unknown payload from Site 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. Launch is set for Friday, Dec. 27, at 01:03 UTC. The details for this launch are scarce, and no further information has been released. SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starship Group 11-3 SpaceX will launch the Starlink Group 11-3 mission on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 5:35 PM PST (01:35 UTC on Dec. 29) from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This will likely be the final launch of 2024 from Vandenberg. Falcon 9 | Astranis: From One to Many This launch was postponed following a rare engine abort at ignition on the first launch attempt on Friday, Dec. 20. Falcon 9 will now launch the Astranis: From One to Many mission on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 12:00 AM EST (05:00 UTC). The payload for this mission consists of four MicroGEO satellites built by Astranis Space Technologies Corp. in San Francisco, California. Designed to be smaller than typical geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites, the MicroGEO satellites will provide broadband access and on-orbit services for various Astranis customers. One satellite will provide the Philippines with broadband access via Orbits Corp, two satellites will provide internet connectivity services to aircraft and cruise ships through Anuvu, and the final satellite, Utilitysat, will be used by Astranis for unknown purposes. Falcon 9 will launch the four satellites to GEO after flying east out of the Cape. Following liftoff, the currently unknown booster will land on one of SpaceX’s autonomous droneships, which will be stationed downrange in the Atlantic. SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-6 SpaceX will launch another batch of Group 12 Starlink v2-Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 12:00 AM EST (05:00 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This late addition to the launch manifest will see Falcon 9 flying southeast, where an autonomous droneship will be stationed for the attempted booster landing. SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-3 The final launch of 2024 from SLC-40 in Florida will occur on Sunday, Dec. 29. Starlink Group 12-3 will consist of 23 more Starlink v2-Mini satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities. Falcon 9 will launch the satellites to a 43-degree inclination orbit on a southeastern trajectory. This will be the 132nd Falcon 9 launch of 2024 and the 134th SpaceX mission of 2024. With just two days remaining in the year after this mission, it appears that SpaceX will miss its 136 Falcon launch target. 🚀 PSLV-C60/SPADEX Update: The launch vehicle has been integrated and now moved to the First Launch Pad, for further integration of satellites and launch preparations. Stay tuned for updates on #PSLV -C60 and watch this space for exciting info on the upcoming PSLV-C60/SPADEX... pic.twitter.com/HNUW1SnUdG — ISRO (@isro) December 21, 2024 ISRO PSLV-CA | SPADEX On Monday, Dec. 30, at 16:28 UTC, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch two satellites as part of the Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission. Each satellite masses 220 kg and will demonstrate autonomous docking technologies in orbit. SPADEX will launch atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in India. Ananth Technologies Private Limited (ATL) completed the integration of the two satellites for ISRO and handed them over to ISRO at the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru. The SPADEX satellites were then transported to the Indian Spaceport at Sriharikota, where they underwent final testing and preparations for launch. ISRO generally builds its satellites at the URSC, but this is the first time that ISRO is having its satellites completely assembled, integrated, and tested by the Indian private industry at a private facility. This shift is enabled by space sector reforms that grant more opportunities to India’s private aerospace sector. In the Core Alone (CA) configuration being used for this mission, India’s PSLV rocket stands 44 meters tall. Four stages power the vehicle into orbit, with no strap-on stages being utilized. The first and third stages utilize solid rocket motors, with the second and fourth stages using liquid propellants. The solid stages provide the power needed to launch PSLV’s payloads, while the liquid stages adjust for any variance from the solid motors’ performance. Once in orbit, the two satellites, Target and Chaser, will be deployed into a 470 km circular orbit at a 55-degree inclination. The PSLV fourth stage will provide the two spacecraft with slightly different velocities, resulting in Target being deployed “ahead” of Chaser. Chaser will then make up the difference, rendezvous with Target, and perform an autonomous docking. Following successful systems checks, Target and Chaser will separate to perform individual tasks for the remainder of their missions. The PSLV fourth stage is also equipped with the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module 4 (POEM-4) spacecraft, which will carry several experiments. SpaceX Falcon 9 | Thuraya 4-NGS SpaceX’s first launch and first customer launch of 2025 will see Falcon 9 launch the Thuraya 4-NGS mission. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 1, at 12:00 AM EST (05:00 UTC ) from SLC-40 in Florida. The payload for this mission is an Airbus-built satellite for Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) of the United Arab Emirates. Thuraya 4-NGS is a next-generation mobile telecommunications system that will deliver higher communications capabilities and flexibility while increasing capacity and coverage across Europe, Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Based on the all-electric Airbus Eurostar Neo Platform, Thuraya 4-NGS will incorporate a 12 m L-band antenna and a payload providing onboard processing. This will give the satellite advanced routing flexibility of up to 3,200 channels and dynamic power allocation over many spot beams. (Lead image: Sunset liftoff of Falcon 9 from LC-39A in December 2024. Credit: Max Evans for NSF)
Santa Clara, CA and Kyoto, Japan, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ROHM Semiconductor and Valeo, a leading automotive technology company, today announced they are collaborating to propose and optimize the next generation of power modules for electric motor inverters using their combined expertise in power electronics management. As a first step, ROHM will provide its 2-in-1 Silicon Carbide (SiC) molded module TRCDRIVE packTM to Valeo for future powertrain solutions. Valeo is broadening access to efficient, electrified mobility across various vehicle types and markets from the smallest one (ebikes), through the mainstream (passenger cars) to the largest one (eTrucks). By combining Valeo's expertise in mechatronics, thermal management and software development with ROHM's power modules, Valeo drives the power electronics solution forward, contributing to the performance, efficiency, and decarbonization of automotive systems worldwide. ROHM and Valeo have been collaborating since 2022, initially focusing on technical exchanges aimed at improving the performance and efficiency of the motor inverter – a key component in the propulsion systems of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). By refining power electronics, both companies aim to offer optimized cost/performance by delivering higher energy efficiency, reducing heat generation thanks to an optimized cooling and mechatronic integration, and increasing overall reliability with a SiC packaging. "We are pleased to support Valeo, a renowned automotive supplier, with our power semiconductors. ROHM's TRCDRIVE pack provides high power density, leading to an improved power efficiency. Together, we contribute to the development of highly efficient powertrains by fostering the collaboration with Valeo," said Wolfram HARNACK, President ROHM Semiconductor GmbH. "This partnership marks, for Valeo Power Division, a significant step forward in delivering advanced and high-efficient power electronics," says Xavier DUPONT, Valeo Power Division CEO. "Together, we aim to set new industry standards for high voltage inverters and accelerate the transition towards more efficient and affordable electric mobility." These evolutions are all essential to supporting the growing demand for longer range, faster charging capabilities and, overall, a high-performance and an affordable inverter for BEVs and PHEVs. Valeo will start supplying a first series project in early 2026. ROHM and Valeo will contribute to the improvement of efficiency and downsizing of Valeo's next generation of xEV inverters. Background on ROHM's TRCDRIVE pack TRCDRIVE pack is a trademark for ROHM's SiC molded module developed for traction inverter drives. This product features high power density and a unique terminal configuration, solving the key challenges of traction inverters in terms of miniaturization, higher efficiency, and fewer person-hours. Because SiC enables low-loss power conversion under high-voltage conditions, combining Valeo's component technology, casing design and thermal management expertise with ROHM's power module creates a synergistic effect. Through both companies' collaboration in automotive power electronics, they contribute to achieving a decarbonized society by enhancing the performance and efficiency of the motor inverter. More information is available at: https://www.rohm.com/news-detail?news-title=2024-06-11_news_trcdrive-pack&defaultGroupId=false TRCDRIVE packTM is a trademark or registered trademark of ROHM Co., Ltd. About Valeo Valeo is a technology company and partner to all automakers and new mobility players worldwide. The company innovates to make mobility safer, smarter and more sustainable. Valeo enjoys technological and industrial leadership in electrification, driving assistance systems, reinvention of the interior experience and lighting everywhere. These four areas, vital to the transformation of mobility, are the Group's growth drivers. https://www.valeo.com/ Valeo in figures: 22 billion euros in sales in 2023 | 109 600 employees, 28 countries, 159 plants, 64 research and development centers and 19 distribution platforms (June 30, 2024). Valeo is listed on the Paris stock Exchange. About ROHM Semiconductor ROHM, a leading semiconductor and electronic component manufacturer, was established in 1958. From the automotive and industrial equipment markets to the consumer and communication sectors, ROHM supplies ICs, discretes, and electronic components featuring superior quality and reliability through a global sales and development network. The company's strengths in the analog and power markets allow ROHM to propose optimized solutions for entire systems that combine peripheral components (i.e., transistors, diodes, resistors) with the latest SiC power devices, as well as drive ICs that maximize their performance. https://www.rohm.com/ Attachment Strong Partnership © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Musk causes uproar by backing German far-right party ahead of key elections
The Australian treasurer Peter Costello did a splendid thing he steered through the Charter of Budget Honesty Act in 1998. The aim was to inform Parliament and the nation about the cost of policy proposals from politicians from left, right and centre and to produce reports that show how much various tax and spending policies cost the budget each year. or signup to continue reading Costello, of course, was interested in clamping down on government spending on the welfare side: the dole bludgers, the health blow-out, the public-education black hole of waste, and so on. Costello said the best way to ensure the budget did not blow out was to prevent any new welfare scheme from getting up in the first place and to monitor spending as it happened so it could be curtailed. He was right. But the new welfare schemes to be wary of were not the ones that helped the needy, but the ones that gave hand-outs to the already wealthy. The Coalition's fix for an unbalanced budget always seemed to be to cut government help to people who really need it. However, Australia is in a $27 billion fiscal hole, not because of funding for the needy, but because of hand-outs to the distinctly unneedy. The $27 billion could be easily picked up. Information from the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook under the charter and Australian Taxation Office reports shows massive corporate welfare and high-wealth tax deductions that, if stopped, would not only repair the budget deficit but allow the government to provide genuine free universal health and dental care; excellent free public education at all levels; enough social housing to end most homelessness; a raft of sensible environmental policies; and lower income taxes for people on low and middle incomes. Some of the welfare-to-the-wealthy measures and the annual cost of them are as follows: Sure, not all of it could be easily picked up, but the government could at least make some inroads into it. Most of these concessions to the already wealthy were created in the past 25 years and all of them have ballooned since inception. True, Labor has done some things with childcare, student debt, and tinkered on the edge of social housing, but they amount to nearly nothing when compared to the nearly $200 billion a year of largesse going to people who do not need it. Unfortunately, the 2019 election result has been read as an edict in stone that promising to take away tax perks for the wealthy is electoral suicide. It has certainly led to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese being timid to the point of being moribund. But it has resulted in a dangerous failure to stem the increasing fiscal outflows caused by ever more people taking advantage of the tax concessions, many of which were granted by Costello. For example, the mad franked-dividends scheme to give cash back in the form of a tax rebate to investors who paid no tax in the first place, cost $500 million in the first year. Now it is 14 times that. People have flocked to the housing market to take advantage of the capital-gains tax concession, ramping up negative gearing deductions as they go. The Charter of Budget Honesty and last month's MYEFO have honestly revealed the unfairness of the tax system and the inequality it has inflicted in Australia (thank you Peter Costello). We should be asking what is more important: health, education, and fairness or handouts to the already wealthy? What do we want as a nation? The tax system provides the answer to those questions. And they are not pretty. We are not the land of the fair go. Nor are we the compassionate country we like to think ourselves. Worse than that, having put in place various reporting mechanisms (including Closing the Gap for Indigenous Australia and immigration numbers) the maladies and their solutions stare us in the face. And the seven quarters of negative per-capita growth (a big recession for all those on middle or low incomes) could also be fairly easily fixed. The mid-year update revised up the rate of net overseas migration from 260,000 projected in the budget to an out-of-control 340,000. With so many more people to spread the wealth around, no wonder we are going backwards. We should get back to the 70,000 level before the Howard government ramped it up and Albanese ramped it up further post-COVID. The government should take several big tax steps. It should grandfather a lot of the concessions by restricting them to a maximum of what the taxpayer claimed the previous year. This is what happened with the tax deductibility of health gap fees. There was hardly a murmur of protest. And health deductions have more merit than franking credits and negative gearing. Second, it should abolish wage and salary work-related expenses and replace them with an automatic deduction of, say, $4000. At a stroke, millions of taxpayers would be relieved of doing a tax return other than ticking off the ATO's auto-fill and they would also get a tax break. Too much of the tax burden is borne by labour and not enough by capital and consumption. Third it should do what the UK government is doing from January 1, 2025: imposing the 20 per cent VAT (its GST equivalent) on private education fees and use the money to reduce or abolish HECS and HELP debt. As the government picks up the revenue it could, for example, start a universal dental scheme with at least a free annual check-up, with expansion to other procedures down the track. Surely that is more important than subsidising fees for some very wealthy private schools. Labor is going to have to put 2019 behind it and pick up the revenue loss and channel it to people who need it. Otherwise, voters will rightly ask what is the point of a Labor government? Crispin Hull is a former editor of The Canberra Times and aregular columnist. Crispin Hull is a former editor of The Canberra Times and aregular columnist. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement Advertisement
Cowboys set to host Bengals under open roof after falling debris thwarted that plan against TexansA forecaster says ripe avalanche conditions are expected to persist across much of British Columbia for the rest of the week. Large swaths of the province, stretching from the coast to the Alberta boundary, are under “considerable” or “moderate” avalanche danger warnings. Tyson Rettie with Avalanche Canada says the conditions are largely a result of a series of storms that have lead to temperature fluctuations and significant amounts of snow at high elevation points. “We’ve seen a pattern of a storm every 18 hours or so on the coast for over a week now,” Rettie said in an interview Tuesday. “Every time the storm comes through, it deposits significant amounts of snow, often with strong or extreme winds.” He said storms like these deposit wind and storm slabs, or layers of snow, on mountains. These deposits bond together on top of existing layers of snow, Rettie said, and when the top slab is stronger than the layer beneath it, the greater the risk for an avalanche. “We’re seeing formation of both storm and wind slabs that are large enough to justify a ‘considerable hazard’ (warning),” he said. “Even just the new snow itself can form what we call a storm slab problem or a wind slab problem.” As of Tuesday afternoon, Avalanche Canada had a “considerable hazard” warning covering Vancouver Island, a stretch of coastal B.C. from Powell River to Pemberton in the east, and more areas. There were also significant areas of the province covered under “moderate hazard” avalanche warnings. One of these moderate areas is east of Pemberton towards Lillooet, and Rettie noted a few avalanches have been reported in the area over the past week. On Monday, four backcountry skiers were buried in an avalanche on Ipsoot Mountain north of Whistler, B.C., and a fifth was partially buried. All were rescued. B.C. Emergency Health Services said in a statement that three of the skiers were transported to hospital in stable condition, while the other two didn’t require hospitalization. Premier David Eby shared his appreciation for the first responders in a social media post, calling it “an incredible rescue.” Const. Antoine Graebling with the Whistler RCMP detachment said the avalanche was a 2.5 on a five-point scale, which means it was large enough to seriously injure or kill people. Graebling said his detachment hasn’t been notified of any other avalanches. But he and Rettie both said conditions can change daily. “Each of these storms is bringing a significant amount of precipitation, often warmer temperatures and strong or extreme wind speeds,” Rettie said. “The more intense the storm, the higher the danger.” He said the storm pattern is expected to continue near the coast for the rest of this week. “The timing and intensity of it is a bit uncertain. But at least over the next three days, we’re expecting a couple of significant storms to impact the coast,” he said. He encouraged backcountry skiers to check the Avalanche Canada forecasts, which are updated daily, before they hit the slopes.
Is the king of streaming ready for some football? In a first, Netflix is set to host the NFL’s two marquee Christmas Day games: the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Baltimore Ravens against the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. Beyoncé will headline the halftime show during the latter game, featuring her first live performance of tracks from her “Cowboy Carter” country album. The games are a key test for the streaming giant as it doubles down on live events programming and aims to provide more than 280 million subscribers with real-time content that was once the exclusive domain of traditional television networks. But amid the hoopla, the company faces questions about whether it has the capacity to stream these events without technical glitches. The concerns were underscored during the heavily hyped boxing match between retired pro Mike Tyson and social media personality Jake Paul . Netflix called the Nov. 15 fight the most-streamed sporting event ever, peaking at 65 million concurrent streams. But many viewers were frustrated by buffering issues during the livestream. “Glitchy is a generous way of describing it,” said Patrick Crakes, a media consultant and former Fox Sports executive. Similarly, the streamer’s “Love Is Blind” reunion special in April 2023 was delayed after what one of the company’s top executives described as a technical “bug” that had been accidentally introduced in an effort to improve live broadcasting after it aired a Chris Rock stand-up comedy special the previous month. “We didn’t meet the standard that we expect from ourselves to serve our members,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said on an earnings call last year. In the run-up to the big holiday NFL games, Netflix said it studied issues from previous live events and made necessary adjustments. The tweaks include leaning on third-party providers such as Charter Communications and Comcast, which are giving Netflix extra capacity, according to sources familiar with the matter. (Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.) The media operation at the NFL, which entered into a three-year deal with Netflix to broadcast some games, feels confident about the streaming platform’s bandwidth. “I think the evolution of the medium is getting there,” Brian Rolapp, the league’s chief media and business officer, told CNBC. “And I think they’re taking all the necessary steps to have a great Christmas Day.” Netflix is not the only major streaming service that has pushed more deeply into high-profile events that were once carried on broadcast networks or cable channels. Amazon Prime Video holds the exclusive streaming rights for the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” Disney+ simulcasts sporting events through its ESPN tile, and Warner Bros.’ Max app plays CNN news broadcasts and NBA games that used to run strictly on TNT. Peacock, the platform owned and operated by NBCUniversal, drew a sizable audience this summer as the streaming home of the Paris Olympics. Netflix has more high-profile live events on the calendar, including weekly World Wrestling Entertainment “Raw” shows that start streaming in less than two weeks. Then, in 2027 and 2031, Netflix will be home to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Netflix has also shown interest in livestreaming Hollywood awards shows; the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards aired on the platform in late February. “I think that everyone ... is going to have to get used to finding their content across multiple different distribution platforms,” said Crakes, the former Fox Sports executive.Baltimore Ravens leading receiver Zay Flowers is questionable for Wednesday's game against the host Houston Texans because of a shoulder issue. Flowers was listed on the team's injury report after missing practice on Sunday and Monday and being limited on Tuesday. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Stacker examined Census of Agriculture data from the Department of Agriculture to see which states produce the most Christmas trees. Click for more. States that produce the most Christmas trees
ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation's highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. "My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference," Carter once said. A president from Plains A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon's disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. "If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don't vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president," Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women's rights and America's global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter's electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 "White House Diary" that he could be "micromanaging" and "excessively autocratic," complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington's news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. "It didn't take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake," Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had "an inherent incompatibility" with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to "protect our nation's security and interests peacefully" and "enhance human rights here and abroad" — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. And then, the world Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. "I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia," Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. "I wanted a place where we could work." That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter's stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors. He went "where others are not treading," he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. "I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don't," Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton's White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America's approach to Israel with his 2006 book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center's many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee's 2002 Peace Prize cites his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. "The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place," he said. "The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect." 'An epic American life' Carter's globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little "Jimmy Carters," so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington's National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners. He acknowledged America's historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. "I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore," Stuart Eizenstat, Carter's domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. "He was not a great president" but also not the "hapless and weak" caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was "good and productive" and "delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office." Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton's secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat's forward that Carter was "consequential and successful" and expressed hope that "perceptions will continue to evolve" about his presidency. "Our country was lucky to have him as our leader," said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for "an epic American life" spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. "He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history," Alter told The Associated Press. A small-town start James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter's political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery's tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian, would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it "inconceivable" not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. "My wife is much more political," Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn't long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist "Dixiecrats" as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as "Cufflinks Carl." Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over," he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. 'Jimmy Who?' His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader's home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats' national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: "Jimmy Who?" The Carters and a "Peanut Brigade" of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter's ability to navigate America's complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared "born-again Christian," Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he "had looked on many women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times." The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC's new "Saturday Night Live" show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter "Fritz" Mondale as his running mate on a "Grits and Fritz" ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady's office. Mondale's governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname "Jimmy" even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band's "Hail to the Chief." They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington's social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that "he hated politics," according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Accomplishments, and 'malaise' Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation's second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon's opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn't immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his "malaise" speech, although he didn't use that word. He declared the nation was suffering "a crisis of confidence." By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he'd "kick his ass," but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with "make America great again" appeals and asking voters whether they were "better off than you were four years ago." Reagan further capitalized on Carter's lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: "There you go again." Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages' freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. 'A wonderful life' At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with "no idea what I would do with the rest of my life." Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. "I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything," Carter told the AP in 2021. "But it's turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years." Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. "I'm perfectly at ease with whatever comes," he said in 2015. "I've had a wonderful life. I've had thousands of friends, I've had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence." ___ Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report. Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at (INSERT EMAIL HERE). Rebecca: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/a2/d9/fb69982545c59e9836fbe80fe431/rebecca-recommends.png Bree: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/74/78/507118fa415f9ad794a927fe43ca/screenshot-2024-12-09-at-5-09-02-am.png Carrie: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/2e/72/be0f23854c54a228c9d6138c9847/carrie-recommends-header.png Ben: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/df/c4/19fa7c504480938f39a431e3b276/ben-recommends-header.png Amy: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/b9/b6/1408516a4a91b97639b178fc1ba9/amy-recommends-header.png Rhori: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/5b/25/a224d13d47739165c92b94e643db/rhori-recommends-header.png Lelan: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/af/54/833bf879454097a398bd44f723de/lelan-recommends.png Another example of how one person can truly make a difference. And the best part - we all can help! As a nurse, Laura handles emergencies every day. But nothing could prepare her for the emergency that brought her hometown to its knees. From her current home in Tennessee, she's mobilizing aid and supplies for Helene survivors and is helping make their recovery easier and their holidays brighter. I hope you take a moment to watch her story - you might even feel inspired to lend a helping hand. -Rebecca SchleicherFor those on the right side of the political aisle, 2024 was a mixed bag. We had to trudge through the final year of Joe Biden’s disastrous presidency while fighting to prevent the administration from inflicting further economic carnage. Yet we also received an enormous gift with the victory of President-elect Donald Trump. Here are my top five moments of 2024. By far, this was best. Things did not look good for Trump at the start of the year, as he faced a litany of felony charges across multiple jurisdictions. But despite the legal onslaught, Trump refused to back down. (tncms-inline)9a826eb8-a769-4b71-b7ae-7e84438f7477[0](/tncms-inline) Aside from his legal problems, Trump faced several opponents as he fought for the GOP presidential nomination. In the spring, many political pundits and talking heads thought Trump could not win the Republican nomination. Yet he emerged victorious and united the GOP under the “Make America Great Again” banner. Trump then pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in political history as he cruised to victory and helped the Republican Party gain control of both houses of Congress. This election will go down in history as a turning point, considering the vast inroads Trump made among voters who traditionally voted for Democrats. Though the polls were tight heading into the debate between Trump and Biden, the absolutely pitiful performance by Biden completely changed the race. Soon after Biden flopped in front of millions of Americans, the Democratic Party pulled the plug on his reelection effort. Of course, this short-sighted move benefited Trump greatly, as it demonstrated that the sitting president was going senile. More important, it led to the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket. Considering Harris’ flip-flops on basically every central policy position, it really was a blessing in disguise that she inherited Biden’s place and was eventually destroyed by Trump. This could have easily been first or second on my list. In midsummer, Trump was crisscrossing the country, holding outdoor rallies. Unfortunately, Trump’s proclivity to engage with his supporters nearly cost him his life. But despite two would-be assassins somehow evading Secret Service detection — and one fired several shots — Trump was largely unharmed. While this was a blessing, we must never forget that one person, Corey Comperatore, died at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, and two others were wounded. On Oct. 14, SpaceX launched its Super Heavy Starship, the most powerful rocket in the world. Then, in an unprecedented engineering marvel, the 23-story-tall Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad in an upright position and was “caught” without a hitch. It was like something straight out of a science-fiction movie, and it demonstrated that the age of space exploration has entered a new chapter. The department, known as DOGE, is an early Christmas present for conservatives and libertarians. For decades, we have been warning that the size and scope of the federal government is unsustainable and that big government is bad news for personal liberty. Finally, some significant spending cuts and institutional reforms are in the offing. With the national debt exceeding $36 trillion and trillion-dollar deficits the new normal, we need to downsize the federal bureaucracy and get back on sound fiscal footing before it is too late. Talgo is the editorial director at The Heartland Institute. He wrote this for InsideSources.com . Get local news delivered to your inbox!WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump's pick for intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard faced fresh scrutiny Monday on Capitol Hill about her proximity to Russian-ally Syria amid the sudden collapse of that country's hardline Assad rule. Gabbard ignored shouted questions about her 2017 visit to war-torn Syria as she ducked into one of several private meetings with senators who are being asked to confirm Trump's unusual nominees. But the Democrat-turned-Republican Army National Reserve lieutenant colonel delivered a statement in which she reiterated her support for Trump's America First approach to national security and a more limited U.S. military footprint overseas. "I want to address the issue that's in the headlines right now: I stand in full support and wholeheartedly agree with the statements that President Trump has made over these last few days with regards to the developments in Syria," Gabbard said exiting a Senate meeting. The incoming president's Cabinet and top administrative choices are dividing his Republican allies and drawing concern, if not full opposition, from Democrats and others. Not just Gabbard, but other Trump nominees including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, were back at the Capitol ahead of what is expected to be volatile confirmation hearings next year. The incoming president is working to put his team in place for an ambitious agenda of mass immigrant deportations, firing federal workers and rollbacks of U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO allies. "We're going to sit down and visit, that's what this is all about," said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., as he welcomed Gabbard into his office. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary pick Hegseth appeared to be picking up support from once-skeptical senators, the former Army National Guard major denying sexual misconduct allegations and pledging not to drink alcohol if he is confirmed. The president-elect's choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, who has written extensively about locking up Trump's foes and proposed dismantling the Federal Bureau of Investigation, launched his first visits with senators Monday. "I expect our Republican Senate is going to confirm all of President Trump's nominees," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on social media. Despite widespread concern about the nominees' qualifications and demeanors for the jobs that are among the highest positions in the U.S. government, Trump's team is portraying the criticism against them as nothing more than political smears and innuendo. Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have urged Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government's files on Gabbard. Trump's allies have described the criticisms of Hegseth in particular as similar to those lodged against Brett Kavanaugh, the former president's Supreme Court nominee who denied a sexual assault allegation and went on to be confirmed during Trump's first term in office. Said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., about Hegseth: "Anonymous accusations are trying to destroy reputations again. We saw this with Kavanaugh. I won't stand for it." One widely watched Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a former Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and sexual assault survivor who had been criticized by Trump allies for her cool reception to Hegseth, appeared more open to him after their follow-up meeting Monday. "I appreciate Pete Hegseth's responsiveness and respect for the process," Ernst said in a statement. Ernst said that following "encouraging conversations," he had committed to selecting a senior official who will "prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks. As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources." Ernst also had praise for Patel — "He shares my passion for shaking up federal agencies" — and for Gabbard. Once a rising Democratic star, Gabbard, who represented Hawaii in Congress, arrived a decade ago in Washington, her surfboard in tow, a new generation of potential leaders. She ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020. But Gabbard abruptly left the party and briefly became an independent before joining with Trump's 2024 campaign as one of his enthusiasts, in large part over his disdain for U.S. involvement overseas and opposition to helping Ukraine battle Russia. Her visit to Syria to meet with then-President Bashar Assad around the time of Trump's first inauguration during the country's bloody civil war stunned her former colleagues and the Washington national security establishment. The U.S. had severed diplomatic relations with Syria. Her visit was seen by some as legitimizing a brutal leader who was accused of war crimes. Gabbard has defended the trip, saying it's important to open dialogue, but critics hear in her commentary echoes of Russia-fueled talking points. Assad fled to Moscow over the weekend after Islamist rebels overtook Syria in a surprise attack, ending his family's five decades of rule. She said her own views have been shaped by "my multiple deployments and seeing firsthand the cost of war and the threat of Islamist terrorism." Gabbard said, "It's one of the many reasons why I appreciate President Trump's leadership and his election, where he is fully committed, as he has said over and over, to bring about an end to wars." Last week, the nearly 100 former officials, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said in the letter to Senate leaders they were "alarmed" by the choice of Gabbard to oversee all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. They said her past actions "call into question her ability to deliver unbiased intelligence briefings to the President, Congress, and to the entire national security apparatus." The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to coordinate the nation's intelligence agencies and act as the president's main intelligence adviser.
Harris Dickinson toys with ambiguity in ‘Babygirl,’ and keeps a secret from Nicole KidmanEarth just experienced its second-warmest November on record — second only to 2023 — making it all but certain that 2024 will end as the hottest year ever measured, according to a report Monday by European climate service Copernicus. Last year was the hottest on record due to human-caused climate change coupled with the effects of an El Nino. But after this summer registered as the hottest on record — Phoenix sweltered through 113 consecutive days with a high temperature of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit — scientists anticipated 2024 would set a new annual record as well. In November, global temperatures averaged 14.10C (57.38F). Last year's global average temperature was 14.98C (59F). FILE - People are silhouetted against the sky at sunset Nov. 12 as they run in a park in Shawnee, Kan. Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Cape Cod, who wasn't involved in the report, said the big story about November is that "like 2023, it beat out previous Novembers by a large margin." This also likely will be the first calendar year in which the average temperature was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, the report said. The 2015 Paris Agreement said human-caused warming should be limited to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and ideally below 1.5. In the following years, the world's top scientist said limiting to 1.5 was crucial to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, such as increasing destructive and frequent extreme weather events. Scientists say the main cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. That "does not mean that the Paris Agreement has been breached, but it does mean ambitious climate action is more urgent than ever," said Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess. A young family visiting Washington cools off from the warm weather in a fountain Nov. 6 at the base of the Washington Monument. Francis said the new records are "terrible news for people and ecosystems." "The pace of warming is so fast that plants and animals cannot adapt as they always have during previous changes in the Earth's climate. More species will go extinct, which disrupts natural food webs they're a part of. Agriculture will suffer as pollinators decline and pests flourish," she said, also warning that coastal communities will be vulnerable to sea-level rise. Heat waves over the oceans and a loss of reflective sea ice and snow cover probably contributed to the temperature increase this year, experts said. Copernicus said the extent of Antarctic sea ice in November was 10% below average, a record. Oceans absorb about 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases, later releasing heat and water vapor back into the atmosphere. Last year's record heat was caused partly by an El Nino — a temporary natural warming of parts of the central Pacific that alters weather worldwide. People walk Nov. 27 on an autumn-colored ginkgo tree-lined avenue in Tokyo. But that ended this year and a cooling effect that often follows, called La Nina, failed to materialize, leaving the scientific community "a little perplexed by what's going on here ... why temperatures are staying high," said Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan. One explanation is that an El Nino releases more heat to the atmosphere because of warmer ocean waters, then "we're not getting the cooling effect that often in decades gone by helps bring the temperature back down," Overpeck said. "So it does look like this could be contributing to the acceleration of global warming. But this year, he said, "is such a big jump following yet another jump, and that's a scary thing." It's no secret that a warming world will drive food prices higher, a phenomenon increasingly known as " heatflation ." What's less known, but a growing area of interest among economists and scientists alike, is the role individual extreme weather events — blistering temperatures in Texas , a destructive tornado in Iowa — may have on what U.S. consumers pay at the supermarket. At first glance, the answer might seem logical: A drought or flood that impacts agricultural production will, eventually, drive up prices. But it's not that simple, because what consumers pay for groceries isn't only reflective of crop yields or herd sizes, but the whole supply chain. As Grist reports, that's where it gets interesting: Economists are beginning to see a growing trend that suggests weather forecasts play a part in sticker shock. Sometimes the mere prediction of an extreme event — like the record-breaking temperatures, hurricanes, and wildfires forecasters are bracing for this summer — can prompt a spike in prices. It isn't the forecast itself to blame, but concerns about what the weather to come might mean for the entire supply chain, as food manufacturers manage their risks and the expected future value of their goods, said Seungki Lee, an agricultural economist at Ohio State University. "When it comes to the climate risk on food prices, people typically look at the production side. But over the last two years, we learned that extreme weather can raise food prices, [cause] transportation disruptions, as well as production disruptions," said Lee. How much we pay for the food we buy is determined by retailers, who consider the producer's price, labor costs, and other factors. Any increases in what producers charge is typically passed on to consumers because grocery stores operate on thin profit margins. And if manufacturers expect to pay more for commodities like beef or specialty crops like avocados in the future, they may boost prices now to cover those anticipated increases. "The whole discussion about the climate risks on the food supply chain is based on probabilities," Lee said. "It is possible that we do not see extreme temperatures this summer, or even later this year. We may realize there was no significant weather shock hitting the supply chain, but unfortunately that will not be the end of the story." Supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are among the reasons food prices have climbed 25 percent since 2020 . Climate change may be contributing as well. A study published earlier this year found " heatflation " could push them up by as much as 3 percentage points per year worldwide in just over a decade and by about 2 percentage points in North America. Simultaneous disasters in major crop and cattle producing regions around the world — known as multi-breadbasket failure — are among the primary forces driving these costs. Crop shortages in these regions may also squeeze prices, which can create volatility in the global market and bump up consumer costs. Historically, a single, localized heat wave or storm typically wouldn't disrupt the supply chain enough to prompt price hikes. But a warming world might be changing that dynamic as extreme weather events intensify and simultaneous occurrences of them become the norm. How much this adds to consumers' grocery bills will vary, and depends upon whether these climate-fueled disasters hit what Lee calls "supply chain chokepoints" like vital shipping channels during harvest seasons. "As the weather is getting more and more volatile because of climate change, we are seeing this issue more frequently," he said. "So what that means is the supply chain is getting more likely to be jeopardized by these types of risks that we have never seen before." An ongoing drought that plagued the Mississippi River system from the fall of 2022 until February provides an excellent example of this. The Mississippi River basin, which covers 31 states, is a linchpin of America's agricultural supply chain. It produces 92 percent of the nation's agricultural exports, 78 percent of the world's feed grains and soybeans , and most of the country's livestock. Vessels navigating its roughly 2,350 miles of channels carry 589 million tons of cargo annually . Transportation barriers created by low water, seen above, hampered the ability of crop-producing states in the Corn Belt to send commodities like corn and soybeans, primarily used for cattle feed, to livestock producers in the South. Thus emerged a high demand, low supply situation as shipping and commodity prices shot up , with economists expecting consumers to absorb those costs . Past research showing that retail prices increase alongside commodity prices suggests that the drought probably contributed to higher overall food costs last year — and because droughts have a lingering impact on production even after they end, it may be fueling stubbornly high grocery prices today. But although it seems clear that the drought contributed to higher prices, particularly for meat and dairy products, just how much remains to be gauged. One reason for that is a lack of research analyzing the relationship between this particular weather event and the consumer market. Another is it's often difficult to tease out which of several possible factors, including global trade, war, and export bans , influence specific examples of sticker shock. While droughts definitely prompt decreases in agricultural production, Metin Çakır, an economist at the University of Minnesota, says whether that is felt by consumers depends on myriad factors. "This would mean higher raw ingredient costs for foods sold in groceries, and part of those higher costs will be passed onto consumers via higher prices. However, will consumer prices actually increase? The answer depends on many other supply and demand factors that might be happening at the same time as the impact of the drought," said Çakır. In a forthcoming analysis previewed by Grist, Çakır examined the relationship between an enduring drought in California, which produces a third of the nation's vegetables and nearly two-thirds of its fruits and nuts , and costs of produce purchased at large grocery retailers nationwide. While the event raised consumer vegetable prices to a statistically significant degree, they didn't increase as much as Çakır expected. This capricious consumer cost effect is due largely to the resiliency of America's food system . Public safety nets like crop insurance and other federal programs have played a large part in mitigating the impacts of adverse weather and bolstering the food supply chain against climate change and other shocks. By ensuring farmers and producers don't bear the brunt of those losses, these programs reduce the costs passed on to consumers. Advanced agricultural technology, modern infrastructure, substantial storage, and efficient transport links also help ensure retail price stability. A 2024 study of the role climate change played on the U.S. wheat market from 1950 to 2018 found that although the impact of weather shocks on price variability has increased with the frequency of extreme weather, adaptive mechanisms, like a well-developed production and distribution infrastructure with sufficient storage capacity, have minimized the impact on consumers. Still, the paper warns that such systems may collapse when faced with "unprecedented levels of weather variability." Last year was the world's warmest on record , creating an onslaught of challenges for crop and livestock producers nationwide. And this year is primed to be even more brutal , with the transition from El Niño — an atmospheric phenomenon that warms ocean temperatures — to La Niña , its counterpart that cools them. This cyclical change in global weather patterns is another potential threat for crop yields and source of supply chain pressures that economists and scientists are keeping an eye on. They will be particularly focused on the Midwest and stretches of the Corn Belt, two regions prone to drought as an El Niño cycle gives way to a La Niña, according to Weston Anderson, an assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Those growing regions for corn and soybeans are what he'll be watching closely as La Niña develops. It's something Jennifer Ifft, an agricultural economist at Kansas State University, is also thinking about. "If you have a very severe drought in the Corn Belt ... that's going to be the biggest deal, because that's gonna raise the cost of production for cattle, hogs, poultry," said Ifft. "So that would probably have the largest inflationary impacts." As of January , U.S. beef herd inventory was at its lowest in 73 years, which multiple reports noted is due to the persisting drought that began in 2020 . Americans, the majority of whom are already spending more on groceries than last year, are poised to soon see "record" beef prices at the supermarket. Food prices are also expected to rise another 2.2 percent in 2024 , according to the USDA's Economic Research Service. In a world enmeshed in extremes, our already-fragile food supply chain could be the next system teetering on the edge of collapse because of human-caused climate change. And costlier groceries linked to impending risk is the first of many warning signs that it is already splintering. This story was produced by Grist and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. Get the daily forecast and severe weather alerts in your inbox!Southwest states certify election results after the process led to controversy in previous yearsW hen an avatar of virtue falls from grace, our polite reaction should not be that we are angry, just terribly disappointed. When paragons stumble the first thing we feel in our heart is schadenfreude. And so it was this weekend when I read that the movie star and director Justin Baldoni, whom I had interviewed about his woker-than-woke memoir Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity in 2021, had been fired by his agent after feminism’s ally faced allegations from one of his leading ladies about his distinctly unwoke and ungallant conduct. Legal papers revealed he had been accused by his co-star Blake Lively of sexualised behaviour on the set of their film, It Ends with Us . Her complaints had been addressed by the film’s producers but once filming was over, according to documents acquired by her lawyers, Baldoni and the lead producer, Jamey Heath, commissioned a public relations firm to orchestrate a smear campaign against her. If even a fraction of Lively’s claims are true — and both men deny them — the gap between what Baldoni preaches in public and his conduct as a director, producer and leading man is dizzying. Yes, we should be angry.
