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☆ Arsenal return to top of the league with 3-1 win over sorry Chelsea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over a woeful Chelsea, set on their way by two goals from Martin Odegaard, but the title is still Manchester City's to lose having played two games less than the leaders. After losing to City 4-1 last week, Mikel Arteta made three changes, including giving striker Leandro Trossard a start in the place of Gabriel Martinelli and handing Jakub Kiwior his first league start in midfield. His side dominated their slumping London rivals straight from the kick-off as they sought to shake off last week's potentially title-deciding setback. "Everyone was so hurt after the game (against City)," Odegaard said after taking his league goal tally for the season to 14. ($1 = 0.8024 pounds)Reporting by William Schomberg Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ KKR Co-Founder’s 200-Acre Estate in New York Asks $11.5 Million
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Katherine Clarke | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Westchester County home of the late KKR co-founder Jerome Kohlberg is coming on the market for $11.5 million. Spanning about 200 acres in Mount Kisco, N.Y., the property is known as Cabbage Hill Farm. It has an elaborate, roughly 9,000-square-foot mansion overlooking sweeping lawns and a large lake as well as a working farm with pastures, barns and a greenhouse, according to Jaclene Ginnel of Ginnel Real Estate, whose firm is listing the property via agent Muffin Dowdle. Mr. Kohlberg and his wife, Nancy Kohlberg, lived there for over three decades, she said.

☆ Florida board picked by DeSantis countersues Disney
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | Tom Hals | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

(Reuters) - A district board appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to oversee development around Walt Disney Co’s Florida theme parks sued the company on Monday to void “backroom deals” favorable to the entertainment giant. The state court lawsuit escalates tensions between Disney and the Republican governor and likely presidential candidate. It comes in response to a case Disney filed last week in federal district court against DeSantis and members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight district board. DeSantis who is expected to soon declare his candidacy for U.S. president, has repeatedly attacked “woke Disney” in public remarks. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board maintained that Disney rushed through the agreement before the new board assumed oversight of municipal services and development within the 25,000 acres of land in and around Walt Disney World.

CNN —Environmental groups are suing the Federal Aviation Administration in federal court over SpaceX’s launch of its massive Starship rocket last month. ‘All kinds of environmental harm’Ahead of the launch on April 20, the FAA issued a finding that the launch would have no significant impact on its surrounding environment. Margolis told CNN that the SpaceX explosion proves the groups’ legal argument that the FAA erred in its decision-making. The FAA’s roleThe FAA licenses commercial rocket launches and gave the green light for the SpaceX launch attempt after more than a year of back-and-forth. When asked about potential legal backlash from environmental groups on Saturday, Musk was defiant.

In the test mission, SpaceX’s Starship launched toward space atop a Super Heavy rocket booster. That could be the determining factor in how long it takes the company to get a new Starship on the launch pad. Such investigations are routine and have taken place after previous — but smaller-scale — Starship test launches in South Texas. Joe Skipper/ReutersSpaceX is not permitted to make another launch attempt of a Starship vehicle until that review is complete. NASAThe US space agency was not directly involved in the Starship flight test, but it has a major stake in Starship’s overall success.

☆ Argentina secures initial irrigation funding after withering drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The approved loan is part of irrigation development plan that aims to ultimately invest some $2.07 billion in public spending and nearly double the amount of farmland with irrigation systems in place. The government's irrigation plan "will allow the development of the country's productive potential" by adding 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) to its total irrigated areas, said Jorge Neme, the country's development planning secretary. Argentina currently boasts around 2.1 million hectares of irrigated farmland, said Neme in the economy ministry statement. Over 30 irrigation projects are already underway in the country's trio of top agricultural provinces Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Cordoba, which have seen the worst drought impacts. The irrigation projects will be financed by local funds, as well as multilateral organizations including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America, according to the statement.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the law, which instructed the U.S. Circuit said the law "makes clear" that those leases are no longer subject to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires a thorough look at environmental impacts of proposed major federal actions. Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda, who represented the environmental groups, said in a statement that the decision will harm Gulf communities and ecosystems. A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute called the order a “positive step toward more certainty and clarity for energy producers.”The Interior Department, which did not appeal the lower court decision, declined to comment. v. Debra Haaland et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, case No.

☆ African Farmers May Have a Coffee Robust Enough for the Climate Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The two coffee species that most of us drink — Arabica and robusta — are at grave risk in the era of climate change. Farmers in one of Africa’s biggest coffee exporting countries are growing a whole other coffee species that better withstands the heat, drought and disease supersized by global warming. This year, they’re trying to sell it to the world under its own true name: Liberica excelsa. “Even if there’s too much heat, it does fine,” said Golooba John, a coffee farmer near the town of Zirobwe in central Uganda. For the past several years, as his robusta trees have succumbed to pests and disease, he has replaced them with Liberica trees.

☆ California's fire season under way weeks after heavy rain and snow
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES, April 28 (Reuters) - Barely five weeks after the last bout of heavy rain and snow in California's historically wet winter, firefighters on Friday battled the state's first large wildfire of the year in rugged foothills east of Los Angeles. The blaze posed no immediate threat to populated areas as it burned steep terrain deep in the forest, agency spokesperson Lyn Sieliet said. Still, it marked the first blaze of the 2023 season measuring 100 acres or more, signaling the potential for extreme wildfire activity this summer and fall. Forecasters said a warming trend hastened a spring thaw following a spate of Pacific storms that pummeled California with torrential rains and mountain snow from late December until late March. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Temperatures this week are expected to be 15 to 20 degrees Celsius above normal for this time of year, with a chance they could hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places. In large parts of Spain, temperatures have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Nighttime temperatures are also forecast to remain high, not dipping below 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places. Schools in central and southern Spain are concerned about protecting students and staff from overheated classrooms that don’t have air conditioning, Spanish media reported. The high temperatures come as a prolonged drought has gripped parts of southern Spain, as well as the northeast of the country, near Barcelona.

April 27 (Reuters) - As wildfire season approaches, U.S. officials along the West Coast are working hard to mitigate risks with prescribed burns, while a widespread educational campaign is underway to create buffers around fire-prone homes. In Washington state, Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Hillary Franz is working on reversing negative perceptions surrounding prescribed fires. The test fires were lit ahead of a full prescribed burn. "It's a frustrating emotional roller coaster," said Stenbeck, standing on top of Bogg's Pit, the DNR-owned land that has been the focus of a prescribed burn since late last year. "It's important that people make sure there is space between their vegetated fuel and their homes ... once we have a wildfire, embers move quickly.

April 25 (Reuters) - Most of the vast, scenic valley at the heart of Yosemite National Park in California will close to visitors this weekend in a rare shutdown prompted by forecasts of floods from rapid snowmelt. The closure will start at 10 p.m. on Friday and last at least until Wednesday, May 3, possibly longer, depending on how swiftly melting mountain snow runs off into the Merced River through Yosemite Valley, the National Park Service said on Tuesday. About 100 miles to the north, the Merced River at the Pohono Bridge at the west end of the Yosemite Valley was forecast to top flood stage late this week, the park service said. The vast glacial Yosemite valley received a record 40 inches of snow during the winter, prompting the closure of the entire park to the public on Feb. 25 for three weeks. That shutdown marked one of the longest and most expansive weather-related closures in the park, according to park spokeswoman Nancy Phillipe.

☆ SpaceX Starship explosion ignited 3.5-acre fire and sent debris thousands of feet, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Debris litters the ground on April 22, 2023, after the SpaceX Starship liftedoff on April 20 for a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Fish and Wildlife Service disclosed new details on Wednesday about the aftermath of last week's SpaceX Starship Super Heavy launch and mid-air explosion, including that a "3.5-acre fire started south of the pad site on Boca Chica State Park land," following the test flight. In the agency's e-mailed statement, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service said that following the launch and mid-air explosion, "Cameron County closed Boca Chica Beach and State Highway 4 for 48 hours due to launch pad safety concerns." The road closures prevented FWS staff from "accessing refuge-owned and managed land" until mid-morning on April 22, the agency confirmed. Elon Musk's defense contractor designed its Starship Super Heavy with the ambition of taking people and supplies on a Mars mission one day.

☆ Nikki Haley invited Disney World to move to South Carolina and took a shot at DeSantis, but the theme park is stuck in Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney World sued DeSantis to keep control of its self-governing status in Florida. Nikki Haley said the theme park should move to South Carolina instead. The dig didn't escape Never Back Down, the super PAC that's supporting a DeSantis presidential run. Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort in April 2022. AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesDisney can't moveDespite Haley's overtures, Disney World is stuck in Florida, Richard Foglesong, the author of the book "Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando," told Insider.

April 26 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) sued Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, asking a court to overturn state efforts to control the Walt Disney World theme parks and intensifying a battle between a global entertainment giant and a potential White House contender. A DeSantis spokesman called Disney's action "an unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of Florida voters." Disney also argues it was denied its First Amendment rights to free speech. State Republicans last year targeted Disney after it publicly clashed with DeSantis. But before the takeover by DeSantis' appointees, Disney pushed through changes to the special tax district agreement that limit the board's action for decades.

☆ Take a look inside the largest house in the US — a Vanderbilt's 130-year-old private mansion with 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Libertina Brandt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

According to the property's website, the Biltmore House was built in the late 1800s by George Vanderbilt and features 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. George Vanderbilt, a prominent businessman from the late 19th and early 20th century, began constructing the Biltmore House in 1889. Vanderbilt opened the Biltmore House in 1895. The Biltmore Estate, which now spans a total of 8,000 acres, is covered with gardens designed by American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The main house, America's largest, includes 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.

☆ Kenyan cult leader told followers to starve themselves ahead of world's end, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The deaths amount to one of the worst cult-related tragedies in recent history and the toll is expected to rise further, with the Kenyan Red Cross saying more than 300 people have been reported as missing. Cult leader Paul Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14, held alongside 14 other cult members. At the morgue at Malindi hospital, dozens of people were seeking news of relatives they feared were among the dead. The Red Cross has donated a refrigerated container on a truck to help preserve some of the corpses as the morgue is now too full. Two emaciated women were found alive early on Wednesday and were being evacuated to Malindi's hospital, according to Red Cross staff in Malindi.

☆ Photos show SpaceX's Starship rocket blew a crater into its launchpad and flung concrete chunks hundreds of feet during liftoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kelly Mclaughlin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

SpaceX's Starship blew a huge hole in its launchpad during takeoff last week and scattered debris. Members of the public walk through a debris field around the Starship launchpad at SpaceX's facilities near Boca Chica, Texas. It was also missing a water-deluge system, which helps further reduce energy blast around the launch site during liftoff. Rocks and other debris fly around remote cameras as SpaceX’s Starship lifts off atop its Super Heavy booster for the first time. Last week's flight was the first time SpaceX launched a Starship rocket on top of it its Super Heavy booster.

☆ Governors Island to Be Site of $700 Million Climate Campus
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the two decades since the federal government turned over control of Governors Island to New York City, city officials have sought an innovative way to use the 172-acre patch of land with stunning views of Lower Manhattan. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams plans to announce a $700 million campus dedicated to finding solutions to address the climate crisis. The city chose a consortium led by Stony Brook University to transform one of the island’s last big chunks of developable land into a 400,000-square-foot hub called the “New York Climate Exchange.” The campus, which will focus on researching climate solutions and training for green jobs, is expected to open in 2028. The climate hub will serve as a “living laboratory” that features resilient design, with renderings showing shiny sloped buildings covered in vegetation that are intended to evoke the hills of Governors Island. It will include two newly constructed classroom and research buildings on three acres of land that are currently undeveloped and will also make use of some historic buildings on the island.

They said two in five people seeking food assistance in the Atlanta region this year have not done so before. In central Ohio, the local food bank says the number of households seeking aid has increased by nearly half since last year. Craig Gundersen, a Baylor University economics professor who is a prominent researcher for Feeding America, said that food banks experiencing spikes above COVID levels are outliers. The Highland Food Pantry in Winchester, Virginia, said it served about 90 families a week during the pandemic. In early April, White visited a community center to donate old clothes and noticed a line for the food pantry.

CNN —For Yulia Laputina, Ukraine’s Minister of Veterans Affairs, a visit to Arlington National Cemetery was a deeply moving experience. On Thursday, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, announced that the city council had “started the procedure for establishing the National Military Memorial Cemetery,” and had allocated land for its creation. Ukrainian Minister of Veterans Affairs Yulia Laputina visits Arlington National Cemetery in April 2023. Lawmakers made the case that personal connections to Americans across the country could “increase the level of support of practical support” for Ukraine, Laputina said. Yulia Laputina, Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine at the International Rehabilitation Forum in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 12.

☆ My 750-square-foot 'barndominium' has drawn nearly 15 million viewers. Here's a look inside the barn where I live.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We have a 750-square-foot main residence, and a 235-square-foot tiny guest house situated on about 8 acres of land. They're low-maintenance, and our electricity bill was never over $300 in a 4,500-square-foot main residence and a 1,800-square-foot workshop in the middle of a Texas summer. So, in 2022, we sold our massive barndominium and got to work building a smaller home situated on about eight acres of land. The 750-square-foot main residence boasts a spacious bathroom and a walk-in closet with built-in storage. I recommend that anyone who's interested in building a barndominium finds a contractor that has experience building these structures.

☆ How Tracy Tutor went from selling suits at the mall to raking in $250 million in real-estate deals last year and boasting celebrity clients like Janet Jackson and Channing Tatum
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Tutor's first big deal, in 2008, was a $34 million Beverly Park home with four acres, a ballroom, and a tennis court, that she brokered with The Agency cofounder Mauricio Umansky. It was for her father, who Tutor said was the toughest client she ever had. Mauricio Umansky, left, and his wife Kyle Richards, who now star on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." Robin Marchant/Stringer/Getty Images

SQM's lithium contract in Chile is set to expire in 2030 and Albemarle's in 2043, giving it more insulation from the potential move. Mexico nationalized its lithium deposits last year, and Indonesia banned exports of nickel ore, a key battery material, in 2020. SQM has a larger footprint in Chile, with 81,000 hectares (about 200,000 acres) for lithium extraction compared with Albemarle's 16,000 hectares. Argentine state energy firm YPF last year began exploring lithium, while Bolivia has long maintained strict control over its huge though largely untapped resources. Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Bolivia's Luis Arce have touted the idea of a regional lithium "OPEC" to coordinate on lithium policy and benefit local economies.

☆ Uninhabited Scottish island could be yours for $190,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —If you’ve ever fancied escaping the grind of daily life and heading to a remote island with no other inhabitants, now could be your chance. Situated just off the southern coast of Scotland, Barlocco Island is up for sale, priced at offers over £150,000 ($190,000). Barlocco Island is a haven for wildlife. At low tide, the island can be reached on foot, by tractor or quadbike. “We have witnessed strong demand from domestic and international parties for entire private islands having handled the sale of several in Scotland,” Edgar said.

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