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As with castmates Michelle Yeoh, nominated for best actress, and Ke Huy Quan, nominated for best supporting actor, Stephanie Hsu’s name drew particular applause during her category’s announcement. Notably, after Campion became just the third woman to ever win best director at last year’s ceremony, not a single female director was nominated this time around. Overall, the lesbian power-trip flick made a lesser showing than the Daniels’ queer kung-fu film. But its six nominations included spots in the evening’s biggest categories, including best picture, best cinematography, best original screenplay and, predictably, best actress. But an Oscar for best actor would be the ultimate prize in what has been a victorious comeback tour for the former heartthrob, following his decadelong, virtual exodus from Hollywood.

☆ New electric cars come with a built-in mystery: Nobody can predict their resale value
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But it's hard to say exactly how a used EV depreciates without much historical data. There are many things to consider when evaluating a used EV. Nobody knows how much a used EV is worthThe way that used luxury and non-luxury gas-powered vehicles depreciate might not necessarily apply to used electric cars because of several caveats, according to Edmunds analysts. What data we do have on used EV sale prices may not apply to the cars coming out now. There isn't much used EV data available to know how an EV might depreciate.

The Sundance Film Festival has long been known for premiering some of the most original — and ultimately the most award-winning — indie titles of the year. As the most notable international film festivals increasingly feature queer titles in their lineups, it’s no surprise that much of the exciting content premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival comes from LGBTQ filmmakers or features queer themes. The Premieres sectionAs usual, many of the year’s most high-profile films, including those from queer creators and featuring queer storylines, are coming out of the festival’s Premieres section. Courtesy of Sundance InstituteEnglert’s film will screen in the world cinema dramatic section alongside queer films “Girl,” from U.K. filmmaker Adura Onashile, and “Mamacruz,” from Spanish director Patricia Ortega. The list of LGBTQ creators and titles doesn’t end there, making this perhaps the most significant Sundance Film Festival for queer cinema yet.

☆ FedEx is slashing more Sunday deliveries, bolstering critics who say the strategy was a costly mistake
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The company will end Sunday service in more zip codes to add to the savings, per an internal memo. Sunday service has been a pain point for both FedEx Ground and its 6,000 delivery contractors. A FedEx spokesperson told Insider via email that it will continue Sunday deliveries for "more than 50% of the U.S. population, primarily in densely populated areas with proven customer demand." Sunday service has been a point of tension for FedEx and the 6,000 delivery contractors that make doorstep deliveries for FedEx Ground, since many say demand for the service doesn't justify its cost. Multiple FedEx delivery contractors told Insider previous cuts to Sunday service made a noticeable positive difference in the health of their businesses.

Once considered taboo in film and television, gay entertainers and characters will be hard to miss at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. Some of the evenings most nominated films — including sci-fi dramedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and psychological thriller “Tár,” — and TV series that include “The White Lotus” and “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” — star LGBTQ actors or feature fictional queer characters. And to top off the evening, the Golden Globes will honor gay television writer and producer Ryan Murphy, perhaps best known for co-creating “Glee,” “Pose” and the “American Horror Story” franchise, with a lifetime achievement award. While this year’s pool of Golden Globe nominees ups the awards ceremony’s queer factor, many of the most anticipated wins involve seemingly straight actors playing queer characters. The Golden Globes airs on Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.

☆ Explainer: How strained China-Australia relations hit trade in coal, barley, beef and wine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Jan 6 (Reuters) - China is resuming coal trade with Australia after a three-year halt following strained relations between the two countries over wider issues. Aside from coal, exports of barley, beef, cotton, wine, lobsters and grapes were all hit with restrictions of varying degrees during 2020. China issued verbal instructions to buyers to avoid Australian goods such as coal and cotton, and imposed anti-dumping tariffs on barley and wine. The barley trade with the world's biggest beer maker had previously amounted to between A$1.5 billion ($1.01 billion) and A$2 billion a year. Winemakers in South Africa have seen demand boom, while barley exports from France, Canada, Argentina and Ukraine to China also surged.

☆ Aldi is the US's fastest-growing grocery chain and more middle-income households are shopping there. Here are the no-frills tactics that help make it so cheap.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

More middle-income households are shopping there, lured by low prices and Aldi's "treasure hunt" approach. Smaller properties are cheaper to buy and maintain, and Aldi has said that its store layout enables "quick and easy shopping." Monford added that consumers "don't mind" that products aren't taken out of their boxes because they're shopping at Aldi for value. Campbell said the Aldi stores near her generally had just four or five aisles. Vadakkepatt said Aldi's stores have fewer employees and shorter hours than at other chains.

In TV, the top 10 list ranges from the indefinable second season of “The White Lotus” to laugh-out-loud comedies and smoldering fantasy shows. “Catch the Fair One” is available on Hulu and various video-on-demand platforms. “Paris, 13th District” is available on Amazon Prime Video and various video-on-demand platforms. “Peter Von Kant” is available on various video-on-demand platforms. “Tár” is available on various video-on-demand platforms.

☆ China must raise self-reliance in agricultural technology, Xi says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 25 (Reuters) - President Xi Jinping wants China to accelerate efforts to achieve self-reliance in agricultural technology, identifying seed development and core equipment among areas to focus on, state media reported. "It is necessary to keep an eye on the frontiers of the world's agricultural science and technology," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying at the central rural work conference held in Beijing over Friday and Saturday. The President urged China's agricultural sector to "vigourously improve" its science and technology, with more efficient innovation. Xi urged the sector to address issues with innovation, such as the rate of conversion into commercial applications and a lack of cooperation between research teams. Reporting by Dominique Patton, Roxanne Liu and Bernard Orr Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FedEx is frantically cutting billions in costs as its pandemic success evaporates
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This time last year, the company said it had reached a turning point and would achieve a level of profitability not seen since the first rush of pandemic e-commerce packages. FedEx's Ground business, which makes everyday e-commerce deliveries in the US, struggled to a lesser degree. FedEx's operational missteps, combined with ballooning fuel and labor costs, created unrest among Ground delivery contractors and boosted costs across the company. Spencer Patton tried to unite FedEx contractors. A few big-time FedEx contractors have a new plan to boost struggling delivery outfits.

☆ China's cities battle first wave of COVID surge as wider spread looms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China is currently in the first of an expected three waves of COVID cases this winter, according to the country's chief epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou. China reported some 2,097 new symptomatic COVID infections on Dec. 17. In Beijing, the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has already hit services from catering to parcel deliveries. A third wave of cases would run from late February to mid-March as people returned to work after the holiday, Wu said. He said those in the community that are vulnerable should be protected, while recommending booster vaccines for the general public.

In the mid-1990s, revelations that Israel may have shared U.S. fighter technology with China led Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wisc., to sponsor an amendment banning the not-yet-in-service F-22 stealth fighter from being exported. Unfortunately, this contributed to a negative outcome for the U.S. as well as its potential foreign partners. It’s true some U.S. defense partners maintain significant partnerships with potential military adversaries or may use U.S. arms in objectionable ways. If that happens, it could become impossible to rebuild domestic fighter production capacity fast enough to respond to a crisis. But it’s good for U.S. national security when our allies and partners retain an independent defense technology base rather than allowing their indigenous industries to atrophy.

Editor’s note: This article includes spoilers for “The White Lotus” season 2. “He kept saying, ‘Sabrina, the more bitchy you are, the more it’s going to work.’ And I really trusted him.”Sabrina Impacciatore in "The White Lotus." Jennifer Coolidge accepts the Emmy for her performance in season 1 of "The White Lotus." The brief, moan-filled love scene that follows gets about as close to a life-affirming event as an overnight stay at the White Lotus can. I was inventing magic rituals — literally, inventing rituals to get the role, to have Mike White in my life.

☆ Mongolians brave bitter cold to protest 'coal theft' corruption
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

people shouted at the government building on Sukhbaatar square on Thursday. The government promised on Wednesday to investigate and punish "coal thieves" and named 10 officials under investigation. "People who steal public funds should be held accountable just as someone who commits a crime is held responsible. Authorities first began investigating coal theft nine years ago, said Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, a former member of parliament and founder of the Civic Unity Party. Another public hearing on the coal theft will be held on Dec. 21.

☆ Mongolians clash with police in protest against inflation and graft
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ULAANBAATAR, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Mongolian protesters clashed with police as they tried to storm parliament after thousands gathered in freezing temperatures to demonstrate against soaring inflation and government corruption. Demonstrators clashed with police on Monday in front of the Government Palace where parliament sits. [1/5] Protesters take part in a demonstration against soaring inflation and government corruption on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia December 5, 2022. Rentsendorj 1 2 3 4 5Some later jostled violently with police as they tried to storm the building. Reporting by Bilguun Chadraabal and Josh Arslan; Writing by Dominique Patton; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

“Spoiler Alert” opened in U.S. theaters Dec. 2. “Women Talking” opened in select U.S. theaters Dec. 2. “The Whale” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 9. “Babylon” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 23. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 23.

☆ China's LONGi denies circumventing U.S. tariffs on solar panels
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Chinese solar panel maker LONGi Green Energy Technology Co. Ltd (601012.SS) said on Monday it will provide evidence to show it is complying with U.S. laws after the U.S. Department of Commerce found it to be circumventing tariffs. The United States will impose new duties on imports from LONGi and three other Chinese solar panel makers, trade officials said on Friday, after an investigation found in a preliminary determination issued last week they were trying to dodge tariffs by finishing products in Southeast Asian countries. During this period, we will actively provide evidence that shows we are compliant with U.S. trade law and not circumventing," LONGi said in a statement sent to Reuters. BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ), Trina Solar Co Ltd(688599.SS) and Canadian Solar Inc (CSIQ.O), also named in the preliminary determination, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. LONGi said it was working on increasing the strategic layout of its global operations, including improving its manufacturing and supply chain for the U.S. market.

“Spoiler Alert,” the new film based on entertainment journalist Michael Ausiello’s heartbreaking 2017 memoir, certainly doesn’t have a storybook ending. The film, directed by Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”), closely follows “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies,” which Ausiello wrote in the wake of his husband Kit Cowan’s death from colorectal cancer, at age 42. Even watching the movie now, it’s still a bit of a head trip to see it.”From left, Ben Aldridge, Jim Parsons, Sally Field and Bill Irwin in "Spoiler Alert." But, in general, these moments — and even the comedic stylings of Sally Field — aren’t able to distract from the inherent sadness of “Spoiler Alert” for very long. “I want them to have their own experience seeing the movie,” Ausiello said of audience members.

The flurry of deals comes even as warnings emerge that lithium prices, driven to records by rapid growth in electric vehicles, may peak next year because of a looming supply glut. It also bought majority stakes in the Lakkor Tso Lithium Salar mine in China's Tibet region and the Xiangyuan lithium mine in Hunan province. Zijin has a market capitalisation of about $35 billion and net profit of 15.7 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) last year. Some firms are also working to develop alternative battery materials, which could reduce lithium demand in the long term. Zijin told investors recently it made its mine acquisitions based on lithium carbonate prices of 100,000 yuan a tonne.

☆ Chinese farmers let cabbages rot as COVID curbs disrupt sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The situation is exacerbated by a fragmented supply chain, where small farmers sell to middlemen who purchase for large wholesale markets in cities. Cui typically sends up to 20 large trucks of cauliflower, cabbage, and lettuce to markets daily in this season. Henan produced 76 million tonnes of vegetables last year, or about 10% of the nation's supply, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday it had launched an initiative to sell Henan vegetables at large wholesale markets, selling 4,677 tonnes last week. It also set up a hotline to connect farmers with sellers, and said it would find cold storage facilities to stock winter vegetables.

☆ Energy crisis highlights need to broaden renewables' supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Laila Kearney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Enel CEO Francesco Starace speaks during the Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in New York City, New York, U.S., December 1, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The global energy crisis sparked by war in Ukraine has underscored how parts of the renewables supply chain might face similar struggles if not quickly diversified, energy executives told the Reuters NEXT conference this week. "Out of this crisis, you learn that there are many other things that might follow this same pattern," said Francesco Starace, CEO of Italy's Enel (ENEI.MI), speaking at the conference on Thursday in New York. Starace noted how solar panels are produced overwhelmingly in China, saying that, and the manufacture of other energy components critical to transitioning from fossil fuels, are potential problem areas. South Africa, the most industrialized country in Africa, will need to add more than 50,000 megawatts (MW) of new power generation capacity to help meet demand and stabilize its grid, Brian Dames, chief executive officer of African Rainbow Energy & Power, said at a Reuters NEXT panel on Wednesday.

☆ A few big-time FedEx contractors have a new plan to boost struggling delivery outfits. Here's why it could work where the last one fizzled.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The 6,000 contractors who deliver for FedEx Ground have been having a tough year. ThinkISP is a think tank launched in October by eight large FedEx contractors. FedEx Ground, the division that handles the majority of the giant's e-commerce business, contracts with 6,000 small businesses for doorstep deliveries. FedEx contractors have had a tough year navigating fuel costs, and operational changes. Moreover, the think tank chose its top issues "collaboratively" with FedEx Ground, Johnson said.

☆ ‘Stranger Things’ creators tease Season 5
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —It sounds like the end of “Stranger Things” might have viewers in their feelings. The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, hinted at what’s to come on Sunday during a panel discussion in Los Angeles. The Duffer brothers said they pitched the fifth and final season to Netflix over a two hour meeting, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ross Duffer said the production was “full steam ahead” with the first script already having been turned in and work happening on the second. “Season five is already so clearly taking care of these stories of the characters because that’s always been the lifeblood of ‘Stranger Things.’”

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Squire Patton Boggs on Monday said it will open an office in Dublin next year, becoming the latest international law firm to expand into Ireland. Agnew was a founding partner of Pinsent Masons' Dublin office. A Squire Patton Boggs spokesperson said the firm is currently looking at space in Dublin's central business district. Agnew said in an email that the exact timing of his departure from Pinsent Masons "has still to be agreed." Squire Patton Boggs was created in 2014 by the merger of Washington, D.C.-founded Patton Boggs and Cleveland-founded Squire Sanders.

☆ Chinese copper companies say more mining is needed to boost supply
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chile's Codelco, the world's largest copper miner, said this week it would extend maintenance work at its Chuquicamata smelter to 135 days, from an initially planned 90-day stoppage. China is the world's top user of copper and relies on imports for about 25% of its consumption. Mining companies should mine deeper and broader and work on extending the life of their mines, while smelting companies should speed up overseas resource development and optimize their layout over the industry chain, the Chinese companies are reported to have said at the meeting. Last week, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to give up their investments in Canadian minerals, citing national security. read moreChina produced 10.49 million tonnes of refined copper last year and imported 23.40 million tonnes of copper ore and concentrate.

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