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☆ Sen. Marco Rubio wins re-election in Florida, defeating Democratic Rep. Val Demings, NBC News projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

MIAMI — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio cruised to victory Tuesday night, securing his third term amid a statewide Democratic collapse, NBC News projects. Rubio is the first Florida Republican to win three terms in the Senate. Rubio’s career and his relationship with Trump tell the story of the Republican Party in Florida. "And that’s where we have really missed an opportunity of highlighting our strong Hispanic voices," Mucarsel-Powell said of her fellow Florida Democrats. The $30 million Demings spent just wasn't enough, he said.

Weird Al, known for taking famous pop and rock songs and sending them up by rewriting the lyrics. It began as a fake movie trailer that director Eric Appel made in 2013 as a sketch for Funny or Die. It featured Aaron Paul, Olivia Wilde, Gary Cole, Mary Steenburgen, Patton Oswalt and yes, Weird Al. Yankovic noted that the day after the trailer came out, “if you did a Google search for Weird Al, the first thing is, ‘Did Weird Al date Madonna?’ Everybody wanted to know. Weird Al Yankovic during a photo shoot in Los Angeles in 1984.

The approvals could reshape global trade flows and result in fewer sales for farmers in the United States, the world's top corn supplier. China relied on the United States and Ukraine for most of its corn supplies but Russia's invasion of Ukraine has disrupted exports. He said in an interview the list of approved Brazilian facilities that can export corn to China may be updated to include more units in coming weeks. Once China starts buying corn from Brazil, traditional Brazilian corn importers such as Spain and Egypt could shift some of their purchases to the United States. Beijing and Brasilia had signed a protocol for exporting corn from Brazil to China in 2014 but little trade had happened due to complex inspection requirements.

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’Even before making its way to theaters, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — the long-awaited sequel to the 2018 film starring Chadwick Boseman — has birthed some of this fall’s biggest pop culture moments, including a Rihanna song drop. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 11. “The Inspection” opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 18. “Bones and All” opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 23. “Strange World” opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 23.

☆ China reports 1,658 new COVID cases for Oct 28 vs 1,506 a day earlier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 29 (Reuters) - China reported 1,658 new COVID-19 infections on Oct. 28, of which 377 were symptomatic and 1,281 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday. That compared with 1,506 new cases a day earlier – 262 symptomatic and 1,244 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately. As of Oct. 28, mainland China had confirmed 259,037 cases with symptoms. China's capital Beijing reported 20 symptomatic and two asymptomatic cases, compared with six symptomatic and three asymptomatic case the previous day, local government data showed. Financial hub Shanghai reported one symptomatic and eight asymptomatic cases, compared with zero symptomatic and 11 asymptomatic cases a day before, the local health authority reported.

☆ Shanghai Disneyland reduces operations as China tightens COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Shanghai Disneyland will operate at reduced capacity from Saturday to comply with COVID-19 measures, the resort said in a statement, in another sign of tightening curbs across China as it seeks to contain the spread of coronavirus infections. The amusement park will operate with a reduced workforce on a temporary basis, which will have an impact on the operation of certain attractions, restaurants and shops, it said on its official Wechat account. Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park will operate normally, it said. In Beijing, the Universal Resort theme park was shut on Wednesday after at least one visitor tested positive for the coronavirus. Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China's Evergrande delivers first electric vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A view of the electric vehicle (EV) factory of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group in Tianjin, China October 20, 2021. REUTERS/Yilei SunBEIJING, Oct 29 (Reuters) - China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd (0708.HK) has started deliveries of its Hengchi 5 electric vehicle, with the first 100 customers getting their cars on Saturday, it said on its official Wechat account. The company, a unit of heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), launched production of the vehicle at a plant in the northern city of Tianjin last month. Evergrande is aiming to shift the group's primary business from real estate to the automobile venture over the next decade, with plans to make 1 million vehicles by 2025. ($1 = 7.2499 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Jenny Wang and Dominique Patton; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Anxious Twitter users find few alternatives to platform after Musk deal closes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But with few obvious alternatives, Twitter users may be left with nowhere else to go. Other platforms, like Mastodon, have promised a more decentralized social media experience. “Excited to see what you accomplish here,” retired basketball star Shaquille O’Neill tweeted at Musk on Wednesday ahead of the deal closing. Musk has said he would restore Trump’s Twitter account, though Trump has previously said he would remain on Truth Social. By unbanning users and unwinding content moderation efforts, Musk could make Twitter less palatable for its most vulnerable users, typically women, members of the LGBTQ community, and people of color, according to safety experts.

☆ White House chief of staff Ron Klain warned after Hatch Act violation flagged by former Trump official Stephen Miller
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain received a warning for violating the Hatch Act after he retweeted a political group's post from his government Twitter account. The Hatch Act prohibits government officials from using government resources for political activities. Miller was not the only member of the Trump administration to violate the Hatch Act during his time in office. Jean-Pierre herself is cautious about running afoul of the Hatch Act. She frequently reminds reporters from the White House briefing room podium that she cannot comment on political issues because of the act.

☆ China's diesel fuel exports more than doubled in September
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Dominique Patton | Chen Aizhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jason LeeExports of diesel fuel last month more than doubled from a year earlier to 1.73 million tonnes, the highest monthly rate since July 2021, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. Exports of aviation fuel, including refuelling at Chinese airports for airlines plying international routes, jumped by 38.6% from a year earlier to 1.23 million tonnes last month. China had maintained broad curbs on fuel exports this year, resulting in total fuel exports in the first nine months of 2022 falling 28% from a year earlier. But in an about-turn in fuel trade policy, Beijing in late September released an additional large batch of 15 million tonnes of export quotas, including 13.25 million tonnes for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, with the remainder for marine fuel. Table below shows trade details, volumes in million tonnes.

☆ Aldi is the US's fastest-growing grocery chain and more households earning $50-100K are shopping there. Here are the no-frills tactics that help make it so cheap.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Aldi is the US's fastest-growing grocer for the third year running, the real-estate firm JLL said. Aldi almost always has the lowest prices for core products like bread, milk, and eggs, Monford said. 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.

Last month, the Food and Agriculture Organization's global rice price index rose 2.2% to hit an 18-month high. "The international market has gone up and it will go up further," said Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India's rice business. Reuters GraphicsVietnam's unmilled rice output is forecast to hold flat to last year's 43 million tonnes, according to government data. Neighbouring Thailand is aiming to export 7.5 million tonnes this year, up about 7% from its previous target of 7 million tonnes, said Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman. Meanwhile, Pakistan cannot capitalise on India's export curbs after severe flooding ravaged its crop.

☆ FedEx is reassuring holiday shippers and retailers it can deliver for peak season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Frank Holland | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

But we are ready for service and we are ready for our customers," FedEx chief customer officer Brie Carere told CNBC in an exclusive interview. The logistics company released its holiday shipping outlook on Thursday morning. FedEx also faced a pay dispute with a faction of the 6,000 contractors that operate its residential e-commerce focused ground network. "The network is ready for our customers to support the sales they have now, to support the sales that they're going to have on Black Friday. We're also ready for the sales that they're going to have and we believe will continue right through the month of December," she added.

☆ In the new thriller 'Emily the Criminal,' director John Patton Ford takes on the student loan crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Emily the Criminal Courtesy: John Patton FordIn the new film "Emily the Criminal," the title character, played by actress Aubrey Plaza, is almost always in a state of fear. "I think fear is the great motivator of human beings," said John Patton Ford, 40, the film's screenwriter and director. Even if the plan survives Republican challenges, outstanding student loan debt will still exceed $1 trillion, and every year an additional 5 million Americans borrow for their education. Annie Nova: From the start of the film, Emily is in a really desperate financial situation. 'No other country would tolerate this'AN: Did you research the student loan crisis for the film?

☆ 'Halloween Ends' review: Jamie Lee Curtis gives the knife one last turn in the latest Michael Myers trilogy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The producers do seek to bring finality to this latest trilogy featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, although that turns out to be the only original idea they conjure in an odd, tedious film. 13 turns out to be not so lucky, creatively speaking, as director/co-writer David Gordon Green takes his third consecutive turn in that chair. Curtis’ Laurie Strode has certainly paid a high price for her decades-long dance with the killer Michael Myers, a.k.a. In fact, Laurie takes the initiative and introduces Allyson to Corey (Rohan Campbell), a shy guy bearing emotional scars from his own Halloween-timed tragedy, which risks making them the weirdest possible soulmates. It’s been four years since “Halloween” relaunched the franchise – delivering a huge opening weekend – with an extra-long gap before the sequel “Halloween Kills” due to Covid.

☆ Hu Chunhua: From rural roots to candidate for China premiership
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Dominique Patton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"For his policy record, I would pick Hu," said Yu Jie, senior research fellow on China at Chatham House. Hu is depicted in state media as a man of action, sometimes shown checking on planting progress in far-flung provinces. YOUTH LEAGUE ROOTS, POVERTY FIGHTERHu got his start in the party training ground of the Communist Youth League. Despite his Youth League roots - the faction was seen to be a rival to Xi's - Hu has proved his loyalty to Xi, promoting many of his initiatives in rural areas, including the campaign to eradicate poverty. Hu also wrote a paean to Xi's "historic achievements" on rural issues published in the party's official People's Daily in July.

☆ Low-price grocers like Aldi are winning as consumers trade down
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-08 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN Business —With grocery prices soaring, consumers are changing the way they shop for food. “Inflation is hitting everyone.”More consumers are additionally switching over to store brands, also called “private label,” which are often comparable in quality and lower in price. “I don’t think you can underestimate the strength of all these private label offerings,” said Heather Lalley, editor in chief of Winsight Grocery Business, a trade publication. “Now we’re seeing other retailers trying to emulate them.”In September, for example, Kroger (KR) announced a new budget private label brand called Smartway, which consolidates some of its other private label brands under one umbrella. Aldi, for one, is rolling out a new tagline to explain what it’s all about: It’s An Aldi Thing.

“It’s fascinating how people seek queerness — and where they seek queerness,” Fuller added. Murnau’s “Faust” and “Nosferatu,” such moments of levity keep viewers engaged while they’re soaking up early Hollywood’s rich queer history. “Whether you’re ideologically queer or sexually queer, you might relate to the monster’s narrative, because you, too, have felt ‘outsidered’ or villainized in some way.” Bryan fuller, 'queer for fear' executive producer“The Dracula costume kit is basically drag. So this, to me, is the experience of being a gay man.”As Alaska’s assessment demonstrates, “Queer for Fear” isn’t interested in just exploring how horror has provided a haven for queer creatives. Because of the Hays Code, LGBTQ creators and those, like Hitchcock, who wanted to include those themes had to do so through subtext, which counterintuitively gave birth to some of the most essential queer horror ever made.

In an emailed statement, Monica Medina, the U.S. official leading its treaty negotiations, said the country was committed to ending plastic pollution by 2040. Japan's vice minister for global environmental affairs, Hiroshi Ono, said he knew of a proposed coalition on plastic involving the United States but declined further comment. "We don't need a treaty for countries to decide themselves what their national actions should be. We need a treaty that can actually add on top of that," said Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics policy manager at WWF, calling such an approach a "light touch." Calls for tougher global measures such as those focused on plastic production have also met resistance from the powerful oil and petrochemical firms that make plastic.

☆ Don’t look up: Close encounters of the disaster movie kind
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Gene Seymour | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The latter movie, whose threat was, as with “Don’t Look Up,” a comet, was a more earnest, conscientiously assembled and far less flustered variation on this theme. By the way, I bet you’re wondering whether a feature-length “Chicken Little” movie was ever made. All I’ll say here is that it sounds a lot more interesting than the movie turned out to be. The title character in 2005's animated "Chicken Little" faces ridicule after warning that the sky is falling. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the movies will altogether abandon “Chicken Little” themes.

☆ Aldi says sales are booming amid inflation as even wealthier shoppers trade down
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Aldi says its US sales are rising as inflation-strapped shoppers turn to budget stores, Reuters reported. Aldi is known for its low prices, which are possible because of the range of unusual cost-cutting measures it deploys. Patton said that one million new customers have started shopping at Aldi over the past year, including a rise in middle- and high-income shoppers. Some products, including eggs, butter, and cooking oil, have been much harder hit than others. Customers are trading down by switching to grocery-store private labels — both because of inflation and because shoppers are increasingly brand agnostic.

☆ Aldi's U.S. sales rise as shoppers seek cheaper groceries
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Siddharth Cavale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File PhotoSept 21 (Reuters) - Aldi's U.S. arm said on Wednesday that same-store sales in the country rose in the double digits over the last 12 months as rampant inflation pushed consumers to find cheaper deals on groceries. The German-owned discount supermarket chain's U.S. stores sales growth over the past year was driven by 1 million new customers, Scott Patton, Aldi's vice president of National Buying, told a media event. Aldi has seenan increase in middle- and high-income shoppers as well, said Patton, referring to households making $50k-100k per year as middle income. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterDiscount stores such as Aldi and Dollar General Corp tend to perform well during economic turmoils as cash-strapped consumers seek cheaper alternatives. Dollar General lifted its annual comparable sales forecast last month, encouraged by consumers flocking to its stores for everything from groceries to household supplies.

☆ U.S. to seek death penalty against accused New York bike path killer
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect in the New York City truck attack is seen in this handout photo released November 1, 2017. In a letter filed late Friday in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors said Attorney General Merrick Garland "decided to continue to seek the death penalty" against Sayfullo Saipov, and that they notified the defendant's lawyers and victims. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe decision followed Garland's July 2021 moratorium on federal executions while the Department of Justice reviews its use of the death penalty. The Justice Department under Garland has defended the death penalty in some cases. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: Does China need more Russian gas via the Power-of-Siberia 2 pipeline?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Negotiations will be complex, however, not least because China is not expected to need additional gas supply until after 2030, industry experts said. The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the huge Yamal peninsula reserves in west Siberia - the main source of gas supply to Europe - to China, the world's top energy consumer and growing gas consumer. The idea gained impetus when the first pipes of the currently operational Power of Siberia pipeline were laid in Russia's eastern Yakutia region in 2014. DOES CHINA NEED MORE RUSSIAN GAS? Russia's Gazprom already supplies gas to China through the first Power of Siberia pipeline under a 30-year, $400 billion deal, which was launched at the end of 2019.

☆ These are the 10 best generals of all time, according to math
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Blake Stilwell | We Are The Mighty | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It starts with comparing the number of wins from that general to a replacement general in the same circumstances. The real power is ranking the general's WAR score, the aforementioned Wins Above Replacement. For each battle, the general receives a weighted WAR score, a negative score for a loss. There were some surprises in the model, like the apparent failures of generals like Robert E. Lee and more modern generals. To see every general's data point and where they sit in the analysis, check out the Bokeh Plot, an interactive data visualization.

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