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☆ El Nino may hammer Asian farms with dry weather, but shower American growers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Naveen Thukral | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

El Nino, a warming of water surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, is expected to develop in the coming months, according to meteorologists. The onset of monsoon rains across South Asia is likely to be slightly delayed this year and El Nino could hit rice and oilseeds production. "El Nino could develop during July ... it might have an impact in the second half of the season," said O.P. "In general, a big part of the Pampean region and Northern Argentina have above-normal rains with the El Nino phenomenon." In Europe, where El Nino is not typically linked to pronounced weather patterns, major crops are in good shape after abundant spring rain, with the exception of drought-hit Spain.

Persons: El Nino, Chris Hyde, El, Phin Ziebell, Sreejith, Germán Heinzenknecht, David Tolleris, Rains, Naveen Thukral, Maximilian Heath, Mark Weinraub, Rajendra Jadhav, Gus Trompiz, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Nino, El, National Australia Bank, India Meteorological Department, El Nino, HIT, Thomson Locations: Australia, India, Southeast Asia, Asia U.S, South America, SINGAPORE, Asia, U.S, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, El Nino, Americas, Russia, Ukraine, New South Wales, Queensland, South Asia, ARGENTINA, United States, Argentina, Northern Argentina, China, Europe, Spain, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Paris

☆ Opinion | The Ocean Is Looking More Menacing
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

What do you call the arrival of events that have been predicted but, when predicted, were described as distressing or even terrifying? But some news from ocean science may prove more surprising still — perhaps genuinely paradigm-shifting. This key part of the circulation of the Southern Ocean “looks headed towards collapse this century,” study coordinator Matthew England told Yale Environment 360. “And once collapsed, it would most likely stay collapsed until Antarctic melting stopped. At current projections that could be centuries away.”Then, last week, some of the same researchers confirmed that the process was already unfolding — in fact, that the Southern Ocean overturning circulation had already slowed by as much as 30 percent since the 1990s.

Persons: Matthew England, ”, Steve Rintoul, who’d Organizations: Yale Environment Locations: Pacific Northwest, Canada, El

☆ A judge ruled that a school district could bar a student from wearing a Mexican and American flag sash at graduation — but she did it anyway
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A judge ruled that a school district could ban a student from wearing a flag sash at graduation. Naomi Peña Villasano attempted to sue Garfield County School District 16, citing free speech. Despite the ban, the 18-year-old high school student still wore the sash at the event. A federal judge had ruled that a local school district could bar a student from wearing the flag sash at her high school graduation, the Associated Press reported. In a Change.org petition, Peña Villasano wrote that "my high school administration and superintendent have said "no" twice.

Records date to 2012, when 15% of corn areas were in at least moderate drought by this same week. Percent of U.S. corn in drought, May versus JulyAround the same date in 2014, 2021 and 2022, moderate drought coverage spanned between 20% and 24% of U.S. corn areas. The central Corn Belt, including Iowa and Illinois, was very wet in May 2013 and mid-month corn planting in those states was very slow, though planting was quicker than normal this year. El Nino never formed in 2012, though it did in late 2014, sticking around throughout 2015 and leading into the 2015-16 super El Nino. Strong U.S. corn yields occur more frequently during El Nino versus La Nina, though El Nino does not guarantee that outcome.

☆ Americans hate tipping so much it was once banned in 7 states
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

By the 1700's, tipping in Europe had evolved from masters tipping servants to customers tipping service-industry workers. Seven states passed anti-tipping legislation in the early 1900sBy the early 1900s, early grumblings about tipping had escalated into full-fledged anti-tipping movements. But in 1919, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the state's anti-tipping law was unconstitutional, and other states followed by striking down or repealing their own similar legislation. Tipping persists in the US todayDespite originating in Europe, tipping has become deeply ingrained in American culture. Today, while many Americans aren't fans of tipping, and some restaurants have tried doing away with the practice, tipping is unlikely to be banned anywhere in the US anytime soon.

ONE OF grilling’s greatest virtues: the way the smoke does most of the work for you, infusing every bite of the food it touches with intense flavor. But even pitmaster-level proteins can use a saucy soul mate—just a quick swab of something sweet, sour, rich or spicy to translate a grill-hatched slab of beef or salmon or maitake mushroom into a meal.

☆ Nina Gold on creating film stars, audition tapes, and why she'll never act
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This is the same Nina Gold who’s made a successful career casting some of the defining films and TV shows of this century. “I still don’t really understand what it is that makes acting good,” she says. For “Bad Sisters’” smarmy, abusive antagonist John Paul, Gold cast Claes Bang. For Gold and her team – rising to six people, depending on projects – it’s a lot of logistics and audition tapes. Gold cast Taylor-Johnson in his breakout role as John Lennon in “Nowhere Boy” (2009) at age 18-20, she guesses, but had been auditioning him since about the age of nine.

Breaching 1.5 degrees may only be temporary, the WMO said. Countries pledged in the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees – and preferably to 1.5 degrees – compared to pre-industrial temperatures. Scientists consider 1.5 degrees of warming as a key tipping point, beyond which the chances of extreme flooding, drought, wildfires and food shortages could increase dramatically. “This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency,” said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas, in a statement.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, scheduled for this weekend, has been canceled and the site evacuated. An aerial view of flooded houses in Cesena, where residents had to climb onto rooftops to escape high water levels. Water levels on northern Italy’s Lake Garda fell to record lows in February, with Venice experiencing unusually low tides. Formula 1 race canceledFormula 1 has announced the cancellation of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix because of heavy flooding in the region, citing safety concerns. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is the first event of the Formula 1 season in Europe and was scheduled to take place this weekend.

☆ IRS flagged more than 1 million tax returns for identity fraud in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The IRS flagged more than 1 million tax returns for potential identity theft during the 2023 tax season, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, signaling that such fraud continues to be a pervasive problem for taxpayers. The IRS had confirmed 12,617 of the tax returns were fraudulent as of the same date in March, Treasury reported. That figure is up from 9,626 tax returns at the same time in 2022. Identity theft was the most prevalent type of fraud that consumers reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2022. The IRS increased the number of filters it uses to identify potentially fraudulent tax returns since the 2022 tax season.

For weeks, officials have feared that the end of Title 42 would create a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border that would strain and possibly cripple America’s immigration system. Natalie Kitroeff, the New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, reports from the border about what actually happened when the pandemic-era policy expired.

☆ Meet 11 women who were promoted to partner or higher in Europe's male-dominated VC industry in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Women held just 13.5% of general partner roles in Europe's VC industry last year, per Atomico. Europe's venture capital ecosystem has long boasted a dire track record when it comes to diversity. The lack of representation in top-level positions has a trickle-down effect with female-founded startups securing a meager 1.1% of VC funding in 2022. VC firms can widen "the candidate pool, require diverse shortlists, and interview candidates with competency-based assessment techniques," she said. This year, we have spotlighted 11 contenders who have landed top roles at European VC firms.

☆ These are the top 3 cities for new grads to launch their lives and careers: 'I can afford the house I want and the life I want'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jennifer Liu | In Jljenniferliu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

1 best metro area for new grads in 2023 is the area surrounding Lubbock, Texas. Data is one thing, but what is it actually like to be a young person living in these areas? "Other cities did great in one or two areas max, but Lubbock offers the whole package," DeJohn says. Many of the clients Douglas works with are young homebuyers around her age and just out of college or grad school. "Here, I know I can afford the house I want and the life I want," she adds.

☆ I’m a ‘mom for hire’ who charges $40 an hour. I've given dating advice, shared chicken soup recipes, and even taught a guy how to iron.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Jenny Powers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Nina Keneally founded Need a Mom NYC, where she offers the services of a mom for $40 an hour. The work is part time, and I charge $30 an hour for the first two sessions and $40 after that for services a mom may provide. I've helped reformat a résumé, taught a guy how to iron his shirt before a big job interview, and shared recipes for chicken soup. While I'm certainly open to local in-person sessions, I don't do any marketing, so most people aren't aware I'm even here. I do have a Facebook page, and in the beginning, I got some comments like "Why would anyone need another mom?"

☆ Day care, margarine, car repairs: Here’s what’s costing Americans the most
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Annual inflation unexpectedly declined to 4.9% last month, according to the April Consumer Price Index report, released Wednesday. Here are some of the notable price hikes Americans are confronting:MargarineCosting almost 24% more than last year, margarine earned the top prize for the biggest annual increase last month. The CarMD report found that the increase in repair costs isn’t coming from labor costs, which were down slightly last year. Day care and preschoolThe cost of sending your child to day care or preschool is up 7% compared to last year, the largest annual increase recorded, according to April’s CPI. Child care centers are seeing increased demand after more workers are being called back to work in person.

☆ New Defamation Suit Against Fox Signals Continued Legal Threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jim Rutenberg | Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fox News was hit on Wednesday with another defamation lawsuit, this one from a woman who said the network promoted lies about her that generated serious threats to her safety and harmed her career prospects. The suit was filed on behalf of Nina Jankowicz, the former executive director of a short-lived Department of Homeland Security division assigned with coordinating efforts to monitor and address disinformation threats to national security. Right-wing pundits and politicians falsely portrayed her group as part of an Orwellian bid to control the speech and thought of ordinary Americans. Ms. Jankowicz, a prominent specialist in Russian disinformation and online harassment, became the primary subject of their attacks. In 300 mentions over eight months on Fox last year, she was repeatedly demeaned and defamed in highly personal language, the lawsuit asserts.

☆ Disinformation researcher who led now-defunct DHS unit sues Fox News for defamation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The researcher, Nina Jankowicz, briefly served in the Biden administration as head of the now-defunct Disinformation Governance Board, which was housed in the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of high-profile defamation cases brought against Fox News in recent years. The network last month settled a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, the largest publicly known settlement in US history. Smartmatic’s case survived a motion to dismiss filed by Fox News last year and continues to move through the court system. Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corporation, the parent company of the right-wing channel Fox News, said on Tuesday that the company will fight Smartmatic’s lawsuit.

For the past three years, the United States has relied on Title 42, a pandemic restriction that has allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants at the southern border. But by the end of the week, that rule will expire. Miriam Jordan, who covers immigration for The Times, explains what that will mean on both sides of the border.

☆ Hurricanes of Data: The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Porter Fox | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +35 min

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea Shortly after dawn on Sept. 30, 2021, Richard Jenkins watched a Category 4 hurricane overrun his life’s work. That August, a sister ship, SD 1031, successfully entered Tropical Storm Henri, but only in its early stages. Hurricane research, modeling and forecasting requires many terabytes of data for every square mile the storm passes through, including vitally important sea-level data from inside a storm. The next day, the depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and officially given the name Sam. And four months later, Tropical Storm Megi killed more than 150, wiped out several villages with landslides and displaced more than a million people.

Debate about ethical standards for Supreme Court justices has intensified after a series of revelations about undisclosed gifts, luxury travel and property deals. Adam Liptak, who covers the court for The Times, reviews the allegations of misconduct and the growing calls to do something about it.

☆ World food prices rise for first time in a year, UN food agency says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 127.2 points last month against 126.5 for March, the agency said on Friday. "As economies recover from significant slowdowns, demand will increase, exerting upward pressure on food prices," said FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero. While the meat index rose 1.3% month-on-month, dairy prices dipped 1.7%, vegetable oil prices fell 1.3% and the cereal price index shed 1.7%, with a decline in world prices of all major grains outweighing an increase in rice prices. World cereal utilisation in the 2022/23 period was seen at 2.780 billion tonnes, FAO said, down 0.7% from 2021/22. World cereal stocks by the close of the 2022/2023 seasons are expected to ease by 0.2% from their opening levels to 855 million tonnes.

☆ Ocean temperatures are off the charts right now, and scientists are alarmed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Ocean surface heat is at record-breaking levels. Since La Niña ended in March, ocean temperatures seem to be on a rebound, scientists say. Worrying impacts of ocean warmingWhatever the reasons behind the increase in ocean heat, the impacts are potentially catastrophic if temperatures continue to head off the charts. For now, ocean surface temperatures have started to fall, even if they remain high for this time of year. As scientists continue to analyze the reasons for record ocean warming, they are clear records will continue to be smashed as the climate crisis intensifies.

☆ Hundreds of pounds of pasta dumped in Old Bridge, New Jersey
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Adrienne Vogt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

This question had residents of Old Bridge, New Jersey, scratching their heads over the past few days, although part of the mystery may have been solved. Uncooked spaghetti found along a stream in Old Bridge, New Jersey, in a photo taken by resident Nina Jochnowitz, who said all kinds of things are dumped in the Jersey woods. The Old Bridge Department of Public Works mopped up “what appeared to be 15 [wheelbarrow] loads of illegal dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood,” Shah said. Full disclosure: Old Bridge is my hometown. Two Old Bridge residents (again, full disclosure: my parents) made a previously unplanned stop on Thursday afternoon near the scene, and my dad walked through the wooded area.

☆ A looming El Niño could prompt a spike in global temperatures, UN agency warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An El Niño climate pattern will likely develop later this year, which could exacerbate global warming and break temperature records around the world, forecasters from the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday. The United Nations agency said it cannot yet forecast the strength or duration of the El Niño, but according to its outlook, there is a 60% chance that the El Niño will form between May and July and an 80% chance it will form between July and September. "The development of an El Niño will most likely lead to a new spike in global heating and increase the chance of breaking temperature records," Taalas said. An El Niño has the opposite effects on weather and climate patterns than a La Niña. Both weather patterns result from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific and are part of an intermittent cycle known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO.

Michel Gaubert first crossed paths with Karl Lagerfeld when he worked at a record store on the Champs-Élysée. “All his life Karl was obsessed with music,” he recalled. All his life Karl was obsessed with music. Then one day Eric came and asked if I wanted to work with the Karl Lagerfeld brand. Karl said Diane de Beauvau-Craon [a French princess and a pal of Mr. Lagerfeld’s] would call me.

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