DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Activists dressed as birds and trees rally for nature at COP15 in Montreal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] People take part in a march during the opening of COP15, the two-week U.N. Biodiversity summit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Christinne MuschiMONTREAL, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people on Saturday braved sub-zero temperatures to march the streets of Montreal, the host city of this year's U.N. biodiversity summit, demanding a strong new deal to protect nature worldwide. Wearing costumes to look like birds, trees and caribou, activists said the COP15 summit could fail to meet the urgency of the issue, with about 1 million plant, insect and other animal species now threatened with extinction. Arkilaus Kladit, a member of the Knasaimos-Tehit tribe, traveled to Montreal from West Papua, Indonesia. Countries' ministers join the negotiations next week in Montreal with the hope of adopting a deal to guide conservation through 2030 and beyond.

For decades, searching for such hard-to-reach plants and collecting samples was carried out by intrepid botanists who rappelled by rope down dangerous cliffs to hunt for what was lost. Now, we may have a little more time before extinction.”DIRE SITUATIONToday, two in five plant species globally are threatened with extinction. Kauai has 250 plant species that can be found only on the island. To protect species in the long run, botanists need to collect samples — seeds and genetic material — which they can cultivate in greenhouse nurseries. They might even use drones to bomb down collected seeds, packing them into sticky fertilizer balls that can adhere to steep cliffs.

☆ ‘Tulsa King’ Star Annabella Sciorra Dropped Her Heavy Brooklyn Accent for Her Acting Career
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Marc Myers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Annabella Sciorra, 62, is an actress best known for playing Gloria Trillo in “The Sopranos.” She has starred in “Jungle Fever,” “Cop Land” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” and currently co-stars in the Paramount+ series “Tulsa King.” She spoke with Marc Myers. Destiny brought my parents together. Both were born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and both moved to Italy for different reasons with their families when they were very young. After they returned to New York in their early 20s, they were fixed up on a date and married.

This is one of the reasons why Derbez is telling the story of a fictional resort using both English and Spanish. “I was always criticizing movies where I was seeing 007 (referring to the character James Bond) in Brazil and everyone speaks in English,” Derbez, who's also an executive producer of the show, said in an interview with NBC News. And that’s not the way it is.”The same goes for many TV shows being filmed in Mexico, Derbez said, which also show characters speaking only in English. He wants “Acapulco” to stand out by depicting the multilingual reality that he sees and lives in both countries. Episode nine of season two releases Friday on Apple TV+.

[1/3] Members of WWF protest during COP15, the two-week U.N. Biodiversity summit, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 7, 2022. REUTERS/Christinne MuschiMONTREAL, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Climate campaigners waved placards and chanted pro-nature slogans on Wednesday as a U.N. summit kicks off in Montreal, bringing together global negotiators for a "once-in-a-decade opportunity" to protect nature. Negotiators hope the two-week event delivers an agreement that ensures there is more "nature" — animals, plants, and healthy ecosystems — in 2030 than what exists now. Global Land Outlook assessment. ($1 = 1.3651 Canadian dollars)Read more:Businesses want COP15 nature summit to deliver clarityU.N. chief urges strong global nature deal to end 'orgy of destruction'Reporting by Allison Lampert and Gloria Dickie in Montreal; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Conservation targets proposed for halting nature loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

REUTERS/Dan Koeck/File PhotoMONTREAL, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Countries negotiating a global deal to halt nature loss are considering 24 potential conservation targets during this month's U.N. biodiversity summit in Montreal. TARGET 3 - PROTECTED AREASUnder this central goal known as the "30-by-30" target, countries would agree to protect at least 30% of their land and sea territories by 2030. TARGET 14 - POLICYThis target proposes including biodiversity and conservation in national policies, regulations, planning, and poverty eradication strategies, as well in environmental impact assessments. TARGET 16 - SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTIONHere, negotiators seek to suggest or require national policies, laws or regulations that would encourage consumers to make sustainable choices. TARGET 21 - EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION AND INCLUSIONThis settled target aims to make sure that conservation strategies represent all genders and indigenous communities.

REUTERS/Rebecca Naden/File PhotoMONTREAL, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Countries are gathering Tuesday for a key U.N. nature conference in Montreal, aiming to broker a new global agreement to protect what's left of Earth's wildlife and natural spaces. Global Land Outlook assessment. Like many other campaigners, Zabey called for "an ambitious, clear and enforceable international agreement" similar to the Paris Agreement on climate change. Unlike the U.N. climate talks, Montreal's summit will see few world leaders, which negotiators say could make it tougher to reach an ambitious agreement. Meanwhile, Montreal police have put up a 3-meter (10-foot) fence around the downtown summit venue, Palais des congrès, and are preparing for thousands of student protesters expected to swarm the Montreal's streets to demand a strong deal to protect nature.

And Wagner’s beloved fireflies – like so many insects worldwide – have largely vanished in what scientists are calling the global Insect Apocalypse. “Insects are the food that make all the birds and make all the fish,” said Wagner, who works at the University of Connecticut. Humans, too, see some 2,000 species of insects as food. “We’d see yields dropping of all of these crops.”And in nature, about 80% of wild plants rely on insects for pollination. WINNERS AND LOSERSWhile the situation is bleak for insects at large, a few types of insects are thriving.

☆ Explainer: What's on the agenda at the U.N.'s COP15 nature summit?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

MONTREAL, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A key United Nations summit to halt nature loss begins this week in Montreal, Canada. China's COP15 summit has been delayed four times, however, from its original date in 2020 due to COVID. The world's last set of nature targets - the Aichi Targets - expired in 2020. To protect nature, countries will need cash - a lot of it. Environmental groups argue that rich nations should provide at least $60 billion per year to help developing countries meet their nature targets.

☆ Biden's student-loan forgiveness might not be doomed if the Supreme Court strikes it down — he could take another legal path
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Some advocates and lawmakers argue the Higher Education Act can be used to cancel student debt. "I believe it probably would have been better for him to use the Higher Education Act of 1965," Weiss said. The Higher Education Act as an alternativeSome Democratic lawmakers and experts argue that the authority to cancel student debt has always existed under the Higher Education Act. Legal experts have also voiced support for the Higher Education Act. The Education Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether it is considering pursuing alternative routes to debt relief, including via the Higher Education Act.

☆ Gloria Estefan opens up about her daughter coming out
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Leah Asmelash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Singer Gloria Estefan, in a new episode of the HBO Max and CNN series, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?”, opened up to Wallace about being reluctant to let her daughter, Emily, come out to her grandmother before she died. “I told her just do it slowly,” she told Wallace. People see, but they don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to see it,” Estefan said. “And we wanted to share those things with people, so they would realize these are conversations we need to have. The response.”Estefan went on to applaud her daughter, who is also a singer, praising her strong will.

☆ Art Basel Miami Beach Plays It Safe in the Sun
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Brian P. Kelly | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Miami Beach, Fla. The Miami area has always been known to push boundaries. It serves as a financial gateway to the Americas and dared to put the Key lime into a pie. It arguably invented the hurricane party and had no small role in America’s 1980s cocaine habit. Which makes the risk-averse nature of 2022’s Art Basel Miami Beach especially surprising.

The Cuban restaurant Versailles has been a fixture in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood for the last 50 years. Courtesy VersaillesIt's also drawn celebrities, including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and has been a destination for international tourists looking to eat a Cuban meal or just hang out outside la ventanita, sipping a Cuban coffee, nibbling a guava pastry and absorbing the surrounding culture. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain drinks a Cuban coffee with Felipe Valls Sr. during a campaign visit to Versailles in 2011. “This is kind of their ground zero, the epicenter of the Cuban American community. On its website, Versailles calls itself “the world’s most famous Cuban restaurant.”

☆ Europe's heatwave may have caused more than 20,000 'excess' deaths
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Juliette Portala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Higher-than-expected excess deaths from Europe's heatwaveMany deaths due to high temperature may be under-reportedHeatwaves to become more frequent and intense in futureNov 24 (Reuters) - Summer heatwaves in France, Germany, Spain and Britain led to more than 20,000 "excess" deaths, a report compiling official figures said on Thursday. A heatwave in 2003 caused more than 70,000 excess deaths across Europe, largely in France, and led many countries to implement measures such as early warning systems, asking people to check on others and opening air-conditioned schools. France reported about half of the summer's excess deaths in Western Europe, with 10,420 fatalities in total. Excess deaths reached 3,271 in England and Wales during the summer, Britain's Office of National Statistics reported. Spain recorded 4,655 heat-attributable deaths between June and August while the German health agency reported 4,500.

☆ Woman challenges Republican Herschel Walker to face abortion claim in public
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - A woman who alleges that U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion in 1993 on Tuesday challenged the Republican, who has said he opposes abortion with no exceptions, to meet her publicly before next month's Georgia run-off election. Walker has called the woman's allegations, first made publicly on Oct. 26, untrue. The woman and her attorney presented voice recordings they claimed to be Walker's. The attorney has said the woman has years of material, including receipts and greeting cards, documenting her romantic relationship with Walker from the late 1980s through the 1990s. A Warnock victory would expand Democrats' razor-thin margin in the Senate by one, giving President Joe Biden's party more room to maneuver.

☆ A 2nd woman who said Herschel Walker forced her to have an abortion said he has caused 'collateral damage' with his denial of their relationship: 'All I can do is tell the truth'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A second woman who said Herschel Walker pressured her into having an abortion spoke out on Tuesday. Walker, the Georgia Republican Senate nominee, earlier this month called the allegations a "lie." I never paid for an abortion,'" Doe said. In an early October Daily Beast report, Walker was accused of paying for the abortion of an unnamed former girlfriend. In a separate The New York Times report, the same woman said that Walker pressured her to have a second abortion, but she declined.

More than 15 years of Israeli blockade has not quite killed off beekeeping in Gaza. But beekeepers say climate change just might. "This year was the worst for beekeepers in Gaza," said Waleed Abu Daqqa, who tends hives in the eastern section of the Palestinian coastal enclave. And now, the "prime factor" causing a bee crisis is climate change caused by global warming, Baysouni said. Bees and other pollinators are vital to agriculture and wildlife around the world, and the impact of climate change is a global problem.

☆ Analysis: COP27 does little for next month's global agenda: nature loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Many environment ministers and campaigners have said the climate talks should underline the importance of protecting nature to help to limit climate change. The "landmark" target of the draft Montreal deal proposes protecting 30% of the world's land and sea by 2030 - known informally as 30-by-30. The world's wildlife crisis is largely driven by habitat loss, with wild spaces turned into agricultural fields and cities, or degraded by pollution. But climate change poses an increasing threat as temperatures climb, pushing species out of their comfortable ranges. It encouraged parties to "consider, as appropriate, nature-based solutions or ecosystem-based approaches" to climate change.

[1/5] A general view of the entrance to the Sharm El-Sheikh International Convention Centre grounds, during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 19, 2022. Kunal Satyarthi, a negotiator for India, said he thought the loss and damage deal would "certainly" pass, and thanked other countries for their flexibility. Norway's climate minister, Espen Barth Eide, meanwhile, said his country was happy with the agreement to create a loss and damage fund. But the possible breakthrough on loss and damage was significant, and "I don't think that should be lost in the mix," he said. For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.

[1/3] Egyptian Foreign Minister and Egypt's COP27 President Sameh Shoukry attends an informal stocktaking session during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 18, 2022. But with several other sticking points dogging this year's U.N. climate talks, host country Egypt said a final deal was still not expected before the weekend. But it was unclear Friday if all of those countries would accept the EU's offer of a fund to aid only "the most vulnerable countries", rather than all developing countries as they had requested. On Friday morning, the U.N. climate agency published a first official draft of the final summit deal. Some countries, including the EU and Britain, have pushed for the overall deal in Egypt to lock in country commitments for more ambitious climate action.

[1/5] Climate activists take part in a protest during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 16, 2022. "There's still a lot of gaps in the texts," said a spokesperson for Britain's COP26 Presidency, which hosted last year's climate summit in Glasgow. EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said the first draft left a lot to be desired. TEMPERATURE TARGETOn limiting the global temperature rise, the document mirrors language included in last year's COP26 agreement. Temperatures have already increased by 1.1C, and are projected to blow past 1.5C without swift and deep cuts to emissions within this decade.

☆ National feminist organizations break their silence on Amber Heard in an open letter of support
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kat Tenbarge | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kahlan-Rosenblatt.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

It was written by a group of people who identify as domestic violence survivors and supporters of Heard. Many who did speak out in support of Heard, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, were met with ferocious backlash from Depp’s supporters online. Others who signed the letter echoed their concerns that reaction to the trial on social media was harmful to everyday victims of domestic violence. Since the trial, there has been more public support for Heard on social media, the spokesperson for the group behind the letter said. She and other anonymous Heard supporters had been “working to combat disinformation for months” when they joined for the open letter initiative.

☆ COP27: Children from Global South make their presence felt at climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Licypriya Kangujam, 11, environmentalist and climate activist, founder of The Child Movement, speaks to Reuters during an interview at the COP27 climate summit in Red Sea resort at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 15, 2022. Among the throngs of men and women in business attire at the COP27 United Nations climate summit in Egypt this week are children who have traveled from around the world to demand adult leaders take action to protect their futures. They may be small, but their voices have been some of the loudest in the climate action movement. Her involvement follows prominent youth activist Greta Thunberg, now 19, who led school strikes in Sweden to demand action. Organisers of the summit say children have been given greater importance, with a designated youth envoy and a pavilion for children and youth at the conference.

☆ COP27 climate talks seen as key to success at next month's U.N. nature summit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Climate change is one of the big drivers of biodiversity loss," said David Cooper, the deputy chief of U.N.'s Convention on Biological Diversity. "If we don't have successful outcomes in the climate process, then we cannot halt biodiversity loss," Cooper said. "You cannot have a dream of coping with climate change only through the emissions," Virginijus Sinkevičiu, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, told Reuters. "If ecosystems are not able to cope, you don't have a success story" in fighting climate change. President Xi Jinping has not attended the climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh and is also not expected to attend COP15.

☆ COP27:Brazil's Lula says Amazon rainforest vital to global climate security
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said climate change will have the highest profile in his government, and that he will prioritize efforts to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. "There is no climate security for the world without a protected Amazon," said Lula in a speech at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. "We will do whatever it takes to have zero deforestation and the degradation of our biomes." Lula said he believed the struggle against global warming was also inseparable from the struggle against poverty. Reporting by Jake Spring, William James and Gloria Dickie; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Gloria"

25 mentions found