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☆ Feds vote to reduce bottlenecks in connecting new power sources to the energy grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Also, power generators will have to meet certain requirements to keep their place in the queue, including a financial deposit. Deadlines and penalties for transmission providers: Transmission providers will have strict deadlines to to respond to power generators waiting in the queue, and will face penalties if they miss those deadlines. Also, power generators will be able to add a source of power to a single interconnection request. It can be so expensive to build new transmission, sometimes power generators can't afford the cost and have to cancel their power generation plans completely. Also, power generators wait for an average of five years in these queues because grid operators are flooded with interconnection queue applications.

Persons: Jeffrey Lamb, LADWP, Al Seib, George Rose, Rob Gramlich, Gramlich, Joseph Rand, Rand, Gregory Wetstone Organizations: Sylmar, Pacific DC, Los Angeles Department of Water, Los Angeles Times, Getty, Aera Energy, CNBC, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, FERC, Vw, American, Renewable Energy Locations: Columbia, Oregon, California, Southern California, Angeles, Los Angeles , CA, CA, San Joaquin Valley, McKittrick , California, North, Lost, Kern County, Bakersfield, United States, Milford , Utah, Milford, Smithfield, ACORE

☆ Student-loan borrowers should be able to achieve 'financial freedom' through bankruptcy, Elizabeth Warren says — especially with 'the looming threat of restarting' repayment
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Justice Department for an update on bankruptcy reforms for student-loan borrowers. In November, the DOJ updated guidance to make the bankruptcy process easier. In November, President Joe Biden's Education and Justice Departments released new guidance on the process for borrowers to get rid of their debt through bankruptcy. As Insider previously reported, Biden himself played a part in making the bankruptcy process more difficult for student-loan borrowers. The Justice Department has not yet commented on updates to the bankruptcy process.

Persons: Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Sen, Joe Biden's, it's, Warren, Merrick Garland, Garland, Biden, Richard Cordray, we're Organizations: Justice Department, DOJ, Service, Massachusetts, Joe Biden's Education, Justice, ED, Consumer, Federal, Department, Education Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Former Church Minister Charged With 1975 Murder of 8-Year-Old Girl
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Jesus Jiménez | More About Jesus Jiménez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the morning of Aug. 15, 1975, Gretchen Harrington, 8, left her home in Broomall, Pa., for summer Bible school. The Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church was less than half a mile down the road, but Gretchen never made it. Skeletal remains found nearby in Ridley Creek State Park on Oct. 14, 1975, were later identified as Gretchen’s. On Monday, the district attorney’s office in Delaware County, Pa., west of Philadelphia, announced that it had filed charges against David Zandstra, 83, of Marietta, Ga., in Gretchen’s murder. He is being held in Cobb County, Ga., where he has been denied bail.

Persons: Gretchen Harrington, Gretchen, David Zandstra, Zandstra Organizations: Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church Locations: Broomall, Pa, Ridley Creek, Delaware County, Philadelphia, Marietta, Ga, Georgia, Cobb County ,

☆ House Republicans target proxy advisors in latest hearing picking apart ESG investing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — A Republican-led House Financial Services subcommittee held a second hearing Thursday scrutinizing the Biden administration's environmental, social and governance disclosure proposals for public U.S. companies. The hearing zeroed in on the influence of proxy advisors on shareholder voting decisions on questions related to ESG investing. Republicans pushed back against what they called the prioritization of ESG shareholder resolutions, while Democrats say shareholders deserve to be informed of all possible risks to their investments. The hearing was the second of six scheduled this month on ESG investing by House Republicans. The GOP's push against policies designed to promote ESG investing has garnered the support of some of the largest business advocacy groups, such as the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers.

Persons: WASHINGTON —, Ann Wagner, Glass Lewis, Wagner, Gary Gensler, Trump, Chris Netram, — rescinding, Netram Organizations: Republican, Financial Services, Biden, Capital Markets, House Republicans, GOP, SEC, Securities, Exchange, Business, National Association of Manufacturers, NAM Locations: Bonn, Germany

[1/3] Writer Milan Kundera is pictured in Prague, former Czechoslovakia, May 6, 1963. CTK Photo/Frantisek Nesvadba via REUTERSPRAGUE, July 12 (Reuters) - Czech-born writer Milan Kundera, author of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" who lived nearly five decades in Paris after emigrating in disillusionment from his Communist-ruled homeland, has died at the age of 94. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Kundera was "a writer and a voice that we will miss". "Milan Kundera's work is at the same time a deep, human, intimate and distant exploration," she said. Fellow Czech writer Karel Hvizdala told Czech Television he saw his friend last November and he was already in poor health.

Persons: Milan Kundera, Frantisek Nesvadba, Kundera, Petr Fiala, Petr Pavel, Pavel, Elisabeth Borne, Milan, Karel Hvizdala, Albert Camus, Daniel Day, Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Philip Kaufman, Timothy Garton Ash, Monde, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Czechoslovakia's, Jan Lopatka, Robert Muller, Elizabeth Pineau, Tassilo Hummel, Michael Kahn, Jason Hovet, Toby Chopra, Kevin Liffey, Mark Heinrich, Nick Macfie Organizations: CTK, REUTERS, Moravian, Prague Spring, Czech Television, Czechoslovak Communist, New York Times, Oxford University, Paris Mayor, Czechoslovakia's Communist, Thomson Locations: Prague, Czechoslovakia, REUTERS PRAGUE, Czech, Paris, Brno, France, Communist Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak, Europe, Central Europe, French, Western

☆ Opinion | Who Truly Threatens the Church?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Years ago, I laughed at claims that Christian conservatives were dominionists in disguise, that we didn’t just want religious freedom, we wanted religious authority. The motivating force behind this transformation is a powerful sense of threat — the idea that the left is “coming after” you and your family. This mind-set sees the Christian use of power as inherently protective, and the desire to censor as an attempt to save children from dangerous ideas. We do not, either as individuals or as a religious movement, possess an inherent virtue that should entitle any of us to rule. Of course that is not to say that external voices and ideas can have no negative effect in our lives.

Persons: ”, integralists, Chesterton, Jesus, we’re Locations: American

“One of the things I would want to do as president is go to Congress and seek the repeal of the First Step Act. “At no point, as a congressman or as governor, has Ron DeSantis ever supported the final version of the First Step Act,” DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin told CNN in an email. His rapid response director, Christina Pushaw – one of the bill’s strongest critics – once strongly backed Trump on criminal justice reform. DeSantis pointed to the First Step Act as a potential model for prison reform and re-entry programs in Florida. “We, I think, need to look at after seeing what the federal government did with the prison reform and how to do some re-entry,” the governor said.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s, ”, DeSantis, ” DeSantis, “, they’re, Ben Shapiro, –, They’ve, we’re, Doug Collins, ” Collins, resentencing –, Holly Harris –, ” Harris, they’ve, It’s, Bryan Griffin, Christina Pushaw –, Trump, Ken Cuccinelli, Steve Cortes, Mike Pence, Pence, Ivanka Trump, “ We’ve, that’s, Ivanka Organizations: CNN, Florida Gov, “, Republicans, of Justice, US, Committee, White, Justice Action Network, Republican, PAC, Operation Locations: Florida, rearrest

One year after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade and reignited a worldwide protest movement against restricting abortion access, pro-choice advocates in the UK say little progress has been made to increase access to reproductive health services. Proudman said the decision of the US Supreme Court last year to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling had made her reflect on the state of abortion laws in the UK. So, we’re effectively asking that politicians do the same,” O’Brien told CNN. The recent criminal conviction in Stoke-On-Trent has only highlighted how “restrictive” and “draconian” UK abortion laws are, O’Brien said. ‘Ready to take action’Charities such as BPAS which provide abortion care to women on behalf of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) maintain that the current abortion laws are making life “more difficult” for providers, clinicians and women themselves.

Persons: Roe, Wade, “, ” Nadia Hirsi, Jennifer Dean, ’, Jenny Wickham, ”, Charlotte Proudman, didn’t, Nadia Hirsi, Ella Valentine, Sana Noor Haq, CNN Jennifer Dean, CNN Proudman, Stella Creasy, Proudman, Katherine O’Brien, we’re, ” O’Brien, O’Brien, Annabel Sowemimo, ” Sowemimo, White Organizations: London CNN, US Supreme, CNN, Trent Crown, Public Prosecutions, Wales, US, Charity, British Pregnancy Advisory, Proudman, Trent, US Centers for Disease Control, National Health Service Locations: UK’s, London, England, Wales, British, Stoke, Trent, USA, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada, Poland, Texas, Netherlands

☆ World Bank should add disaster clauses to debt agreements- Yellen
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Such clauses could be part of a broader reform of the World Bank to free up more funds, Yellen told journalists in the French capital. "We would also like to see the World Bank offer borrowers the option to add climate resilient debt clauses to their loan agreements. These clauses would help ease pressures on countries if a natural disaster strikes," she said. Yellen, whose country is the World Bank's biggest shareholder, added multilateral development banks should be reformed to become more efficient before shareholders think of injecting more money into them. "Even with the capital that the World Bank and the MDBs have there is clearly potential ...to increase financing capacity," she said, adding an additional 200 billion dollars could be unlocked over a decade.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Read, Yellen, Leigh Thomas, Silvia Aloisi, Toby Chopra Organizations: . Treasury, U.S, Global Climate Finance, World Bank, Bank, Thomson Locations: France, Paris, PARIS

☆ Prince Harry Is a More Interesting Prince Than We Deserved - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Tanya Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Like his mother, Princess Diana, Harry has been an instrument all his life. They filmed Harry as he, aged 12, walked behind her coffin at her funeral, his presence necessary to protect his father’s reputation. Even the British media wouldn’t heckle a faithless husband in front of his son. I read “Spare” as a portrait of an abusive childhood and an act of whistle-blowing, but most of the British media did not. — and for his affinity for Stewie, the infant prodigy in “Family Guy,” whom he described as “a prophet without honor.”

Persons: Princess Diana, Harry, William, heckle, Meghan Markle, Oprah Winfrey, “, Stewie, Guy, ” Organizations: Netflix Locations: Windsor, Paris, Britain

☆ PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger is a major win for the Saudis — and Americans are slamming it
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

It's lured some of the biggest golf stars away from the PGA Tour with huge paychecks, spurring antitrust lawsuits with the American organization. "This is Saudi Arabia buying the PGA tour," sports talk show host Rich Eisen said in his broadcast after hearing the news. USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan called the move "a total wimp-out by the PGA Tour. Glyn Kirk | AFP | Getty ImagesSocial media was rife with self-described golf fans vowing to never again watch the PGA Tour. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson, another member of the LIV Tour, tweeted "Awesome day today" in response to the news.

Persons: LIV Golf, that's, —, LIV, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, It's, Jay Monahan, Rich Eisen, Pat Welter, it's, Christine Brennan, Tiger Woods, Glyn Kirk, Ron Wyden, Chris Murphy, Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi LIV, Monahan, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Jim Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Jeffries, Yasir Al, Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Arabia's, Al Organizations: PGA Tour, Saudi, LIV Players, PGA, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Saudi Crown, CNBC, Twitter, 150th, St, AFP, Getty, LIV, Washington Post, Amnesty, Saudi Arabian Crown, Saudi Embassy, Washington D.C, Saudi Foreign Ministry, CNN, Royal, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Investment, Rumayyan, Nassr Football Club, Al Nassr Football Locations: Saudi Arabia, North Carolina, Saudi, Scotland, Oregon, Connecticut, American, Washington ,, Washington, videoconference, Riyadh, PIF, Portuguese

☆ Communities near California's reformed Tulare Lake are unlikely to flood this year, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

California officials Monday said communities near Tulare Lake will likely not experience drastic flooding this year as weather conditions improve following a series of powerful atmospheric river storms that refilled the basin. Several weeks ago, scientists and officials had warned of worsening floods in the Central Valley due to a large amount of snowpack from the Sierra Nevada melting and sending more water into the basin. The forecasting prompted concerns over potential levee breaches and displacement of residents in communities such as Corcoran and Stratford. However, officials said they no longer expect those communities to flood due in part to state efforts to raise levees and farmers' work to divert more water for irrigation. Gavin Newsom said the state would spend $17 million to bolster the levees protecting Corcoran from floods.

☆ ‘Master Gardener’ Review: A New Paul Schrader Antihero
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver Photo: Magnolia PicturesLate in his career, Paul Schrader has completed an evocative trilogy about tightly wound, obsessively focused men yearning for expiation of their sins. The 76-year-old writer-director has returned yet again to some of the same psychological territory he visited in his earliest successful script, “Taxi Driver” (1976), and in many others about loners struggling to maintain their composure in a world of pain and guilt. Following his recent efforts “First Reformed” (2017) and “The Card Counter” (2021), he has rounded out the triptych with another penetrating character study, “Master Gardener.” The title figure is a quiet, rigorously devoted horticulturist with a messy past. In cultivating a gorgeous bounty of flowers in a large botanical garden, he seeks his own renewal.

☆ Premarket stocks: Investors shouldn't ignore this recession warning sign
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Retail growth held on by the skin of its teeth this month,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. The retailer posted disappointing sales for its first quarter and lowered its outlook for the year as customers slowed their spending. Total sales ticked up 0.5% during its latest quarter from a year ago, the company said Wednesday. The bill, which will take effect in January, specifically names TikTok as its target, prohibiting the app from operating within state lines. Pence said he expects to come to a decision about a presidential run before the end of June.

☆ ‘Master Gardener’ Review: Paul Schrader’s Solitary Man
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Part of the kick of “Master Gardener” is that the writer-director Paul Schrader manages to pull off this improbable movie. As has been the case in many of Schrader’s stories, this one centers on a man who’s of this world and apart. That character — “God’s lonely man,” as he’s called in “Taxi Driver,” which Schrader wrote — has appeared repeatedly in his filmography. That lonely man is here again, risen once more in “Master Gardener,” but now named Narvel Roth and played like a clenched fist by Joel Edgerton. In all three movies, a solitary, soul-weary man in crisis — who’s invariably seen alone in a room writing in a journal he shares in voice-over — undergoes a kind of transfiguration.

☆ Britain ditches commitment to remove all EU laws by the end of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Britain no longer intends to remove all European Union laws by the end of 2023 and instead will amend the retained EU law (REUL) bill to clarify the laws it intends to revoke this year, the government said. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said in January the government would not extend an end-of-year deadline to replace all the European Union laws that were retained after Britain left the bloc in 2020. But on Wednesday, business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch said that rather than automatically revoking almost all retained EU law, the government would amend the bill to propose to revoke only about 600 out of around 4,000 retained EU laws. "Today the Government is tabling an amendment... which will replace the current sunset in the Bill with a list of the retained EU laws that we intend to revoke under the Bill at the end of 2023," Badenoch said in a ministerial statement. Badenoch said that 1,000 EU laws had already been revoked or reformed since Britain left the EU in 2020, and a financial services bill would revoke a further 500 pieces of retained law.

☆ As retirement age change sparks protests in France, here's what could happen in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Damien Meyer | Afp | Getty ImagesAn increase in pension retirement age to 64 from 62 in France has sparked ongoing protests. The U.S. could be poised for a similar change with the Social Security retirement age. Today, that higher retirement age is still getting phased in. People born in 1960 and later now must wait until 67 to receive their full "retirement age" benefits. For example, if you are eligible for a $1,000 monthly benefit at full retirement age, you would get just $700 per month if you started at age 62.

☆ Turkey's Kilicdaroglu exits Erdogan's shadow in election race
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Daren Butler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

I know the cost of living and the hopelessness of young people," Kilicdaroglu told a rally last week. Many wonder whether Kilicdaroglu can defeat Erdogan, the country's longest-serving leader, whose campaigning charisma has helped deliver more than a dozen election victories. The opposition has stressed that Erdogan's drive to slash interest rates set off the inflationary crisis that devastated household budgets. HEALING OLD WOUNDSBefore entering politics, Kilicdaroglu worked in the finance ministry and then chaired Turkey's Social Insurance Institution for most of the 1990s. "I have been boycotting the elections since 2018 but I will vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu this time.

It would ensure the central bank's independence and roll back measures such as allowing the cabinet to select its governor. FOREIGN POLICYIt would adopt the slogan of "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" as the cornerstone of Turkey's foreign policy. Judges' willingness to abide by Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights rulings would be considered when evaluating promotions. Measures would be taken to ensure courts quickly implement rulings by the two high courts. It would ensure that pre-trial detentions are the exception, a measure that critics say is abused under Erdogan's rule.

☆ The Coronation of King Charles: Order of Service
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +46 min

The Archbishop saysI here present unto you King Charles, your undoubted King: Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same? Christopher Finney GC saysI here present unto you King Charles, your undoubted King: Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same? We praise thee, we bless thee,we worship thee, we glorify thee,we give thanks to thee for thy great glory,O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O clap your hands together, all ye people;O sing unto God with the voice of melody. The King touches the Ring and the Archbishop saysReceive this Ring, symbol of kingly dignity and a sign of the covenant sworn this day, between God and King, King and people.

☆ Turkey's Kilicdaroglu exits Erodogan's shadow in election race
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Daren Butler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

I know the cost of living and the hopelessness of young people," Kilicdaroglu told a rally last week. Even if he prevails, Kilicdaroglu faces challenges keeping an opposition alliance including nationalists, Islamists, secularists and liberals united. Many wonder whether Kilicdaroglu can defeat Erdogan, the country's longest-serving leader, whose campaigning charisma has helped deliver more than a dozen election victories. HEALING OLD WOUNDSBefore entering politics, Kilicdaroglu worked in the finance ministry and then chaired Turkey's Social Insurance Institution for most of the 1990s. "I have been boycotting the elections since 2018 but I will vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu this time.

☆ California's reappearing phantom lake could remain for two years in the Central Valley
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

An aerial view of a home (C) surrounded by floodwaters in the reemerging Tulare Lake, in California’s Central Valley, on April 14, 2023 in Corcoran, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesSatellite images taken over the past several weeks show a dramatic resurrection of Tulare Lake in California's Central Valley and the flooding that could remain for as long as two years across previously arid farmland. This week, a heat wave could prompt widespread snow melt in the mountains and threaten the small farming communities already dealing with the resurrected Tulare Lake. Satellite imagery shows a large swath of farmland before water filled the Tulare Basin. Planet LabsSatellite images show miles of flooding after California's Tulare Lake returns.

☆ How Putin spent 20 years rebuilding Russia's military 'and then just simply destroyed it' in Ukraine, according to an expert who watched it happen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Vladimir Putin has spent his two decades in power rebuilding and reforming Russia's military. Below, Galeotti describes those reforms, what they achieved, and how, in a devastating war in Ukraine, Putin has squandered the military he built. IGOR SAREMBO/AFP via Getty ImagesWhen Putin came to power at the end of the 1990s, what was the state of the Russian military? How did the Russian military underperform in that conflict in Georgia? What did those conflicts show about the capabilities of the Russian military and about the impact of those reforms?

☆ Kevin McCarthy is fighting to 'deny critical student debt relief' to 83,000 of his own constituents in his new debt ceiling bill, Biden's Education Secretary says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kevin McCarthy unveiled his bill to raise the debt ceiling on Wednesday. It included banning student-loan forgiveness and ending the payment pause. The 320-page bill included $4.5 trillion in spending cuts, including strengthened work requirements on welfare programs, rescinding unspent pandemic funds, and banning student-loan forgiveness. Currently, Biden's broad debt relief is paused following two conservative-backed lawsuits that blocked the implementation of the plan, and the Supreme Court is expected to issue a final decision of the legality of the relief by June. "Let's get this straight: MAGA House Republicans are holding the economy hostage to prevent student debt relief from happening, while making it easier for the rich to cheat on their taxes," Biden wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

☆ 'I screamed so loud, I blacked out': Afghans tell of the Taliban's return to their old torture playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Zahid Mahmood | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

"There were about 12 Taliban members surrounding me, they tied me to a chair and started beating me from all sides," Zafri told CNN. He added: "I screamed so loud, I blacked out because of the trauma." Fereshta Abbasi, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, told CNN that, since the Taliban's comeback, a local journalist told her how bleak the media landscape is, threatening free speech. "Freedom of speech and media in Afghanistan was one of the country's biggest achievements, which has now unfortunately gone." Meanwhile, Zafri remains stuck in Afghanistan despite repeated attempts to leave following his detention and torture by the Taliban.

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