Category: Extraordinary

In final speech, Ardern reflects on leading New Zealand

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Jacinda Ardern makes her final speech to New Zealand’s Parliament in Wellington, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, after her five-year tenure as prime minister. A global icon of the left and an inspiration to women around the world, Ardern stepped down as prime minister in January, saying “I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple.” (Mark Mitchell/New Zealand Herald via AP)

By NICK PERRY Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — In her final speech to New Zealand’s Parliament on Wednesday, Jacinda Ardern described in emotional terms how she’d navigated a pandemic and a mass-shooting during her tumultuous five-year tenure as prime minister.

She also told humorous anecdotes like how a European leader so admired the striking hair of Ardern’s chief-of-staff that he fluffed it like a hairdresser — which she joked had helped secure a free-trade deal — and how her mother once sent her a uplifting, if somewhat grandiose, message: “Remember, even Jesus had people who didn’t like him.”

On a more serious note, she urged lawmakers to take the politics out of climate change. Continue reading

The US leads the world in weather catastrophes. Here’s why

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – People walk through damage from a late-night tornado in Sullivan, Ind., April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler, File)

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer

The United States is Earth’s punching bag for nasty weather.

Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on the planet, several experts said. Two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, jutting peninsulas like Florida, clashing storm fronts and the jet stream combine to naturally brew the nastiest of weather.

That’s only part of it. Nature dealt the United States a bad hand, but people have made it much worse by what, where and how we build, several experts told The Associated Press.

Then add climate change, and “buckle up. More extreme events are expected,” said Rick Spinrad, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Continue reading

Oil giant Saudi Aramco makes a historic $161B profit in 2022

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – Storage tanks are seen at the North Jiddah bulk plant, an Aramco oil facility, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 21, 2021. Oil giant Saudi Aramco said Sunday, March 12, 2023, it earned a $161 billion profit last year, attributing its earnings to higher crude oil prices.(AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported Sunday earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists.

The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.

Aramco also hopes to increase its production to take advantage of market demand as China reenters the global market after lifting its coronavirus restrictions. That could raise the billions needed to pay for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to develop futuristic cityscapes to pivot Saudi Arabia away from oil. Continue reading

In Britain, ‘warm hubs’ emerge to beat soaring energy costs

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

Anne Bolger, right, works at the Other Place theater, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. The foyer of the Other Place theater in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon is a cozy refuge from winter. One day a week the theater becomes a “warm hub,” set up by the Royal Shakespeare Company to welcome people who may be struggling to heat their homes because of sky-high energy prices. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England (AP) — On a blustery late-winter day in Shakespeare’s birthplace, the foyer of the Other Place theater is a cozy refuge. Visitors are having meetings over coffee, checking emails, writing poetry, learning to sew.

It looks and feels like an arty café in the pictureque streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, but it’s a “warm hub” set up by the Royal Shakespeare Company drama troupe to welcome people struggling to heat their homes because of sky-high energy prices.

Warm hubs have sprouted across Britain by the thousands this winter as soaring food and energy prices drive millions to turn down the thermostat or skimp on hot meals. Research by the opposition Labour Party counted almost 13,000 such hubs, funded by a mix of charities, community groups and the government and nestled in libraries, churches, community centers and even a tearoom at King Charles III’s Highgrove country estate. Continue reading

Decision to shoot down balloons puts spotlight on hobbyists

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

In this image taken from a video shot by Tom Medlin on June 11, 2022, Ed Harrison launches a so-called pico balloon, which costs about $12 and is about 32 inches in diameter, in a field near Collierville, Tenn. Medlin, owner of the Amateur Radio Roundtable podcast, believes a similar balloon is what the U.S. military shot down over the Yukon recently. Hobbyists typically fly the balloons for fun and to experience the challenge of building transmitters and antenna systems, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been collecting data from operators to learn more about wind patterns, he said. (Tom Medlin via AP)

By TODD RICHMOND and HARM VENHUIZEN Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Decisions to shoot down multiple unidentified objects over the U.S. and Canada this month have put a spotlight on amateur balloonists who insist their creations pose no threat.

Over the last three weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered fighter jets to shoot down three objects detected in U.S. air space — a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast as well as smaller unidentified objects over Alaska and Lake Huron. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week ordered another object to be shot down over the Yukon; a U.S. fighter jet carried out that mission.

U.S. government officials have yet to definitively identify the objects, but Biden said Thursday that they were probably balloons linked to private companies, weather researchers or hobbyists. Continue reading

Robot Intervention: Will You Be Replaced by a Robot at Work?

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

Michael Dinich | Wealth of Geeks undefined

According to a new study, nearly half of UK jobs are at risk of being taken over by a machine. 45% of roles were at medium to high risk of being replaced by AI (artificial intelligence), including taxi drivers, dental nurses, and sales and customer services staff.

Data analysts at NetVoucherCodes looked at over 400 jobs to assess their risk of being replaced by AI or automation in the coming decades. The data revealed that the lowest-paid jobs are most at risk of being replaced by robots.

Using the AI bot ChatGPT, the analysts looked at job roles using the ONS Employee earnings in the UK 2022 survey to find out how at risk they are from automation and AI.

High Risk of Replacement

According to the data, lower-paid jobs are at a higher risk of being replaced because many of these roles involve repetitive tasks that require little creativity or decision-making. Continue reading

Past US presidents, VPs asked to recheck for classified docs

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – A man walks past boxes that were moved out of the Eisenhower Executive Office building, just outside the West Wing, inside the White House complex, Jan. 14, 2021, in Washington. The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to re-check their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession, two people familiar with the matter said Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

By COLLEEN LONG, JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to recheck their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession.

The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press. The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the Archives at the end of an administration.

The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle. Continue reading

Obnoxiously loud car? A traffic camera might be listening

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

A woman walks using her headphones on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in New York. After the relative quiet of the pandemic, New York City has come roaring back. Just listen: Jackhammers disrupt the peace and fleets of honking cars, trucks and buses again clog thoroughfares as millions of denizens return to the streets — their voices and clacking heels adding to the ear-splitting din. In one of the world’s noisiest cities, the cacophony has returned louder than ever. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — After the relative quiet of the pandemic, New York City has come roaring back. Just listen: Jackhammers. Honking cars and trucks. Rumbling subway trains. Sirens. Shouting.

Over the years, there have been numerous efforts to quiet the cacophony. One of the latest: traffic cameras equipped with sound meters capable of identifying souped-up cars and motorbikes emitting an illegal amount of street noise.

At least 71 drivers have gotten tickets so far for violating noise rules during a yearlong pilot program of the system. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection now has plans to expand the use of the roadside sound meters.

“Vehicles with illegally modified mufflers and tailpipes that emit extremely loud noise have been a growing problem in recent years,” said City Council member Erik Bottcher, who heralded the arrival of the radars to his district to help reduce “obnoxious” noise. Continue reading

As elites arrive in Davos, conspiracy theories thrive online

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

People set up the stage at the eve of the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is taking place in Davos from Jan. 16 until Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

By SOPHIA TULP Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — When some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential figures gathered at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting last year, sessions on climate change drew high-level discussions on topics such as carbon financing and sustainable food systems.

But an entirely different narrative played out on the internet, where social media users claimed leaders wanted to force the population to eat insects instead of meat in the name of saving the environment.

The annual event in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos, which opens Monday, has increasingly become a target of bizarre claims from a growing chorus of commentators who believe the forum involves a group of elites manipulating global events for their own benefit. Experts say what was once a conspiracy theory found in the internet’s underbelly has now hit the mainstream. Continue reading

Historic biodiversity agreement reached at UN conference

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Read time : 5 mins

Level : Advanced

Huang Runqiu, left, President of the COP 15 and Minister of Ecology and Environment of China listens as Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, speaks during a press conference at the COP 15 summit on biodiversity, in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. (Peter McCabe /The Canadian Press via AP)

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

MONTREAL (AP) — Negotiators reached a historic deal at a U.N. biodiversity conference early Monday that would represent the most significant effort to protect the world’s lands and oceans and provide critical financing to save biodiversity in the developing world.

The global framework comes on the day the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, is set to end in Montreal. China, which holds the presidency at this conference, released a new draft on Sunday that gave the sometimes contentious talks much-needed momentum.

“We have in our hands a package which I think can guide us as we all work together to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and put biodiversity on the path to recovery for the benefit of all people in the world,” Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told delegates before the package was adopted to rapturous applause just before dawn. “We can be truly proud.” Continue reading