View time: 1 min 38
Level : Advanced
Author: natixis-ezine
Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it’s not fair
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Looking for a quick fix for their fast-growing electricity diets, tech giants are increasingly looking to strike deals with power plant owners to plug in directly, avoiding a potentially longer and more expensive process of hooking into a fraying electric grid that serves everyone else.
It’s raising questions over whether diverting power to higher-paying customers will leave enough for others and whether it’s fair to excuse big power users from paying for the grid. Federal regulators are trying to figure out what to do about it, and quickly.
Front and center is the data center that Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, is building next to the Susquehanna nuclear plant in eastern Pennsylvania. Continue reading
Trump’s first day actions loom large as Davos begins
Read time : 2 mins
Level : Intermediate
By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — As the World Economic Forum’s annual gabfest gets into full swing Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump gave everybody something to talk about with his actions on his first day back in office.
Energy industry executives will mull Trump’s vow to “drill, baby, drill.” Foreign leaders will decipher what he means by his wish to expand U.S. territory. Environmentalists will decry his planned exit from the Paris climate deal. Trade advocates can digest his newly christened “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties.
From the earliest speeches, panel discussions and back-channel meetings in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, Trump’s executive orders and evocative oratory will loom large. Continue reading
A look back at some peculiar moments from US presidential inaugurations
View time : 1 min 35
Level : Intermediate
Wealth of billionaires like Trump, Musk soared in 2024, report says, as elite meeting in Davos opens
View time: 1 min 38
Level : Advanced
Poland wants the EU focused on security. Its border with Belarus highlights the challenges
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By LORNE COOK Associated Press
POLOWCE, Poland (AP) — Poland’s six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europe’s biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus.
Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers (250 miles) of border. It’s become a buffer zone since Belarus’ ally, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland’s frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad.
Poland is Ukraine’s top logistical backer. Most of the Western-supplied arms, ammunition and equipment helping to keep Ukraine’s armed forces afloat transit through. Russia, meanwhile, uses Belarus as a staging ground for its invasion. Continue reading
UN predicts world economic growth at subdued 2.8% in 2025
Read time : 2 mins
Level : Intermediate
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world economy resisted battering by conflicts and inflation last year and is expected to grow a subdued 2.8% in 2025, the United Nations said Thursday.
In “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2025,” U.N. economists wrote that their positive prediction was driven by the strong although slowing growth forecast for China and the United States and by the robust performances anticipated for India and Indonesia. The European Union, Japan, and United Kingdom are expected to experience modest recovery, the report says.
“We are in a period of stable, subpar growth,” said Shantanu Mukherjee, chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch at the Economic Analysis and Policy Division at the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Continue reading
Farming tech is on display at CES as companies showcase their green innovations and initiatives
View time : 1 min 50
Level : Intermediate
The AI developed artisan coffee wowing connoisseurs in Helsinki
View time: 1 min 38
Level : Advanced
Working Well: Saying no is hard, but setting boundaries can improve your health
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — When Justin Stewart started his career, he juggled several jobs to make ends meet. He poured himself into his full-time role as a news show production assistant from 3 a.m. until noon. Then he rushed to the airport where he rented cars or to the big box stores where he pulled retail shifts.
Sometimes, he slept in his car between jobs. Then he was hospitalized for exhaustion and a staph infection.
“While people around me praised my hustle, I eventually paid the price,” Stewart said. “The doctor looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know what lifestyle you’re living, but you’re too young to be this stressed. You’re going to have to quit something.'”
So Stewart, now 36, began setting boundaries. He gave up the side jobs, deciding he could survive without extra income. If people from the news show texted him after-hours, he let them know he was off-duty and where else to call. Continue reading