View time: 1 min 30
Level : Advanced
Author: natixis-ezine
As coal plants shut in Romania, some miners transition to green energy while others are reluctant
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By ANCA GURZU, Cipher News undefined
PETRILA, Romania (AP) — For many years, Sebastian Tirinticǎ worked in a coal mine, just like his father and grandfather before him.
These days, Tirinticǎ, now 38, is largely surrounded by solar panels and wind turbines as he travels across Romania to train former coal workers and others for jobs in renewable energies.
It’s been a huge professional shift for a worker from one of the main coal regions of this formerly Communist Eastern European country.
“It’s hard to unglue yourself from something you did your entire life,” said Tirinticǎ, who has a short beard sprinkled with grey hair. “It’s hard to start again from zero, and not everyone has the strength and courage to do it.” Continue reading
King Charles III’s visit rekindles Australia’s debate on ending ties to the British monarchy
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Intermediate
By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney on Friday for the first Australian visit by a reigning monarch in more than a decade, a trip that has restarted debate about the nation’s constitutional links to Britain.
The Sydney Opera House’s iconic sails were illuminated with images of previous royal visits to welcome the couple, whose six-day trip will be brief by royal standards. Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, which led to the reduced itinerary.
Charles and Camilla were welcomed in light rain at Sydney Airport by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns and the king’s representative in Australia, Governor-General Sam Mostyln.
Charles is only the second reigning British monarch to visit Australia. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first 70 years ago.
While the welcome has been warm, Australia’s national and state leaders want the royals removed from their constitution. Continue reading
The White House public tour has been upgraded so visitors can see, hear and touch more
View time : 1 min 39
Level : Intermediate
New York Comic Con is drawing cosplayers from galaxies near and far
View time: 1 min 51
Level : Advanced
‘Kindness’ influencers on TikTok give money to strangers. Why is that controversial?
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By KAITLYN HUAMANI Associated Press
Every Christmas growing up in Minnesota, Jimmy Darts’ parents gave him $200 in cash: $100 for himself and $100 for a stranger. Now, with over 12 million followers on TikTok and several million more on other platforms, philanthropy is his full-time job.
Darts, whose real surname is Kellogg, is one of the biggest creators of “kindness content,” a subset of social media videos devoted to helping strangers in need, often with cash amassed through GoFundMe and other crowdfunding methods. A growing number of creators like Kellogg give away thousands of dollars – sometimes even more – on camera as they also encourage their large followings to donate.
“The internet is a pretty crazy, pretty nasty place, but there’s still good things happening on there,” Kellogg told The Associated Press.
Not everyone likes these videos, though, with some viewers deeming them, at their best, performative, and at their worst, exploitative. Continue reading
After hurricanes, the business of rebuilding lives means navigating the insurance claims process
View time : 1 min 22
Level : Intermediate
What Are Corporate America’s Top Frustrations in 2024?
Read time : 4 mins
Level : Intermediate
By Michael Dinich | Wealth of Geeks undefined
Salary dissatisfaction, lack of appreciation and poor work-life balance are corporate America’s top frustrations — according to the nation’s Human Resources (HR) pros.
A new survey of 1,000 human resource professionals revealed the biggest challenges facing the workforce today, along with the pain points HR problem solvers are feeling in their departments.
Twenty-nine percent of respondents said feeling underpaid is the most common source of discontent for workers at their company, along with being unappreciated (26%), poor work-life balance (25%) and dissatisfaction with benefits (23%).
And according to the survey, the most common types of issues that get brought to the HR department are rooted in poor communication (44%), rule violations (40%), toxic negativity (38%), and gossip (37%). Continue reading
A talking dodo leads a new AI experiment at a zoology museum
View time: 1 min 56
Level : Advanced
Nobel economics prize goes to 3 economists who found that freer societies are more likely to prosper
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By DANIEL NIEMANN, MIKE CORDER and PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel memorial prize in economics was awarded Monday to three economists who have studied why some countries are rich and others poor and have documented that freer, open societies are more likely to prosper.
The work by Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity,” the Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at the announcement in Stockholm.
Acemoglu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson does his research at the University of Chicago.
Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said their analysis has provided “a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.” Continue reading