View time: 2 min 05
Level : Advanced
Author: natixis-ezine
Cities reviving downtowns by converting offices to housing
Read time : 4 mins
Level : Advanced
By MAE ANDERSON, ASHRAF KHALIL and MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — On the 31st floor of what was once a towering office building in downtown Manhattan, construction workers lay down steel bracing for what will soon anchor a host of residential amenities: a catering station, lounge, fire pit and gas grills.
The building, empty since 2021, is being converted to 588 market-rate rental apartments that will house about 1,000 people. “We’re taking a vacant building and pouring life not only into this building, but this entire neighborhood,” said Joey Chilelli, managing director of real estate firm Vanbarton Group, which is doing the conversion.
Across the country, office-to-housing conversions are being pursued as a potential lifeline for struggling downtown business districts that emptied out during the coronavirus pandemic and may never fully recover. The conversion push is marked by an emphasis on affordability. Multiple cities are offering serious tax breaks for developers to incentivize office-to-housing conversions — provided that a certain percentage of apartments are offered at affordable below-market prices. Continue reading
Robot dog rejoins NYPD
View time : 1 min 44
Level : Intermediate
Delta loses $363 million but says travel demand still strong
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Intermediate
By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer
Delta Air Lines reported a $363 million loss for the first quarter on Thursday, with higher spending on labor and fuel overshadowing a sharp rise in revenue.
But the airline predicted it will make a bigger-than-expected profit in the current second quarter, which includes the start of the key summer travel season.
Airlines are getting a tailwind from the combination of strong demand and limited flights, which has pushed fares higher. But investors were spooked this week when industry analysts warned that growth in airline bookings has slowed down compared with this time last year.
Delta’s CEO said it is unfair to compare current ticket sales with those from a year ago, when travel was just starting to boom as pandemic-related restrictions were lifted. Continue reading
Is artificial intelligence generated art still art?
View time: 1 min 57
Level : Advanced
New India-born World Bank chief: Real change or rebranding?
Read time : 5 mins
Level : Advanced
By SIBI ARASU Associated Press
BENGALURU, India (AP) — The incoming president of the World Bank was born in India and forged his early business success there, a fact supporters say gives Ajay Banga valuable insight into the challenges faced by the developing countries the bank is supposed to help.
But not everyone is sure that Banga, who has spent most of the last two decades in the U.S. corporate world, can be counted on to shake up the bank in the way some think it should be.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked up Banga’s credentials this week on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington. Banga, currently vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic, has more than 30 years of business experience, including as CEO of Mastercard and on the boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc.
“He has the right leadership and management skills, background, and financial expertise to lead the World Bank at a critical moment in its history,” Yellen said. Continue reading
In final speech, Ardern reflects on leading New Zealand
Read time : 2 mins
Level : Intermediate
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
Fancy a dip? An Olympic reboot for Paris’ river Seine
View time : 1 min 47
Level : Intermediate
Crews practice rescues high above Las Vegas
View time: 1 min 57
Level : Advanced
When exactly will India surpass China as most populous?
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By MIKE SCHNEIDER and SIBI ARASU Associated Press
India will surpass China’s population this month. Or maybe in July. Or, perhaps it’s happened already?
Demographers are unsure exactly when India will take the title as the most populous nation in the world because they’re relying on estimates to make their best guess. But they know it’s going to happen soon, if it hasn’t occurred by now.
China has had the most people in the world since at least 1950, the year United Nations population data began. Both China and India have more than 1.4 billion people, and combined they make up more than a third of the world’s 8 billion people.
“Actually, there is no way we can know exactly when India will surpass China,” said Bruno Schoumaker, a demographer at Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. “There is some uncertainty, not only about India’s population, but also China’s population.” Continue reading