Alicia Keys announces double album
Alicia Keys has a double treat for her fans.
The 15-time Grammy winner announced Tuesday she is dropping a two-album set which she says is "coming soon."
"My new album, Keys, will have two types of songs," she commented with an Instagram video. The first album named, Originals, which Alicia produced, features "laid back piano vibes.' The second disc, named Unlocked, which she produced with Mike WiLL Made-it, is described as "upbeat, drums, level up vibes."
In September, the former Voice coach released "LALA" featuring Swae Lee from Rae Sremmurd, which is the first single from Unlocked. They performed the song for the first time last month at the MTV VMAs.
Alicia recently posted a video from their recording session and wrote, "The writing process….It’s always so different. Sometimes it’s instant. Sometimes it takes days, weeks, even months. This was such an easy vibe tho. It just flowed @swaelee @mikewillmadeit."
"My favorite line is 'love out of this world, out of this nebula,'" she continued. "I’ve never used nebula in a song before. But I have used Medulla oblongata. I’m that fresh!!"
Last week, the 40-year-old singer performed at the Robin Hood Foundation's annual charity gala in New York City which raises funds for poverty-fighting programs in the New York area.
Her Noted: Alicia Keys The Untold Stories docu-series, which premiered September 30, is currently available on her YouTube Channel. Keys has also written a young adult graphic novel named after her 2012, five-times platinum hit, Girl on Fire, which will be published March 1, 2022.
Source- ABC
Sir Clive says Windies performances resembling ‘associate country’
Legendary captain Sir Clive Lloyd has criticised West Indies’ muddled planning and says their current form at the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup more reflects that of an “associate country” than reigning champions.
West Indies are staring at an early exit from the tournament in the United Arab Emirates after losing their opening two games, going down to England by six wickets last Saturday and then crashing to an eight-wicket defeat to South Africa on Tuesday.
The loss to England saw them bundled out for 55 – their lowest ever Twenty20 World Cup total and second lowest in T20 Internationals.
“Their planning seems to be all over the place. If you look at what has happened … 55 runs, we’re better than that and the point is too that our planning seems to be terrible,” said Sir Clive, the genius behind West Indies’ successful 50-over World Cup triumphs in 1975 and 1979.
“We had a wonderful start [against South Africa] and we didn’t promote people in the proper order. You would expect the captain (Kieron Pollard) to come up and when you’re going at nine [runs] an over.
“You send (Nicholas) Pooran who has not been playing well and you have (Shimton) Hetmyer who is batting quite well and has made some very good scores, so their batting order seems to be all over the place.”
West Indies looked to be turning their fortunes around when they raced to 73 without loss against South Africa but collapsed at the back end to slump to an inadequate 143 for eight off their 20 overs.
Opener Evin Lewis top-scored with 56 from 35 balls but Pollard was the only other batsman to pass 20 with 26 as wickets fell steadily.
Sir Clive, a former chairman of selectors and team manager, said with their success in the powerplay, West Indies should have mounted a more competitive total but were let down by a muddled approach to their batting in the last ten overs.
“In the powerplay, if you get to 50 and you haven’t lost a lot of wickets, you’ve done very well,” Sir Clive told Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest cricket talkshow here.
“You are looking at a large score – at one stage the predictor said they would make 174 but somewhere along the line we felt that this game was about hitting sixes. We were getting caught on the boundary. This is a big, big ground.
“If I’m 58, I’m looking to be 80 or 90. I’m looking to get some runs if I’m an opener and take the game away from the opposition. We were 30 runs short [against South Africa]. We bat until number eight and we still can’t get there.”
The two defeats have left West Indies with only a longshot of finishing in the top two of Group 1 and qualifying for the semi-finals.
And their remaining games will be difficult propositions as they take on Bangladesh on Friday, Sri Lanka on November 4 and Australia in their final group stage contest two days later.
Sir Clive, credited with molding West Indies into the dominant force of the late 1970s and 1980s, said a more calculated game plan was necessary if the Caribbean side were to change course.
“Our planning has been bad and I think somebody has got to take hold of the situation. It’s not all slogging, it’s about working things out,” he stressed.
“That’s why one-day cricket is such a wonderful game to play because you have to do everything in one day.
“We have all the bowling we can think of, we have batting until eight or nine and we get bowled out for 55 on a pitch that is probably one of the best pitches in the UAE, and some of our guys have played on those pitches.
“We look like we’re not defending champions – we’re playing like an associate country.”
Source-CMC
CARIBBEAN-CARICOM and the Glasgow UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26)
“Science has made it clear that the Earth is fast approaching its tipping point of climate disaster and, as the next generation who are already bearing the brunt of climate impacts, we are immensely dissatisfied at the pace and scope of climate action locally, regionally and most of all globally. …
“We, therefore, ask that leaders around the globe commit the necessary resources, financial and technological, to accomplish what is needed to mitigate, adapt and respond to loss and damage.” From Statement by the Caribbean Consortium of Youth Organisations, August 2021
At the UN General Assembly in September, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, sounded the alarm about the crises, including climate change, facing the globe which require urgent attention. In my recent articles, I have pointed out that recovery and transformation require addressing all the interconnected issues, which are to be found in the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), including trade, development issues, environmental degradation, health, financing and climate change.
The 26th Session of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, starting on Sunday, October 31.
Delegations from the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), to be led, it seems, by Heads of Government, are already on route to Scotland as this will be an in-person meeting under COVID-19 protocols. CARICOM has been in preparatory mode since May with the support of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre located in Belize and the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.
Recognizing the critical importance of COP 26, CARICOM has been working to fine-tune its positions and priorities to enable strong participation as a regional group. To this end, I understand that a regional declaration was prepared.
CARICOM will also be working in alliance with other members of the group of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which face great risks from climate change, such as increasing temperatures, more frequent and powerful hurricanes, longer droughts, severe flooding, sea level rise, and wildfires in some countries.
The aim has also been to ensure the participation in the preparatory process of a range of stakeholders including the youth and the private sector. Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, has certainly led the way in mobilizing the world’s youth.
As background, the UNFCCC, like the Convention on Biodiversity, resulted from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It became effective in 1994, 27 years ago. The implementation of the UNFCCC began in 1997 with the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol. In 2016, the second implementation instrument, the Paris Agreement, was adopted. Among other things, it set targets for Nationally Determined Contributions for mitigating global warming.
Climate Change and Trade
Climate Change is very much linked to international trade and thus should have the full engagement of the private sector. Climate Change, however, is not formally addressed as a subject in the World Trade Organization (WTO), although there is a Committee on Trade and the Environment.
There has been reluctance in the WTO to negotiate trade and environment disciplines. Recall that trade and environment standards were introduced into bilateral and plurilateral trade agreements.
In 2009, the WTO and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) produced a report on Trade and Climate Change to give an overview of the link between both. There was no agreement among WTO Members to have climate change in its work programme.
Nevertheless, climate change measures and policies interact with WTO rules and regulations as it is felt that liberalizing trade could help in mitigation and adoption, while national measures could conflict with WTO rules and affect international trade.
There are two sets of discussion in the WTO which are relevant to climate change. These are the negotiations on liberalizing trade in environmental goods and services and the relationship between Multilateral Environmental Agreements and WTO instruments.
I do not see where discussions on these issues have advanced significantly. It is evident that specific climate change issues are broached in the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment. Some members, such as the European Union (EU) and Canada, have started discussions covering trade, environment and sustainable development, but there seems to be limited traction so far.
The WTO will be monitoring discussions at COP 26 and it can be expected that climate change issues, in some form, will be raised at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) scheduled for the end of November in Geneva, Switzerland.
CARICOM members, with the private sector, should be considering how climate change will impact trade in goods and services in terms of production and market access.
For COP 26, it seems that among the major issues for CARICOM will be financing for adaptation, loss and damage, and commitments to increasing contributions to the Green Climate Fund. Our hope has to be that the Heads of Government and Ministers assembling in Glasgow will have the will to heed the warnings and take the hard decisions needed to address the climate change crisis facing humanity. The youth will be watching.
* Elizabeth Morgan, who writes for CMC, is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics.
Source-CMC
Caribbean Airlines to resume direct flights to Jamaica
The Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines (CAL) Wednesday said it will resume direct flights to Jamaica following the lifting of the travel restrictions that had been imposed between the two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
CAL said that the service would resume from December 1 and that the flights are timed to facilitate same-day onward connections to Nassau, Bahamas and other destinations.
According to CAL, the flights BW414 will operate on will be Wednesday and Friday mornings, with BW415 taking place in the evening on a Wednesday. The airline said flight BW417, will leave Kingston for Port of Spain on a Friday evening.
The airline also announced that BW414 will depart from Kingston to Nassau on a Wednesday,
Friday mid-morning with the Nassau to Kingston, BW415 will take place on Wednesday afternoons.
CAL also announced that it services between Port of Spain and Jamaica to Sint Maarten will resume on December 11, 2021.
The airline urged passengers to use its website to verify entry requirements and other important travel information for any destination as well as make appointments for COVID-19 tests.
“Customers are asked to kindly note that travel safety protocols are in place including the
mandatory wearing of face masks during check-in, while boarding and for the duration of their flight,” CAL added.
Source-CMC
TCI WEATHER & The Bahamas
THIS IS THE BAHAMAS 3-DAY PUBLIC FORECAST FOR 6:00 AM, TODAY AND TONIGHT, ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY.
GENERAL SITUATION: A PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH AND RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL SUPPORT THE CHANCE OF A FEW SHOWERS TODAY. MEANWHILE, AN EASTWARD-MOVING COLD
FRONT, NORTH OF THE BAHAMAS, WILL PROMOTE MODERATE TO LOCALLY STRONG WINDS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BOATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE RISK OF WATERSPOUT ACTIVITY.
THERE IS A RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG WEST COAST BEACHES.
AREA: THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS AND THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: CLOUDY WITH THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED SHOWERS THROUGH TONIGHT.
WINDS: SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS, FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER OCEAN.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 88°F / 31°C
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURE: 75°F / 24°C
SUNRISE: 7:14 AM
SUNSET: 6:31 PM
MOONSET: 12:23 PM
MOONRISE: 11:00 PM
HIGH TIDE: 12:14 PM
LOW TIDE: 6:49 PM
HIGH TIDE: 12:35 AM WED.
LOW TIDE: 6:34 AM WED.
EXTENDED FORECAST (FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS): A DRIER, WESTERLY WIND PATTERN WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE ISLANDS OF THE BAHAMAS, AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER OR BE NEAR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS BY LATE THURSDAY OR EARLY FRIDAY.
FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND MILD WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS.
WINDS: WEST TO NORTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS. WESTERLY AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS, AND 1 TO 3 FEET IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS & THE TURKS & Caicos Islands.
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: CLOUDY TO OCCASIONALLY OVERCAST, A BIT BREEZY WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM
MAINLY IN THE EXTREME NORTHWEST BAHAMAS.
WINDS: SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS, INCREASING 15 TO 20 KNOTS BY MIDDAY, BUT 15 TO 25 KNOTS BY THURSDAY EVENING.
SOUTHWESTERLY AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS. LIGHT AND VARIABLE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS & THE TCI..
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET, BUILDING 4 TO 7 FEET BY MIDDAY IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS. 1 TO 3 FEET ELSEWHERE.
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: A DEEPENING NON-TROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH GALE FORCE WINDS IS LOCATED ABOUT 100 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS.
THIS SYSTEM HAS A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION THROUGH THE NEXT FIVE DAYS.
Ford's Merseyside investment to secure 500 UK jobs
Ford is to invest £230m in its Halewood plant on Merseyside to make electric car parts, helping safeguard 500 jobs.
The investment will mean the plant will run for many years longer, said Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe.
There had been speculation about the future of the Halewood factory complex as Ford moves towards electrifying its vehicles.
Part of the investment will come from the government's Automotive Transformation Fund.
"We're really pleased with the support from the UK government," Mr Rowley told the BBC.
"We're not disclosing the exact amount, but it was good support for what is a very significant investment in the UK."
He said the government support was "a part of the decision" to choose to invest in Halewood, "but not the only element".
Ford's Halewood plant will begin manufacturing electric power units - which replace the engine and transmission in petrol cars - in 2024.
Ford has said it is committed to the UK, but not all locations have been as fortunate.
Ford blamed "changing customer demand and cost" for the closure plans and denied Brexit was a factor.
Source-BBC
Unvaccinated Americans continue to drive COVID infection, death rates: Federal data
The five states with the highest death rates over the last week -- Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, West Virginia and Idaho -- are also among the states with the lowest full vaccination rates, according to federal data.
People who have not been fully vaccinated are 6.1 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 11.3 times more likely to die from the virus, according to federal data.
Approximately 63.2 million eligible Americans have yet to get the shot, according to federal data.
But hospitalization rates are continuing to steadily trend down, with just over 51,000 Americans now hospitalized with the virus, compared to 104,000 people hospitalized in late August, according to federal data.
More than 45.6 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and over 738,000 individuals have died from the virus in the U.S., according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
FDA panel greenlights vaccines for kids, paving the way for authorization
Vaccines for 28 million American children are on the way to authorization after an advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration voted in support of the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 5-11 on Tuesday afternoon.
The vote was the first step in a regulatory process for the two-shot Pfizer vaccine that could allow kids to get their first shots in early November and become fully immunized by early December.
Next, leaders of the FDA have the chance to officially sign off, potentially as soon as Tuesday night. If and when that happens, the White House will begin shipping doses, senior officials told governors on a call Tuesday afternoon that was obtained by ABC News.
But there are still more steps before shots go into arms: If authorized by the FDA, the process would move to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention next Tuesday, when a CDC panel meets to discuss the same data reviewed by the FDA advisers.
Although children are less likely to die of COVID-19 than older adults, nearly 2 million kids in the 5-11 age group have gotten COVID. Of those, 8,300 have been hospitalized, about one-third of whom have been in the intensive care unit, and almost 100 kids have died.
Source-
Black Widow, A Quiet Place Part II, Squid Game named among 2021 People's Choice nominees
The people have spoken, and Black Widow, Coming 2 America, and A Quiet Place Part II are among their favorite films from 2021.
When it comes to the small screen, Cobra Kai, Loki, and Law & Order: SVU ranked among the year's best according to the fans.
You can vote for your favorites here.
The People's Choice Awards will be held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and air on NBC and E! on Dec. 7 at 9:00 pm Eastern time.
Here are the nominees in the main categories:
THE MOVIE OF 2021
Black Widow
Coming 2 America
F9: The Fast Saga
Dune
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Tomorrow War
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
THE COMEDY MOVIE OF 2021
Coming 2 America
Free Guy
He’s All That
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
Jungle Cruise
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Thunder Force
Vacation Friends
THE ACTION MOVIE OF 2021
Black Widow
F9: The Fast Saga
Godzilla Kong
No Time To Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Suicide Squad
The Tomorrow War
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
THE DRAMA MOVIE OF 2021
A Quiet Place Part II
Cruella
Dune
Fatherhood
Halloween Kills
In The Heights
Old
Respect
THE FAMILY MOVIE OF 2021
Cinderella
Luca
Raya and the Last Dragon
The Boss Baby: Family Business
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Tom and Jerry
Vivo
Yes Day
THE MALE MOVIE STAR OF 2021
Chris Pratt - The Tomorrow War
Daniel Craig - No Time To Die
Dwayne Johnson - Jungle Cruise
Eddie Murphy - Coming 2 America
John Cena - F9: The Fast Saga
Ryan Reynolds - Free Guy
Simu Liu - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Vin Diesel - F9: The Fast Saga
THE FEMALE MOVIE STAR OF 2021
Awkwafina - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Charlize Theron - F9: The Fast Saga
Florence Pugh - Black Widow
Jennifer Hudson - Respect
Leslie Jones - Coming 2 America
Margot Robbie - The Suicide Squad
Salma Hayek - Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
Scarlett Johansson - Black Widow
THE DRAMA MOVIE STAR OF 2021
Anthony Ramos - In The Heights
Emily Blunt - A Quiet Place Part II
Emma Stone - Cruella
Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween Kills
Jason Momoa - Dune
Jennifer Hudson - Respect
Kevin Hart - Fatherhood
Timothée Chalamet - Dune
THE COMEDY MOVIE STAR OF 2021
Dwayne Johnson - Jungle Cruise
Eddie Murphy - Coming 2 America
Emily Blunt - Jungle Cruise
Leslie Jones - Coming 2 America
Melissa McCarthy - Thunder Force
Octavia Spencer - Thunder Force
Ryan Reynolds - Free Guy
Salma Hayek - Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
THE ACTION MOVIE STAR OF 2021
Charlize Theron - F9: The Fast Saga
Chris Pratt - The Tomorrow War
Daniel Craig - No Time To Die
Florence Pugh - Black Widow
John Cena - F9: The Fast Saga
Scarlett Johansson - Black Widow
Simu Liu - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Vin Diesel - F9: The Fast Saga
TELEVISION
THE SHOW OF 2021
Cobra Kai
Grey’s Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Loki
Saturday Night Live
The Bachelor
This Is Us
WandaVision
THE DRAMA SHOW OF 2021
Outer Banks
9-1-1
Cobra Kai
Grey’s Anatomy
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The Equalizer
The Walking Dead
This Is Us
THE COMEDY SHOW OF 2021
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Grown-ish
Never Have I Ever
Only Murders in the Building
Saturday Night Live
Ted Lasso
The Upshaws
Young Rock
THE REALITY SHOW OF 2021
90 Day Fiancé
Bachelor In Paradise
Below Deck
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation
Keeping Up With the Kardashians
Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
THE COMPETITION SHOW OF 2021
America’s Got Talent
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
RuPaul’s Drag Race
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
The Masked Singer
The Voice
THE MALE TV STAR OF 2021
Anthony Mackie - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Chase Stokes - Outer Banks
Dwayne Johnson - Young Rock
Jason Sudeikis - Ted Lasso
Kenan Thompson - Saturday Night Live
Norman Reedus - The Walking Dead
Sterling Brown - This Is Us
Tom Hiddleston - Loki
THE FEMALE TV STAR OF 2021
Angela Bassett - 9-1-1
Elizabeth Olsen - WandaVision
Ellen Pompeo - Grey’s Anatomy
Kathryn Hahn - WandaVision
Mandy Moore - This Is Us
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Queen Latifah - The Equalizer
Yara Shahidi - Grown-ish
THE DRAMA TV STAR OF 2021
Norman Reedus - The Walking Dead
Angela Bassett - 9-1-1
Chase Stokes - Outer Banks
Ellen Pompeo - Grey’s Anatomy
Mandy Moore - This Is Us
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Queen Latifah - The Equalizer
Sterling Brown - This Is Us
THE COMEDY TV STAR OF 2021
Andy Samberg - Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Dwayne Johnson - Young Rock
Jason Sudeikis - Ted Lasso
Kenan Thompson - Saturday Night Live
Selena Gomez - Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin - Only Murders in the Building
Wanda Sykes - The Upshaws
Yara Shahidi - Grown-ish
THE DAYTIME TALK SHOW OF 2021
Good Morning America
Live with Kelly and Ryan
Red Table Talk
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Kelly Clarkson Show
The View
The Wendy Williams Show
Today
THE NIGHTTIME TALK SHOW OF 2021
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Night With Seth Meyers
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
The Late Late Show with James Corden
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
THE BINGEWORTHY SHOW OF 2021
Cobra Kai
Loki
Mare of Easttown
Outer Banks
Sex/Life
Squid Game
Ted Lasso
The White Lotus
THE SCI-FI/FANTASY SHOW OF 2021
Loki
Lucifer
La Brea
Shadow and Bone
Superman and Lois
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
The Flash
WandaVision
Twitter profits slump after settling long-running lawsuit
Twitter lost more than half a billion dollars in the three months to September after it paid $809.5m (£588m) to settle a long-running lawsuit.
The social media giant was accused of misleading investors over user engagement in 2015.
However despite this one-off charge, its quarterly revenue grew 37% as it managed to shrug off the impact from Apple's privacy changes which hit rivals such as Snap and Facebook.
This sent Twitters shares up 3%.
In September Twitter agreed to settle a class action with their shareholders dating back to 2016.
The suit claimed Twitter misled investors about how many users were active on the platform each month as well as how frequently they viewed Twitter's timeline.
The company denied any wrongdoing but agreed to use cash on hand to settle the claim, flagging that it would hurt its bottom-line this quarter.
And that it did, with the social media giant reporting a net loss of $537m (£390m) in the third quarter.
There were some bright sparks, though, for the San Francisco-based company.
Unlike its rival Snap, whose shares plunged 25% last week, Twitter was relatively insulated from Apple's privacy changes.
It made $1.14bn (£830m) in advertising revenue during the quarter, labelling the impact "modest" as most of its advertisers do not rely on highly targeted ads.
Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal told a conference call with analysts that the platform is expanding its targeted advertising business, such as by introducing topics that users can follow on Twitter.
"A lot of this is opportunity that's in front of us," he said.
The Apple privacy updates were rolled out broadly in June and prevent digital advertisers from tracking iPhone users without their consent.
Facebook signalled that they're causing the company "headwinds" when it released its earnings earlier this week.
Source-BBC
World Bank says global wealth has grown, but at the expense of future prosperity
The World Bank Wednesday said that global wealth has grown overall but at the expense of future prosperity and by exacerbating inequalities.
The Washington-based financial institution in its new Changing Wealth of Nations report noted that although total wealth has nearly doubled in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) over the past two decades, there are significant contrasts in the trends of wealth per capita.
“Some countries have more than doubled their wealth since 1995, while in several Caribbean countries, total wealth per capita has declined. Over time, wealth in non-renewable natural capital has begun to decline, due to price volatility, but renewable wealth is increasing.”
The World Bank said wealth in protected areas has more than doubled, despite the fact that land area of forests has declined.
It said female labour force participation is higher than in any other region, but Latin America and the Caribbean has still not reached gender parity in its human capital.
In the report, the World Bank said countries that are depleting their resources in favour of short-term gains are putting their economies on an unsustainable development path.
It said while indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) are traditionally used to measure economic growth, the report argues for the importance of considering natural, human, and produced capital to understand whether growth is sustainable.
The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021 tracks the wealth of 146 countries between 1995 and 2018, by measuring the economic value of renewable natural capital such as forests, cropland, and ocean resources, non-renewable natural capital such as minerals and fossil fuels, human capital – earnings over a person’s lifetime- as well as produced capital measured by buildings and infrastructure, and net foreign assets.
The report accounts for blue natural capital—in the form of mangroves and ocean fisheries—for the first time.
“A deeper and more nuanced understanding of the sustainability of wealth is crucial to a green, resilient, and inclusive future,” said World Bank Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships, Mari Pangestu.
“It is essential that renewable natural capital and human capital are given the same importance as more traditional sources of economic growth, so that policymakers take steps to enable long-term prosperity.”
According to the report, global wealth grew significantly between 1995 and 2018, and middle-income countries are catching up to high-income countries. However, growing prosperity has been accompanied by unsustainable management of some natural assets.
Low- and middle-income countries saw their forest wealth per capita decline eight per cent from 1995 to 2018, reflecting significant deforestation. Meanwhile, the value of global marine fish stocks collapsed by 83 per cent due to poor management and overfishing over the same period. The projected impacts of climate change may exacerbate these trends.
In addition, mispricing of assets like carbon-emitting fossil fuels can lead to overvaluation and over-consumption. Development can be put on a more sustainable path by taking a comprehensive view of wealth and putting in place policy measures including carbon pricing to better value and nurture assets such as forests, mangroves, and human capital.
The report indicates that global wealth inequality is growing.
Low-income countries’ share of global wealth has changed little from 1995 to 2018, remaining below one per cent of the world’s wealth, despite having around eight per cent of the world’s population. Over one-third of low-income countries saw declining wealth per capita. Countries with declining wealth tend also to be degrading their base of renewable natural assets. For low-income countries, appropriately managing renewable natural capital, which accounts for 23 per cent of their wealth, remains crucial.
Globally, the share of total wealth in renewable natural capital – forests, cropland, and ocean resources- is decreasing and being further threatened by climate change.
At the same time, renewable natural capital is becoming more valuable as it provides crucial ecosystem services. For example, the value of mangroves for coastal flood protection has grown more than 2.5 times since 1995 to over US$547 billion in 2018. The value of protected areas per square kilometer has also rapidly increased.
“The Changing Wealth of Nations provides the data and analysis to help governments get prices and policies right for sustainable development,” said World Bank Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy, Karin Kemper.
“By ignoring polluting and climate warming impacts, fossil fuel assets have historically been overvalued, while assets that contribute to climate mitigation, like forests, are undervalued.”
The report shows that human capital, measured as the population’s expected lifetime earnings, is the largest source of worldwide wealth, comprising 64 per cent of total global wealth in 2018. Middle-income countries increased their investment in human capital and in turn saw significant increases in their share of global human capital wealth.
Although the long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still unknown, low-income countries are likely to experience the most severe impacts, with a projected loss of 14 per cent of total human capital.
Human capital is additionally constrained by gender gaps across all regions and income groups, with little improvement since 1995. Air quality also has serious consequences for both human capital and climate change, and accounts for over 6 million premature deaths annually.
The report outlines several priorities for policymakers to diversify and rebalance their national portfolios to be more resilient and sustainable.
It recommends actively investing in public goods like education, health, and nature, to prevent unsustainable depletion, and manage future risks. Recommendations also include policy and pricing measures that help reflect the social value of assets and to steer private investment toward better outcomes for all.
This may include, for example, actions like repurposing fisheries subsidies, and taking action to price carbon and promote renewable energy assets.
Source- CMC