All posts tagged: time

David Cameron to visit Brussels in official role for first time since Brexit | David Cameron

Published by Sam

David Cameron will return to Brussels on Tuesday in an official capacity for the first time since his doomed campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union. The former prime minister, who made a surprise return to frontline politics this month when he became the UK foreign secretary, will attend a Nato meeting of foreign ministers to discuss issues including ammunition supply to Ukraine and the alliance’s continued presence in Kosovo. He is also expected to try to squeeze in a meeting with Maroš Šefčovič, the vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the Brexit deals, before or after the two-day summit. Referring to the tortuous years-long negotiations surrounding the UK’s departure from the EU in 2020, one diplomat likened Cameron’s visit to the EU headquarters to a “divorcee returning to the family home”. But though his history with Brussels has had its complications, Cameron’s return to politics after a reshuffle by Rishi Sunak has caused a frisson of anticipation around the Nato table. “Everyone, I mean everyone, is looking for bilaterals with him,” …

The Couple Next Door review – a sexy, fantastic time with hot swingers | Television & radio

Published by Sam

There are two extraordinary features to note about Channel 4’s new six-part drama series The Couple Next Door, which examines the combustible effects of a hot, swinging couple on a pair of conservative young things who move in next door. The first is that it succeeds in being sexy rather than cringemaking. This is vanishingly rare and comes courtesy of a clever, layered script that ties each of the narrative strands together perfectly and takes enough time to build every relationship within the foursome to allow what unfolds to feel plausible. Writer David Allison understands that even people destined to climb into bed with each other are capable of thinking and talking about other things while lust brews in the background, and cracking a few jokes along the way. I don’t know if this was present in the Dutch series New Neighbours, on which this is based, and Allison had the sense to keep it intact or if it’s all his own work but it is fantastically well done. There should be a special annual …

Stones inside fish ears mark time like tree rings – and now they’re helping us learn about climate change

Published by skeptic

As a marine biologist, I’ve always found it fascinating to learn about how animals adapt to their habitat. But climate change has made it more important than ever – wild animals’ futures may depend on how much we understand about them. Fish have a kind of stone in their ear that scientists can read like tree rings. My team’s new research found a way to decode the chemicals in these stones to measure how much energy they used when alive. What we learned could help bluefin tuna survive the climate crisis. There is still so much we don’t know about how animals respond when their habitat suddenly changes. Temperature is one of the most important puzzle pieces, as it affects the rates of the chemical reactions that define life. For animals, rising temperatures act like inflation. Rising prices mean housing and food take up more of our budget, leaving less money for luxuries. More heat means more of an animal’s bodily resources, like food and oxygen, are needed to fuel basic functions, like breathing and …

In Australia and New Zealand, a venture downturn isn’t the end. It’s time to shine.

Published by skeptic

Australia and New Zealand are a far cry from Silicon Valley, yet the problems and circumstances of their venture environments tend to be similar in nature. Megadeals are rarer today, early-stage funding is up, valuations have come back to earth, and investors are encouraging their portfolio companies to demonstrate a sustainable business with a clear path to revenue. The difference is that the geographic isolation of Australia and New Zealand creates a sense of hustle, if not urgency, around raising funds and building a global product. The Aussie and Kiwi startup ecosystems are newer and less robust, and their markets are generally smaller than their U.S., Asian and European counterparts. As such, startups here have a greater need to access not only international markets, but also foreign funds, particularly if they’re operating in capital-intensive industries like deep tech, and for later-stage rounds. “For the large majority of Aussie and Kiwi businesses, their main markets are typically offshore,” Dan Krasnostein, partner at Square Peg Capital, told TechCrunch+. “Having investors on the cap table from these markets …

Time for moderation? | TechCrunch

Published by skeptic

Welcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Does freight logistics need a one-stop shop? That’s Flexport’s take, and maybe that’s one of the reasons why Convoy didn’t work out; however, it might be too early for this approach in Latin America. On a different note, investors still seem willing to support startups that help people drink less alcohol, as long as there’s AI involved. By the way, this newsletter will be taking a break next week, but I’ll be back December 2.— Anna Lessons to learn? Entrepreneurs often write postmortems after shutting down or selling their companies, but it is less common for these lessons to be drawn by their acquirers as well. Yet, that’s what happened to Convoy, a failed digital freight unicorn whose tech backbone — including a few team members — is being acquired by Flexport. In a memo quoted by FreightWaves, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen made it …

How to watch SpaceX launch Starship for a second time live

Published by skeptic

In less than twenty-four hours, SpaceX will attempt to launch Starship to space for the second time. The official launch window opens at 7:00 AM CST on Saturday and lasts for just twenty minutes – and no, that’s not a typo. SpaceX will start its live webcast tomorrow around 35 minutes prior to liftoff and will be hosting the video on its website and on its social media page on X (SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s other company). Here’s a brief rundown of the series of events we’ll see tomorrow morning. Around two hours prior to launch, SpaceX’s flight director will verify the go ahead for propellant loading. First, the Super Heavy booster will be loaded with liquid oxygen and liquid methane, then the upper stage (the upper stage is also called Starship). Around twenty minutes prior to lift-off, Starship’s Raptor engines – 33 on the booster and six on the upper stage – will begin to chill prior to ignition. Ten seconds before launch, SpaceX will activate its flame deflector, a massive water deluge system …

‘It’s my time’: Cole Palmer’s belief shines through before England debut | England

Published by Sam

“I am a player who always wants the ball … anywhere,” Cole Palmer says, and he certainly wanted it on Sunday; 92 minutes on the clock, his new club, Chelsea, 4-3 down against his old one, Manchester City, but now with a penalty for an improbable draw at Stamford Bridge. “When I saw the ref give it, I thought: ‘It’s my time,’” he says. Palmer had a word with his teammate Raheem Sterling, another former City player, and told him that, yes, he wanted it. “Raz was like: ‘Fine,’” Palmer says, and it was easy to see a parallel to Chelsea’s game at Burnley in early October when Sterling won a penalty at 1-1 and the ball just seemed to find Palmer. The 21-year-old was not the designated taker that day but he could see the opportunity to score his first Premier League goal and he is not the kind of person to pass that up. “I looked at Raz because he won it and then he said: ‘Take it,’” Palmer says. “It was just …

The time to triage is over

Published by skeptic

While the fundraising market still looks bleak for startups, continuing to triage isn’t sustainable for their investors When public market pressure started to affect venture capital in the spring of 2022, companies and VCs firms weren’t prepared. Companies couldn’t justify their valuations, and investors had to step in to keep their portfolio businesses afloat. But this focus on triaging wasn’t sustainable. VCs were spending all of their attention and capital on helping their existing portfolio companies ride out the tougher fundraising market. Funds aren’t set up to support that strategy, and venture firms’ fiduciary duties to their investors means they can’t put resources toward companies that they know won’t produce a return. Some firms also likely spent time triaging to prop up their portfolios a bit heading into 2023, perhaps before an LP annual meeting, or before launching a roadshow for a new fund. But a year into this market slowdown, the time to triage is over. Source link

More than 35,000 households in England will be evicted by time no-fault notices banned | Renting property

Published by Sam

More than 35,000 households will have been thrown out of their homes by bailiffs using “no-fault” evictions by the time the practice is banned in England, after years of government delays. Since Theresa May was prime minister, successive governments have pledged to end the right of landlords to reclaim possession of their property without rent arrears or bad behaviour by tenants. But reform has been repeatedly delayed, and might not become law until close to the general election, which could be as late as January 2025. This week the Guardian launched a series on the private rental sector, including a focus on how many tenants in the 5m private rented households in England and Wales are suffering from a failure to strengthen their rights. More than 23,000 households have already been thrown out by county court bailiffs since May said in 2019 that she would scrap section 21 evictions – also know as no-fault evictions – to give tenants “peace of mind”, according to Ministry of Justice figures. Last week the number was revealed to …