Global crisis: 1.7 billion people in urban and peri-urban areas face food insecurity

New UN report highlights urgent need to strengthen urban and peri-urban food systems for global food security and nutrition.

The post Global crisis: 1.7 billion people in urban and peri-urban areas face food insecurity appeared first on IFPRI.

When you buy a bottle of rum in the United States, by law nearly all the federal taxes on that rum must be sent to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It's an unusual system that Congress designed decades ago to help fund these two U.S. territories. In 2021 alone, these rum tax payments added up to more than $700 million.

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands split the money according to how much rum each territory produces. And the territories produce a lot of it — especially Puerto Rico, which single handedly supplies the majority of the rum that Americans drink.

But in 2008, the U.S. Virgin Islands pulled off a coup. It convinced one of the largest rum brands in the world, Captain Morgan, to abandon Puerto Rico and to shift its operations to the tiny island of St. Croix.

This was the beginning of the Rum Wars.

On today's show, the story of how a scheme designed to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands turned them into bitter rivals. And how it ended up putting hundreds of millions of dollars a year — U.S. taxpayer dollars — into the pockets of big liquor companies instead.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Molly Messick, engineered by Cena Loffredo, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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Pure Water LA/Operation Next would increase the resiliency of drinking water supplies to future costs, earthquakes and climate-induced drought.

The following is a list of University of Toronto experts who can comment on a variety of issues related to the senate sending amended assisted-dying bill to house. Nelson Wiseman, Professor of Political Science and Director of Canadian Studies Program Expertise: Senate no longer a “sober-second thought” Tel: (416) 978‑3336 (checks messages regularly) Email: nelson@chass.utoronto.ca […]

NOTE: Video and images at uoft.me/sparklingTORONTO – A team of scientists from the University of Toronto and Manchester University in the United Kingdom have gone three kilometres beneath the surface of the Canadian Shield to find some of the oldest fluids in our planet’s history. The waters are rich in clues about lives lived without […]

Backing research into billion-year-old water, evolution of plants, faster disease diagnosis, microbial energy Toronto, ON — Five University of Toronto scholars have been awarded prizes in 2016 by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) – the largest tally of winners at any university in Canada. “Our exceptional performance in the NSERC awards […]

How our billion-year-old cousin, baker’s yeast, can reveal — more reliably than leading algorithms — whether a genetic mutation is actually harmful.Toronto, ON – It’s easier than ever to sequence our DNA, but doctors still can’t exactly tell from our genomes which diseases might befall us. Professor Fritz Roth is setting out to change this by […]

American shoppers will have to pay between $1.6 billion and $3.2 billion more for connected devices such as gateways, modems, routers, smart speakers, smartwatches and other Bluetooth enabled products.

The State Department approved a potential Foreign Military Sale of $4.92 billion in Boeing [BA] E-7 Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft to South Korea. The Defense Security Cooperation […]

The Bill Howe Family of Companies announced it has earned the 2015 Angie’s List Super Service Award in six categories. The service company provides heating, air conditioning, restoration and flood remediation, and plumbing services in the San Diego area.

This market is anticipated to grow with 5.9 percent compound annual growth rate during the forecast time period. Surge in the use of energy-efficient devices is expected to drive the growth of the global HVAC system market.

The EERS required Indiana’s electric utilities to cut energy delivery by an average of 2 percent annually, as well as providing home energy assessments, low-income weatherization, and efficiency rebates for businesses, homeowners, and schools. In 2014, Indiana legislature passed SEA 340 to cancel the EERS. Then Gov. Mike Pence did not veto or sign the bill, so it became law, and Indiana became the first state to repeal its energy efficiency standard.

HB 738, introduced Oct. 4 by Rep. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg), requires the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) and the Department of Education (ODE) to study the status of school buildings regarding air conditioning, accessibility, and school safety.

A federal measure designed to improve IAQ, particularly in schools and child-care facilities, is winning support from HVAC industry trade groups. 

The new comfort solution reduces energy use by 50 percent by using water more efficiently than the legacy system.

With more than a trillion dollars designated from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) starting to hit the wider economic field, HVAC contractors and the utility industry should be aware of how to cash in.

The bill significantly reduces the cost of a geothermal installation, spurs job creation, and hopes to inspire more contractors to tap into the geothermal market.

Purdue University researchers have designed a predictive thermostat for heat pumps that has been shown to significantly reduce electricity use.

Sven Johann talks with Bill Curtis about Software Quality. They discuss examples of failed systems like Obama Care; the role of architecture; move an org from chaos to innovation; relation between Lean, quality improvement and CMM; Team Software Process.

Bill Venners speaks to Matthew Farwell about Property Based Tests, how they can be used, when they should not be used. We also cover how to define a property, how to generate the data required for a property based test.

Social housing as a concept is gaining popularity. Now, the state of New York is considering a bill to make it a reality.

Severe weather is the single leading cause of power outages in the United States. Outages caused by severe weather such as thunderstorms, hurricanes and blizzards account for 58 percent of outages observed since 2002 and 87 percent of outages affecting... Read more

The post Billion Dollar Storms vs U.S. Electric Grid appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

Mon 22 Oct: Wild Bill + BBFC talk on film classification at Bradford National Media Museum

This edition of Ask Annissa addresses whether it’s better to charge by the box or for time and materials.

Annissa gives us tips on billing for a packout.

Annissa gives us knowledge on how to properly bill for fire restoration services.