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How Did Supermassive Black Holes Get So Big, So Early? They Might Have Had a Head Start

Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) can have billions of solar masses, and observational evidence suggests that all large galaxies have one at their centres. However, the JWST has revealed a foundational cosmic mystery. The powerful space telescope, with its ability to observe ancient galaxies in the first billion years after the Big Bang, has shown us …

The post How Did Supermassive Black Holes Get So Big, So Early? They Might Have Had a Head Start appeared first on Universe Today.




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Startuje nový newsletter a web 11am.cz Výběr těch nejpodstatnějších trendů a událostí pro rozhodování. Vede ho Lenka Zlámalová

Svět je zahlcený informacemi. Skutečná výzva je výběr těch nejpodstatnějších, které opravdu ovlivňují rozhodování. Ukazují trendy a směr. A jejich jasné, stručné, analytické podání. Přesně to vám chceme v novém newsletteru a webu 11am nabídnout. Startujeme dnes, 11. 11. 2024 přesně v 11 hodin. Na www.11am.cz za předplatné 1 111 korun měsíčně.




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Apple TV+ Shares 'Silo' Recap Video Ahead of Season 2 Starting Friday

Apple TV+ today shared a recap video for the first season of "Silo. The hit series returns for a second season starting later this week.

Warning: The video contains major spoilers, obviously.


"Silo" follows the last 10,000 people on Earth, all of whom live in a massive underground bunker to escape the seemingly toxic and deadly world outside. The people are unaware of why the silo was built, and those who seek the truth face deadly consequences. Rebecca Ferguson stars as Juliette Nichols, an engineer who attempts to unravel the mysteries surrounding the silo following a loved one's murder. The sci-fi series is based on Hugh Howey's best-selling book trilogy "Wool." Ferguson and Howey both serve as executive producers.

The 10-episode second season of "Silo" begins this Friday, November 15, and one new episode will follow every Friday through January 17.

Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year in the U.S., and the streaming service is also included in all Apple One subscription bundles.
This article, "Apple TV+ Shares 'Silo' Recap Video Ahead of Season 2 Starting Friday" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums



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Planet-heating pollution to hit all-time high, dashing hopes it would start to drop in 2024




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Elon Musk’s job as Trump’s bureaucracy buster could be just the start - The Australian Financial Review

  1. Elon Musk’s job as Trump’s bureaucracy buster could be just the start  The Australian Financial Review
  2. Elon Musk tapped for ‘government efficiency’ role by Donald Trump  Sydney Morning Herald
  3. Evening News Bulletin 13 November 2024  SBS News
  4. Donald Trump wants Elon Musk to slash regulations as he reveals his role  ABC News





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The Untouched Picture of Kim Jong-Un Started a Supreme Photoshop Battle

North Korea released a smiling picture of Kim Jong-Un and were VERY specific about pointing out the fact that the image was untouched. Obviously the first thing the internet did when they got a hold of the image was to touch it up a bit. The results were glorious.




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Twentieth-Century Memes That Didn't Start The Fire

If you don't understand the reference of the title then you are too young to be scrolling through this gallery. We're just kidding, of course. Even if you weren't born until after 2000, we hope you can at least learn something about the twentieth century from these memes. 

Check out /r/HistoryMemes for a never-ending supply!




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Perplexity says it will begin experimenting with ads on its platform in the US starting this week; ads will be formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions”

AI-powered search engine Perplexity says it’ll begin experimenting with ads on its platform starting this week. Ads will appear in the U.S. to start, formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions.” (E.g., “How can I use LinkedIn to enhance my job search?”) Paid media will be positioned to the side…




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Startup CEO says humans won't be needed for translation in 3 years as it launches AI app

Unbabel on Wednesday announced an artificial intelligence-powered translation service, adding another rival to a highly competitive space.




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Grubhub reportedly in talks to be acquired by Marc Lore’s Wonder startup

The European company had acquired Grubhub in 2020 in an all-stock deal for $7.8 billion, creating the world’s largest food delivery company outside China at the time. A deal for Grubhub could be finalized imminently, assuming the talks do not fall apart, the report said, adding that Grubhub is…




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Former Walmart Executive’s Startup Is Near Deal to Buy Grubhub




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US Startup Buys Just Eat Takeaway’s Grubhub for $650 Million

In This Article: (Bloomberg) -- Wonder Group Inc. is buying Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway.com NV for about $650 million, acquiring the restaurant delivery service at a steep discount to the $7.3 billion price tag it commanded during the early days of the Covid pandemic. Most Read from…




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7-Eleven starts talks with ACT on $47bn takeover bid as ‘white knight’ emerges

Convenience store operator receives rival buyout offer from members of founding family




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Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – Remastered Gallops onto Xbox

Mika’s beloved tale comes to Xbox for the first time, with updated graphics and a new photo mode. Explore Kaltenbach, bond with Windstorm, and uncover hidden secrets. Embark on a journey like no other as Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – Remastered gallops onto Xbox for the first time! Dive into the captivating world […]

The post Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship – Remastered Gallops onto Xbox appeared first on Xbox Wire.




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How to Use Conversation Starters to Make Meaningful Connections

Connecting with others is an essential part of both our personal and professional lives. Whether you’re meeting someone new, looking to break the ice at an event, or aiming to deepen an existing relationship, conversation starters can be more than just a casual question to fill the silence. They can be powerful tools for building ... Read more

The post How to Use Conversation Starters to Make Meaningful Connections appeared first on LifeHack.




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They start out so cute…

Never name your pigs… Photo courtesy of Cande Gyrl. Spotted in China. 




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17 Beginner Photography Tips (How to Get Started)

The post 17 Beginner Photography Tips (How to Get Started) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lea Hawkins.

Talk to an experienced photographer, and they’ll tell you that photography is both incredibly fun and extremely rewarding. When you’re just a beginner, however, it’s easy to become overwhelmed; after all, you have to understand so many details, covering gear, camera settings, post-processing, lighting, and more. But don’t worry! I’ve been exactly where you are, […]

The post 17 Beginner Photography Tips (How to Get Started) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lea Hawkins.




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Kickstarter thoughts.

Categories: Blog

So. Book 3 is finished. That means it’s time for a Kickstarter, right? But… I expect at least half of the people backing that to be new readers. That’s how it went for book 2. If the growth of my readership is anything like it was before, I can expect to need to send out […]

(Read more...)




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HEY GUESS WHAT’S FINALLY ON KICKSTARTER

Categories: Blog, Uncategorized

Tags: , ,

Volume 3 and the omnibus are finally ready to get printed. Check it out here! Thanks in advance for your support in this, whether it’s in the form of money, spreading the word to your friends, good wishes, posting to link-sharing sites, or whatever.

(Read more...)




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Princeton creates Office of Innovation to enhance ecosystem for research, start-ups, tech transfer and industry collaboration

Craig B. Arnold has been named Princeton’s first University Innovation Officer and heads the new office.




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Celebrate Princeton Innovation spotlights researchers who are patenting discoveries, creating start-ups and exploring other ventures




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What! Again? Another Hexie Quilt Started?!


If you're a Beadlust reader, you know I worked for three years (more than 1,300 hours) to hand piece, hand embroider, and hand quilt Mama's Garden, with 4,700 3/4-inch hexies, a true labor of love. A big push this spring got it finished in time to enter into the International Quilt Festival in La Conner, WA. Hooray, hooray, the judges accepted it into the show!!!!

This coming weekend, October 2-4, all you quilting enthusiasts will find it rewarding to make the effort and get to La Conner (WA) for the Festival, where you will see an excellent selection of quilts and fiber arts, plus a variety of interesting vendors! Here is the information. Head first for Maple Hall, a huge 2-story building, filled with quilts, at the corner of 1st Street (the main drag) and Douglas Street! Bring your camera, because photos are allowed (at least in the past they were).

What do you think? After all those hours, would it be crazy to even THINK about making another hexie quilt, another one with 3/4-inch hexies? Well, then I guess I'm crazy, because the irresistible call of the hexie hooked me again. And why not re-use the same paper pieces?

This one will not be traditional, and will definitely NOT be hand quilted. It will be hand pieced, using small left-over fabrics (I refuse to call them scraps), cotton prints (but not batiks). I have no idea how I will arrange them, how big it will be, or anything else about how this new project will develop.

The first step was to cut out sets of  2" x 2" squares (6 per set) to make flower petals. So far, I've cut about 130 sets. Here are 80 of them, ready to baste onto the 3/4" paper hexie pieces.

From very small pieces, I cut single 2"  x 2" squares to make flower centers. These I've already basted to the paper hexie pieces.

After basting some of the petals and centers, I started choosing centers for the petal sets. This part is fun! I enjoy "auditioning" various centers until one of them seems right. I'm avoiding high value contrast between petals and centers, because I might want to do a color study with them (no borders).

When the urge gets really strong, I allow myself to start stitching the hexies together to make flowers.

This quilt will probably have about 650 flowers! I've cut 130 so far, each different. I cut flower petals from all of my small pieces, every one. My preference is to have all 650 flowers different.

Sooooooo, if YOU have some small fabric pieces you'd be willing to donate, I'd love to have part of you in my quilt. This is what I need:

For petals - 2" x 12" strip, or 4" x 6" piece
For centers - 2" square (only one per fabric design)

Quilting weight cotton prints only, no batiks.
One petal set per fabric design (no duplicates).
Prefer small to medium scale prints.

Mail to:
Robin Atkins
1785 Douglas Road #4
Friday Harbor  WA  98250

THANK YOU!!!!!




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Getting Started with LaTeX

An introduction to the typesetting system LaTeX will be provided using the online editor Overleaf. LaTeX allows advanced document preparation and typesetting of complex mathematical formulas. Overleaf offers advanced functionality like collaborative editing and versioning. Peer consultations and troubleshooting also offered throughout the semester. Visit https://libcal.princeton.edu/appointments/jfz to book an appointment.




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Getting Started with LaTeX

An introduction to the typesetting system LaTeX will be provided using the online editor Overleaf. LaTeX allows advanced document preparation and typesetting of complex mathematical formulas. Overleaf offers advanced functionality like collaborative editing and versioning. Peer consultations and troubleshooting also offered throughout the semester. Visit https://libcal.princeton.edu/appointments/jfz to book an appointment.




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Beginner’s Guide to Electronic Music Production: Tips and Tricks for Starting Out

The beginner’s guide to electronic music production is a comprehensive resource offering a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of electronic music production. Tailored for beginners, the guide covers essential concepts, techniques, and tools in the field, spanning from basic sound design to the application of effects plugins and mixing strategies. Electronic music production is a ... Read more

The post Beginner’s Guide to Electronic Music Production: Tips and Tricks for Starting Out appeared first on Star Two.




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How to Start Semaglutide: Your First Month Plan

Starting a new medication can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re not sure what to expect. When I first started semaglutide, I had plenty of questions and a few concerns. Here, I’ll share my experiences and tips to help you through your first month. Let’s take it step by step and make this journey as smooth ... Read more

The post How to Start Semaglutide: Your First Month Plan appeared first on Star Two.




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Digital signage - getting started with Repeat Signage

To help you get started with Repeat Signage software, we have created a walk-through of screenshots to show you how to create a simple dynamic digital signage presentation.




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Bringing hope to Gaza border communities: First cohort of Kolot's 'Restart' program graduates


This marks the launch of various ventures, including a festival project, a therapeutic space with therapy animals, and a holistic health program for women. 




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Red Hat is Acquiring AI Optimization Startup Neural Magic

Red Hat, the IBM-owned open source software firm, is acquiring Neural Magic, a startup that optimizes AI models to run faster on commodity processors and GPUs. From a report: The terms of the deal weren't disclosed. MIT research scientist Alex Matveev and professor Nir Shavit founded Somerville, Massachusetts-based Neural Magic in 2018, inspired by their work in high-performance execution engines for AI. Neural Magic's software aims to process AI workloads on processors and GPUs at speeds equivalent to specialized AI chips (e.g. TPUs). By running models on off-the-shelf processors, which usually have more available memory, the company's software can realize these performance gains. Big tech companies like AMD and a host of other startups, including NeuReality, Deci, CoCoPie, OctoML and DeepCube, offer some sort of AI optimization software. But Neural Magic is one of the few with a free platform and a collection of open source tools to complement it. Neural Magic had so far managed to raise $50 million in venture capital from backers like Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associations, Amdocs, Comcast Ventures, Pillar VC and Ridgeline Ventures.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Norris on pole for Sao Paulo GP, Verstappen starts 17th

McLaren's Lando Norris takes pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in a chaotic, crash-strewn qualifying session in which Max Verstappen was 12th.




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Panenka - the penalty that killed a career and started a feud

Antonin Panenka's penalty in the Euro 1976 final birthed a whole new 12-yard tactic. But the risks were higher than anyone could imagine.




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'I'm not naive' - Amorim before starting Man Utd job

Ruben Amorim says "I'm not naive, I know that it's going to be very different" before starting his new job as Manchester United manager.




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How difficult is Amorim's start at Man Utd?

Monday Night Club's Mark Chapman is joined by Rory Smith to discuss Ruben Amorim's arrival at Manchester United and how difficult his first game will be.




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You're the boss - pick your Northern Ireland starting XI

It's time for you to be the boss as you select your Northern Ireland starting XI to take on Belarus in Belfast on Friday.




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velocityconf: Free webcast w/ @jon lives http://t.co/TxL60Oagos 'Michelin Starred Cooking with Chef at Etsy' starting NOW. #velocityconf #devops

velocityconf: Free webcast w/ @jon lives http://t.co/TxL60Oagos 'Michelin Starred Cooking with Chef at Etsy' starting NOW. #velocityconf #devops




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Airbnb CEO says most employees don't want full autonomy at work — and those that do should start their own companies

"I think they say they want autonomy. I think their actions don't say the same thing," Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky recently said in an interview.




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Tips for Getting Started with a Business Growth Framework

Growth is top of mind for most companies, but it can be tricky to get started with developing a growth framework. For one thing, most companies aren’t organized around growth, so thinking about growth requires a lot of collaboration between teams. Additionally, companies often don’t have easy access to all of the data they need to understand growth.




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Cool Start-up Interview Series – Mondly Languages

We’ve recently had the pleasure to chat with Andrei Nastasie, the affiliate program manager at Mondly Languages, an innovative language learning app that incorporates native language recordings, augmented reality and virtual reality to help people learn new languages. In this interview, he shares how Mondly started out, what it has been up to and what’s next for this creative company.




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News24 | At least 30 killed in Mozambique since start of election violence: HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday that at least 30 people have been killed in Mozambique in almost three weeks of crackdowns on protests over a disputed presidential election.




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Getting Your First Grader Off to a Good Start: Tips for Families

First grade can bring a lot of changes! Even if your child had a great kindergarten year, there can be lots of new routines and expectations for first graders that can feel really different for students (and families). Here’s what you need to know.




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News24 Business | New R4bn startup fund planned for African tech firms

Tech accelerator Startupbootcamp, British-East African business tycoon Ashish Thakkar’s Mara Group and Blend Financial Services are planning a $250 million (R4.4 billion) fund to invest in new African technology companies.




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Left Already Losing It As Trump Announces Starting Lineup (Video)

The following article, Left Already Losing It As Trump Announces Starting Lineup (Video), was first published on Conservative Firing Line.

Trump learned some hard lessons from his first kick at the can. This time, he’s not making the same mistakes. Personnel IS policy. Last time around DJT was hamstrung right out of the gate when the Alabama Senator he tapped to be his AG was stuck in purgatory under bogus Russia allegations. The Deep State …

Continue reading Left Already Losing It As Trump Announces Starting Lineup (Video) ...







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Has the Dollar Started Its Long Decline?

28 August 2020

Jim O'Neill

Chair, Chatham House
Ultimately, the dollar’s dominance cannot persistently outweigh the relative decline of the US economy in the world. At some point, it will start to be replaced by something else. But don’t confuse that with where the dollar’s price is heading against other currencies.

2020-08-28-us-dollar-oneill.jpg

A statue of George Washington is pictured in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on 16 March 2020, at Wall Street in New York City. Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images.

One of the features of financial markets since early summer has been a decline in the value of the dollar against many currencies, and with it, an especially interesting acceleration in the price of gold. In addition to the usual professional market analysis about the dollar’s movement, this has led to speculation that it might be the beginning of the end of the dollar’s pre-eminence.

Having spent far too much of my professional life as a supposed currency expert, I reiterate something I learnt early on: the foreign exchange business sometimes grants an analyst their 15 minutes of fame, but no expert is a match for the millions who participate in this huge global market all day long. But I spent over 30 years in the financial markets, the vast majority in the hubbub of the forex market. And along the journey, I think I learnt a few tricks of the trade.

At the core of trying to answer questions about the dollar, I learnt a long time ago that there are two entirely separate questions, one of which has two subsections, about the dollar. Firstly, there is the question about the use of the dollar. Will it continue to dominate the world’s financial system as the most widely accepted medium of exchange?

This is not at all the same issue as the dollar’s day-to-day performance against other currencies. This is the second question, which is almost definitely the most pertinent one to what has happened during the summer. How the dollar’s value moves against other currencies is driven by a structural, or a valuation component, and a cyclical component. Each can be analysed separately, and if you were daft enough to devote the years I did to the process, you can combine the two, to have a dynamically adjusted fair value, persuading yourself at least that such an approach combines all available information at any point in time.

In terms of valuation, the most common approach is so-called purchasing power parity, which holds that a currency, in equilibrium, will ultimately reflect the difference in prices between two countries. If inflation is persistently higher in the US than in the eurozone, then the equilibrium value of the dollar will decline over time. I developed my own version of equilibrium currency rates, as it seemed to me in the real world, that the real inflation adjusted value of a currency was not stable, and that it moved over time. This was a reflection of productivity differentials between two countries. I christened it GSDEER: 'the Goldman Sachs Dynamic Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate' when I joined the firm in 1995.

What I learned is that when a currency is more than two standard deviations away from its fair value, it makes a huge amount of sense to watch closely, and when the momentum changes, it is worth going with this trend reversal. The momentum can change based on a change in the forces that have driven the currency away from its fair value, although it can be often easier to detect simply by watching the change in price.

One of the things that has frustrated currency participants over the past decade, with the exception of the Swiss franc and the pound, is that other major currencies have not been that far away from their fair value against the dollar or each other. Even during the dollar’s rise in recent years, including the period up to the summer, while it had clearly become overvalued, with the possible exception of the pound, it hadn’t become more than two standard deviations above its own fair value. In this regard, I have believed that one might be on the lookout for a chance to buy the pound against the dollar, and perhaps against the yen.

The cyclical component of a currency’s movement around its conceptual equilibrium can perhaps best be captured in the nominal interest rate adjusted for inflation expectations. I persuaded myself that the actual spot exchange rate of the dollar on any one day should be close to the adjusted GSDEER, and if it was not, then it would be useful for traders.

The dollar had become more interesting pre-COVID, as it appeared to have risen notably against many currencies, including the euro. And in this regard, the dollar was highly susceptible, and has turned out to be actually vulnerable, to a change in the state of the US and euro area economies. Now that the Federal Reserve has returned to extremely expansive monetary policy, and with it, lower real interest rates, a dollar decline seemed pretty inevitable.

At current prices, on 26 August, the dollar still seems modestly expensive compared to dynamically adjusted fair value. The dollar decline could persist. In the late 1980s and mid 1990s, the dollar fell to very low levels and became very undervalued — this tended to coincide with widespread talk about the dollar’s preeminence, which turned out to be, at least for that era, wrong. And I do share the views of some people who believe, as a result of US policies, conditions are more conducive to a sustained period of dollar weakness. This requires strong ongoing evidence that Europe, China and much of the rest of Asia continue to manage COVID-19 better than the US, and that their cyclical recoveries from the pandemic continue to surprise relative to the US.

Now as for the first question, about the demise of the dollar’s dominance, let me repeat that this is largely a separate issue, but I encourage any reader to be careful about getting sucked into this belief in making an investment or hedging decision.

It is quite possible that the use of the dollar can decline, and start off a systematic decline even when its value is strong. Indeed, in the past couple of years when its value was largely rising, decisions made by US policymakers to use the dollar’s dominance as a way of penalising other countries has resulted in those countries reducing their share of dollar currency reserves. Russia is a particular example, and there is some modest evidence that China is doing likewise.

And the opposite can also be true.

Ultimately, the dollar’s dominance cannot persistently outweigh the relative decline of the US economy in the world, which has been occurring now for 20 years. At some point, it will start to be replaced by something else. Whether that is, the renminbi, the euro, Bitcoin, the return of gold — all are conceivable, and may happen. It might be starting now. But don’t confuse that with where the dollar’s price is heading against other currencies in coming days, weeks, or in 2021.

This article was originally published in The Article.




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Upton out with tendinitis; Harvey starts to throw

The Angels will be without left fielder Justin Upton early in Spring Training, as he's dealing with right knee patellar tendinitis but is expected to be ready for Opening Day, manager Brad Ausmus said on Monday.




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Zimbabwe's Elections Were Meant to Start a New Era

Zimbabwe's Elections Were Meant to Start a New Era Expert comment sysadmin 14 August 2018

Emmerson Mnangagwa has been declared president of Zimbabwe amid protests and violence but Zimbabweans are now in a post-political, economy-first mood, writes Knox Chitiyo.

People queue in order to cast their ballot outside a polling station located in the suburb of Mbare in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, on 30 July 2018. Photo: Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images.

Before Zimbabwe’s general election on 30 July, there was a lot of talk about there being ‘landmark change’ and ‘credibility.’ But in many ways it was déjà vu. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party won the parliamentary vote, taking a majority 144 seats out of 210. The opposition MDC Alliance, a seven-party coalition led by Nelson Chamisa, won 64 seats—an improvement on their 2013 showing of 44 seats, but still falling far short of expectations.

The presidential results were much closer. After clashes on Wednesday, the incumbent Mnangagwa was declared winner early Friday morning, taking 50.8 per cent of the vote against Chamisa’s 44.3 per cent. The 21 other independent presidential candidates polled less than 5 per cent between them.

The polls didn’t quite live up to the hype. There was much that was positive: the prelude and election day were peaceful, with a minimal military presence. Opposition candidates were able to hold nationwide rallies (including in ZANU-PF’s rural heartland) without interference—an electoral first. ZANU-PF leaders and the military called for a peaceful process. Four women candidates contested the presidential vote, another first. More than 5 million Zimbabweans registered out of an eligible voting population of 7.2 million, and there was a near record 75 per cent turnout on voting day. Zimbabwe invited official observers from 46 countries and 15 international organizations, and, for the first time since 2002, observers from the EU, the Commonwealth and the US were present.

But shortcomings included late public access to the imperfect biometric voters roll and controversies about the ballot papers. There were also misogynistic social media attacks and threats against female candidates and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chair Justice Priscilla Chigumba.

The three-day wait for presidential results saw a further decline in public trust in the ZEC, and the opposition’s premature announcement of a Chamisa victory only fanned the political flames.

On Wednesday, six unarmed civilians were shot dead by soldiers in Harare, with dozens more assaulted. A Joint International Observer Mission statement promptly condemned the violence and called for restraint.

The election process was a boon for democracy, but ironically the result has entrenched the two-party parliamentary system and marginalized alternative voices. Mnangagwa has been conciliatory in his post-election statements, saying that Nelson Chamisa has a ‘crucial role to play’ and calling for unity to ‘build a new Zimbabwe for all.’

But Chamisa’s MDC Alliance has refused to accept the results, calling them ‘fake’ and a ‘scandal.’ The MDC has raised genuine transparency concerns and will likely challenge the results in court, but much of this may be cosmetic—with little chance of a 2017 Kenya-style presidential re-run. There is no critical mass of opposition parties to sustain a challenge, nor is there a popular appetite for a protracted political feud.

Zimbabwe’s democracy agenda may be heading into the slow lane, and Chamisa may be pressured by his coalition partners to make a political accommodation with Mnangagwa. Nevertheless, despite setbacks, Zimbabwe’s opposition and civil society has a long history of resilience under pressure and the struggle for democracy will continue.

Mnangagwa has a full in-tray. He has to unite a fractious ZANU-PF and manage internal civil-military and generational faultlines. Beyond that, he may need a public reconciliation with Chamisa—similar to how in Kenya and Mozambique, similar incumbent-opposition quarrels were mended by public rapprochements.

But Zimbabweans are now in a post-political, economy-first mood. Resolving the cash crisis is crucial. Few Zimbabweans can withdraw more than $50 a day from banks or ATMs—and much of this is paid out in unpopular ‘bond coins.’ The formal sector has contracted to only 20 per cent of the economy, and the informal sector lacks the capacity to push an economic renewal.

Zimbabwe’s new internationalism is premised upon the 2015 Lima process economic reform pathway for debt arrears clearance. (The country has a $10 billion foreign debt.) There has been a modest increase in foreign and diaspora investment, but the big-money Chinese, Russian and other pledges are long-horizon projects. What Zimbabwe needs is a short-term economic stimulus—to support small and medium-sized businesses.

For this to happen, Mnangagwa has to stay the course on economic reform, ease of doing business and the anti-corruption agenda. The pivot from reform to transformation in Zimbabwe will require all hands on deck, including civil society, the opposition, Zimbabwe diaspora and foreign investors, in a partnership for development.

A positive global verdict on the elections could supercharge investment, but time will tell whether these polls have been a deal-maker or a deal-breaker.

Zimbabwe’s elections often split the global south and the global north, and this could be the case again. The EU will have to decide whether to continue their incremental rapprochement with Zimbabwe, or accelerate to the reciprocity-based, ‘Re-Engagement 2.0’ approach currently favoured by the UK although the US is unlikely to lift statutory sanctions anytime soon.

Zimbabwe’s possible return to the Commonwealth could also be divisive, given the broader global context of the perceived existential clash between beleaguered liberal democracy and the rise of populist—and popular—autocracies across the globe.

President Mnangagwa—along with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mozambique’s Filipe Nyusi and others—belong to a pragmatic new wave of regional economic reformers nudging liberationism away from ideology. He now has an electoral mandate to lead a divided country. For sisters Chipo and Tendai, both businesswomen based in Harare who voted for Mnangagwa and Chamisa respectively, the future needs to come now. ‘There is too much talk,’ they said, ‘we live every day between hope and despair. We need cash and jobs. We are tired of being tired.’

This was originally published in TIME.




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Amazon starts air drone deliveries near Phoenix

Amazon Prime Air drone deliveries are underway and delivering small packages within an hour in the West Valley of the Phoenix metro area.