Technology is catching up with Thomas Edison’s electricity industry, eating away at the utility business model that hasn’t changed much in a century.

Squashed between a highway overpass and a towering suburban shopping center east of Paris, a drilling rig is completing the second of two geothermal wells aimed at capturing the earth’s natural heat for homes and offices.

Clean, renewable energy is the single most needed technology by the millennial generation. Not only is it the key to slowing global warming and climate change, but it also solves a host of other problems, such as respiratory diseases and national security.

Eversheds Sutherland property column: March 2019 Over the last half decade, institutions and investors have become increasingly attracted by the dependable longterm income offered by large-scale professional residential letting. The way investors ac...

May 10, 2020 30% growth in financial operations for the largest digital wallet in the Middle East stcpay achieved remarkable growth in financial operations during the first quarter of 2020, paralleling what the company achieved throughout the entirety of 2019. Company data for the largest digital wallet in the Middle East showed 30% growth in financial operations via stcpay over the past few months. The CEO...

St Augustine's Hospital in Durban and Kingsway Hospital in Amanzimtoti were forced to close after an alarming number of coronavirus cases. ......

The FCA has issued its long awaited consultation on extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (also known as “Accountability II”). Consultation Paper (CP17/25), which sets out the “what” and the “why&rdq...

Nairobi, a restless metropolis of 4.4 million, is a bizarre landscape under curfew.

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Fishermen in northeast Thailand say they have seen catches in the Mekong River plunge, while some farmers in Vietnam and Cambodia are leaving for jobs in cities as harvests of rice and other crops shrink.The common thread driving these events is erratic water levels in Asia’s third longest waterway.Water flows along the 4,300km (2,700 mile) Mekong shift naturally between monsoon and dry seasons, but non-governmental groups say the 11 hydroelectric dams on China’s portion of the river – five of…

'The Crown' depicted Queen Elizabeth as a 'countryside woman of limited intelligence'

A minor boy feared to have died while bathing in a storm water drain in the Khamiso Goth area on Saturday.According to the New Karachi Industrial Area police, the incident took place when 11-year-old Hamza was bathing in the storm water drain along with some other kids near his residence. Rescuers...

Small neighbourhood markets and shops across Karachi have to follow standard operating procedures to reopen on Monday , when the current COVID-19 lockdown in Sindh will be eased off in accordance with the decisions of the National Coordination Committee .Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed...

People across Pakistan crowded markets on Saturday after a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was eased, despite the country recording its second-highest daily infection toll.

The government has allowed businesses to reopen in phases from the weekend, citing the economic havoc the virus restrictions have wreaked on citizens.

In Rawalpindi, thousands of shoppers were preparing for Eidul Fitr, with many flouting social distancing rules and advice to wear masks.

In Karachi, shopkeepers set out their wares of shoes, clothes, bangles and fabrics, while in the capital Islamabad shoppers stood in tightly-packed queues as they waited for stores to open.

Similar scenes were played out in Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar.

Omar Shirazi, a banker shopping for clothes with his daughter in Rawalpindi, welcomed the move.

“Eid is approaching,” he said. “We have to buy new garments for our children. It's the responsibility of people to comply with rules and wear safety gear.”

Tehmina Sattar, who was shopping with her sister and sons, was more cautious.

“We are happy with this decision but at the same time I have a fear in my heart that if this disease spreads it could be devastating. People here are not taking preventative measures.”

Information Minister Shibli Faraz warned earlier in the day that the lockdown on businesses would be reimposed if safety guidelines were not followed, after authorities reported more than 1,700 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Infections have been rising steadily as testing has increased, with more than 28,000 cases and more than 600 deaths recorded.

The easing comes as many across the country have openly ignored restrictions on gatherings in public during the past month, especially during the evenings as people observe Ramazan.

Schools will remain closed until mid-July however, while there are no immediate plans to restart public transportation or domestic flights.

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Nov. 15 - Professor Ashutosh Varshney discusses the difference between authoritarian political dispensation and messy democracies.

Here are the latest coronavirus updates from around the world.

The head of the Food and Drug Administration will also self-quarantine; all three are on the coronavirus task force.

The U.S. response to the coronavirus outbreak has led to "unintended consequences" -- including lost pride for many American workers, TV host Mike Rowe said Saturday night.

In 1994, Marcus Robinson, who is black, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of Erik Tornblom, a white teenager, in Cumberland County, North Carolina. He spent nearly 20 years on death row, but in 2012 his sentence was changed to life without a chance of parole. He was one of four death row inmates whose sentences were commuted by a judge who found that racial discrimination had played a role in their trials.

The reason their cases were reviewed at all was because of a 2009 North Carolina law known as the Racial Justice Act, which allowed judges to reduce death sentences to life in prison without parole when defendants were able to prove racial bias in their charge, jury selection, or sentence.

"The Racial Justice Act ensures that when North Carolina hands down our state's harshest punishment to our most heinous criminals," former Gov. Bev Perdue said when she signed the bill into law, "the decision is based on the facts and the law, not racial prejudice."

At 21, Robinson was the youngest person sentenced to death in North Carolina. When he was three, he was hospitalized with severe seizures after being physically abused by his father and was diagnosed with permanent brain dysfunction. However, those weren't the only troubling aspects of his case.

Racial discrimination in jury selection has been prohibited since it was banned by the Supreme Court in its 1986 Supreme Court decision Batson v. Kentucky, but Robinson's trial was infected with it. The prosecutor in the case, John Dickson, disproportionately refused eligible black potential jurors. For example, he struck one black potential juror because the man had been once charged with public drunkenness. However, he accepted two "nonblack" people with DWI convictions. Of the eligible members of the pool, he struck half the black people and only 14 percent of the nonblack members. In the end, Robinson was tried by a 12-person jury that included only three people of color—one Native American individual and two black people.

Racial discrimination in jury selection was not uncommon in the North Carolina criminal justice system. A comprehensive Michigan State University study looked at more than 7,400 potential jurors in 173 cases from 1990 to 2010. Researchers found that statewide prosecutors struck 52.6 percent of eligible potential black jurors and only 25.7 percent of all other potential jurors. This bias was reflected on death row. Of the 147 people on North Carolina's death row, 35 inmates were sentenced by all-white juries; 38 by juries with just one black member.

Under the Racial Justice Act, death row inmates had one year from when the bill became law to file a motion. Nearly all the state's 145 death row inmates filed claims, but only Robison and three others—Quintel Augustine, Tilmon Golphin, and Christina Walters—obtained hearings. In 2012, Robinson's was the first. At the Superior Court of Cumberland County, Judge Gregory Weeks ruled that race had played a significant role in the trial and Robinson was resentenced to life without parole. North Carolina appealed the decision to the state's Supreme Court.

An immediate outcry followed the decision. The North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys issued a statement saying, "Capital cases reflect the most brutal and heinous offenders in our society. Whether the death penalty is an appropriate sentence for murderers should be addressed by our lawmakers in the General Assembly, not masked as claims (of) racism in our courts."  

The ruling attracted lots of publicity from across the country and North Carolina lawmakers were outraged. "There are definitely signs in the legislative record that there were some [lawmakers] that really wanted to see executions move forward," Cassandra Stubbs, the director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project who also represents Robinson, says. Legislative staffers circulated talking points for lawmakers with arguments that the RJA turns "district attorneys into racists and convicted murderers into victims," describing the law as "an end-run around the death penalty and an indefinite moratorium on capital punishment."

The day Judge Weeks resentenced Robinson, the Senate president pro tempore for the state Legislature, Phillip Berger, expressed concern that Robinson could be eligible for parole. He suggested Robinson—who had just turned 18 when he committed the crime and would not have been considered a juvenile—would be ineligible for life in prison without a chance of parole, citing a US Supreme Court ruling that prohibited juveniles from receiving life sentences without parole. "We cannot allow cold-blooded killers to be released into our community, and I expect the state to appeal this decision," he said. "Regardless of the outcome, we continue to believe the Racial Justice Act is an ill-conceived law that has very little to do with race and absolutely nothing to do with justice."

The state Legislature took on the challenge and voted to repeal the Racial Justice Act in 2013. This made it impossible for those on death row to even attempt to have their sentences reviewed for racial bias, but it left the fates of the four who had been moved to life imprisonment unclear. "The state's district attorneys are nearly unanimous in their bipartisan conclusion that the Racial Justice Act created a judicial loophole to avoid the death penalty and not a path to justice," Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement at the time.

Even though the law was still in effect when the four inmates' sentences were reduced, they weren't safe from death row just yet. Robinson's sentenced had been legally reduced, but the legal battle was just beginning.

In 2015, after nearly two years from the initial hearing, the North Carolina Supreme Court ordered the Superior Court to reconsider the reduced sentences for Robinson, Augustine, Golphin, and Walters, saying the judge failed to give the state enough time to prepare for the "complex" proceedings.

This past January, Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour ruled that because the RJA had been repealed, the four defendants could no longer use the law to reduce their sentences. "North Carolina vowed to undertake an unprecedented look at the role of racial bias in capital sentencing," says Stubbs. But now, "the state Legislature explicitly turned from its commitment and repealed the law."

Robinson is back on death row at Central Prison in the state's capital of Raleigh. In the petition to the state Supreme Court, Robinson's lawyers point out that the Double Jeopardy Clause—the law that prevents someone from being tried twice for the same crime—bars North Carolina from trying to reimpose the death penalty because the 2012 RJA hearing acquitted him of capital punishment.

"He's never been resentenced to death," Stubbs says. "They have no basis to hold him on death row."

Dave Cool, the director of artist and industry outreach at Bandzoogle, joins us to discuss the bankruptcy of popular crowdfunding site PledgeMusic and his company's subsequent move into the space.

Bandzoogle is a Canadian company that operates globally and is known for its suite of website-building services aimed specifically at musicians. In June, Bandzoogle announced it was launching a crowd funding platform as part of its subscription services. That announcement, not coincidently, corresponded with the bankruptcy of PledgeMusic. Through the previous two years, PledgeMusic suffered a slow death, plagued by missed payments to artists and accusations of misspending by management, which raised many questions about the viability of the crowd funding model itself. So, with Dave, we get into the weeds about PledgeMusic’s collapse and why Bandzoogle thinks it has a better business model for it.

Boris Johnson will exercise "extreme caution" in easing lockdown restrictions, the Transport Secretary has said, as he warned the public not to "throw away" their hard work by going outside.

Is Hannah Brown's mom throwing shade at one of her former exes? On Friday, Hannah's mom Susanne Brown took to Instagram on Friday to wish her youngest a happy birthday but in...

He had his finger on the pulse of the culture.

Is Hannah Brown's mom throwing shade at one of her former exes? On Friday, Hannah's mom Susanne Brown took to Instagram on Friday to wish her youngest a happy birthday but in...

Ever since he fled Venezuela last year, opposition senator Hernan Aleman has dreamed of toppling President Nicolas Maduro.But, like many of the exiles now holed up in next-door Colombia, he knew that those who talked of doing it...

A driver tried to throw NZ$50,000 worth of cocaine out of his van while police were chasing him but ended up with cocaine all over the inside of the vehicle after forgetting to actually open the window.A photo of the man's expensive...

The Premier League's Project Restart plan could 'cost lives' if competition is resumed prematurely during the coronavirus pandemic, warns Brighton chief executive Paul Barber.

Turning colder overnight with cloud and some rain pushing southwards into tomorrow.

A reported hook-up between the AFL and coaches has come to light, which took place mere hours before the Crows’ training breach came to light.

The opening night of South Korea’s K-League presented a rare-treat for football fans starved of action, with reigning champions Jeonbuk Motors facing cup champions Suwon Bluewings.

Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks says he is taking the blame for the club’s isolation training incident.

Adelaide Crows players in quarantine are now training as individuals so as to take out any possibility of further breaches of coronavirus training protocols.

Episodes seven and eight of The Last Dance premiere on May 11 with Michael Jordan’s relationships with his Chicago Bulls teammates to the fore.

Greg Hardy says UFC's "no crowd" rule at UFC 249 was a "game changer" -- because he could hear the TV announcers critiquing him during his fight ... and he adjusted accordingly to get the victory! Hardy (6-2) was fighting Yorgan De Castro (6-1) in…

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Growthwell plans to use the funding to expand its alternative protein product range, among others.

The post Temasek leads $8m round for plant-based meat player Growthwell appeared first on DealStreetAsia.

The deal marks ARA Asset Management's entry into the fintech sector.

The post Singapore’s ARA, tycoon John Lim buy 52.08% stake in crowdfunding platform Minterest appeared first on DealStreetAsia.

KKR has about $58 billion in dry powder for new investments.

The post KKR sees Asia portfolio as driver for growth amid virus crisis appeared first on DealStreetAsia.

Despite the recent pressure of Covid-19, key SEA co-living operators said they would continue to expand this year.

The post Southeast Asian operators bullish on co-living growth prospects but see it as long-term play appeared first on DealStreetAsia.

The current crisis demands greater use of digital services over good quality, resilient broadband infrastructure.

The post COVID-19 could alter trajectory of ASEAN’s digital economy growth, says World Bank economist appeared first on DealStreetAsia.

Fernando Alonso sent the Tifosi wild by winning the Italian Grand Prix from Jenson Button and team-mate Felipe Massa after taking the lead from the McLaren in the pit stops

Ahmad al-Mostafa can't afford milk for his baby daughter. A Syrian refugee, he has barely been able to feed his family since Lebanon sank into economic crisis last year. But now, a coronavirus lockdown has made things even worse.

The head of the Food and Drug Administration will also self-quarantine; all three are on the coronavirus task force.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the firm will leave California after he is ordered to keep a factory shut.

On the occasion of Mother's Day, veteran actor Hema Malini shared a priceless throwback pictures of herself with her mom and daughters, saying its a "day for us to recall with love and gratitude all that our mothers have done for us."

The 71-year-old actor took a walk down the memory lane when she shared a monochromatic picture featuring herself and her mom on Twitter. In the picture, the evergreen star is seen sporting traditional Bharatanatyam attire and is seen affectionately hugging her mother.

It is Mother’s Day! A day for us to recall with love & gratitude all that our mothers have done for us🙏Also a day for us to celebrate our status as mothers & grandmothers & look back proudly at the years passed in bringing our kids.This is a treasured file photo of me & my mom😘 pic.twitter.com/6kzw31pABk

— Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) May 10, 2020

Along with the picture she wrote," It is Mother's Day! A day for us to recall with love & gratitude all that our mothers have done for us. Also, a day for us to celebrate our status as mothers & grandmothers & look back proudly at the years passed in bringing our kids. This is a treasured file photo of me & my mom."

The 'Sholay' star also shared some 'glimpses from the past' where she showcased the three generations including herself, her mom and daughters Esha and Ayana Deol in a Twitter post.

Glimpses of the past pic.twitter.com/iKYOXwjnIT

— Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) May 10, 2020

The post included three pictures, the first one features Esha and Ahana in their childhood days with their mom Hema. While the second features the 'Baghban' star with her mom and the third one captures Hema's mom and the actor herself who is seen holding baby Esha by her arms.

Daughter Esha was quick to note the special post and commented, "Love u my mamma" (along with a heart and hugging emoticon).

Meanwhile, scores of Bollywood celebrities including Sara Ali Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Ishaan Khatter and others extended Mother's Day wishes to their moms by posting throwback pictures and videos on social media.

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Buoyed by the emerging digital business strategies that Indian firms are fast adopting, the country's software revenue is set to reach $5.8 billion in 2017 -- a 12.8 pct increase from 2016, a new report said on Thursday.

Reliance Industries' partners are considering joining the arbitration that the Mukesh Ambani-run firm is planning to initiate against the government for slapping a $1.55 billion demand for "unfairly enriching" by producing natural gas