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From City of Empire to City of Diversity

Jessica Harris visits a photography exhibition showing Birmingham's sense of community.





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Sutton charity a winner from Solihull juniors efforts

Solihull Junior School pupils were so impressed by their visit to a local children’s charity that they made an Olympian effort to support it.





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Badminton going from strength to strength in Birmingham

Mark Selwood writes of a local sporting success.




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Roads warning from city council

Road users urged to think safety as nights draw in.




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Theft from Acocks Green store causes heartache

The British Heart Foundation Acocks Green Furniture & Electrical Store was broken into last Thursday.




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From the box to the bar

A guide to the quirkiest places you can work from in Birmingham.





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Kingstanding school farmers market enterprise project goes from strength to strength

Year 5 children from Twickenham Primary School in Kingstanding are making great progress with their social enterprise scheme working with the Diggin’ Generations local food project








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From teaching to tech

Sandwell IT director to step down after three decades of service.





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New show from Women & Theatre

Production marks Black History Month.




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B2C commerce startup Wheelocity raises $15 million from Lightspeed, others

The new funding will support Wheelocity’s plans to expand operations across 20,000 towns and villages in southern India over the next year, aiming to reach a user base of 10 million.




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Furniture retailer Furnishka raises Rs 27 crore from India Quotient

Furnishka will use the new capital to advance product design and development, strengthen manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, and expand to new geographies. The company will also expand its product categories focused on premium living room, dining room and bedroom collections, open six large-format stores, and create educational content to guide customers.




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Godrej Interio eyes 10% revenue from e-commerce by FY25

Godrej Interio aims for a 10 per cent contribution from e-commerce sales by fiscal-end. The company is accelerating digital transformation efforts, experiencing significant online sales growth and expanding reach across 17,200 pin codes. It introduces AI-based 'Visual Search' and an integrated dealer network to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.




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Nestle, P&G investigate palm oil sourced from illegally cleared Indonesian wildlife reserve

Environmental group Rainforest Action Network (RAN) alleges that palm oil derived from illegally cleared Indonesian wildlife reserves may have infiltrated the supply chains of major brands like Nestle and Procter & Gamble. RAN's investigation, supported by satellite imagery, points to the deforestation of Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve for palm oil plantations, potentially jeopardizing endangered species.




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Housing prices keeping consumers away from biscuits? Britannia's Berry flags a concern for FMCG sales

Britannia Industries reported a 10% drop in profit for the quarter ended September as surging housing costs and low income growth in urban areas led to a slowdown in demand for fast-moving consumer goods. While rural demand has been stable, urban demand has seen a significant downturn, mirroring global trends of consumer confidence returning but wages lagging behind inflation.




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Government mulls 5% cut in electronics imports to boost domestic production from FY25: sources

Although stakeholder discussions are still going on, the 5% cut of the total import quota will be implemented from April 1 of the upcoming fiscal. This cut is based on the data provided by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics.




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Home textiles to weave 6-8% growth after rebound from last fiscal year: CRISIL Ratings

Driven by strong demand from the US and growth in the domestic market, India's home textile industry is poised for a 6-8% growth this fiscal year. Despite economic concerns in the EU, the industry's credit profiles are expected to remain stable, supported by healthy cash accrual and moderate capital expenditure plans.




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D2C beauty tools firm Beauté Secrets raises Rs 1.6 crore in debt from Velocity

Beauté Secrets, a D2C beauty tools firm, has secured Rs 1.6 crore in debt from Velocity to expand its presence on quick commerce platforms and introduce new products. Founded in 2010, the company plans to enter major retail outlets and launch new beauty tools, leveraging its sustainable profits for growth and expecting a festive season boost.




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Healthify raises $20 million in round led by Khosla Ventures, LeapFrog Investments

Claypond Capital, Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai’s family office, also participated in funding for the health and wellness startup, formerly known as Healthifyme. To date, the company has raised $125 million in primary equity.




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Boldfit gets Rs 110 cr investment from Bessemer Venture Partners

The startup backed by cricketer KL Rahul will use the funds to enhance product innovation and expand its brand presence. The brand sells its products on ecommerce marketplaces, quick-commerce platforms and through its own D2C channel. It plans to open offline stores within the next 12 to 18 months.




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FirstCry's parent Brainbees raises Rs 1,886 cr from anchor investors

According to a circular upload on BSE, Brainbees Solutions allotted 4.05 crore equity shares to 71 funds at Rs 465 apiece, which is also the upper end of the price band. This takes the transaction size to Rs 1,886 crore. The IPO, with a price band of Rs 440-465 a share, will open for public subscription on August 6 and close on August 8.




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Diaper manufacturer Millennium Babycares raises Rs 122 crore from Bharat Value Fund

Millennium Babycares Ltd announced the closure of a Rs 122 crore private placement round with Bharat Value Fund (BVF), which acquired a significant minority stake. BVF is managed by Pantomath Capital and targets a corpus of Rs 2,000 crores. The funds will be used for market expansion in India and internationally.




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Survey Says: Captions On From Hearing to Comprehension

Ring Digital's latest FutureOfTV.Live quarterly report included revealing survey data on the state of live captioning in the TV and streaming ecosystem. We'll delve into the questions we asked and the survey's findings here.




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New Research from Hub: ?Peak TV? Still Delivering an Abundance of Favorite TV to Watch

New findings from Hub Research show that expanded content licensing is offsetting the decline in studio output.




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Cinema Chat: 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' opens nationwide, plus see 'The Room' and 'The Front Room' in downtown Ann Arbor!

It's the first week of September, and we have plenty of movies to chat about! WEMU's Mat Hopson sits in David Fair to share all of the movie news and info on special screenings and events you could ask for with Marquee Arts executive director Russ Collins!




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8th dose of Female Fronted Metal :emoji::emoji::emoji::emoji::emoji::emoji::emoji::emoji:

Don't know about you, but I had a pretty rough week so I'm indulging myself with Jinjer and Spiritbox, starting with one of the greatest collabs of the current millenium: Spiritbox - Circle With Me ft. Tatiana Shmayluk of Jinjer

Megan Thee Stallion - TYG (feat. Spiritbox) Jinjer - Who Is Gonna Be The One - Live Spiritbox - The Mara Effect - live Jinjer - Pisces - Live Spiritbox - The Mara Effect - live Jinjer - Just Another We will return to more varied programming next week, probably.




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How do you remove a Facebook post from an album? (part 2)

I asked a similar question a few months ago, but the "best answer" to that question no longer works because Facebook has changed the interface. I recently put a Facebook post (an article) into an album (using the relatively new feature that lets you do this with all kinds of links, not just photos/videos). But I changed my mind — I don't want it to be in any album. How do I remove it? I could use either a browser or the iPhone app.

Note that Facebook's album interface seems to have changed about a month ago, so older Facebook how-to posts might not be relevant.

I don't want to delete the post because it already has comments, etc.




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By coffeecat in "How would you suggest I deal with confrontation from a MAGA'er?" on Ask MeFi

I'm sorry you've been through so much lately, but I think you are definitely catastrophizing. I'd say the likelihood you'll be a target of political violence is pretty close to zero. I would suggest you stop reading the news/Reddit for a bit if it's causing you to feel this way - go for walks in your new neighborhood, make plans to see your friends in the city, etc.




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By Zumbador in "How would you suggest I deal with confrontation from a MAGA'er?" on Ask MeFi

This does sound very much like your anxiety latching on to a potential future and you getting stuck in that.

Others can give you advice about dealing with this particular scenario.

But here are some things to remember:

Seeking reassurance from others usually results in your anxiety getting worse, as their advice makes the imaginary danger seem more real.

No amount of rehearsing and imagining and ruminating will make you any safer. In fact, trying to prepare for this scenario means you're staying in the anxiety space for longer.

Don't try to fight your scary thoughts, don't argue with yourself. Just note the thought and briefly describe what you're doing to yourself in a non judgemental way.

"I'm arguing with an imaginary person right now"

"I'm trying to predict the future"

"I'm ruminating right now."

"I'm seeking reassurance"

You have the power to reassure yourself, and THAT kind of reassurance really works.

Change catastrophising thoughts into compassionate realism.

"I don't know what might happen in the future, but I'm going to cope with it when it dies"

"It's possible that this frightening thing might happen, and it might be unpleasant, but I will deal with it if it does and then it will just be another memory."

Find ways to distract yourself from your spiralling thoughts. I like explaining a topic I'm really interested in out loud to myself as a way to drown out stuck thoughts.

Trying to prepare for something that *might* happen just means you're making yourself be in that horrible scary worry space for much longer than it would take for the scary thing to happen. You can't control wether or not this thing you fear will happen, but you can control how much you focus on it.

Distraction is good! Be with people you enjoy, watch a comfort show, dance to music you love, do something to make yourself feel good.




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Latinos Will Never Vote For A Republican, And Other Myths About Hispanics From 2016

There were two major assumptions about Latino voters throughout the presidential campaign: (1) a record number of Latinos would show up on Election Day to oppose Donald Trump's candidacy and (2) the anti-immigration rhetoric that launched Trump's campaign would push conservative-leaning Hispanics to flee the Republican Party. Neither of those assumptions entirely panned out as expected. Prediction 1: The Surge? True. A record number of Latinos did vote this November. But the truth is complicated. The official national exit poll, the one commissioned by the big media organizations, suggests the Latino share of the electorate was higher than ever before — about 11 percent, compared to 10 percent in 2012. "It's very possible that the Latino vote, while reaching a record, may have been swamped by other groups of voters," said Mark Hugo Lopez, the director of Hispanic Research at the Pew Research Center, pointing to states like Florida which Trump won. We won't know the percentage of




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US Contractor From Augusta Charged With Leaking Classified Report

A government contractor in Georgia has been charged in federal court with leaking a classified report containing top-secret information to a news organization. The Department of Justice announced Monday prosecutors charged 25-year-old Reality Leigh Winner of Augusta with mailing copies of classified documents to a reporter.




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Ex-Trump Campaign Official Withdraws From Nomination Amid Questions In Russia Probe

A former Trump campaign official has withdrawn from consideration for a job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture after being pulled into the imbroglio over Russia's interference efforts against the U.S. in the 2016 presidential race. Sam Clovis said on Thursday that he would not go forward in trying to become the USDA's undersecretary for research, education and economics. That news followed a quick series of connected developments in the Russia investigation being conducted by the Department of Justice special counsel: first, a guilty plea — announced Monday —by a former campaign adviser who worked for Clovis, and then, reports that Clovis has been interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team in the Russia case and also testified before a Washington, D.C., grand jury. George Papadopoulos, the foreign policy adviser who has pleaded guilty, was approached by Russian agents early in his tenure and offered "dirt" on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and meetings with Russian




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Loop drive north from Phoenix?

Thanksgiving week, flying into PHX with seven days to hike and play. Someone suggested five days in Sedona and two days in Jerome. What would you do? We are two women who love to hike. Open to options, perhaps with two locations outside of Phoenix. No one day's drive more than 2 hours. Priorities are 3- to 8-mile day hikes, any difficulty. Dramatic vistas, sunsets, stars, sunny aspects if possible. We do have to work remotely a bit that week, so M-W we need wifi and the shorter trails.

Looking for itinerary ideas, both roads and trails!

Not so much seeking lodging suggestions, but if you have them, fire away. Probably aiming for the $120-150/nt range if possible with two beds and a kitchen (with hopes of assembling some sort of Thanksgiving meal there). Seems possible, but a challenge. Feel free to toss in quirky roadside attractions, favorite cafés, etc.




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Commuting to Los Gatos from San Francisco?

Is there any way of using public transit for commuting to Los Gatos from San Francisco? I'd love to use Caltrain and some sort of shuttlebus combo, but have had a lot of trouble finding the correct combination of services. I've tried mapping the trip using transit.511.org but it doesn't seem to include Los Gatos in it's coverage area. I'll be working down there beginning next week, and would love to avoid driving as much as possible.




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'Unprecedented Demand' Slows Results From Some Coronavirus Labs

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Here is a very brief history of American testing in the pandemic. The United States started out drastically short of coronavirus tests. The few people who got them had to wait many days for results. Then the United States engaged private companies to make up the difference. Mobile testing centers appeared in parking lots in many cities. Millions of people were tested. But now, as NPR has reported, most states are short of the testing numbers they need, and people getting tested report delays in getting results. Admiral Brett Giroir is on the line. He is an assistant secretary of health, and he has been in charge of the federal testing response. Admiral, welcome to the program. BRETT GIROIR: Thank you. It's good to be here with you this morning, Steve. INSKEEP: I want to quote Mick Mulvaney, President Trump's former chief of staff, who wrote, quote, "it isn't popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a




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U.K. To Bar British Companies From Buying 5G Equipment From Huawei

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit AILSA CHANG, HOST: The United Kingdom is banning Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, from developing Britain's 5G network. The U.S. welcomes this decision. It's just the latest move in a global struggle between the U.S. and China over technology, business and political power. As NPR's Frank Langfitt reports, it's also a sign of how China's increasingly assertive diplomacy has backfired. FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: The British government will forbid companies here from buying Huawei equipment for 5G beginning next year and require the removal of all Huawei equipment by 2027. The government says the decision was triggered by U.S. sanctions on Huawei suppliers that could make the company's equipment easier for China to use for spying. Oliver Dowden is the U.K.'s digital secretary. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) OLIVER DOWDEN: The security and resilience of our telecoms networks is of paramount importance. We have never and will never compromise that




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Issues of the Environment: City of Ann Arbor working to protect trees from damaging natural gas leaks

Ann Arbor officials says some of the trees in the city are dying, and they attribute it to leaks in the DTE Energy natural gas infrastructure. The utility says it is not the problem. The city is asking DTE to conduct necessary repairs, while the utility argues it would be cost prohibitive to contract an arborist to evaluate potential methane damage to trees. What comes next? WEMU's David Fair discussed it with Ann Arbor Sustainability and Innovations Director, Missy Stults.




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A3C: Highlights From The Live Show

For this edition of Atlanta Considered, I went to Chrome Yellow Trading Company on Edgewood Avenue during the A3C hip-hop festival and conference. A3C is one of the nation’s largest urban music events and stands for All Three Coasts, as Atlanta joins New York and Los Angeles as the pillars of hip-hop culture.




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High Museum: Highlights From The Live Show

On Friday February 3, GPB Atlanta broadcasted "All Things Considered" live from the High Museum of Art's monthly " First Friday " event.




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All Things Considered Live From SunTrust Park

On Friday April 14, GPB Atlanta broadcasted “All Things Considered” live from SunTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves' new baseball stadium in Cobb County. It was the first home game of the season for the Braves and the first time fans would experience the new $1.1 billion stadium complex. In the show we’ll take a look at important moments in Braves history, at the mixed-use development around SunTrust Park called “The Battery” and, of course - talk about traffic.




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Lake From 'Dirty Dancing' Rising Again After More Than A Decade After It Dried Up

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




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Left To Enforce Local Mandates, Front-Line Retail Workers Face Threats

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: The United States set a new record yesterday for the most new coronavirus cases reported in a single day - more than 68,000. The previous high mark was set just the day before. The pandemic is stressing medical resources in several states like California, Arizona, Texas and Florida that have seen dramatic surges in recent days. The country's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, this week referred to this moment as a perfect storm of viral contagion, all of which has intensified the debate about what the country - each of us, really - can do to slow down the spread of the virus, like wearing a face mask. Today President Trump was seen wearing a mask in public during a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. But the president has sent mixed messages about this, refusing for months to wear a mask, as health experts recommend. So to begin tonight, we want to focus on a group of




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How Absentee Landowners Keep Farmers From Protecting Water And Soil

Prairie strips in fields of corn or soybeans can protect the soil and allow wildlife to flourish. This strip was established in a field near Traer, Iowa, in 2015. Omar de Kok-Mercado, Iowa State University Lisa Schulte Moore loves nature. To stand in an old-growth forest, she says, "I can only describe it as healing." When she moved to Iowa to teach ecology at Iowa State University, she didn't get that same feeling when she found herself amid acres of corn. She wasn't hearing birds or seeing many bugs. "All I can hear are the leaves of the rustling corn," she says. "Not one biological noise. You know, they call it the green desert." This is, in fact, the central environmental problem with agriculture. This year, corn and soybeans cover an area of the United States equal in size to all the East Coast states from New York to Georgia. It has displaced wildlife and left the soil more vulnerable to water and wind erosion. But Schulte Moore says that it doesn't have to be a green desert. She