Investors should match their investment horizon with the fund's portfolio duration.

No relationships are perfect in this world. Every relationship has its own share of flaws. But one can make it strong and a happy one by putting effort into it. Still, there can be times when you and your partner have

RUTH Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, will take on Boris Johnson in the BBC's final EU debate, grandly entitled The Great Debate, which will be broadcast at 8pm tonight.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

Employers have a duty to carry out document checks on individuals before employing them.  The aim of the checks is to ensure that individuals have the legal right to work in the UK.  Correctly carrying out document checks gives employers a...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) was seen taking refuge on the roof of his office building in Vista, California, Tuesday, taking photos of angry constituents who had gathered below to protest the congressman's voting record. The incident comes before a much-anticipated town hall meeting this Saturday at San Juan Hills High School, where the nine-term congressman is expected to face a hostile crowd because of his support for various Trump administration policies, including the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Democrat Mike Levin, an environmental lawyer who recently announced his bid to challenge Issa in 2018, shared an image of the congressman appearing to avoid demonstrators on social media, where it was roundly mocked.

Others saw his retreating to a rooftop as reminiscent of Michael Scott, Steve Carrell's character in The Office who memorably took to the roof in the episode titled "Safety Training."

Issa, on the other hand, described his trip to the roof a bit differently. Shortly after the criticism, he took to Twitter to offer this narrative. We recommend zooming in to take a closer look at the signs:

For more on Levin and the fight to defeat Issa, the richest man in Congress, head to our profile here.

Experts say to prevent future outbreak clusters, workers need to have job safety if they are feeling sick and unable to work

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Improvements in communication, personal protective equipment training, initial infection responses and social distancing have emerged as key areas of improvement if Australia is to avoid a second wave of coronavirus infections after lockdowns ease.

While the government has linked the uptake of its Covidsafe tracing app to a return to normal, the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, in April identified the bolstering of health authorities’ ability to respond to and contain localised clusters as an essential step to reassessing measures.

The tests are for people arriving in Austria who want to avoid 14 days of quarantine, and cost €190.

When misfortune and tragedy strike, it is wise to avoid the delusion of perfectionism. The belief that you...

Few things in life are as difficult as acknowledging mistakes, in particular those that we have made out of conviction. Choosing an unsuitable profession or...

The OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría called on the governments of steel-producing economies to address the root causes of today’s steel crisis through multilateral approaches, and in particular through the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría welcomed today Hungary’s steps to strengthen international tax co-operation after it became the 61st signatory to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

If you make a list of some of the most important traps in testing, you will realize that in many cases the problems are nontechnical. More often than not, they are consequences of the test process itself,...

New real estate norms have jazzed up the monotonous property market. This has encouraged salesmen and agents to sell the property by offering freebies and discounts.

Consultant anaesthetist Dr Paul Trafford, pictured with his wife and nieces, almost suffered a major heart attack after returning to his home in Glasgow following a shift in his hospital due to an undiagnosed issue.

The landmark judgment - which risks throwing the Government's deportation policy into chaos - has already delayed the case of gang rapist Yaqub Ahmed, who was supposed to be deported.

Consultant anaesthetist Dr Paul Trafford, pictured with his wife and nieces, almost suffered a major heart attack after returning to his home in Glasgow following a shift in his hospital due to an undiagnosed issue.

The landmark judgment - which risks throwing the Government's deportation policy into chaos - has already delayed the case of gang rapist Yaqub Ahmed, who was supposed to be deported.

For Simon Jordan, who owned Crystal Palace between 2000 and 2010, he believes the 'best case scenario' is to lose this season and then return when the health of all involved is in no doubt.

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers. In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures. As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said. The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols. Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation ..

Are the rising swine flu casualties giving you jitters?

Haemophilia is a rare, inherited condition in which your blood does not clot normally due to the lack of sufficient blood-clotting proteins or clotting factors. An individual with haemophilia will have excessive bleeding, as the blood doesn't clot properly. If an

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

The loud love calls of tiny túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus) that reverberate through the nighttime jungles of Panama are bold advertisements for a suitable mate. […]

The post With picky eating, bats avoid poison prey appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Businesses are cutting back on hours to avoid having to provide health care coverage under the new Affordable Care Act.

Steve Julian: Business analyst Mark Lacter, who's affected here?

Mark Lacter: Thirty hours a week is the magic number for workers to be considered full time under the new law.  If a business has 50 or more full-time employees, health care coverage has to be provided.  Except that a lot business owners say that the additional cost is going to be a financial killer, so instead, some of them have been cutting back hours to below that 30-hour threshold.  More than 200,000 Californians are at risk of losing hours from the health care law - that according to one study.

Julian: What kinds of businesses are doing this?

Lacter: Restaurant chains have received much of the attention, but the city of Long Beach, as an example, is going to reduce hours for a couple of hundred of its workers.  And, last week came word that the L.A.-based clothing chain Forever 21 will cut some of its full-time employees to a maximum 29-and-a-half hours a week, and classify them as part time.  That touched off an outcry on the Internet - people were saying that Forever 21 was being unfair and greedy - though the company says that only a small number of employees are affected, and that its decision has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act.  There's really no way to know - Forever 21 is a private company, which means it's not obligated to disclose a whole lot.  What we do know is that those people will be losing their health care coverage.

Julian: And, the ultimate impact on businesses and workers?

Lacter: Steve, you're looking at several years before the picture becomes clear.  Here in California, workers not eligible for health care through their employer can get their own individual coverage, and if their income levels are not over a certain amount, they'd be eligible for Medicaid.  And, let's not forget many businesses already provide coverage for their employees.  So, lots of rhetoric - but, not many conclusions to draw from, which does make you wonder why so many business owners are unwilling to at least give this thing a chance.  Just doesn't seem to be much generosity of spirit for their workers, not to mention any recognition that if people can go to a doctor instead of an emergency room we'd probably all be better off.

Julian: Health care is far from the only controversy for Forever 21, true?

Lacter: In some ways, it's one of the biggest Southern California success stories.  Don Chang emigrated here in 1981 from Korea at the age of 18, opened his first store in Highland Park three years later (it was called Fashion 21), and he never looked back.  Today, revenues are approaching $4 billion.  But, the guy must have some pretty hefty legal bills because his company has been accused of all kinds of workplace violations.  The lawsuits alleged that workers preparing items for the Forever 21 stores didn't receive overtime, that they didn't get required work breaks, that they received substandard wages, and that they worked in dirty and unsafe conditions - sweatshop conditions, essentially.

Julian: Are most of their claims settled out of court?  You don't hear much about them.

Lacter: They are, which means there's usually a minimal amount of media coverage.  If a privately held company decides to keep quiet by not releasing financial results or other operational information, there's not likely to be much of a story - unlike what happens with a company like Apple, which is always under scrutiny.  Sometimes, plaintiffs will try to organize class-action suits, but that's extremely tough when you're dealing with low-wage workers who are often very reluctant to get involved because of their legal status.  And, let's not forget that Forever 21 - like any low-cost retailer - is simply catering to the demand for cheap, stylish clothes that are made as quickly as possible.

Julian: I guess you can't make that happen when wages and benefits are appreciably higher than your competition.

Lacter: The next time you walk into a Forever 21 store and wonder how prices can be so reasonable, that's how.

Mark Lacter writes for Los Angeles Magazine and pens the business blog at LA Observed.com.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Carnivorous plants are a fascinating example of nature at its best. Living in habitats with nutrient-poor soil, carnivorous plants evolved to attract some insects as […]

The post How Carnivorous Plants avoid eating their pollinating insect friends appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

More targeted aircraft testing and simulation should be conducted to uncover design characteristics in new flight control systems that -- in rare circumstances -- may mislead pilots and result in unstable or dangerous flight conditions, says a new report by a National Research Council committee.

Most Americans and Canadians up to age 70 need no more than 600 international units (IUs) of vitamin D per day to maintain health, and those 71 and older may need as much as 800 IUs, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

Despite the importance of eyesight, millions of people grapple with undiagnosed or untreated vision impairments — ranging from mild conditions to total blindness — and eye and vision health remain relatively absent from national health priority lists, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

In L.A., community leaders are working to prevent an undercount of Asian Angelenos. ; Credit: via NPR

The 2020 Census kicks off in a matter of weeks. Census officials say Asian immigrants are “hard-to-count” because many have limited English and distrust government. 

Leo Moon is learning about the census with friends at a city-led workshop in Koreatown. He didn’t fill out the form in 2010, mostly because he didn’t want the government knowing he’s undocumented. But Moon says he’ll take part next year because the census determines how much funding and representation people get.  

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The organized freelancer will make sure the amount here is right.; Credit: Photo by Great Beyond via Flickr Creative Commons

For freelancers, consultants, actors and other self employed people, life gets complicated this time of year. Digging around for the paperwork to fill out tax forms practically qualifies as exercise.

"They have a nightmare trying to find receipts," said accountant Tristan Zier.

Zier founded Zen99 to help freelancers manage their finances, including filing their taxes.  His most important advice to freelancers: keep track expenses and receipts year round rather than pursuing a paper chase as April 15 nears.  

"When they can’t find receipts, they can’t write off their expenses," he said. "And they’re paying more money to the government instead of keeping it for themselves."

Zier and others have come up with a lists of common mistakes freelancers make at tax time. 

Here are seven don't - or, deadly sins, for freelances at tax time:

1. Not knowing what they owe.  Zier says there are 20 different 1099 forms that get sent out to workers to track freelance gigs.  One of them is the 1099-K, which only has to be sent to you by a company in paper form if you make over $20,000. "People think, 'Great, no paper form, no taxes on that," says Zier. "Big mistake there.  You still have to self-report the income."   
2. Not knowing WHEN they owe.  For freelancers who owe more than $1,000 in taxes for a year, tax time comes more often than just April 15.  They have to pay taxes quarterly. But then it's not coming out of paychecks like it does for permanent employees. 

3.  Not tracking and writing off the right types of business expenses. Zier says many freelancers fail to realize they can write off part of their cell phone bill as a business expense.  Expenses vary by the type of work.  "A rideshare driver's biggest expense will be related to their car, while a web developer's biggest expense might be their home office," Zier says. "Figuring out what expenses are important to your type of work is important is maximizing your tax savings."

4. Writing off personal expenses.  This goes back to that cell phone.  If you use the same phone for personal and business purposes, don't be tempted to write the whole bill off. Estimate the amount you use it for your work. The same goes for your vehicle. Don't go trying to write off miles driven to the beach. 

5. The Double No-No: counting expenses twice.  Speaking of vehicles, Zier says most people use the Standard Mileage Rate ($0.56/mile for 2014), which factors in gas, repairs and maintenance and other costs like insurance and depreciation. But if you use this rate, you can't also expense your gas receipts and repair bills.  

6. Employee AND employer.  At lifeofthefreelancer.com, financial consultant Brendon Reimer reminds freelancers they play both roles. For regular employees, Federal, State, and payroll taxes are withheld from a paycheck, and distributed on the employee’s behalf. It's how Social Security and Medicare are funded. The IRS mandates that the employer must pay half of every employee’s payroll tax, and the employee is responsible for the other half.  Independent contractors have to handle both halves.  "The IRS does give you a small benefit by letting you deduct the half that you pay yourself as a business expense," Reimer writes. Zier said the freelancer's sin here is believing he or she pays more taxes than the regular working stiff.  

7. Not keeping adequate records. The IRS requires you to keep proof of all business receipts, mileage, etc.  If you can't show these, the IRS  could refute the expense and force you to pay back taxes. Zier says the good news is there are other ways to prove expenses if you've lost the receipt. A bank or credit card statement with the date and location might do the trick. "The IRS is surprisingly accommodating if you are doing your best," Zier says. "If you're being a headache, they're going to be a headache as well." 

In separate reports, Zen99 and the consumer finance web site nerdwallet ranked Los Angeles the best city for freelancers.

Each considered housing and health care costs, the percentage of freelancers in an area as factors. Zier said even before the sharing economy began to take off, the entertainment industry and growing tech scene were already strong sources of freelance gigs in L.A.

"Even back in 2012, L.A. had twelve percent of people report themselves as self-employed on the Census," Ziers said.   "You know your Ubers and companies like that  are really bringing a lot of attention to the contractor market, but it was a very robust community before."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Password recycling or using easy-to-guess passwords are just two common mistakes you may be making when protecting your digital accounts

The post 5 common password mistakes you should avoid appeared first on WeLiveSecurity

The widespread use of higher-yielding improved varieties of crops as part of the ‘Green Revolution’ has averted the conversion of between 18 to 27 million hectares of forests, woodlands and pastures in the period 1965 to 2004, according to a recent study. However, its authors caution that the relationship between these crops and land use change is complex, and good governance is needed to protect biodiversity from future expansion of agricultural land.

Analysis of the operation of a novel, micro-scale anaerobic digester has shown that this technology could provide a useful means of processing food waste in urban areas. The study found that the digester, located in London and fed mainly with local food waste, avoided 3.9 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, while providing biogas for cooking, heat and power. Anaerobic digestion on this scale could play a part in reducing the amount of food waste that goes to landfill1 and contribute to the circular economy.

Wind farms are an important component of Europe’s shift towards a greener energy supply, but they could potentially have an impact on marine ecosystems. This study provides the first measurements of the distribution of harbour seals in relation to the construction and operation of wind farms, and makes recommendations to minimise any potential harm, including breaks in the pile-driving phase of construction.

A new solar-powered desalination technology could help solve water shortage problems without any damage to the environment, according to researchers. They evaluated a prototype model and demonstrated that it could produce up to 12 litres of freshwater a day per m2 of equipment.

The new features will allow admins to disable the use of a Personal Meeting ID (PMI) for scheduling or starting an instant meeting. As per the company, disabling the use of PMIs reduces that risk altogether and doesn’t leave PMI security up to individual users.

Biodiversity offset policies may inadvertently incentivise behaviours which actually accelerate biodiversity loss, new research has found. The study’s authors identify four ways this can occur and make recommendations for prevention.

Re-routing flights to avoid the Arctic Circle may help reduce global temperatures and increase sea ice, a recent study concludes. The accompanying reduction in damages from global warming could outweigh the costs of increased fuel usage and operational changes for airlines by 47-55 times.

Under the United Nations Minamata Convention on mercury, China and India could avoid a combined 242 tonnes of mercury emissions in 2050 from coal-fired power plants, a new study predicts. This amount is equal to approximately 12% of total emissions in 2010. While the benefits will be mostly regional, lower mercury deposition in surrounding oceans is good news for Europeans who eat fish sourced from those waters.

PEOPLE in Wales are being asked to act responsibly and to avoid unnecessary travel until coronavirus restrictions have been lifted by the Welsh Government.