My precise view

https://ift.tt/3h3YXxR (PHUKET, Thailand) — Somsak Betlao covered the outboard motor on his traditional wooden longtail boat with a tarp, wrapping up another day on Phuket’s Patong beach where not a single tourist needed his services shuttling them to nearby islands. Since Thailand’s pandemic restrictions on travel were imposed in early 2020, tourism has fallen off a cliff, and nowhere has it been felt more than the resort island off the country’s southern coast, where nearly 95% of the economy is related to the industry. So, despite spiking coronavirus numbers elsewhere in the country, the government is forging ahead with a program known as the “Phuket sandbox” to reopen the island to fully vaccinated visitors. It hopes it will revive tourism — a sector that accounted for 20% of the country’s economy before the pandemic. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Instead of the hotel quarantines required elsewhere in Thailand, tourists on Phuket will be able to roam the entire isla

https://ift.tt/3y6DcmI Those who’ve spent June frolicking in the sunshine—with good reason—may not realize what a peculiar month it has been for TV. There were plenty of great returning shows: Betty , Lupin , Dave , Flack , David Makes Man . Canceled by Netflix just when it was starting to get good, cult cartoon Tuca & Bertie found a new perch at Adult Swim. The series finale of Pose was gorgeous and painful. But few of the highly anticipated debuts lived up to expectations. A-list Stephen King adaptation Lisey’s Story droned on for eight episodes without saying much. Sitcom satire and Annie Murphy vehicle Kevin Can F**K Himself lacked bite. Netflix’s would-be summer scorcher Sex/Life wasn’t hot so much as unintentionally hilarious. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Thankfully, now that the TV universe is so vast, it’s always possible to find something new to enjoy if you’re willing to dig a bit. This month’s highlights include a modern Masterpiece , an offbeat Briti

4-year-old saves family's house from burning down after spotting burning appliance You’re never too young to be a hero. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3xkEYAs

How to keep pets safe in a dangerous heat wave As the current summer heat wave continues to hit the Pacific Northwest, pet welfare advocates are warning families of the danger high temperatures can have on animals. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3y8V4gS

https://ift.tt/3A7pVvU Mention Engine No. 1’s victory over Exxon Mobil Corp. last month to the socially conscious investing crowd and they’ll rattle off a wish list of targets that have so-far resisted calls to reform their social practices. The possibilities include Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc. and private prisons, to name a few. The question, though, is whether the tactics Engine No. 1 used to gain three seats on the oil giant’s board are a viable method for other small activist investors to replicate against companies where they’d like faster change. Most activist investors say: not exactly. But, inspired by Engine No 1., they are getting more aggressive. Some say they’ll use the threat of targeting the board to get companies to engage in their proposals. Eli Kasargod-Staub, co-founder of Majority Action, a non-profit that pushes for corporate accountability, plans to ramp up “just vote no” campaigns against undesirable directors. Others are suggesting speci

https://ift.tt/3Ac0aKV The U.S. and Taiwan agreed to hold regular talks on issues ranging from technology supply chains to meat imports following their first Trade and Investment Framework Agreement meeting in five years. The two sides will establish working groups to discuss topics including labor rights and intellectual property, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement following Wednesday’s meeting in Taipei. Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator John Deng said the meeting was an important step toward eventually signing a full trade deal with the U.S., though that will take time. “A deal cannot happen in just a single meeting,” he said at a briefing. “There will be a lot of conversations going forward.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] A bilateral trade deal would be a coup for President Tsai Ing-wen. While much of Taiwan’s exports to the U.S. are already tariff-free, an agreement with Washington might provide political cover for similar deals with nat

https://ift.tt/2UK7nBE Facebook won a major victory this week when a judge dismissed two lawsuits that argued the social media giant was a monopoly. But critics of Big Tech hope the rulings will be just the leverage they need to update antitrust laws that still have legal grounding in the effort to break up Standard Oil more than a century ago. Monday’s ruling means that Facebook , for now at least, is safe from being forced to spin out its WhatsApp and Instagram subsidiaries into separate businesses. Facebook’s stock market valuation surged to more than $1 trillion for the first time ever as investors reacted to the news—a rise of nearly 5%. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But Facebook is not out of the woods yet. The court noted in its ruling that competition watchdog the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could refile an amended complaint with more evidence within 30 days. And in Washington, bigger threats are brewing. What did the ruling say? The decision, by the Fe

Meet the mother-daughter duo competing in Nathan's Fourth of July hot dog eating contest New Jersey-based René Rovtar, 62, and her daughter, Kristina Rovtar Dunne, 33, will be competing in the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest when it returns on July 4th. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3h3xtIy

https://ift.tt/3howgdO LGBTQ civil rights group The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced on Wednesday that it has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging Florida’s “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law on June 1 banning transgender women and girls from taking part in women’s sports. HRC argues that the law violates both the Constitution and existing federal anti-discrimination law. HRC also announced plans to file similar challenges to anti-trans laws in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee in the near future, marking the first time it has taken legal action in those states. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “We have seen an unprecedented attack on transgender young people, which requires an unprecedented response,” HRC’s President Alphonso David tells TIME of the group’s decision to bring litigation. “We’re [all] entitled to equal protection under the law. And what this law does is discriminate against transgender girls. It trea

https://ift.tt/3610wpM To any reasonable person, the failure of a long-foretold event to materialize should erode the belief that it will happen. A perfect example is the long-foretold and never arriving “storm” of mass arrests promised by the mysterious “military intelligence” team at the heart of the QAnon conspiracy . How could anyone think something promised for years, and put off countless times, is actually going to happen this time ? Belief doesn’t need to be reasonable—particularly when it revolves around the punishment of the people you’ve been told are responsible for all of the world’s ills. And this stubborn lack of logic isn’t limited to people who think the deep state is trafficking children or that Joe Biden is actually a fake president. We all have an innate need to believe in good things that are extremely unlikely to take place. It’s the essence of hope. And a life without hope is . . . hopeless. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Even when Q believers are

https://ift.tt/3jpSpLp SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un berated top officials for failures in coronavirus prevention that caused a “great crisis,” using strong language that raised the specter of a mass outbreak in a country that would be scarcely able to handle it. The state media report Wednesday did not specify what “crucial” lapse had prompted Kim to call the Politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, but experts said the North could be wrestling with a significant setback in its pandemic fight. So far, North Korea has claimed to have had no coronavirus infections, despite testing thousands of people and sharing a porous border with China. Experts widely doubt the claim and are concerned about any potential outbreak, given the country’s poor health infrastructure. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] At the Politburo meeting, Kim criticized the senior officials for supposed incompetence, irresponsibility and passiveness in planning and executing a

https://ift.tt/3ycQZbv KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S.’s top general in Afghanistan on Tuesday gave a sobering assessment of the country’s deteriorating security situation as America winds down its so-called “forever war.” Gen. Austin S. Miller said the rapid loss of districts around the country to the Taliban — several with significant strategic value — is worrisome. He also cautioned that the militias deployed to help the beleaguered national security forces could lead the country into civil war. “A civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized if this continues on the trajectory it’s on right now, that should be of concern to the world,” he said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Miller also told a small group of reporters in the Afghan capital that for now he has the weapons and the capability to aid Afghanistan’s National Defense and Security Forces. “What I don’t want to do is speculate what that (support) looks like in the future,” he said. In meetings at the

https://ift.tt/2UgzckI SPOKANE, Wash. — The unprecedented Northwest U.S. heat wave that slammed Seattle and Portland, Oregon, moved inland Tuesday — prompting a electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand. Officials said a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to the intense heat that began late last week. The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celcius) was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike. The National Weather Service said the mercury reached 109 F (42.2 C) in Spokane— the highest temperature ever recorded there. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] About 9,300 Avista Utilities customers in Spokane lost power on Monday and the company said more planned blackouts began on Tuesday afternoon in the city of about 220,000 people. “We try to limit outages to one hour per

https://ift.tt/3y4r7yo As many as 50 National Guard members are heading to the U.S.-Mexico border to help law enforcement deal with the ongoing migrant crisis. But the cost of the deployment isn’t being paid by local, state or federal government. Instead, a deep-pocketed Republican donor who made billions from auctioning off wrecked cars is footing the bill. The peculiar arrangement was revealed Tuesday when South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem formally announced that she was sending National Guard troops from her state down to the southern border in Texas. A news release stated the deployment, which is expected to last for between 30 and 60 days, “will be paid for by a private donation.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The National Guard is usually called upon by state governors when there is a massive hurricane, earthquake or other natural disaster. On rare occasions, Guard members are sent across state lines to help a neighbor. The costs incurred are typically paid by sta