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Can homebuilding save the US economy?

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

By Augusta Saraiva | BloombergAfter eight straight quarters of contraction, it looks like the slide in US residential investment may be finished. The nascent rebound now underway is set to remove a major obstacle to ongoing economic expansion.With new construction activity at the highest level in more than a year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow tracker is projecting residential investment added 0.1% to growth in gross domestic product in the second quarter. Though it may not sound like much, that would mark the first positive contribution since early 2021.The new-home market has been slowly coming out of the woods as falling materials costs and vanishing logistics constraints have allowed builders to work their way through pandemic-era backlogs. Limited availability in the resale market is also pushing many prospective buyers toward new construction, helping support demand even as mortgage rates remain elevated.“Construction was at the center of the storm for the surge...

California tourist’s video of man defacing the Colosseum in Rome makes international news

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

Ryan Lutz was so appalled at the sight he stumbled upon while strolling around the famed Colosseum in Rome, the tourist from Orange started filming with his phone.The footage shows a person appearing to etch names into the nearly 2,000-year-old bricks of the ancient amphitheater, defacing one of the most famous landmarks in the world – one that draws millions of visitors each year.The video of the June 23 incident has made international news, drawing heavy criticism for the apparent act of vandalism. Italy’s culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, has called for the person to be “identified and sanctioned.”“I consider it very serious, unworthy and a sign of great incivility that a tourist defaces one of the most famous places in the world, a historical heritage (site) such as the Colosseum, to carve the name of his fiancée,” Sangiuliano tweeted on Monday, June 26. “I hope that whoever carried out this act will be identified and sanctioned according to our laws.”Lutz, reached by phone...

Opinion: Lincoln’s ‘house divided’ thoughts speak to current discord

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” So said Abraham Lincoln in his “House Divided” speech, given 165 years. Many describe contemporary America in the same terms. We’re a house divided against itself and in danger of collapse. We see dire prognostics about America’s future due to an array of differences — religious, racial and economic, to name a few. Assessing the accuracy of these dark prophesies requires understanding Lincoln’s words and the state of America’s division today.When Lincoln used the phrase “a house divided,” he did not intend to equate it with all distinction and disagreement. Our political principles and structures presuppose that we won’t all hold the exact same principles or draw the exact same conclusions. While defending the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, in Federalist No. 10 argue that people’s different circumstances, fallible reason and selfish passions always birth disagreement. A polity could achieve full conformity...

California tax preparer gets 6 years for filing thousands of bogus tax deductions

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

A Riverside tax preparer was sentenced on Monday, June 26, to six years in federal prison after he was accused of filing thousands of tax returns with bogus deductions, such as for fake medical expenses and mortgages, authorities said.Andrew Zepeda Hansack, a 40-year-old Riverside resident, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of false tax returns, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Contra Costa DA: Fraud, conspiracy was rampant at construction company Crime and Public Safety | CEO of company that owns missing Titanic tour sub faces fraud lawsuit by Florida couple Crime and Public Safety | Suspect in East Bay romance scam acquired $800,000 through various cons, feds claim Crime and Public Safety | Boston adult posing as teen is found out after her ‘father’ came to school Crime and Public Safety | $3.3 million going to students scammed by Calif...

A player’s mistreatment exposes flawed sex eligibility rules used by FIFA at Women’s World Cup

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

Barbra Banda will be allowed to captain Zambia in its Women’s World Cup debut and continue a promising soccer career that was thrown in doubt when she was excluded from last year’s African championship in a sex eligibility case mishandled by authorities.While officials blamed each other, Banda was forced to sit out the tournament and endure unforgiving scrutiny about her gender for no apparent reason.FIFA says the 23-year-old Zambia forward, her team’s star player by a mile, is eligible to play at the World Cup. Soccer’s governing body has never questioned that she’s female.Yet while the African and Zambian soccer bodies botched Banda’s case, FIFA is largely to blame, say rights groups, charging its policy on a heated issue gave no proper guidance and left a young woman exposed to harm in a game overseen by one of sport’s richest organizations, which even has its own human rights department.Banda was “blindsided” by soccer authorities, said ...

With fresh or frozen berries, this crumble tastes summery all year

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

Fresh, in-season berries always make the best crumble, but we always keep a bag of fruit in the freezer to have the taste of summer any time of year.Both options will taste great with this recipe from our book “Cook What You Have,” which draws on pantry staples to assemble easy, weeknight meals. It calls for frozen berries tossed and topped with a spiced crumble with oats and almonds, but an equal quantity of fresh mixed berries will be just as tasty, if not more so.The mixture of oats, cardamom, ground coriander and brown sugar does double duty here. We add a small amount to the berries to sweeten and thicken the filling; into the remainder we add sliced almonds and softened butter to make a crumble topping that bakes up toasty and crisp, a delicious flavor and textural contrast to the soft, juicy berries.Quick-cooking oats are best here; old-fashioned oats remain too firm and chewy. Serve warm or at room temperature, ideally with vanilla ice cream. Mixed Berry Crumb...

Muere John Goodenough, el ganador del Premio Nobel cuyo desarrollo de baterías de iones de litio ayudó a crear “un mundo recargable”, a los 100 años

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

(CNN) — John B. Goodenough, el ingeniero ganador del Premio Nobel cuyas contribuciones al desarrollo de baterías de iones de litio revolucionaron la tecnología portátil, murió a los 100 años.El científico murió el 25 de junio, según un comunicado de la Universidad de Texas en Austin, donde Goodenough se desempeñó como miembro de la facultad durante 37 años. No se proporcionó su causa de muerte.“El legado de John como científico brillante es inconmensurable: sus descubrimientos mejoraron la vida de miles de millones de personas en todo el mundo”, dijo el presidente de UT Austin, Jay Hartzell, en un comunicado este lunes.A Goodenough se le atribuye el crucial descubrimiento y desarrollo en la década de 1980 de materiales que permitirían una batería recargable más estable y potente.El premio Nobel de Química 2019 es para el desarrollo de baterías de iones de litioSe convirtió en el ganador del Premio Nobel de mayor edad a los 97 años cuando recibió el premio de química de 2019 po...

Soccer club Stuttgart agrees on deal that’s potentially worth $110 million with Porsche Group

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Bundesliga club Stuttgart has mainly agreed on a sponsorship deal with local car manufacturer Porsche and consultancy firm MHP that it says could yield more than 100 million euros ($110 million).Mercedes-Benz will remain Stuttgart’s main sponsor, though it is giving up naming rights to the club stadium, Stuttgart said on Tuesday.MHP, a management and IT consultancy company belonging to the Porsche Group, will take over the stadium name for an initial 10-year period, the club said.“The planned cooperation with Porsche, MHP and Mercedes-Benz promises to strengthen the club and the company behind it in the long run,” Stuttgart president Claus Vogt said. “This is where the Champions League of investors are coming together under one roof.”Stuttgart narrowly avoided relegation last season, thanks only to a playoff win over second-division club Hamburger SV.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Sweden heads to Women’s World Cup looking to end run of near misses at big tournaments

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

Peter Gerhardsson took a moment, then laughed to himself as he pondered the question many in women’s soccer are asking.Just what will it take for Sweden to end its long wait for a major international trophy?“The next step,” the Sweden coach told The Associated Press, “is to score the penalty shot.”Such are the fine margins the Swedes have been treading at the big tournaments over the past decade or so.A penalty-shootout loss to Canada in the final of the Olympic tournament in 2021. An extra-time loss to the Netherlands in the 2019 World Cup semifinals. A loss to Germany in the 2016 Olympic final. Exits at the semifinals of the European Championships in 2013 and last year.It’s a tale of woe that would floor many people closely associated with the team.Not Gerhardsson.He simply puts it down to “one of those things” and prefers to take the positives. Essentially, if Sweden’s players keep putting themselves in these good positions, one day they will hit what he calls the “winning formul...

After near misses in finals, Alexandra Popp and Germany eye Women’s World Cup success

Published Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:47:00 GMT

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Alexandra Popp knows a lot about playing in the biggest games, and about tough losses.A year ago, Popp had to watch from the bench as Germany lost to England in the European Championship final after getting injured in the warm-up. Last month, she and eight of her teammates from that German squad played in Wolfsburg’s 3-2 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League final despite leading 2-0.At the World Cup, much could depend on the experience of Popp, who battled on after blows to the knee and the neck in the loss to Barcelona, a result she called “brutally bitter.” Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was watching from the stands.Germany was once the undisputed powerhouse of European women’s soccer — World Cup champion in 2003 and 2007 and still the only country other than the United States to be No. 1 in the FIFA rankings. As women’s soccer booms around the world, the competition is only getting fiercer for Germany.A group containing Morocco...