 Students protesting in Boston Students in Boston and Chicago staged protests against in-classroom learning, citing the rising number of COVID-19 cases of the Omicron variant. The protest in Chicago came two days after students returned to classes, while the Boston protest included 600 people from 11 schools. More: - Most of the students returned to classes or went home after taking part in the peaceful demonstrations.
- Students in Chicago had returned to class on Wednesday after a five-day strike by unionized teachers seeking greater COVID-19 safeguards.
- Protesting students said they were dissatisfied with the health protocols the teachers and Chicago Public Schools agreed to.
- In Boston, a "COVID-19 breeding ground" online petition supported by 8,000 students called for remote learning options.
- The protest was organized by the Boston Student Advisory Council, who have also demanded stringent testing for students and teachers and two weeks of online tutoring.
- Boston Public Schools have backed the students' beliefs and have taken heed of their concerns.
- Several New York City school students had protested earlier this week, prompting Mayor Eric Adams to consider temporary remote learning options.
- Over 5,000 schools across the country closed for at least a day this week because of Omicron concerns.
- The new infection rate hovered around 800,000 cases per day in the U.S.
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 Fire at Qualco Chlorine An 11-alarm fire erupted at Qualco's chlorine manufacturing plant in New Jersey. One firefighter sustained injuries due to debris and was transported to a nearby hospital. More: - Qualco manufactures chlorine used in swimming pools at the 100,000-square-foot facility in Passaic, about 12 miles from New York City.
- Multiple structures at the facility were on fire, which began just after 8:30 p.m.
- Over 200 firefighters responded to the fire.
- Mayor Hector C. Lora anticipates "fighting the fire for days."
- Lora claimed that the fire, the heat from the flames, or the water from the firemen's hoses had "impacted" around 100,000 pounds of chlorine in the plant.
- Firefighters contained the fire Saturday morning away from the bulk of the chlorine stored at the facility.
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted to urge residents to stay safe and keep windows closed.
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 A message from KINTONE When you’re working on a task, odds are you rarely stay in one program. You’re constantly jumping between emails, instant messages, spreadsheet files, and more. But all this jumping around has a price: you’re losing an average of 5+ hours each week searching for info instead of getting the job done. Gulp! Good news! There’s a way to get your work done with minimal platform switching. Download our free eBook The Workflow Trap and learn how to: - Map out the way you currently complete tasks
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The London Stock Exchange is exploring the option to let private companies trade shares on the exchange, in an idea tentatively titled "Multilateral Trading Facility-Lite." The special market would enable private companies to trade on the LSE publicly between one and five days in each trading window. The frequency of trading is still undecided, and officials are evaluating the range to be once a month, once a quarter, or every six months. More: - Listing of a private company could benefit startups, early-stage companies, and large companies alike as it would remove the regulatory oversight requirement that comes with a public listing.
- The company would be required to put out a statement disclosing material information before a public trading window in order to level the playing field.
- Companies would be able to raise cash by selling shares to retail and institutional investors.
- The company listings on LSE decreased from 2,365 in 2015 to 1,989 in 2020.
- In 2021, the listing rose to 2,017.
- The U.K. government has decided to pursue this opportunity as many fast-growing companies decided to list in the U.S. or Asia instead of the U.K., which further added to the challenge of financial instability in the post-Brexit period.
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 Top view of the dam Good news: The 120 members of the Norwegian fishing club Gudbrandsdal Sportsfiskeforening were successful in seeking government backing to demolish an unused dam blocking the Tromsa River in Norway. The seven-meter-high hydropower plant dam, built in 1916, hadn't been in use for over 50 years. More: - The team drilled five holes and packed 44 pounds (20kg) of dynamite in each hole to blow up the dam.
- An excavator has also been deployed to clear the debris.
- The fishing club members successfully convinced the government to bear the $396,695 (£290,000) cost of removing the dam.
- The dam's removal is expected to benefit trout feeding into downstream lakes.
Zoom out: - The Open Rivers Programme, launched in Oct. 2021, aims to free rivers in Europe by removing obsolete and unused dams.
- €42.5M have been allocated as grants to support the removal of dams.
- The European Commission encourages member states to remove barriers to help 25,000 km of rivers flow freely by 2030.
- A guide for identifying barriers was released and can be viewed here.
- Dams in Spain, France, and the U.K. are anticipated to be removed in 2022.
- Amber, a European research project, estimates that currently, 150,000 dams and weirs in Europe can be removed.
- Another study estimates that 1.2 million instream barriers in Europe are the underlying cause resulting in an estimated 90% drop, between 1970 and 2016, in the number of migratory freshwater fish across the continent.
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 A message from ADOBE COMMERCE Strong in digital commerce and a Leader in the Magic Quadrant. In the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Commerce, Adobe was named a Leader among 17 vendors. Gartner® evaluates digital commerce vendors on their “completeness of vision” and “ability to execute.” Find out why Adobe was named a Leader for Digital Commerce among 17 vendors in the Q3 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant report. Learn more about: - Global reach: Adobe has the most diverse geographic presence of all the vendors evaluated in this Magic Quadrant. It also has the largest number of service partners spread across all major markets, making it easier for organizations to find partners in their local markets.
- Out-of-the-box functionality: Adobe has comprehensive OOTB functionality that can fulfill requirements from basic to medium levels of complexity. It supports multiple user roles, multistores, catalog management, marketplace integration, promotions and discounts, language, and currencies, all with good granular control. It has a native CMS (Page Builder) and a Progressive Web Apps (PWA) studio with reference storefront.
- Admin UI: Adobe has a modern and intuitive UI that can be configured based on user role. It supports multiple import mechanisms for product data, and can integrate with multiple sources and analytics tools, making it easy for admins to focus on outcomes.
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China's 25-year cooperation agreement with Iran has entered the implementation stage. The nation opposed the unilateral sanctions levied on Iran by the U.S. and backed efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and other major nations. More: - The 25-year agreement was signed last March, as China included Iran within its Belt and Road initiative.
- Both countries will cooperate over energy, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, and cybersecurity initiatives.
- China, which also has U.S. sanctions imposed, has already been importing oil from Iran at discounted prices.
- The news comes on the heels of heated negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, as they both discuss the lifting of sanctions imposed on the latter, which presumably have damaged Iran's economy after the U.S. withdrew itself from the nuclear pact in 2018.
- Iran has amassed a stockpile of uranium with higher purity, which has taken it a step closer to building a nuclear weapon.
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 UK PM Boris Johnson The U.K. Prime Minister's office has apologized to the Queen for hosting two staff parties at the PM's official residence, No. 10 Downing Street, the night before Prince Philip's funeral and flouting all COVID-19 restrictions. The parties were organized when restrictions specifically banned indoor socializing. More: - Although PM Boris Johnson was not present at either of the parties, he faces questions over the alleged rule-breaking as even the Queen followed all protocols and ensured social distancing measures were taken at her husband's funeral.
- The flouting of all restrictions has led to a backlash from opposition parties as well as his own party – Conservatives.
- Five Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) have publicly declared their lack of confidence in the PM and written about it to the chairman of the 1922 Committee, which organizes leadership contests.
- To trigger a vote, 54 MPs would need to declare their lack of support toward PM Johnson.
- Johnson is also under pressure to resign, called by the Labour, Liberal Democrat, and SNP parties, for attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden during the lockdown on May 20, 2020.
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An underwater volcano erupted near Tonga on Saturday, sending a tsunami wave into the country and prompting tsunami warnings as far away as the west coast of North America. "Loud thunder sounds" from the eruption could be heard in Fiji, more than 500 miles away. More: - The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located under the Pacific Ocean just 40 miles north of the capital city of Nuku'alofa, sent gas, smoke, and ash 12 miles into the sky.
- The extent of the damage or casualties in Tonga is unclear as the eruption has caused power, phone, and internet blackouts in much of the country.
- Volcano experts in the area expect several centimeters of ash to cover Tonga.
- A video that did make it to social media showed water rushing through a church and several homes.
- Another video showed minor flooding in Santa Cruz, California, Saturday morning.
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- The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania blocked the third-party inspection of Dominion Voting Systems supplied voting machines. Dominion and Democratic state officials are pushing for the audit to be carried out by accredited inspectors only.
- Apple will allow non-Apple payment options to users on dating apps in the Netherlands, in line with the court's direction to either comply by Jan. 15 or face penalties.
- A federal judge ordered Martin Shkreli to pay $64.6M in fines after being convicted of securities fraud in 2017.
- Unilever has offered $68B (£50B) for the takeover of the GSK Consumer Healthcare joint venture jointly owned by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.
- AT&T and Dish Network, which bid $9.1B and $7.3B respectively, have won the 5G spectrum auction of the 3.45GHz band.
- Cambodia will divert all internet traffic through its National Internet Gateway starting Feb. 16. The gateway provides the regulatory body unrestricted access and internet disconnection rights.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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