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Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Climate ruling victory for the planet, wake-up call for us
The International Court of Justice's landmark advisory opinion on states' climate obligations is a success for the environment and for communities worldwide, including here in Aotearoa New Zealand. The ICJ's opinion is clear. It confirms that states have a legal duty to prevent significant harm to the environment from activities under their jurisdiction. They are obligated to protect and preserve the marine environment from adverse climate change effects. They are obliged to respect and ensure the effective enjoyment of human rights by taking measures to protect the climate system and other parts of the environment for the sake of communities. It is such an important win for people and the planet. Predictably, the government's response will consist mostly of howls of outrage. Look at its recent dismissive response to the United Nations asking questions about the Regulatory Standards Bill. No-one is expecting a mature response from it. But in the face of escalating climate disasters, from vanishing coastlines to wild storms, such complaints from ministers will find little sympathy in New Zealand communities. Too many families are already suffering the consequences of a warming planet. For the government to deny its duty to act is not just irresponsible. It is immoral. There has been too much harm, too much damage and too little responsibility. What is most striking is who drove this legal battle — not the wealthy or powerful, but the young and the vulnerable. The push for an ICJ opinion was led by Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, alongside youth climate justice groups across the globe. Of course it was. Who has more to lose from rising seas, extreme weather and the spiralling costs of inaction? It was Vanuatu, a nation with a GDP of just $1 billion that championed this cause for island states, not New Zealand, which shares the same existential threats but has far greater resources to advocate for solutions to them. This pattern of those with the least taking the boldest action is echoed at home. Here, students and Māori are leading the legal fight for climate accountability. Students for Climate Solutions awaits a Supreme Court ruling on whether the government must consider climate impacts when approving fossil fuel exploration. Meanwhile, Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) has taken New Zealand's biggest polluters to court, arguing that climate change breaches his whānau's obligations as kaitiaki of their whenua, wai and moana. The ICJ opinion bolsters these arguments, affirming that environmental protection is a legal and moral imperative, even as the government digs in its heels. In a shockingly, but not unsurprising, dismissive three-page submission to the ICJ, the New Zealand government outright rejected the idea of a universal "right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment". This from a government whose entire economy, from agriculture, to fishing, to tourism, depends on that very right. We all rely on the protection of the environment because we all rely on the environment for health and food. It is pretty clear so far that we cannot rely on the government to keep New Zealanders' interests in a protected climate and environment to the front of their consideration. The recent report by the government's independent reference group set up by the Ministry for the Environment shows where the government is heading. While the report recognises the need for climate adaptation, its recommendation to withdraw government support for financial assistance and property buy-outs is a moral wrong. On the one hand the government refuses to accept we have a right to a clean environment and is actively supporting greenhouse gas-emitting industries, and at the same time considering withdrawing any future financial support to the families directly suffering the impacts from those emissions. Climate change is not an issue for one or other party any more. It is not a matter of political sides. It is a global catastrophe and a local tragedy driven, in my view, by greed. We know how important climate change effects are in our city; we have felt those impacts. In the next 18 months we have two crucial opportunities to make our right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment the most pressing priority locally, regionally and nationally. And therefore internationally. It is how we can play our part. If the most vulnerable can fight for their future, so can we. ■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lamb Weston sets out savings quest
Lamb Weston Holdings has outlined fresh plans for cost savings, moves that will affect jobs at the potato-products group. The US-listed business, which has faced investor pressure in recent months, is looking to make "at least" $250m in savings. President and CEO Mike Smith said the company was targeting '$200m in annualised run-rate savings and $120m of favourable working capital improvements' by the end of its 2027 fiscal year. 'We expect that these cost savings and working capital improvements together with lower levels of capital expenditures will help drive improved profitability and cash flow,' he said. Last month, Lamb Weston bowed to pressure from shareholders Jana Partners and Continental Grain Co. to revamp its board of directors. Jana Partners had been calling for changes to Lamb Weston's board since it took a minority stake in the company last October and had criticised the business for what it called 'self-inflicted mis-steps' in terms of its performance. Earlier in October last year, Lamb Weston had slashed its profit targets in light of a restructuring plan that includes the permanent closure of a US factory and job cuts. The fresh savings plan includes 'headcount reductions' that amount to around 4% of Lamb Weston's global workforce, the company said yesterday (23 July). The company did not disclose specific numbers but said the cuts 'also reflect the elimination of certain unfilled positions'. Smith added: 'We enter fiscal 2026 with increased discipline around our customer relationships and our cost structure, along with a clear and executable plan of how to win with customers and succeed in a dynamic marketplace. Our Focus to Win plan prioritises markets and channels where we are well positioned to win for the long-term and doing what our team does better than anyone else.' The plan was announced alongside Lamb Weston's annual financial results. Net income fell 51% to $357.2m in the year to 25 May. On an adjusted basis, net income dropped 35% to $478.6m. Net sales were flat at $6.45bn after a 4% rise in the final quarter of the year. Fourth-quarter net income fell 7% but increased 8% on an adjusted basis. Smith added: 'Lamb Weston returned to growth in the second half of the year with momentum in customer wins and retention, delivering financial results above our updated expectations.' Bernstein analyst Alexia Howard described the company's fourth-quarter results as 'very solid' pointing to 'strong volumes and cost containment'. "Lamb Weston sets out savings quest" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Erreur lors de la récupération des données Connectez-vous pour accéder à votre portefeuille Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données Erreur lors de la récupération des données
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Lamb Weston Stock Soars Wednesday
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) shares are trading higher on Wednesday. The company reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of 87 cents, beating the analyst consensus estimate of 64 cents. Quarterly sales of $1.675 billion (+4% year over year) outpaced the Street view of $1.590 billion. Also Read: 'Lamb Weston returned to growth in the second half of the year with momentum in customer wins and retention, delivering financial results above our updated expectations,' said Mike Smith, Lamb Weston president and CEO. Volume increased 8% compared to the prior year quarter due to contract wins across each of the company's channels and geographic regions. Net sales for the North America segment, which includes all sales to customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, totaled $1.103 billion, down 1% versus the prior-year quarter. Net sales for the International segment were $572.7 million, up 15%. View more earnings on LW Adjusted gross profit declined $19.5 million versus the prior year quarter to $343.5 million, due to unfavorable price/mix. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter under review increased to $284.9 million from $283.4 million a year ago. As of May 25, the company had $70.7 million of cash and equivalents, with $1.166 billion of available liquidity under its revolving credit facility. The company said that under its Focus to Win strategic plan it will implement further measures to secure at least $250 million in savings — including $200 million in annualized run‑rate efficiencies and $120 million in working‑capital improvements by the end of fiscal 2027 — and that these actions, combined with lower capital expenditures, should enhance profitability and cash flow as it enters fiscal 2026 with tighter cost discipline and a clear customer‑win strategy. The company's current portion of long-term debt and financing obligations expanded to $77.8 billion as of May 25, 2025, compared with $56.4 billion in the year-ago period. Outlook: Lamb Weston forecasts FY2026 sales of $6.35 billion to $6.55 billion, compared with the $6.428 billion consensus estimate. LW Price Action: Lamb Weston shares are trading higher by 17.25% to $57.65 at publication on Wednesday. Read Next:Photo: Courtesy Lamb Weston UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Why Lamb Weston Stock Soars Wednesday originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CTV News
14-07-2025
- CTV News
‘Back to work': London bar manager ‘recovering' one week after being stabbed
A manager at Joe Kool's in London, Ont. is back to work one week after being stabbed outside the establishment. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) A downtown London bar manager is back to work and recovering one week after being stabbed in the parking lot behind the restaurant on Richmond Street. 'Cris is doing fine, thank goodness, we're really happy about that,' said Mike Smith, owner of Joe Kool's. 'That's the number one issue. It just happened last Monday, and he was out (of hospital) on Tuesday morning. As a matter of fact, he's back to work today.' Joe Kool's stabbing London The parking lot behind Joe Kool's on Richmond Street seen in London, Ont. on July 14, 2025. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) CTV London spoke with Cris who said he appreciates the hundreds of messages of support he's received, and he's expected to 'only miss a couple of weeks of hockey.' He said on July 7, he went out back to ask a man loitering by the back door to leave. That's when the man allegedly pulled a knife and slashed him just under his armpit. The man then took off on a scooter. As a result of the investigation, Leslie Jacob James Dentelbeck, 33, of London, was located, arrested, and charged with aggravated assault and breach of probation. According to court documents, Dentelbeck would 'maim, disfigure, or endanger the life' of the victim. Joe Kool's stabbing London A police officer walks in downtown London, Ont. on Monday, July 14, 2025 (Brent Lale/CTV News London) His breach of probation was for failing to comply by carrying a weapon 'designed to be used or intended for use causing death or injury or to threaten or intimidate any person.' London Police Chief Thai Truong took to social media Sunday to express his frustration with the incident. 'The accused is a prolific offender with dozens of prior convictions,' Truong wrote on X. 'He was out on bail at the time of the attack. Thanks to the swift response of our officers, he was quickly identified and taken into custody. He remains there, and we will do everything in our power to contest his release.' We recognize the growing concerns about safety downtown, especially following the recent stabbing on Richmond Row. The accused is a prolific offender with dozens of prior convictions. He was out on bail at the time of the attack. Thanks to the swift response of our officers, he… — LPS Chief Thai Truong (@LPSChiefTruong) July 13, 2025 Ward 13 Councillor David Ferreira agreed with Chief Truong on the topic of bail reform. He would like to see upper levels of government change policies to prevent incidents like this from happening by repeat offenders. 'This was a guy who happened to be in the downtown, but this is a London safety issue,' said Ferreira. 'This happens downtown, just like this happens out on the outskirts of the city or anywhere throughout the city. This is not a case where only issues are happening downtown. Trying to pigeonhole downtown with certain issues and saying that's a downtown issue is not correct.' Joe Kool's stabbing London Councillor David Ferreira is calling for better bail reform, and said repeat offenders are a 'London Safety Issue'. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Smith is frustrated by negative press around this incident, saying this could have happened anywhere in the city. 'This guy has a record like, a mile long, and he's committed acts elsewhere. He just happened to be down in our area,' said Smith, who commended the increased response by police recently. 'Their presence is so much more than a year ago and two years ago. There's an issue with criminals that are released by the court system. That's the problem. But the police are doing a job, and I think that's this incident accepted, people feel a lot safer than they did a year ago or two years ago. More has to be done, but the police are doing a really good job.'Dentelbeck remains in custody with his next court date scheduled for July 18.
The Herald Scotland
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
A fifth of music on streaming site is AI generated
Enter The Velvet Sundown, a mysterious, new, all-male four-piece peddling blameless acoustic balladry and racking up large numbers of plays. Dust In The Wind, a track from debut album Floating On Echoes, released last month, has over a million on Spotify and at the time of writing the group enjoyed 1.1 million monthly listeners. But are they real? Many think not. The band members are named but there are no associated social media accounts. They've never given an interview. They've never played live. As far as anyone can tell. Read More: Someone did pop up claiming the project was an 'art hoax' but was then revealed in turn to be a hoaxer. Rolling Stone investigated but only muddied the waters, though Yahoo Entertainment did receive a communication from someone claiming to be a true representative of the band. 'The Velvet Sundown is a multidisciplinary artistic project blending music, analog aesthetics, and speculative storytelling,' it read. Whatever that means. Website Tech Radar was a little more forthright in its judgement. 'Apple and Spotify are sleepwalking into an AI music crisis,' it wrote last week. 'The Velvet Sundown mess shows they need to act fast.' Does it matter? It does. As with all things AI-related, generated music is a potentially grey legal area given ongoing wrangles over potential copyright infringements. Trouble is it's also a way to make money by throwing into the digital ether huge amounts of music of dubious quality and – if something takes off – sitting back and watching the royalties roll in. Or simply using bots to generate millions of plays, which has the same effect. In September 2024, in the first case of its kind, the FBI arrested one Mike Smith and charged him in an AI streaming fraud case involving just that practice. The United States Attorney's Office has charged Mr Smith with 'a scheme to create hundreds of thousands of songs with artificial intelligence and use automated programs called 'bots' to stream the AI-generated songs billions of times.' The contention is that he 'fraudulently obtained more than $10 million in royalty payments through his scheme.' Mr Smith denies the charges and is currently on bail, but faces a significant prison spell if found guilty. Unhelpfully, Spotify doesn't flag AI-generated content, one of the prompts for that Tech Radar headline. But last month music streamer Deezer did launch an AI tagging system which will show which albums on the site are entirely AI generated. This follows data released by the Paris-based company revealing how much of all music uploaded to its platform daily is AI-generated: 18%. That's more than 20,000 individual tracks. To fall back on the lyrics of two men who were real – the great Motown songwriting duo of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong – the world today is a ball of confusion. And let's throw in some Jim Royle too: The Velvet Sundown, my arse. Boxing clever The Edinburgh TV Festival has announced the shortlist for its TV Awards, with the winner to be announced on August 21 as part of the annual industry meet. And there's a decent Scottish showing in the prestigious Best Drama category, with Baby Reindeer and Lockerbie: A Search for Truth both bagging nominations – though they'll have stiff competition from fellow nominees Slow Horses, Rivals, the excellent Northern Ireland-set cop show Blue Lights and (surely the winner) Netflix smash Adolescence. Richard Gadd (Best TV Actor) and Ashley Storrie (Best Breakthrough Performance) are also nominated. Richard Gadd, of Baby Reindeer (Image: PA) In the Best International Drama category, meanwhile, you'll find After the Party, Dope Thief, Mussolini: Son Of The Century, Severance, The Studio and the Marmite-y Ripley (well, I liked it). For the record, the BBC leads the shortlist with 25 nominations across the broadcaster and individual talent categories with ITV in second place with 15 nominations. Channel 4 has 14 while streamers Netflix, Apple TV and Disney+ have 12, five and four respectively. Not that anyone's counting. Yeah, right. The festival, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, runs from August 19 to 22 and will also see Sir Lenny Henry given the Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his own half century. And finally The Herald's theatre critic Neil Cooper is continuing to take the temperature of the well-liked Bard In The Botanics programme at Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Appropriately enough for the time of year he watched a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, here given an equally timely free festival makeover albeit with a 1970s twist, and then sampled far darker fare with Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus in Jennifer Dick's three-actor version. Then it was off to Pitlochry Festival Theatre for another tale that does not end well – a new adaptation by Elizabeth Newman of F Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age classic The Great Gatsby. Elsewhere dance critic Mary Brennan enjoyed Ballet Nights, a curated evening of dance which saw some Scottish Ballet luminaries return to Glasgow's Theatre Royal, among them Sophie Martin, Constance Devernay-Laurence and Eve Mutso. Five stars for this bold new initiative. 'Here's hoping Ballet Nights adds Glasgow to its touring schedules,' is how Mary signs off. Fingers crossed. Barry Didcock is an Edinburgh-based Herald writer and freelance journalist specialising in arts, culture and media. He can be found on X at @BarryDidcock
