Latest news with #Montel
Associated Press
03-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Fiberon Partners With ‘Military Makeover' to Honor Air Force Veteran With Donated Deck
MAUMEE, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 3, 2025-- Fiberon Decking recently joined forces with the television program 'Military Makeover with Montel®' to build a deluxe deck for a military veteran. The company donated the materials for a 200-square-foot composite deck, creating an outdoor oasis for 20-year Air Force veteran Matt Kosto. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Fiberon Decking recently joined forces with the television program 'Military Makeover with Montel®' to build a deluxe deck for a military veteran. The company donated the materials for a 200-square-foot composite deck, creating an outdoor oasis for 20-year Air Force veteran Matt Kosto. 'Matt served multiple deployments with the military, and we wanted to show our appreciation for his service and honor those who make the sacrifice to serve their country,' said Kate Haws, director, brand communications. 'Matt loves spending time outdoors with his family, so giving him a revamped, low-maintenance space to do that is our small way of giving back.' The new deck features Fiberon's Good Life composite decking, perfect for creating a casual outdoor living space with an authentic wood look. Built in the color Bungalow from the Good Life Escapes collection, the deck resembles exotic hardwood in a deep, rich brown. Crucial for Kosto's Arizona-based home, the Good Life collection is Class B fire-rated, meaning it is designed to slow the spread of flames, provides an added layer of protection to the property and offers greater peace of mind. Good Life is made with 94% recycled material, combining recycled wood with the long-lasting resilience of recycled plastic. Its durable composite core resists splintering, rotting, cracking, insects and decay, and a three-sided cap layer helps resist staining and fading. The decking is backed by a 30-year performance, stain and fade warranty. As part of the project, Fiberon also provided its CountrySide railing in brown to enclose the deck. CountrySide railing strikes an ideal balance between beauty and strength, featuring an understated satin finish and clever sub-rail reinforcement. Round, matte black aluminum balusters finish the look with a unique contrast. Led by talk show legend, military advocate and veteran Montel Williams, 'Military Makeover with Montel®' enlists conscientious designers, contractors, landscapers and other home improvement professionals to transform the homes and lives of military families across the country. The episode featuring Fiberon's deck for Kosto will air Friday, June 6 on Lifetime TV and American Forces Network. To learn more about Fiberon's full portfolio of decking solutions, visit About Fiberon Fiberon is a leading U.S. manufacturer of wood-alternative decking, railing and cladding distributed worldwide. Fiberon products are available in a wide range of styles and price points, all designed to respect nature while outperforming it. Fiberon is part of Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. (NYSE: FBIN). Learn more at About Fortune Brands Innovations Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. (NYSE: FBIN), headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., is a brand, innovation and channel leader focused on exciting, supercharged categories in the home products, security and commercial building markets. The Company's growing portfolio of brands includes Moen, House of Rohl, Aqualisa, Emtek, Therma-Tru, Larson, Fiberon, Master Lock, SentrySafe, Yale residential and August. To learn more about FBIN, its brands and environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, visit About Military Makeover with Montel® Military Makeover with Montel®, a BrandStar Original, is America's leading branded reality TV show that offers hope and a helping hand here on the home front to members of our military and their loved ones. A veteran of both the Marine Corps and the Navy, talk show legend and military advocate Montel Williams, who creatively co-produces the show along with a colorful cast that seeks to transform the homes and lives of military families across the country. The cast includes co-hosts Art Edmonds and designer Jennifer Bertrand. This special series enlists caring companies of all sizes as well as non-profits and the local community. Military Makeover airs on Lifetime® and on the American Forces Network which serves American servicemen and women, Department of Defense and other U.S. government civilians and their families stationed at bases overseas, as well as U.S. Navy ships at sea. Help starts at home for veterans on Military Makeover. Join us as our makeover team engages to change the living situation – and the lives – of these deserving families. View source version on CONTACT: Melissa Peterson 317-873-8100 [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA OHIO INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TV AND RADIO MANUFACTURING CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY LANDSCAPE BUILDING SYSTEMS ENTERTAINMENT VETERANS OTHER MANUFACTURING DEFENSE OTHER CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY CHEMICALS/PLASTICS SOURCE: Fiberon Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 06/03/2025 10:13 AM/DISC: 06/03/2025 10:12 AM
Business Mayor
18-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Can Britain's neighbours help it keep the lights on?
As cold, still weather settled across Britain on January 8 and with coal-fired power plants turned off for good, the team in charge of keeping the country's lights on turned to other power sources hundreds of miles away. National Grid's Energy System Operator paid up to £179 per megawatt hour — more than double the typical rate for electricity bought a day ahead — to import electricity from Denmark via the Viking Link, a 475-mile undersea cable that stretches between Jutland and Lincolnshire. Denmark, in turn, had to pull in electricity from Germany. 'It was a tight day,' said Fintan Devenney, senior energy analyst at advisory firm Montel. The trade highlights Britain's growing reliance on importing and exporting electricity from and to neighbours — which is set to increase as the country seeks to make wind turbines and solar panels the backbone of the electricity system, as part of its plan to decarbonise power by 2030. Greater interconnection should make the system more resilient. Yet it also exposes electricity supplies to international political tensions. Some of those are already coming to bear: rising protectionism over electricity exports and complaints over post-Brexit barriers to British exports to the EU. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to push for closer links with the EU's energy and carbon markets as part of the much-anticipated EU-UK 'reset' summit taking place in London on Monday. This is the final part in a series on the future of Britain's electricity grid 'It's all on the table currently [but] being held up by silly things like fishing negotiations,' said one government figure. 'It has the full support of industry the UK-side.' Read More Oil prices fall as trader unfazed by Israel-Hezbollah escalation Britain's electricity cables to neighbours have proliferated since the first to France came online in 1961. Ten now link Britain to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Norway and Denmark. In 2023, the latest year which for data is available, the UK imported a net 23.8 terawatt hours of electricity, or about 7.5 per cent of domestic demand. Several more 'interconnector' cables out of Britain are planned alongside the growth of wind and solar power, both in Britain and on the continent. Along with zonal pricing and demand-side flexibility, they are a means of tackling the intermittency of renewables by, in effect, increasing the size and flexibility of the market. Power can be imported when it is less windy in Britain, potentially at lower cost than turning on domestic supply, and exported on blustery or very sunny days when the country has more than it can handle. The UK government wants to more than double Britain's current 31.4 gigawatt wind capacity and almost triple solar power capacity by 2030, by which point interconnector is forecast to have risen by about 4GW. If those goals are met, NESO estimates Britain would become a net exporter of electricity in five years' time. 'In electricity terms we are not an island,' said Ben Wilson, president of National Grid Ventures, a division of National Grid, which owns the Viking and other cables and is developing others. 'We are well connected.' Greater interconnection between countries is also a key goal in the EU. Yet rising power prices and energy security concerns have started to test the limits of that ambition. In January 2023, Norway set out measures allowing energy exports to be curtailed if there was a risk of domestic shortages, and shortly after refused permission for a new interconnector to Scotland. The coalition government in Oslo collapsed in January because of opposition to EU energy policies by the Centre party, the junior partner. But Norway's ruling Labour party is also sceptical: it has asked Statnett, the state-owned electricity system operator, to postpone planning for any new interconnectors until 2029. It also wants to switch off two of three cables to Denmark when they come up for renewal in 2026. Energy prices and interconnectors are set to feature prominently in Norwegian parliamentary elections in September. Adam Bell, director of policy at consultancy Stonehaven and former head of energy strategy in the UK government, said: 'I think Norway has now realised they have a very valuable resource that they are in effect giving away very cheaply, and it's not unreasonable for them to want to create some scarcity.' Britain has imported £2.9bn worth of electricity from Norway since the first cable between the two opened in October 2021, highlighting its reliance on the Scandinavian country for its own electricity supplies. Pranav Menon, at Aurora Energy Research, said Britain could benefit if Norway cut capacity only to Denmark, owing to reduced competition for exports. But political rhetoric in Norway suggested it may not, he cautioned. 'A loss of interconnection with Norway is likely to significantly increase price volatility in the near term,' Menon added. Exports are also coming under scrutiny in France, Britain's largest source of imports. In legislative elections last year in which the far-right party won nearly one-third of the vote, Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National put forward proposals to take greater control of exports. France and Norway are particularly important to Europe's electricity system, since their respective nuclear and hydropower supplies help protect against the risk of simultaneously low or high wind supplies across the north of the continent. Experts differ on the severity of that risk, although recent research by consultancy Wood Mackenzie pointed to a 'wind drought' across northern Europe in March 2021, noting a 'strong correlation' between onshore and offshore fleets in 2020 'across a broad geographic footprint'. Analysis by the International Energy Agency shows that, roughly five or six times over the past 30 years, cold, low wind spells have simultaneously affected large parts of Europe for a week or more, including areas where most onshore and offshore projects are located. Protectionist moves comes as Brexit has introduced new trading barriers, which are pushing up costs and threatening new investment, industry analysts and lobbyists warn. Britain's exit from the EU's single energy market means that interconnector capacity between the two is no longer automatically allocated but needs to be expressly purchased by traders in separate auctions, resulting in a less efficient market. Moreover, industry warns that Britain's electricity exports to the EU will be heavily taxed from 2026 due to the combined effect of the EU's carbon border tax and Britain's split from the EU's emissions trading scheme. Simon Virley, head of energy at advisory firm KPMG UK, said there was a lot at stake as Starmer prepares to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in London. Ministers hope to improve 'market linking' between the UK and EU over interconnectors while also linking emission trading schemes. 'Harmonising energy trading rules, and removing current frictions, could help lower bills for consumers and ensure greater energy security and resilience,' Virley said. In theory, taking more rules from the EU could be politically contentious, although ministers believe the issue is too technical to become a problem on the doorstep. 'I doubt anyone would notice or care except [Nigel] Farage,' said the UK government figure. A government spokesperson said 'We are resetting our relationship with the EU to improve trade and investment and promote climate, energy, and economic security. 'We look forward to hosting the European Commission for the UK-EU Summit next week, where we hope to make real progress on these issues.' Wilson at National Grid agreed there was an 'opportunity' to re-link electricity and carbon trading, which would be 'mutually beneficial'. In the meantime, National Grid and others are forging ahead with new interconnector projects, including 'hybrid' projects connecting North Sea wind farms to markets on either side. 'Security of supply lies in diversity,' he added. Additional reporting by Richard Milne. Data visualisation by Janina Conboye
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Love Island star rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after extremely rare pregnancy diagnosis
Tink Reading has revealed she was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after being diagnosed with a rare type of pregnancy complication. The 2023 Love Island star, 28, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share with her followers that she had experienced a molar pregnancy. A molar pregnancy occurs when a cluster of abnormal cells grow in the womb instead of a healthy fetus, which if not removed, can become cancerous. The condition affects approximately one in every 590 pregnancies in the UK, and around one in 1,000 in the US. Just hours after learning she had the condition, she was put under general anaesthetic for surgery. Alongside a series of snaps documenting her recent days in hospital and recovering at home, she wrote in a lengthy caption: 'I don't really know where to start when it comes to this post. i've been debating whether to say anything at all. 'Down to the fact of simple embarrassment, not wanting everyone to know my personal life business and the stigma that has evolved around these types of situations. 'However, if this post helps just one person going through a similar time, or even just the knowledge and awareness of what this is. well, then it's worth it. 'Last Wednesday morning, i found out that i was experiencing something called a ''molar pregnancy''. 'I for one, had never heard of this before and every friend/family member i have spoken to since hadn't either. 'This is because less than 1% of pregnancies end up becoming a molar pregnancy. less than 1%!!!!!! She continued: 'By Thursday morning, i had to be rushed in for emergency surgery to remove the 'tumours' as i was told it has to be treated sooner rather than later. 'I had less than 24 hours to process the information i had just been given, and prepare for the fact the only treatment available for this is to be put to sleep. 'I was nothing but petrified. Thankfully, the surgery went as planned and now it is just the waiting game. 'Waiting for the results from the tumours and what the follow-up care plan will be. the start of what's going to be a very long road.' Tink then thanked her boyfriend and loved ones for their support and urged her follows to reach out if they have experienced anything similar. Tink appeared as a Casa Amor bombshell on the ITV show in 2023. However, she was brutally dumped from the villa following the post-Casa Amor recoupling, which saw Montel Mackenzie decide to stay coupled up with Leah Taylor. The dramatic recoupling saw Tink share her surprise at Montel's decision, adding that she and Montel had got up to some X-rated activities at night. Opening up to The Sun upon her return to the UK, she explained: 'I am not going to delve into the details of it because I am a lady – and those sort of things are personal between me and him. 'But the reason I did say it was because I didn't want Leah to be that girl who was sold a dream, like I was.' Tink added: 'The relationship and the connection between me and Montel wasn't one-sided, if not more instigated by him than me.' WHAT IS A MOLAR PREGNANCY? A molar pregnancy occurs when a lump of abnormal cells grows in the womb instead of a healthy foetus. A 'complete mole' is when there is no foetus, while a 'partial' occurs when a foetus starts to form but cannot develop into a baby. Around one in 590 pregnancies in the UK, and one in 1,000 in the US, are molar. Many women have no symptoms and are unaware they are having molar pregnancies until routine ultrasound scans. Some may experience: Vaginal bleeding or dark discharge Severe morning sickness An unusually swollen abdomen Treatment often involves removing the abnormal cells via suction. Medication may also be necessary. Treatment may also be required to remove any leftover abnormal cells, which can turn cancerous. Molar pregnancies do not affect women's chances of conceiving in the future.
