Author: Vitaliy Dadalyan

Evacuations Mount in Southern California as Wildfire Spreads

(Bloomberg) -- A wildfire that erupted near Los Angeles has forced up to 8,000 people to flee as the tail end of a powerful windstorm takes its its final swing at Southern California.The blaze in Ventura County has ripped through almost 9,000 acres and threatens 2,300 structures, according to local authorities. Edison International has cut power to 625 nearby homes and businesses to prevent live wires from toppling and sparking more infernos.“We are in the middle of a big fight,” Ventura County Fire Department Chief Mark Lorenzen said during a news conference. “The end is not yet in sight.”The Maria fire, in the hills above Camarillo, comes as California recovers from a wildfire season that’s upended much of the state. Utilities have cut electricity to millions of people from Sacramento to San Diego, in some cases for days at a clip, as some of the strongest winds in a decade ripped...

Mahathir says no to Goldman's 1MDB offer of under $2 bln to Malaysia- FT

Malaysia has rejected an offer from Goldman Sachs of less than $2 billion in compensation over the 1MDB scandal, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told the Financial Times on Friday, compared with its publicly stated demand of $7.5 billion. The Southeast Asian nation has charged Goldman and 17 current and former directors of its units for allegedly misleading investors over bond sales totalling $6.5 billion that the U.S. bank helped raise for sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). "Goldman Sachs has offered something like less than $2 billion,” Mahathir told the newspaper....

New York Struggles to Show Exxon Misled Investors on Climate

(Bloomberg) -- New York rested its securities-fraud case against Exxon Mobil Corp. after nine days of trial testimony without appearing to produce any definitive evidence that the oil company intentionally misled investors about how it accounted for climate-change risks.Exxon began presenting its first witnesses on Friday and may wrap up its defense late next week. The company is expected to call employees, accountants and experts to the stand to stave off claims that it lied to the public about the way it plans for future climate regulations.For the second time during the three-week trial, climate protesters, most of them young people, picketed outside the courthouse, though the group was almost outnumbered by police. They held signs reading ExxonKnew with variations on claims the company lied about climate change -- which isn’t really what the case is about.It hinges on Exxon’s use of a “proxy cost” for carbon to account for decreasing...

UPDATE 1-Athletics-Record-busting shoes loom large in marathon debate

A shoe debate is raging ahead of Sunday's New York City Marathon after high-tech sneakers played starring roles in two of the biggest distance-running achievements this year. Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna and Brigid Kosgei's record-breaking run at the Chicago Marathon last month brought the Nike Vaporfly shoes into focus, sparking heated debate over whether the hyper-advanced footwear gave an unfair advantage. Shalane Flanagan, who won in New York in 2017, told Reuters the running community should "always question what’s going on" in her sport but said the debate should not overshadow individual performances....