#Saudi Aramco news

[biglisbonnews]

Circular Cities Summit Launches Global Circular Cities Network Pillared By World Professional Organisations Aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SINGAPORE, September 14, 2023 /⁨EINPresswire.com⁩/ -- The inaugural Circular Cities Summit 1.0 (CCS), themed “Game-Changing Innovations for Future Cities” will be held in Singapore … https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/655655225/circular-cities-summit-launches-global-circular-cities-network-pillared-by-world-professional-organisations

[untilthenexttee]

(via Next Tee News - February 19th, 2024 (Off-Weeks, Saudi International, That Logo, and a Beaver)

[shreemetalprices12]

Saudi Aramco intends to capitalise on China’s expanding energy demand by investing 10 billion dollar in a petrochemical & refining complex over the following 3 years.

[umseb]

The Day Sebastian Vettel Decided To Retire From F1 — Then Annoyed Aston Bosses With Climate Campaign

Two years ago, Sebastian Vettel decided to bring an end to his glittering F1 career, so picked up the phone to Matt Bishop, then Aston Martin comms boss. He details the ensuing scramble and Vettel's increasing determination to speak out

Just over two years ago, on Wednesday July 27, 2022, I was forced to do something that I really hate doing: at the eleventh hour I had to cancel a long-standing dinner arrangement with my husband and two of our dearest friends, who live in New York and were on holiday in London for a week. The reason was that, at 5 pm that afternoon, I received a phone call from Sebastian Vettel telling me that he had decided to announce his retirement from Formula 1 in the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock the following day. I was Aston Martin's chief communications officer at the time, and, when something as big as that is sprung on a Formula 1 team's most senior comms/PR operative, he or she has to drop everything and focus on briefing colleagues in confidence, writing press releases, planning social media content, arranging press conferences, and formulating comms/PR strategies designed to optimise the management of a tricky news narrative that in this case would surely unfold rapidly, and perhaps also trickily, over the next 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. I have written above that Vettel had "sprung" his decision on me, but, although the imminence of his announcement was a surprise, its content was not. Four months earlier you will recall that he did not travel to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, since he was recovering from a bout of Covid-19. His place was taken by Nico Hülkenberg, who, despite race-rustiness caused by his not having competed in F1 the previous year, did a typically excellent job.

Seb had made no secret of his disapproval of the Saudi regime when we had all gone there the first time, in December 2021, and, not surprisingly, in March 2022 rumours soon began to spread to the effect that he had invented a Covid-19 diagnosis so as to avoid racing there a second time. The truth was that he had indeed had Covid-19, and that he was indeed still unwell; however, was he disappointed to have had to skip the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? No, he was not. Two weeks later, in Melbourne, he was back. On the Thursday before the Australian Grand Prix, in the Albert Park paddock, I gave him his comms/PR briefing, as was my habit on the Thursday before every grand prix. We discussed media matters of moment, including his not having raced in Jeddah. "The truth is that I was ill, honestly," he said, "but I admit that I don't like or approve of the country, so if I was going to have to miss a race because of Covid-19 that's probably the one I'd want to miss." He paused, smiled, and added, "I'm pretty sure I'm never going to race there again." Then and there I realised that 2022 would probably be his final season as an F1 driver. Not only was the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix going to be a fixture on the F1 calendar for years to come, but also one of Aston Martin's principal sponsors was Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned national oil company. Missing that particular race without a 24-carat excuse would henceforth therefore be impossible for any Aston Martin driver. So, axiomatically, it followed that the only way he could make sure that he would never have to race there again would be to retire from F1 at the end of the year.

On the morning of Thursday, July 28, 2022, having worked until 3 am the night before, my comms/PR team and I issued a video in which our much loved four-time world champion announced his F1 retirement in his own words, and he posted it on his then brand-new Instagram channel at the same time. It included the following sentences, which he spoke with his usual eloquence: "I love this sport but, as much as there's life on track, there's also life off track. Being a racing driver has never been my sole identity. I want to be a great father and a great husband. I believe in change, and progress, and that every little bit you do can make a difference. We all have the same rights, no matter where we come from, what we look like, or whom we love. I'm an optimist and I believe that people are good, but, in addition, I feel that we live in very difficult times. How we shape the next few years will determine the rest of our lives. Talk is not enough. We can't afford to wait. I believe that there's still a race to win." The race to which he was referring was his growing and accelerating commitment to doing whatever he could to leverage his fame and popularity for the good of the inhabitants of planet Earth. That may sound grandiose, but it is also entirely valid. In the two years during which I worked with him, 2021 and 2022, we won awards for the inspirational way in which he did just that.

Just before the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, helped by local schoolchildren, he created an F1 car-shaped 'bee hotel' at the Red Bull Ring. Three weeks later, straight after the British Grand Prix, in which he had raced hard for forty laps until his Aston Martin's Mercedes engine had terminally overheated, he led a group of volunteer litter-pickers to clear the Silverstone grandstands of the trash that irresponsible spectators had left behind. A month after that, in Hungary, infuriated by that country's new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, he wore rainbow-coloured sneakers in the F1 paddock, and he donned a similarly hued T-shirt bearing the legend #SameLove as he took the knee on the grid before the race. Throughout the weekend he had talked to journalists and TV crews intelligently, thoughtfully, and compassionately on the subject of LGBTQ+ rights, equality, and inclusion. In May 2022 he visited and spoke inspirationally at HMP (Her, or now His, Majesty's Prison) Feltham, a young offenders institution in a suburb of west London, formally opening a new workshop in which the teenage inmates could learn how to become car mechanics as part of their rehabilitation. Immediately afterwards he and I took a South Western Railways train to London's Waterloo Station, sitting among regular commuters, so that he could spend time with the pupils of Oasis Johanna Primary School, which is in a disadvantaged part of inner London, and after that we went by Uber taxi to a church in Hackney, in the East End, where the BBC's prestigious political television talk show Question Time would be filmed. As the TV cameras rolled, he conversed fluently on the subjects of Brexit, the UK's cost of living crisis, the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'partygate' shenanigans, and even Finland's desire to join NATO, consummately out-arguing one of his fellow panellists, Suella Braverman, who was then the Attorney General for England and Wales and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

In addition, as the months went by, he continued to speak out in support of what he saw as humankind's collective global responsibility to address the climate crisis, doing so with increasing regularity, vehemence, and fearlessness, with the result that he began to irritate the very most senior people at Aston Martin, even though what he said tended to please most journalists and fans. "I don’t care," he said when he learned of his big bosses' disquiet. "I must do what's right." Behind the scenes what he did was perhaps even more admirable. F1 teams receive communications from troubled people all the time. You try to do what you can to help them, but sometimes their difficulties are of the type that human kindness alone cannot resolve. I am thinking of recently bereaved people, terminally ill people, profoundly disabled people, people with debilitating mental health issues, etc. Sometimes all you can do is send them a team cap signed by a driver. It is not much, and it breaks your heart that you cannot do more, but it is better than nothing.

Yet Vettel always tried to do more. On one occasion, I had been contacted by a young man who was deeply depressed. I told Seb about him, and he said, "Let's do a Zoom call with him." So I arranged it. I had thought that Seb might speak for five minutes or so, but no. He chatted animatedly for more than twenty minutes, with touching humility and heart-warming empathy, and I feel confident when I say that those twenty-odd minutes were significant in expediting the lad's mental and emotional recovery. A few months later, Seb hand-wrote the boy a four page letter. He gave it to me at a grand prix-I cannot remember which one-and he instructed me to post it on when I returned to the UK. I read it before I did so, and the tenderness and beauty of Seb's prose brought me to tears. There are many other examples of his remarkable generosity and sensitivity: too many to mention, in fact. This column has been about Vettel the man, not Vettel the driver. He was fast and clever in the cockpit, and I may well write about that side of him one day. I could write much more about Vettel the man, too, for I have dozens of stories that I could tell on that subject, because I worked very closely with him for two years and, more importantly, because he is a truly great man. In my long career I am lucky enough to have spent time in F1 teams with four world champions-Seb, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button-and they are all fantastic guys in their own, very different, ways. But, in my 61 years on this planet, I can state with confident and emphatic certainty that Sebastian Vettel, from the small town of Heppenheim, south-west Germany, is one of the most impressive people whom I have ever had the pleasure and honour to know, whether that be inside or outside F1. As he is fond of saying, "You can't always be the best, but you can always do your best." As a maxim to live by, it is hard to beat.

article by matt bishop

[didalexiabreakupwitholgaisback]

Hi, I don’t know if you talk about these things but do you have any thoughts on the statement Vivianne Miedema made in an article about the 2034 World Cup being held in Saudi Arabia. I’d like to hear your thoughts if you have any. I have my opinions about it and she is being blasted online, do you think it’s fair/justified or not?

hello, anon! well, i am going to continue the blasting of miedema. and not only have i discussed this blatant hypocrisy before (you can read my prior posts on the topic here), but i have a lot of thoughts on this 'new' world cup controversy too. we saw the petition against saudi aramco being a sponsor and now viv miedema posted a new column in which she expressed the following:

meanwhile:

am i extremely disappointed with the women's football community including the media for turning a blind eye to the plight of arab and muslim women? hell yeah. and sorry to be cynical, but i don't even think miedema actually cares about the the women living in these countries but only the fact of how she might be personally affected by traveling to saudi.

my thoughts:

the selective outrage is infuriating. we are open about criticising saudi arabia but where is the criticism of israel or the united states which is hosting the 2026 world cup? 🤔

if we all of a sudden care about women's rights, would it shock you to learn that saudi arabia has less strict abortion laws than the states of texas and florida in the united states? or that america is actively rolling back trans and lgbt rights? where's the petition about moving the world cup from there?

the us has also killed hundreds of thousands of civilians over the past decade, including athletes and footballers. they are funding israel's genocide but america gets a pass?

israel is still a member of uefa and still gets to participate in tournaments, but it can maim and kill female footballers without impunity? oh it's because they are arab, so who cares 🙄

the whole situation is comical to me. we want to punish selective countries for their human rights violations. but i have been to saudi arabia a few times and have personally witnessed the progress in women's rights from when i was a child to now, and it's night and day. so we are okay punishing that, but countries like usa and Israel are going backwards and thats' okay?

as for miedema and others, who signs their paychecks? do the gulf countries not do the same things that you are protesting? and are footballers not traveling to dubai on the regular? 😵‍💫

tl;dr, save me your hypocritical bullshit. if you care about women's rights in these countries, then actually do something. heck even alexia and ana ecube went to saudi arabia and physically worked with children and women there.

your empty words are meaningless 😤

[and-loth-cat]

My Childhood Best Friend is from Palestine

I spent three years of my life in Saudi Arabia. My dad worked for Aramco as a pilot, and we lived in a compound right along the Persian Gulf.

There were kids from all over the world at my school, the school even had an International Day assembly where everyone would represent their countries. It was an amazing experience getting to know people from across the globe, and some of my closest friends were from India, Pakistan, and Indonesia. But the one friend I still talk to to this day, almost 6 years after I moved, is from Palestine.

From my understanding, she is safe and living in Jordan currently, but my heart can't help but ache whenever I hear about what is happening to her country. She loved where she was from, and she was proud to be a Palestinian. I think about her every time I see more news about what's being done to her people, and my heart aches for her.

Last night, I had a dream about her, about Palestine. She looked so heartbroken, but she was fighting for her people. As Israel began to bomb Rafah (currently happening right now), she was there, helping her people get out and to safety. I remember something about crossing into Egypt for safety, and just narrowly avoiding the IOF.

At one point, after the IOF killed or pushed out everyone in the town and kicked them all out of Palestine, there was this moment of despair. The country was lost, and my friend was so distraught. However, the Palestinians rose up and began fighting back. I remember seeing a map that slowly began to show Palestine's control spreading North, with the civilians rising up and fighting for their freedom.

I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but I believe it had a happy ending for Palestine.

Unfortunately, I woke up, and the Palestinians are still suffering as I type this. Cities are being bombed, and the IOF will do anything to ensure a full genocide will play out. People are dying, innocent civilians who lived in a beautiful country are losing their lives for no reason.

This has to end.

Contact your reps, donate to organizations helping Palestine, and spread awareness.

Ceasefire now.

[alexbkrieger13]

https://www.dr.dk/sporten/fodbold/kvindelandsholdet/harder-skriver-under-paa-omdiskuteret-protestbrev-det-foeles-godt

Literally in her words :)

Harder signs controversial protest letter: 'It feels good'

Denmark's biggest female football star has now also chosen to join the protest against Fifa's engagement with a state-owned oil company from Saudi Arabia.

A significant voice has joined the debate on Fifa's new major sponsor Aramco on Tuesday.

For Denmark's biggest female soccer star, Pernille Harder, has now also chosen to sign the protest letter that over 100 female professional soccer players, led by Danish Sofie Junge Pedersen, sent to the International Football Association on Monday.

Read also : Dansker's club has Qatar sponsorship, but Saudi Fifa agreement exceeds her limit: 'Not an either or'

This is what the Danish national team captain tells DR Sporten on Tuesday at the Danish national team camp in Aalborg.

- I just needed to familiarize myself with the whole situation before I signed anything. But I have done that now, and it feels good, says Pernille Harder.

In the letter, the players criticize Fifa's decision to enter into a global partnership agreement with Saudi Aramco, a state-owned oil company from Saudi Arabia. Among other things, Aramco will be a major sponsor of the women's World Cup finals in 2027.

It is both considerations of the climate, but not least Saudi Arabia's human rights violations, that have caused the players to shout. Now with Pernille Harder as part of the choir.

They are particularly unhappy about having to act as a publicity pillar for a regime that has a lax attitude towards equality, women's rights and the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

- It's a special situation, but I don't think it's the perfect match , since this sponsor is owned by Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia doesn't have the best human rights record. It just doesn't fit very well in relation to the values ​​we have in women's football. So in that way it is not a very good match, says the Danish Bayern Munich star.

Important to show the flag

When the letter was initially published on Monday morning, well over 100 players from around the world had signed the campaign. But over the past 24 hours, that number has grown to a total of 120 players.

Now with Pernille Harder as the biggest international football name of all.

- In the end, it is not us who make the decision about who becomes sponsors, but I think it is fine that we players are critical of it, says Pernille Harder to DR Sporten.

So far, however, she is the only one from the Danish national team, who have just gathered in Aalborg these days ahead of two test matches, who has signed the letter.

Sofie Junge Pedersen, one of the initiators of the campaign and the letter, has 88 international matches under her belt, but is not part of the current squad.

- It is up to each individual player whether they want to. But for my part, I can at least say that I feel good about showing that I am critical of it if it ends up that I still have to play with this sponsor. So at least I have expressed where I stand on it, says Pernille Harder.

DBU welcomes the commitment of the players

The Danish Football Association, which is a member of Fifa, has also taken note of the players' open letter and criticism of Fifa's cooperation with Aramco.

- In general, we support that all Danish national team players have freedom of expression and their individual right to have opinions on everything that happens both in and outside of football. The players have every right to express themselves as they wish. We recognize and respect that. And in fact it is strong that they have opinions, says DBU director Erik Brøgger to DR Sporten.

However, the Danish Football Association will not say what it thinks about Fifa's agreement with Aramco.

- We simply do not deal with single partners. It is an agreement made between Fifa and Aramco, and Fifa makes lots of agreements with different parties. They have always done that, because it is an incredibly important part of the income base for football.

- They create the foundation for us to develop football into the great sport it is. Now we hope that more money can come into women's football. Because it is an important prerequisite for us to develop that part of the sport, says Erik Brøgger.

And with the concrete funds from Aramco, Erik Brøgger believes that Fifa can reach the goal of a big wish.

- This gives Fifa some opportunities in connection with the World Cup in 2027 in Brazil. Fifa has a goal that the women's tournaments must be the same size as the men's tournaments, both in terms of turnover and prize money. They are going after that now, he says.

DR Sport has received a written comment from the International Football Association, Fifa. In this, it is stated that the association appreciates its cooperation with Aramco, just as it applies to agreements with other commercial partners.

Fifa also writes, as Erik Brøgger from DBU points out, that sponsorship income is reinvested to continue the development of women's football on an international level.

[saintescuderia]

welcome to the mini series of the random, mindless thoughts had by a poet disguised in an orange jumpsuit watching cars speed by all weekend. enjoy!

--- note: 5am starts, 7pm finishes. all four days. gotta love formula 1!

thursday: media day!

i want the ferrari jacket

there are school kids here?

i don’t want the ferrari jacket

$7 for a small can of red bull is THEFT

especially since they broke the cost cap

me walking through the “accredited personnel” gate and tapping my special lanyard is a CORE memory

i think my uber driver dropped me off on the opposite side of the track

*stressing about being unable to admire the sights of albert park bc i’m stress-running from the opposite end of the track to my station*

pls don’t be a dick and say i’m late - i know

how is a 5am wake up not early enough HOW?

“last year i was stationed at the corner where charles spun out.”

sole thought = 💀💀💀💀

i. fucking. love. cars.

the whole SENSORY experience of a race ffffffffffffuuuuuck

“be careful taking pictures because that security camera is on us and is straight to race control and the FIA.” is such a cool sentence to hear

a porsche gtr should not be covered with branding idc

i’m definitely going to abuse caffeine this weekend

friday: FP1 / FP2

the sun is rising over the lake as i walk on the albert park track and i’m happy to be alive

especially as i found a toilet that isn’t a port-a-loo

ah, a cafe that does good decent coffee thank GOD

am i going to pay $10 for a croissant?

i'm going to pay $10 for a croissant.

i lived in paris but this one fresh lune choc croissant has topped it all

no like there will never be another croissant experience to beat me eating a fresh pain au chocolat on a f1 circuit as the sun rises over the water with the melbourne skyline in the background

aramco engineers are walking behind me as i shit talk about f1, nice

“it is an increasingly unique experience peeing in a port-a-loo beside a formula one track as cars race by.”

120’000 is a LOT of people

how has the float not broken yet?

metro boomin has released an album as i stand before live formula one. life has PEAKED

fernando alonso is the first F1 driver i ever saw live

there is a shift in formula one as the heritage fans of motor racing are on the out as the next generation of fans absorbed in driver hype and social media takes over and we see this in how F1 has created the new US tracks and made them all into spectacles and fans are here because of it being “cool” instead of caring about cars

… maybe i should buy the redbull jacket instead?

bonus: sole thought during the pitlane walk for the marshals

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

saturday: FP3 / qualifying

the relief of thinking you’re late and then seeing someone you know HA

commentators are now contractually obligated to bring up saudi arabia every time they talk about ollie bearman

jesus they’re as bad as the f1 girlies

i have to watch the grand prix replay after all of this i have no idea what’s actually going on

CHARLES GOES FASTER THAN MAX HA

kimi spinning out has me actively wanting to cry

a safety car FROM THE PIT EXIT

welcome to F2 everyone 👏👏👏

not me lying to the cute irish guy hitting on me about @saintescuderia

a big fat ha at the eshays holding their puffer jackets - even they can’t stand the heat

don’t flex on me that you’re here at F1 when you don’t even know what’s going on yourself bruhhhh

to the red bull fan telling me i’m “dramatic��� for rolling under the fence (it’s how marshals have to do it) pls get help

$7 for a calispo is a JOKE

recording F1 quali isn’t even worth it bc they're TOO FAST

JOKES I GOT A PHOTO WITH ALBONO

i’m very lucky for my team of marshals :))))))))))

i’m only going to eat half my muffin

*finishes the whole thing*

sunday: race!

KIMI ANTONELLI!

do i ask for a photo?

*every photo of charles leclerc being abused flashes through my mind*

nah leave him be

five minutes later: i regret not asking him

the group of aussies dressed as lance stroll drunk at 9am have my heart and my respect

i need a coffee

seeing kimi walk right by me has now made so much invested for f2

i really need a coffee

yep they screwed kimi with all those safety cars

i really, really need a coffee

we get to go ON TRACK? for the DRIVERS PARADE

*starts practicing “get well soon” in spanish*

my heart is BEATING

lol jokes carlos didn’t even look at us

*checks footage to see that i accidentally just recorded guanyu zhou next to carlos the whole time :))))*

lol are they putting lewis and charles together all the time?

every marshal: “that was the shittest parade ever.”

i need a drink

pls don’t talk to me for the next two hours

don't meet your heroes kids

but also why the fuck did they do the float in one big car? and do INTERVIEWS? this is legit the one time the drivers can be there JUST for the FANS

F1 can PISS OFF

race start = okay it's happening

waitwaitwaitwaitWAITDIDIJUSTSEECARLOSOVERTAKEMAX?!

nevermind i love him

"race control has asked that you calm down, marshals are supposed to be neutral."

lol at the entirety of albert cheering that max is slowly coming to a DNF

mclaren swapping oscar for lando is DISGUSTING fuck zak brown

somehow, i've forgotten that charles is just there

SEND IT CARLOS VAmos

(this is all because i told you que te mejores pronto!)

daniel ricciardo....man..... aus gp can't market you like this.......

damn yuki got HANDS

ferrari and mclaren having the top 4 places is just *chefs kiss*

lewis just had to stall just pass my sector like i hope ur okay but couldn't u not be ok in front of me?

red bull deserves this after all the FLACK i've copped from red bulls fans ("dramatic" MY ASS)

wait george russell ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

singapore all over again. i can already see the memes.

somehow marshalling a gp has you closer and more removed from the whole thing i have no idea what's going on

(literally the only time i used my F1TV live timing)

finishing after the safety car means i can't stick my head out and clap for carlos FUCK OFF

wait, he came up right UP TO MY SIDE OF THE TRACK TO WAVE

... do you think he noticed me?

[dog-park-dissidents]

holy shit new music !! may i ask which man the new song is about 👁

Out With A Bang is a work of fiction and any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. On a completely unrelated note, here is a list of interesting actual persons who are alive today and have real names and addresses:

Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies Helge Lund, Chairman, BP Bernard Looney, CEO, BP Amin H. Nasser, CEO, Saudi Aramco Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman, Saudi Aramco Zhang Yuzhuou, Chairman, China Petrochemical Mike Wirth, CEO, Chevron Viktor Zubkov, Chairman, Gazprom Alexey Miller, CEO, Gazprom Javad Owji, Chairman, National Iranian Oil Company Ken Mackenzie, Chairperson, BHP Billiton Mike Henry, CEO, BHP Billiton PM Prasad, Chairman, Coal India Octavio Romero Oropeza, CEO, Pemex Jim Grech, CEO, Peabody Energy Ryan Lance, CEO, ConocoPhillips Sultan Al Jaber, CEO, ADNOC Jean Paul Prates, CEO, Petrobras Nawaf Saud Nasser Al-Sabah, CEO, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Toufik Hakkar, CEO, Sonatrach John P Surma, CEO, Marathon Petroleum Joseph Gorder, CEO, Valero Greg Garland, CEO, Phillips 66 Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, President, Pertamina

[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports?

to start with the most concerning and serious point: there has been a complaint to the FIA Compliance Officer and Ethics Committee when Ben Sulayem came out to say they won't be stepping into the allegations of Horner's workplace misconduct because they didn't receive any official complaints, another one came in a few days after (with a warning that media will get the information next) and apparently the victim handed in her own official complaint (as a reminder this comes after reports of Sulayem being investigated for trying to influence the race result and a circuit confirmation last year and allegedly also asking Max Verstappen to publicly support Horner)

Ben Sulayem has also been cleared off the allegations (both over the Saudi Arabia 2023 results overrule and Las Vegas GP intervence)

Guanyu will have his own short documentary called The First One (probably about being the first Chinese driver on the F1 grid)

Alex posted his own merch line, debuting on his app first

Williams will run Alex, Logan and Lia Block (and even James Vowles) at Goodwill - first time in an F1 car for both Lia and James

Pierre made a new investment decision, he now has shares in French football team FC Versailles (in a similar move that the US investors made for Alpine)

there are rumours of Aramco trying to take over Aston Martin and get both Max and Adrian Newey in the team (the source is Formulauno tho)

F1 won't switch to 16 inches tyres like was originally planned for 2026 regulations (they will keep using 18 inches ones but their shape and sizing will be a bit different)

Monaco this year will feature a special floating platform

Este was at some sort of F1 podcast and he mentioned that he raced in F3 against Max and won the title, but it was Max who got a seat in F1 despite finishing p3 (and apparently that made a lot of Max fans angry)

Mercedes are still battling the lack of correspondence between sim and track data, the rumours say they might try some experiments in Australia and potentially push back some scheduled upgrades until they collect more data

GB4 will fund an F1 Academy seat for the highest placed female driver in the series

Guenther Steiner became an F1 columnist (among other things he mentioned he would hire Ollie Bearman and that he should have left Haas much sooner)

Barcelona's circuit invested 50m euros to try to keep them on the race calendar beyond 2026 when Madrid joins

there are rumours that if Max really goes to Mercedes, Toto Wolff has a deal with James Vowles to take Kimi Antonelli in the team

Riccardo Adami said he is ready to be Lewis' race engineer in Ferrari in 2025 (which is not really a piece of news but a lot of people expected Bono to follow Lewis - which despite the anti-poaching clause - can still happen at some point)

Carlos will meet FIA doctors and complete cockpit escaping test on Thursday to see if he is fit to drive in Australia after his surgery, but Ferrari claimed he is ready to race

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber will be called Kick Sauber this week due to Australian policy

Felipe Drugovich signed with LMP2 team but will also keep the Aston Martin reserve driver role

Simone Resta will join Mercedes after being let go off from Haas where he was on loan from Ferrari

Enrico Sampo will also join them as a Head of Performance Software Applications, and it is understood they hope he could help with correlation issues between sim data and on track data (although he will only start in the new position in 2025)

Nikita Mazepin appealed against the sanctions from European Union (because of ties to Russian government), the Court of Justice lifted the sanctions

Lewis posted about Palestine and rightfully calls for immediate and permanent ceasefire

Williams partnered with Sungood as official eyewear partner (after they already have a sponsorship deal with McLaren)

from fan's point of view:

Charles went surfing in Melbourne, and then he went karting

Lewis changed his Instagram icon

it was Mike Krack's birthday yesterday, sorry I missed it king!

(also a fun fact: it was also Prince Albert II.'s 66th birthday a few days ago)

Ollie was asked about Le Mans and said he would take Lewis and Charles and if they don't win, it is his own fault

Oscar was a face of last Esquire issue

apparently there are rumours of George being engaged (how do people come up with stuff like this. no idea.)

Daniel showed a special helmet design for his gp

there is apparently a whole google doc with updated drivers locations??? get help

Alex and Oscar have been the latest hosts on Beyond The Grid episodes

racing results:

Formula E was back on this past weekend with Sam Bird winning for the first time in FE, Mitch Evans in p2 (after getting overtaken on last lap), and Oliver Rowland in p3

[beardedmrbean]

Luxembourg-based satellite telecom operator OQ Technology is testing investor appetite for space-based Internet of Things (IoT) technology, seeking EUR 30 million in fresh funding as competition intensifies in the nascent market for satellite-enabled device connectivity.

The company, which has deployed 10 satellites since 2019, plans to launch 20 more as larger telecommunications companies and satellite operators begin developing similar IoT services. The Series B funding round follows a EUR 13 million raise in 2022 and aims to strengthen its global 5G IoT network coverage.

OQ Technology has secured initial backing through a convertible loan from the Luxembourg Space Sector Development Fund, a joint initiative between SES S.A. and the Luxembourg government. Previous investors, including Aramco's venture capital arm Wa'ed Ventures and Greece's Phaistos Investment Fund, are participating in the new round.

The startup differentiates itself by focusing on standardized cellular technology for narrowband-IoT, contributing to 3GPP protocols that allow existing cellular chips to connect with satellites. This approach contrasts with proprietary systems offered by competitors, replacing traditional bulky satellite systems with compact, cost-efficient IoT modems that offer plug-and-play functionality.

"The satellite IoT sector is still largely in the proof-of-concept phase," says the company representative. "While there's significant potential, companies face challenges in standardization and convincing industries to adopt these new technologies at scale."

In an effort to secure its supply chain, the company is exploring partnerships in Taiwan's semiconductor industry. It has begun collaborating with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), though these relationships are still in the early stages. The company has shipped initial terminals to prospective Taiwanese clients, marking its first steps in the Asian market.

The global reach for semiconductor partnerships comes as the company expands its geographical footprint, having established subsidiaries in Greece, Saudi Arabia, and Rwanda. Plans for US market entry are underway, though regulatory approvals and spectrum access remain hurdles in some markets.

Current clients include Aramco, Telefonica, and Deutsche Telekom, primarily using the technology for asset tracking and remote monitoring in industries such as energy, logistics, and agriculture. While the company estimates a potential market of 1.5 billion devices that could use satellite IoT connectivity, actual adoption rates remain modest.

"The challenge isn't just technical capability," notes the company representative. "It's about proving the economic case for satellite IoT in specific use cases where terrestrial networks aren't viable but the application can support satellite connectivity costs."

Market dynamics are also shifting. Recent announcements from major tech companies about satellite-to-phone services have sparked interest in space-based connectivity, but may also increase competition for spectrum and market share. Several companies are pursuing similar standards-based approaches, potentially commoditizing the technology.

For OQ Technology, the ability to deploy its planned satellites and convert pilot projects into paying customers will be crucial. While the company's focus on standardized technology may reduce technical risks, successfully scaling the business will require navigating complex regulatory environments and proving the technology's reliability across different use cases.

[biglisbonnews]

“Accelerating Equity – Environmental justice in the transition to fleet electrification” Edison Energy to host Virtual Impact RoundTable on August 17 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, August 8, 2023 /⁨EINPresswire.com⁩/ -- Edison Energy will hold a virtual roundtable on Thursday, Aug. 17, on the electrification of transportation, and … https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/648718056/accelerating-equity-environmental-justice-in-the-transition-to-fleet-electrification

[untilthenexttee]

Next Tee News - February 19th, 2024 (Off-Weeks, Saudi International, That Logo, and a Beaver

In this episode of Next Tee News, your golf summary for the week in three minutes or less, I delve into the week that was. Patty, Hideki, Tiger, and a Beaver oh my! Until The Next Tee!! #fightandgrind #seeuonthenexttee

[darkmaga-returns]

New Yorkers, beware the law of unintended consequences.

From an item at the New York Post comes the news that Kathy Hochul has just signed a new bill, “modeled after a federal law that holds polluters responsible for abandoned toxic-waste sites,” which establishes the New York Climate Superfund. This endowment will be funded by energy companies that deal in gas, oil, and coal, and the money will finance “resiliency projects,” like initiatives to shore up the coast and mitigate flooding—because obviously as every progressive and mainstream media consumer “knows,” energy that comes from “fossil fuels” cause “climate change.”

As of now, a number of companies operating in New York have been hit with $75 billion in fines, which are to be paid into the fund over the span of a decade. Per the NY Post:

The oil giant Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia could be slapped with the largest annual assessment of any company — $640 million a year — for emitting 31,269 million tons of greenhouse gases from 2000 to 2020. Aramco — formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. — is owned by the Saudi Royal family. The state-owned Mexican oil firm Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, emitted 9,512 tons of CO2 and could face an $193 million assessment for generating 9,512 million tons of greenhouse gases. Russia’s Lukoil could be assessed with a $100 million yearly fee for spewing 4,912 millions of CO2. The 38 companies identified as carbon polluters include American petro giants such as Exxon and Chevron as well as Shell and BP in the UK, Total Energies IES in France, Petrobras in Brazil, BHP in Australia, Glencore in Switzerland, Equinor in Norway and ENI in Italy.

[fatehbaz]

Arizona’s Sonoran desert and the Arabian desert [...] are directly linked. [...]

The dairy company Almarai that bought that alfalfa farm in Arizona in 2014 is actually headquartered just outside Riyadh, in a place called Al Kharj. This had been a favorite spot for the first Saudi king Abdulaziz, or Ibn Saud. He tried to set it up as a royal farm in the 1930s and he eventually pulled in Aramco (then the Arabian-American Oil Company, and now Saudi Aramco) to manage the operations. But in the early 1940s, an American geologist Karl S Twitchell (who had spent some of his early years mining in Arizona) convinced the US government to fund his 1942 Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia, ultimately aiming to develop the Al Kharj farms and curry favor with King Ibn Saud. This lay the groundwork for another US government-funded mission to send a team of Arizona farmers Al Kharj, with the idea that they could bring their special desert expertise to expand the farm and modernize Saudi agriculture.

The State Department also organized several royal family visits to tour Arizona agriculture -- first in 1943 by princes Faisal and Khalid (both of whom would later become kings of Saudi Arabia) and then in 1947 by Crown Prince Saud al-Saud (who would also become king).

And this second visit to Arizona was pivotal in kicking off Saudi Arabia’s dairy industry in the early 1950s; when Crown Prince Saud became King Saud and took over the Al Kharj farm, he insisted on getting a “Grade A dairy” (as he called it) like what he had seen in Arizona.

Flash forward many decades and a shocking regime of state agricultural subsidies, and it is precisely this early home of Saudi dairy that Almarai and its nearly 100,000 cows are based.

This kind of circularity [...] -- a seemingly modern point of connection actually having much deeper roots. [...]

---

When American settlers and the US military first started to colonize the place that we now know as Arizona after it was acquired in 1848, they really did not know how to deal with the desert environment. But early advocates of US expansionism thought that they could use ideas and approaches from the “Old World” deserts of the Middle East (including farming techniques, plants, and animals, etc.) to conquer the American “New World” deserts. [...] [There was a] wide-ranging political, scientific, military, and cultural system that was needed for American[s] [...] to take over this territory and build US empire domestically. [...] So as US empire started to expand beyond North America, Euro-American settlers and their descendants learned that they could sell this desert expertise abroad, and started to build new colonial networks in the Middle East around the stories of their common arid lands experiences. [...] [It] is not just about domestic empire-building, but is also about US empire-building in the Arabian Peninsula since the mid-1900s. [...]

[T]he “desert” becomes a narrative resource.

In this sense, it is less about the physical characteristics of desert environments and more about how people breathe life into their stories of the desert and how they put these stories to work through a constellation of desires and beliefs about deserts. [...]

[T]hink about Gulf geopolitics beyond mainstream approaches [...], and [...] examine the role of science, expertise, and techno-futures in building and bolstering state power [...]. [T]he University of Arizona could not just sell a prestigious brand-name. Instead, to get an edge, they relied on selling their stories about the desert and their special arid lands expertise. But [...] this was something that had been going on for over one hundred years.

---

Words of: Natalie Koch. From the transcript of an interview published as: “Natalie Koch, Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia (New Texts Out Now).” Published online by Jadaliyya. 17 May 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[velvetsainz]

okay i gotta say it: foisting alphatauri's renaming as a great tragedy of capitalism upon formula 1 racing & motorsport in general is...a bit much. especially in a sport that has been a very frequent and early adopter of sportswashing? baby, they happily race in places that have less-than-stellar current human rights records BECAUSE OF THE MONEY. it has nothing to do with attendance. you think bahrain and qatar are major ticket sellers and people were truly clamoring for races there? NO, OF COURSE NOT. it's b/c their governments poured hundreds of millions of dollars (if not more) of government money into f1 and the FIA in the name of sanitizing their nation's image in light of ongoing reports of abhorrent treatment of migrant workers and violent action against other groups inside and outside of their countries. (does really no one remember the 2022 saudia arabian gp? the fact the drivers HAD to race—despite close proximity of the track to a recent missile strike site—for fear that they wouldn't have been allowed to leave by the saudi government? no one? just me?) saudi arabia, bahrain, qatar, the uae, and azerbijan are important current examples, but this is by no means new for the sport; india, malaysia, apartheid south africa, china (which may be returning to the calendar this year—it remains to be seen if the race will actually happen), russia, peronist argentina, and turkey have all held races previously with similar intentions.

and if you want to talk about sponsors, let's actually go after the sponsors that are truly problematic. aston martin ARAMCO. mercedes-amg PETRONAS. camel, marlboro (and philip morris, in general, including their "mission winnow" shell project), orlen, shell, agip, uralkali, ftx (along with other crypto companies), among a plethora of historic sponsors.

listen: i'm not saying that the "visa cashapp racing bulls" (or "stake f1 team kick sauber", for that matter) is a great name for a team—or even a good one—but there are much bigger, much worse issues in the sport that need more attention and more concern than a shitty team name or two.