F1 | What tyres will the teams and drivers have for the 2022 Australian Grand Prix?

Formula 1 returns to Australia for the first time since 2019 and Pirelli have announced what tyres the teams will be using at a re-designed Albert Park.

The 18-inch tyres will face the test of another street circuit, Albert Park hosting the 2022 Australian Grand Prix – and Pirelli have announced a different choice of compounds compared to the first two races of the season.

This weekend will see the teams use an unusual mix of compounds: the C5 (soft tyres, x8 sets) for the first time this season, then a step to the C3 (medium tyre, x3 sets) and the C2 (hard tyre, x2 sets).  –read more–  

CNN politics | US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia

(CNN) – The US successfully tested a hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet for two weeks to avoid escalating tensions with Russia as President Joe Biden was about to travel to Europe, according to a defense official familiar with the matter.

The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast, the official said, in the first successful test of the Lockheed Martin version of the system. A booster engine accelerated the missile to high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and above.

The official offered scant details of the missile test, only noting the missile flew above 65,000 feet and for more than 300 miles. But even at the lower end of hypersonic range — about 3,800 miles per hour — a flight of 300 miles is less than 5 minutes.  –read more–

CNN BUSINESS | Howard Schultz suspends Starbucks’ share buyback program

New York (CNN Business) – Howard Schultz’s first act on his return as Starbucks CEO is to pause the company’s share buyback program.

“Starting immediately, we are suspending our share repurchasing program,” Schultz wrote in an open letter to Starbucks employees, customers and others which was published early Monday. “This decision will allow us to invest more into our people and our stores — the only way to create long-term value for all stakeholders.”

Monday marks Schultz’s first day as interim CEO, and his third stint as chief executive of the company. Starbucks said it will find a permanent CEO by the fall. In the meantime, Schultz is helping run the company and aiding in the search for a successor.  –read more–  

CNN underscored | 20 of the best garage storage ideas and organizing tools, all under $35

The garage is a place where we tend to put everything that doesn’t have another place to go: Holiday decorations, bins of hand-me-down clothing and extra bedding, tools and sporting equipment and extra household supplies.

All of that stuff can quickly turn into a cluttered mess and, because the garage contains a jumble of different types of things, finding the right garage organizing solutions can be really tricky.

With the help of organizing experts Lisa Kron, who documents the process of making her small home functional and stylish on the site Smallish Home, and Ann Lightfoot, co-founder of Done & Done Home, we picked out 20 of the best garage organization tools and products.  –read more-–

CNN US | Native American tribe gets its land back after being displaced nearly 400 years ago

(CNN) – The Rappahannock Tribe, a Native Tribe in Virginia, has reacquired 465 acres of sacred land at Fones Cliff.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and US Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams celebrated the tribe’s reacquisiton of the land Friday, according to a press release from the Department of the Interior.

“We have worked for many years to restore this sacred place to the Tribe,” said Rappahannock Tribe Chief Anne Richardson, according to the Chesapeake Conservancy. “With eagles being prayer messengers, this area where they gather has always been a place of natural, cultural and spiritual importance.”  –read more– 

CNN BUSINESS | Why this recent change just made it harder to buy or sell an apartment

New rules rolled out earlier this year by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are creating a bottleneck in the real estate market for those seeking to buy or sell condo or co-op apartments, according to agents and condo associations.

The new rules are intended to address concerns about aging building infrastructure in the wake of the collapse of Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, last year. In order to protect buyers and lenders, the rules ask condo and co-op boards to disclose any known significant deferred maintenance issues that may impact the safety and structural integrity of the building and the financial plans for addressing them, according to Fannie Mae.

“Freddie Mac’s requirements are designed to help ensure residential buildings with aging infrastructure are safe for its residents and that condos and co-ops needing critical repairs have a plan to do so,” a Freddie Mac spokesperson said.  –read more–  

CNN Sports | Lewis Hamilton opens up on struggling ‘mentally and emotionally for a long time’

(CNN) – Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton said he has “struggled mentally and emotionally for a long time” in a candid social media post on Thursday.

Writing in an Instagram Story, the seven-time F1 champion said he has endured “a tough year already with everything that is happening around us” and that it is “hard some days to stay positive.”

However, he also offered support and reassurance to his followers.

“I’m writing to tell you it’s ok to feel the way you do, just know that you are not alone and that we are gonna get through this!” Hamilton added.  –read more–

F1 | Verstappen beats Leclerc by just 0.5s in epic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won an epic battle over Charles Leclerc in Saudi Arabia with Carlos Sainz completing the podium behind his Ferrari team mate – as pole-sitter Sergio Perez had to settle for fourth after pitting just before a pivotal Safety Car.

Perez led until Lap 16, when a flash of Ferrari mechanics perhaps triggered Red Bull into an early pit stop. That proved to be unfortunate; Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed at the final corner on the next lap and triggered a VSC then Safety Car, with Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz capitalising.

The Mexican was set to restart third on Lap 21 when the Safety Car retreated but was found to have passed Sainz as the Spaniard exited the pits alongside the Red Bull during the caution period, leaving the pole-sitter fourth.  –read more–  

CNN US | All-Black women’s World War II unit to be awarded Congressional Gold Medal

(CNN) – An all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit that sorted millions of pieces of mail in unheated warehouses during World War II will finally be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal decades after the fact.

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law on March 14 that awards a Congressional Gold Medal to the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight.” The honor was granted “in recognition of their pioneering military service, devotion to duty, and contributions to increase the morale of personnel stationed in the European theater of operations during World War II,” the bill states.  –read more–  

CNN BUSINESS | Weekly jobless claims fall to a nearly 53-year low

New York (CNN Business) – Just 187,000 people in the United States filed for initial weekly unemployment benefits last week, lower than economists’ expectations of 210,000, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor.

The last time the weekly number was that low was September 6, 1969, shortly after Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon and hippies were rocking out to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Back then, 182,000 people filed for jobless benefits.

The latest jobless claims total was also down from an upwardly revised 215,000 in the previous week. The labor market remains a bright spot in the US economy, even as consumers are feeling the pinch of higher oil and gas prices and other inflation pressures.  –read more–