Dhaka cannot engage with non-state actors: foreign adviserRecent reports from Western media outlets have shed light on the ongoing struggles of Robert Lewandowski in Barcelona, with the star striker reportedly feeling isolated in the dressing room. According to sources close to the club, Lewandowski's integration into the team has been far from smooth, leading to tensions that have spilled over into public view.
PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, Jimmy Carter left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Carter's path, a mix of happenstance and calculation , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the Georgians and their inner circle as “country come to town.” Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. Born Oct. 1, 1924 , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to “move to a very liberal program,” lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on family property alongside Rosalynn . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as public pilgrimages to Plains became advantageous again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
EPA celebrates the 50th Anniversary of its Automotive Trends Report
Title: Premier League Dribbles Completed per Match Ranking: Koudous Leads with 3.8, Doucoure in Second with 3.2As the Brooklyn Nets begin a road swing on Friday with a visit to Philadelphia, the host 76ers are ending one of their own swings away from home that went poorly for the sputtering club. The 76ers into Friday's NBA Cup East: Group A matchup against the Nets on a five-game losing streak, including all three in the Sixers' just-completed three-game road trip. The journey ended on Wednesday in a 117-111 loss at Memphis, despite 2023 MVP Joel Embiid playing his best game of the season. Embiid finished with game highs of 35 points and 11 rebounds in his fourth contest since rejoining the Sixers lineup, after missing the first nine games with a lingering knee injury. Philadelphia is winless in Embiid's four appearances, have only two wins this season and none in NBA Cup action. The Sixers opened group play with a 111-99 loss to the New York Knicks on Nov. 12, followed by a 98-86 road loss to the Orlando Magic on Nov. 15. Philadelphia is now also dealing with another knee injury to a key player, as Paul George left Wednesday's game with a hyperextension. "Similar to the preseason," Sixers coach Nick Nurse said, referring to an injury George sustained in October. "We're going to find out more (Thursday) when (the medical staff) checks it out to see what the extent of it is." Nurse said George's injury may be akin to a bone bruise, which would not require a lengthy absence. Still, the team is awaiting more details ahead of Friday's return home. "You never know what happens," Nurse said. "He was actually fairly close to coming back in the game but then it stiffened up as he got out a little bit more, so we decided not to." Amid the rash of injuries and roster tumult, rookie Jared McCain is emerging as a bright spot in the Sixers' dismal start. Wednesday's 20-point performance marked the guard's sixth consecutive game scoring 20-plus points. McCain has made at least three 3-pointers in all six of those contests, while he averaged 25.5 points. The Nets ended a three-game losing streak Tuesday and improved to 1-1 in the NBA Cup, with a 116-115 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Cam Johnson scored 34 points, while Trendon Watford hit a jumper with 38 seconds remaining that gave the Nets necessary breathing room down the stretch. Watford finished with 10 points over 19 minutes in just his second game back from a hamstring injury sustained in training camp. "Very happy that he had the game that he had, but that to me is the definition of a team," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. "Our medical staff worked hard to get him back healthy. We've got to trust the group, because they do a great job, and this is the result. It's a win for everybody." Nets point guard Dennis Schroder continued his run of solid two-way play at point guard in Tuesday's win. With his 14 points and 12 assists against Charlotte, Schroder is averaging 17.8 points and 6.5 assists in 15 games (all starts). This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.HP reports soft Q1 guidance; shares tumble in afterhours trading
For days, the young woman scoured the dense underbrush and rugged terrain, battling exhaustion and fear as she struggled to find any trace of her grandmother. As the hours turned into days, she faced the harsh reality that time was running out, and her own survival became increasingly uncertain.The unnamed woman, who wished to remain anonymous, decided to undergo a leg beauty procedure at a clinic that promised to provide her with perfectly shaped and toned legs. Eager to achieve the desired results, she willingly paid a hefty sum of $18,000 for the treatment, believing that she was investing in her self-confidence and appearance.With the introduction of the "Deep Ocean Enchantment" DLC, players will be delving into the depths of the ocean to uncover hidden mysteries and face new challenges. The underwater world promises to be a visually stunning and immersive environment, teeming with exotic marine life and ancient ruins waiting to be discovered.
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As the business world watches closely to see how this risky strategy unfolds, one thing is certain: the company's decision to sell off three subsidiary companies for just 1 yuan each is a bold and unprecedented move that will have far-reaching implications for its future prospects. Only time will tell whether this gamble pays off or proves to be a costly mistake.Henan Provincial Department of Education Organizes BYD Co., Ltd. and Vocational Schools Corporate Cooperation Symposium
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Article content The Windsor Spitfires’ goaltending situation appears to be in good hands now and in the future. In his first career start, 16-year-old Jake Windbiel made 32 saves to help the Spitfires to a wild 10-6 road win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Sunday before a crowd of 4,502 at the GFL Memorial Gardens. Windbiel’s victory came a day after veteran Joey Costanzo made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season to lead Windsor to a 4-0 win in Sault Ste. Marie before a crowd of 4,602 at the GL Memorial Gardens as the club returned to play after an eight-day break for Christmas. “I was feeling really good,” said the six-foot-four, 223-pound Windbiel, who shaw his team outshot 38-30. “Obviously, being young, I’m still learning, but my teammates were great to me the entire game. I felt like, once I got my feet under me, I was calm and able to track well.” With three games in four days coming out of the break, Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walters did not put too heavy a workload on Costanzo. With backup Carter Froggett sidelined by injury, Michael Newlove, who was the No. 1 pick overall in the U18 Draft, backed up Costanzo on Saturday and Walters said he will get a start at some point. However, Windbiel, who has played much of this season in junior B with the LaSalle Vipers, got the start on Sunday. Considered one of the top American prospects in 2024 OHL Draft, the Spitfires took a chance in the seventh round of the draft and grabbed the Elk Grove Village, Ill. native, who played for the Chicago Mission last year. He has spent practice time with the Spitfires, but was sent to the Vipers to help his development and boasts a 2.84 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 20 junior B games. “It’s pushed me to become better each day,” Windbiel said. “The coaches have been so helpful, learning new things every day from them. As well as practices, it’s always fun playing against older kids because it forces you to be faster. Overall, it’s helped me a ton development wise.” Windbiel, who got some advice from Costanzo, was sharp early on Sunday with the Spitfires outshot 6-1. The Greyhounds also had the first four shots to start the second period, but Windbiel held the Spitfires close. “I just told me to play his game, be confident in his abilities and try not to do too much,” Costanzo said. “I think he did a great job of that (Sunday). He’s a great kids with a great head on his shoulders. I think he’s made big strides even since camp.” The Spitfires twice built a four-goal lead in the third period, but the Greyhounds rallied to make it a one-goal game before Windsor was finally able to close things out. “Huge four points for us,” said Walters, whose team has won four in a row. “Jake was really good in the first 40 minutes and we got up and let our foot off the pedal. The third was a little crazy, but we found a way. Cole Davis notched his first OHL hat-trick and finished with four points. Liam Greentree scored twice with Noah Morneau, Ryan Abraham, rookie J.C. Lemieux, Ilya Protas and Jack Nesbitt adding single goals. On Saturday, Costanzo recorded his league-leading 21st win while collecting his fourth career shutout. “I think we did a really good job limiting chances early,” said Costanzo, who lowered his goals-against average to 2.29 while improving his save percentage to .917. “The boys let me settle into the game and I’m confident in myself and in the team.” Davis and Greentree had Windsor up 2-0 after the first period with defencemen Adrian Manzo, who scored his first OHL gaol, and Carson Woodall adding second-period goals. However, the club saw rookie forward Ethan Belchetz suspended by the league for a head checking major in the third period. “I think the break helped us get our legs back,” Costanzo said. “We had a good day of practice Friday and we established a goal Saturday that we were going to come out hard to play against in the first.” The Spitfires return to action on Tuesday against the Flint Firebirds at the WFCU Centre. Game time is 2:05 p.m. 1. Sault Ste. Marie, Charron 4 (Andrew, Muxow) 13:12, 2. Windsor, Abraham 12 (Davis, Walton) 19:37. Cloutier S (slashing) 7:28. 2. Sault Ste. Marie, Hayes 10 (Gillen) 9:37, 4. Windsor, Lemieux 6 (Greentree, Garden) 15:36, 5. Windsor, Davis 13 (Morneau, Abraham) 15:59, 6. Windsor, Morneau 12 (Nesbitt, Cristoforo) 18:30 (pp), 7. Windsor, Greentree 23 (Garden, Protas) 19:55. Solomon S (cross checking) 10:35, Mignosa S (high sticking) 16:50. 8. Windsor, Nesbitt 14 (unassisted) 3:05, 9. Sault Ste. Marie, Cloutier 18 (Reid) 4:00, 10. Windsor, Protas 20 (Spellacy) 6:45, 11. Sault Ste. Marie, Mignosa 14 (Allard, Reid) 7:48, 12. Sault Ste. Marie, Solomon 2 (Andrew, Muxlow) 8:26, 13. Sault Ste. Marie, Allard 5 (Cloutier) 14:45, 14. Windsor, Greentree 24 (Protas) 17:40, 15. Windsor, Davis 14 (unassisted) 17:58, 16. Windsor, Davis 15 (Hicks) 19:40 (en). P Greentree W (unsportsmanlike conduct), Hayes S (unsportsmanlike conduct) 3:05, Martin W (roughing) 12:14, Spellacy W (unsportsmanlike conduct), Cloutier S (unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:58, Vellaris S (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:40. Windsor 9 11 10 – 30 Sault Ste. Marie 11 9 18 – 38 Windsor: Windbiel (W,1-0-0-0) (38-32). Sault Ste. Marie: Miller (L,7-10-0-0) (29-20). Windsor 1-3. Sault Ste. Marie 0-1. Darcy Burchell and Brendan Kane. Marcus Policicchio and Michael Quesnele. 4,502 at GFL Memorial Gardens. 1. Windsor, Davis 12 (Protas) 4:05, 2. Windsor, Greentree 2 (Protas, Belchetz) 9:54. None. 3. Windsor, Manzo 1 (Abraham, Nesbitt) 14:46, 4. Windsor, Woodall 2 (Abraham, Davis) 17:21. Greentree W (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), Reid S (boarding, roughing) 8:03, Solomon S (roughing) 8:52, Eichler W (cross checking) 11:11. No scoring. Belchetz W (head checking major, game misconduct) :31, Cristoforo W (unsportsmanlike conduct) :45, Nesbitt W (instigator, fighting, misconduct), Carlisle S (fighting) 5:26, Muxlow S (too man men) 8:05, Martin W (roughing), Gillen S (roughing) 9:01, Lemieux W (unsportsmanlike conduct), Cloutier S (cross checking) 9:52, Muxlow S (high sticking) 13:56, Hicks W (unsportsmanlike conduct), Cloutier S (unsportsmanlike conduct) 14:37, Winegard W (roughing) 15:45, Hilton S (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct) 18:19. Windsor 14 15 11 – 40 Sault Ste. Marie 3 8 9 – 20 Windsor: Costanzo (W,21-5-1-1) (20-20). Sault Ste. Marie: Schenkel (L,8-10-0-0) (40-36). Windsor 0-4. Sault Ste. Marie 0-4. Darcy Burchell and Brendan Kane. Joshua Houslander and Corey Jackson. 4,610 at GFL Memorial Gardens.Punjab presents slew of demands to boost infra at pre-budget meeting with Sitharaman
As co-founder of Overnight Success , I’ve written over 100,000 words about Aussie startups in the last two and a half years. On reflection, only a select few have stuck with me — so much so that I could confidently recount their stories around a campfire with my mates. These startups share a few key elements that make their stories genuinely memorable. These startup stories aren’t just polished press releases; they’re crafted yarns that hit specific notes from the ancient craft of storytelling that anyone around a campfire wants to hear , and they’re built with a few common elements. Jeopardy! The startups that stick with me have created a sense of jeopardy. There needs to be something at stake. An easy question to ask yourself is, what is at stake if your startup doesn’t succeed? If you’re a climatetech, paint me the picture of the world without your solution. If you’re building a solution for small businesses, teach me about the fate of SMEs that don’t use your product. It’s this tension — this what if — that makes their journey compelling. Around a campfire, no one listens if there’s no risk involved. David meets Goliath If you’re building a startup looking to secure venture capital investment, you should have pretty big aspirations. These aspirations will probably disrupt a big industry, impacting many people’s lives or work. Establish your David versus Goliath underdog story and give your audience a reason to back you. Everyone loves an underdog, and as a startup, you’ll always be the underdog. Let the audience know about your Goliath, why we should dislike them and how you’re taking them down. Epic decisions or reality-changing moves The founders of the most memorable startups did something epic or life-altering to be where they are now. Maybe they quit their safe corporate job, sold their car to fund their business , or had a personal life-changing inflection point that made them realise their mission. If you listen to enough episodes of How I Built This by Guy Raz, you can often identify this exact moment just before an ad break. These decisions create inflection points in a narrative. They close Act One and launch Act Two, and around a campfire, inflection points are when people lean in. Easter eggs If there’s one thing I’ve learned since childhood — whether from my three years working in childcare or my childhood playing video games — it’s that everyone loves discovering an Easter egg . When a new startup announces a raise, highly invested readers will want to learn more. They’ll do their due diligence by looking at what else you’ve published or your startup’s website. It’s a great feeling when there is a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. Perhaps a personal story about what the raise means to them, arching back to the personal jeopardy they’ve risked. Easter eggs like these make readers feel they’ve discovered something intimate about you. Actions like this build empathy, feel authentic and turn casual readers into supporters waving your flag. Clarity and simplicity Finally, the best startup stories are the ones I can retell effortlessly. The founders arm you with the ability to explain what they do in a way that makes sense — no jargon, no buzzwords. If I can’t summarise a startup’s purpose or how it works in a few lines, it’s not a campfire yarn worth sharing. The startups that nail this are the ones everyone talks about most, because we understand them. In a crowded media landscape, the startups that stay with you aren’t just the ones with the most impressive numbers or most significant raises. The startups that sit with you told a story worth sharing around a campfire. These stories make you believe something is at stake, where the founders made life-altering decisions, and where the mission is so clear that anyone can understand it and pass it on effortlessly. These stories resonate long after the initial pitch or headline, the ones I’ll find myself talking about with friends years from now. If your startup can pass the campfire test, you’ll build more than just a business. You will be creating a story that people can’t help but share. Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn .Newly discovered fossils matched up with a mysterious “alien plant” species found in 1969 and brought it to clearer life. It’s even stranger than scientists initially thought it was. Researchers first gathered the fossil 55 years ago in a rich fossil bed near the ghost town of Rainbow, Utah. They named the leaves, as the fossil left them nothing else, Othniophyton elongatum , or “alien plant.” Though the fossil didn’t provide researchers with a clear snapshot, they thought it might belong to the ginseng family. Many years later, Steven Manchester from the Florida Museum proved otherwise. He came across an “unidentified and unusually well-preserved plant fossil” at the University of California, Berkeley. He demonstrated that two fossils belonged to the same plant adorned with “unusual flowers and fruits.” With the assistance of the latest technology, the new example in a pristine state of preservation is not only illuminating the 55-year-old mystery surrounding an ancient unidentified plant but revealing that there’s “more diversity in the fossil record of flowering plants than previously recognized.” Two fossils, one plant The two fossils came from the same location in Utah: the Green River Formation. Tectonically active 47 million years ago, a massive inlake system captured an assortment of fish, reptiles, birds, and plants in exquisite detail. In the case of the original sample, researchers only had leaves to work with, leaving them limited in their ability to assess what it looked like. The new fossil sample provided a fuller portrait of the enigmatic plant. The leaves were attached to a unique specimen, as per a recent statement from the Florida Museum. It was not a single leaf made up of smaller leaflets but covered in flowers and berries. “This fossil is rare in having the twig with attached fruits and leaves. Usually those are found separately,” Manchester said in a statement. After identifying that the two fossils belonged to the same plant , they could establish that the plant wasn’t a ginseng. But then, what was it? Instead of lumping the plant into a known family, which happens in paleobotany, researchers explained, they went the extra distance to ensure its classification was correct. Generally, in paleobotany, extinct plants that existed less than 65 million years ago are often placed within modern genera. Without finding any links to any existing species, researchers put the fossil aside for some years, riddled with more questions than answers. A plant with an unusual anatomy illuminating ancient biodiversity A stroke of luck graced the Florida Museum when a new curator of artificial intelligence equipped researchers with state-of-the-art technology. They could study the fossil in closer, richer detail. They even noticed seeds . “Normally, we don’t expect to see that preserved in these types of fossils, but maybe we’ve been overlooking it because our equipment didn’t pick up that kind of topographic relief,” Manchester said. The new plant species possessed a striking anatomy such as the retention of its stamens, or the male reproductive organs of the flower. Normally, they “fall away as the fruit develops,” as Manchester said. “And this thing seems unusual in that it’s retaining the stamens at the time it has mature fruits with seeds ready to disperse. We haven’t seen that in anything modern.” The plant has neither modern nor extinct relatives, making the “alien” the only example ever seen of its kind. “It’s unclear how much diversity in this mysterious extinct group has lost to time,” a statement concludes . But interestingly enough, the research from 1969 might lead to the discovery of more extinct groups. The planet’s ancient ecosystem might have been brimming over with a richer assortment of plant life than scientists ever thought. The article was published in the journal Annals of Botany.