2021 NFL season, Week 4: What we learned from Bengals' win over Jaguars on Thursday night - NFL.com

Cincinnati Bengals

2021 · 3-1-0

24-21

Jacksonville Jaguars

2021 · 0-4-0

FULL BOX SCORE

1. Burrow leads comeback. Joe Burrow showed a lot of poise in leading a come-from-behind win. He didn’t play badly in the first half, yet the Bengals had a zero on the scoreboard entering the break thanks to a missed field goal and a lot of possession time for the Jacksonville offense. But Burrow came out on fire in the second half, and led a scoring drive on all four of Cincinnati’s second-half possessions. He had rock-solid pass protection for the second week in a row; according to Next Gen Stats, his average time to throw (2.73 seconds) was a quarter-second longer than it was in Weeks 1-3. The result: 17 completions on 20 second-half attempts.
2. Big strides for Lawrence. This was by far Trevor Lawrence’s best game for Jacksonville. Aside from curing the turnover bug that spoiled his first three outings, he frustrated the Bengals defense through the air and on the ground. He took more easy completions underneath coverage, was a perfect 7-for-7 on play-action throws, and threw the ball away when needed. He ran the ball more effectively than the box score will credit him with (36 yards), moving the chains with option keepers to keep drives alive. He also was operating without one of his top targets in WR D.J. Chark, who exited on the opening drive with an injury.
3. Uzomah comes up huge. Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah. The former fifth-round pick didn’t catch a ball before halftime, but proved to be Jacksonville’s undoing with five catches for a career-high 95 yards and two touchdowns thereafter. Burrow hurt Jacksonville on play-action rollouts, including on Uzomah’s first touchdown, and the tight end did plenty of damage on the game-winning drive, as well: a first-down catch to the Jaguars 43, and a 25-yard reception on a 2nd-and-14 play that put the Bengals in field-goal range.
4. Seismic momentum shift. There’s no overstating how much momentum the Bengals were able to seize in just a few minutes on each side of halftime. Were it not for their fourth-down stop on their 1-yard line before the half, the Jaguars’ would-be 21-0 lead might’ve led to a different outcome. Instead, Cincinnati took a much more manageable 14-0 deficit into the locker room, then emerged for a quick TD drive to open the second half, followed by a three-and-out defensive series. By then, the home crowd had been rejuvenated, and the game slowly slipped away from Jacksonville, as the Bengals snapped a 20-game losing streak when trailing by 14 or more points, per NFL Research.
5. Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson. The Jaguars coaching staff has gotten Jaguars running back James Robinson progressively more carries each game this season -- just five in Week 1, then 11, 15, and finally 18 on Thursday night. It’s no accident that the Jacksonville offense has, in turn, gotten progressively more efficient. Forcing Cincinnati to respect Robinson on Thursday night is the reason the option-keeper was open for Lawrence, not to mention some nice play-action passes. Robinson finished 18 for 78 on the ground with two touchdowns; he’ll need to be central to whatever progress the Jaguars make offensively going forward.

Next Gen stat of the night: With a 14-0 lead and possession on the Cincinnati 1-yard line near the end of the first half, the Jaguars’ win probability peaked at 86%.

NFL Research: Urban Meyer’s 0-4 start in Jacksonville marks a first for him as a head coach -- his longest losing streak at the college level was three games while at Florida.

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China gorges on American grain-fed beef amid shrinking supplies from Down Under - Reuters

BEIJING/CHICAGO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - As Australian beef exports to China wither amid diplomatic tensions, demand there for U.S. grain-fed beef has soared, fuelled by the appetites of a growing Chinese middle class.

Hotpot restaurants, Japanese barbecue chains and steakhouses, all expanding in the world's No. 2 economy, are swapping out Australian beef for U.S. meat. Several Australian suppliers were banned last year and shipments from others take too long to clear customs.

Beef imports from the U.S. have grown to 83,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, nine times the amount in the same period a year ago, according to Chinese customs data, and are set to be worth more than $1 billion this year. Australia also fell behind the United States this year as the top exporter of grain-fed beef to China.

"They don't have a lot of other options when it comes to the well-marbled, grain-fed product," said Joe Schuele, spokesman at the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). "That's the product that really stands out in China."

Deteriorating relations between Beijing and Canberra have hurt supplies from Australia. Five of its largest factories were suspended by Beijing last year for reasons such as poor labelling and contamination with a banned substance.

Though other plants are still allowed to ship to China, importers say they face long delays.

Beef imports from Australia in the first eight months fell to 96,000 tonnes, half of what they were in the same period last year, China customs data shows.

"We've been told it will take at least 85 days to clear," said a Beijing-based importer who has six containers of frozen Australian beef stuck in Shanghai port and has begun offering Tyson beef to his restaurant clients.

That compares with about one week for meat from other origins. China's General Administration of Customs did not respond to a request for comment.

Sino-Australian ties have been strained since 2018 and worsened last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, prompting trade reprisals from China.

GRAIN-FED DEMAND

Grass-fed beef, a premium product in other markets, typically goes to cheaper channels in China, such as mass-market restaurants and supermarkets.

Last year imports accounted for 40% of China's beef consumption, or about 2 million tonnes. Though supplies are dominated by low-cost grass-fed producers Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, demand from mass-market consumers is slowing amid a weaker economy.

China's mid- to high-end market - where grain-fed rules - continues to grow, however, as consumers "trade up, eat better", said Pan Chenjun, senior analyst at Rabobank.

China's middle class spent $7.3 trillion in 2020, more than any other country's, according to a report by U.S. research group Brookings, and is still growing, with young people accounting for more spending than in other countries.

New York chain Wolfgang's Steakhouse, which has two restaurants in Beijing, opened another in the southern city of Shenzhen this year and has plans for a fourth in Hangzhou.

The restaurant flies in chilled U.S. beef before ageing it. Its 800g rib-eyes cost $150 apiece.

"Young people like meat, especially 20- and 30-year-olds who come here on dates," said Glen Feng, manager of the Beijing outlets.

Reuters Graphics

TRADE TIES

Even as China's beef demand has surged in recent years, driven by a growing middle class, politics have reshuffled the country's top importers.

Domestic production costs, meanwhile, make local supplies of grain-fed beef erratic, said Zhong Dingming, the manager of Jingli hotpot restaurant in Beijing. He said imported beef like the Tyson (TSN.N) short ribs he buys offers better quality for a slightly higher price.

In last year's Phase 1 trade deal between Beijing and Washington, China agreed that U.S.-approved processing plants could access its market without Chinese inspections.

The number of facilities allowed to ship to China has jumped to more than 500.

TREX Corp, a U.S. meat exporter owned by Greater Omaha Packing Co, is buying meat from other packers to ship to China as demand climbs, said Henry Davis, chief executive of Greater Omaha.

In China, USMEF has doubled the number of training events teaching local chefs how best to cut and slice, said Joel Haggard, senior vice president for the Asia Pacific.

Reuters Graphics

Shanghai-based retailer Swiss Butchery said it had stocked up on American beef as Australian supplies became less reliable. The store now sells American wagyu for 1,430 yuan ($221.87)per kilogramme, on occasion selling 10 kilogrammes at a time, said general manager Jaap Zuidervliet.

U.S. beef that meets China's import standards is in tight supply and the European Union is competing to buy the same meat, said Omaha's Davis.

And though Australia's beef exporters have turned to Japan and South Korea, a well-established reputation means customers in China could quickly return if things change.

"Australian beef still has a reputation for top quality and being natural. Long-term we're still really bullish on China," said Andrew Cox, general manager of international markets at trade body Meat and Livestock Australia.

($1 = 6.4452 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Dominique Patton in Beijing and Tom Polansek in Chicago. Editing by Gerry Doyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Number of unvaccinated United staff drops from 593 to 320 after airline said it would fire them - CNBC

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A United Airlines airplane takes off at San Francisco International Airport.

Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

United Airlines said Thursday that more employees have uploaded proof of a Covid-19 vaccination, driving down the number of staff facing termination for not complying with the company's inoculation mandate by almost half.

The Chicago-based airline started the process of firing 593 workers as of Tuesday, though final separation takes weeks. More employees this week uploaded their cards, and by Thursday, just 320 employees hadn't done so.

United has the strictest vaccine mandate policy of any U.S. airline. In August, the company told its 67,000 U.S. employees that they must be vaccinated against Covid-19 this fall to continue working there. Some 2,000 United employees have sought exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

"Our vaccine policy continues to prove requirements work — in less than 48 hours, the number of unvaccinated employees who began the process of being separated from the company has been cut almost in half, dropping from 593 to 320," United said in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, Tyson Foods, which also mandates vaccines, said more than 90% of its 120,000-person workforce has been vaccinated against Covid.

Increasingly, large U.S. companies are implementing Covid vaccine mandates for at least some workers.

Most airlines have opted to encourage, but not require, staff be vaccinated but have told staff that the Biden administration's plan to mandate vaccines for large companies could change that.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly has said he does not believe the company should mandate vaccines but warned employees this week that federal mandates could require staff to be vaccinated.

"So we at Southwest Airlines may be compelled by federal law to require Employees to be vaccinated, and we will be prepared for that," Kelly told staff on Wednesday.

Kelly, however, said vaccines could end the pandemic. The airline earlier this month joined other carriers in offering extra pay for staff who get vaccinated and share their status with the company.

"This pandemic has to be defeated or we will never get back to normal and achieve prosperity," he said. "We are still losing money. We risk job security. We risk pay raises."

Frontier Airlines' CEO Barry Biffle told employees this week that the carrier will postpone its plan to require that unvaccinated employees regularly test for Covid-19 starting next month. Instead, the Denver-based airline will wait for federal guidelines on vaccination and testing requirements for large companies.

"Once it has been issued, we will assess whether any adjustments need to be made to our plan," he said in a staff note.

Biffle said the "majority" of Frontier's 5,400 employees are vaccinated but the company didn't immediately provide a percentage.

— CNBC's Amelia Lucas contributed to this article.

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Facebook Whistleblower Isn't Protected From Possible Company Retaliation, Experts Say - NPR

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Scott Pelley of CBS is set to interview a Facebook whistleblower on 60 Minutes on Sunday, revealing for the first time the ex-employee's identity. CBS

CBS

A Facebook whistleblower who provided tens of thousands of internal documents to federal regulators that reportedly show that the company lied about its ability to combat hate, violence and misinformation on its platform is set to reveal her identity in a nationally broadcast interview Sunday on CBS.

The same ex-Facebook employee plans to testify Tuesday before Congress about the company "turning a blind eye" to harm caused by its products, including the impact on teens' mental health.

As the public anticipates hearing directly from the whistleblower, who is believed to have provided the Wall Street Journal with documents as part of its Facebook Files series, a question is stirring debate: Will Facebook retaliate?

The prospect was put in sharp focus on Thursday.

Facebook executive Antigone Davis was asked in a Senate hearing about possible reprisal, and Davis said the company will not retaliate against the whistleblower for addressing Congress.

That was an incomplete response that left many wondering what she was leaving on the table.

"There's a pretty significant omission there that you can drive a truck through," said Eric Havian, a San Francisco lawyer who represents whistleblowers. "They are certainly leaving themselves open to going after this person for exposing confidential information to the news media."

While federal whistleblower protections can provide a shield when a current or former employee cooperates with regulators or lawmakers to expose wrongdoing or a cover up, obtaining confidential corporate records and sharing them with the press is legally precarious, potentially opening the individual up to legal action from Facebook, according to three whistleblower lawyers who spoke to NPR.

"Problems do arise when you take information and provide it to the press," said Lisa Banks, a longtime Washington whistleblower lawyer. "That's where you can get in trouble with their employer or the law."

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment. Lawyer Andrew Bakaj, who represents the Facebook whistleblower, also declined to comment.

Whistleblower lawyers not involved with the Facebook case said the company could pursue a breach of contract suit if the ex-employee signed a nondisclosure agreement, a type of contract that is common in Silicon Valley.

A defamation suit in connection with the disclosure of the documents is also possible, even breach of fiduciary duty, if the whistleblower was in an executive position, according to the legal experts.

"Corporations have rights and interests," said Gregory Keating, who represents employers in whistleblower suits. "There appeared to be attorney-client priviledged documents in what was shared with the press," he said. "That's not something you can just disclose willy-nilly."

In recent weeks, Facebook has been reportedly clamping down on internal leaks and attempting to determine the source of disclosures to the media that result in coverage that is damaging to the company.

At the same time, taking aim at a former employee who turned to regulators and the media to reveal secrets that Facebook strenuously attempted to keep under wraps would be bad for its public image, according to the whistleblower attorneys, who noted that Facebook is also on the defensive from being under regulatory pressure in Washington.

"Her greatest protections are actually non-legal," said lawyer Havian of the Facebook whistleblower. "Simply that Facebook is trying really hard to present itself as a good citizen, and it doesn't burnish that image when you go after people who do nothing more than reveal the truth of what's going on at the company."

Banks, the Washington lawyer, agreed.

"As a matter of optics, it could be disastrous for Facebook," she said. "But they seem not to care about that, and they are not very adept at avoiding disastrous optics."

Some of the documents obtained by the whistleblower were reportedly shared with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress, in addition to being provided to the Journal.

Havian, the whistleblower attorney who represents companies, said going to the SEC is the safest course for someone looking to expose a corporation through confidential material. But he said the lack of legal protections around providing the media with such documents puts whistleblowers who work with the press in a dicey situation.

"Facebook could pursue legal action and say, 'We don't have a problem with you going to a government agency, but going to the national press is a violation of an agreement you signed,' " Havian said.

Most whistleblowers, Banks said, are keenly aware of the inherent risks of speaking out or sharing documents with the goal of bringing about more transparency or prompting change.

"That's why," she said. "Whistleblowers are extraordinary brave."

Editor's note: Facebook is among NPR's financial supporters.

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Bengals vs. Jaguars live score, updates, highlights from NFL 'Thursday Night Football' game - Sporting News

The leaders of the AFC North take on the losers of the AFC South on "Thursday Night Football" this week with the Bengals (2-1) as 7.5-point favorites over the Jaguars (0-3).

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will compete against his former coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer, who now leads the Jaguars. This will also be the first matchup in the NFL between the 2020 first round pick (Burrow) and the 2021 first round pick (Trevor Lawrence).

MORE: Trevor Lawrence vs. Joe Burrow behind the numbers

The Jaguars defense will be challenged stopping Bengals running back Joe Mixon. He ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards (286) and sixth in scrimmage yards (315). In their Week 3 matchup against the Steelers, Mixon piled up 90 yards on 18 carries. The Jaguars have allowed five touchdowns to their opposing running backs this season, the second most in the league. 

In his first three games in the NFL, Lawrence has only thrown five touchdowns with seven interceptions. It’s been a struggle for the rookie quarterback so far this year with turnovers.

Sporting News is tracking live updates and highlights from the Bengals vs. Jaguars game on "Thursday Night Football." Follow along below for the key moments from the Week 3 matchup.

MORE: Watch Bengals vs. Jaguars live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)

Bengals vs. Jaguars score

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	F
Bengals	0	0	—	—	—
Jaguars	7	14	—	—	—

Bengals vs. Jaguars live updates, highlights from 'Thursday Night Football'

(All times Eastern)

Bengals 14, Jaguars 14

10:26 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN, BENGALS. Mixon rushes it in for a touchdown, tying the game. 

10:20 p.m. — Burrow rushes in for an attempted touchdown, but it goes under review and is called back. The Bengals are now at third down and goal.

10:19 p.m. — Mixon rushes for the touchdown attempt, but is about half a yard short of the endzone.

10:19 p.m. — Boyd catches an 11-yard pass to put the Bengals at a first and goal attempt.

10:16 p.m. — Mixon completes another first down for the Bengals to end on the Jaguars 25-yard line.

10:15 p.m. — Boyd makes a 12-yard completion for a first down. This is followed by the Bengals first timeout with 9:14 remaining in the third quarter.

10:13 p.m. — Burrow throws to Trenton Irwin for a 25-yard completion and another first down. The Bengals are now in Jaguars territory.

10:12 p.m. — Joe Mixon rushes for a Bengals first down.

10:07 p.m. — The Jaguars have no answer for the Bengals as they go three and out on their opening drive of the second half.

Jaguars 14, Bengals 7

10:01 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN, BENGALS. C.J. Uzomah scores the first touchdown for the Bengals with a 22-yard completion.

10:00 p.m. — Chase runs to the Jaguars 25-yard line for a 44-yard gain.

9:58 p.m. — Darius Phillips returns the ball to the Benglas 31 to start off the half.

End of second quarter: Jaguars 14, Bengals 0

9:38 p.m. — Lawrence attempts to rush the ball in for a touchdown, but is short on fourth down and goal. The Bengals get the ball back with 53 seconds left.

9:36 p.m. — Shenault is down within a yard of the endzone, but the Jaguars move to fourth down. This results in another Jaguars timeout.

9:35 p.m. — The Jaguars take their second timeout before their third and goal attempt.

9:30 p.m. — Shenault catches Lawrence's longest completion of his career, as the Jaguars advance 50 yards to end on the Bengals 12-yard line. It's a hot start for the 0-3 team.

9:28 p.m. — The Bengals go three and out again after not gaining more than eight yards on the drive.

Jaguars 14, Bengals 0

9:22 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN, JAGUARS. Lawrence rushes in for his first touchdown of his NFL career. The kick is good, as the Jaguars go up 14.

9:20 p.m. — Lawrence rushes for another first down on a third down. He has 19 rush yards so far.

9:18 p.m. — Robinson rushes 20 yards for another Jaguars first down. He has 64 yards so far this game.

9:17 p.m. — Lawrence rushes in a first down for a five yard gain on third down. They end up on their 45-yard line.

9:12 p.m. — Dan Arnold completes a first down to end on the Jaguars 32-yard line.

9:12 p.m. — Chark Jr. is officially out for the rest of the game after an ankle injury.

#Jaguars WR DJ Chark suffered a fractured ankle, source said. Out indefinitely. Just a brutal injury for one of Jacksonville’s best players.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 1, 2021

9:09 p.m. — The Bengals lose the ball again and lose the ball with no scoring luck.

9:07 p.m. — The Jaguars Adam Gotsis sacks Burrow for the Jaguars' sixth sack of the season. There's a loss of six yards.

9:06 p.m. — Boyd completes a 21-yard first down.

End of first quarter: Jaguars 7, Bengals 0

8:56 p.m. — A quick failed drive for the Bengals after they don't get a first down.

Jaguars 7, Bengals 0

8:50 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN, JAGUARS. Robinson rushes for the first touchdown of the game. After the kick is good, Jaguars take the lead at 7-0 with 1:28 left.

8:49 p.m. — Another first down after James Robinson rushes to the 23-yard line.

8:48 p.m. — On second down, Lawrence runs the ball to get a first down and ends on the Bengals 35-yard line.

8:47 p.m. — The Jaguars open their drive with two back-to-back first downs with a total gain of 19 yards.

8:43 p.m. — The Bengals field goal atempt is no good. No scoring on the first drives from both teams.

Evan McPherson is human. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him miss a field goal, including training camp.

After the miss from 43 yards, the Bengals turn the ball over.

— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) October 1, 2021

8:41 p.m. — Chase is flagged for pass interference on a possible first down play.

8:39 p.m. — Auden Tate catches the ball for an 18 yard gain to get to the Jacksonville 27.

8:38 p.m. — Another first down for the Bengals after Joe Burrow throws to Ja'Marr Chase to make it to Jaguars territory.

8:36 p.m. — Tyler Boyd gets a Bengals first down as he runs to their 42-yard line.

8:32 p.m. — Jaguars aren't successful in their first drive, so the Bengals get the ball.

8:29 p.m. — Jaguars take their first timeout after they get their second first down of this drive.

8:25 p.m. — Wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. remains on the ground after second down. Any injuries are unknown, but he is carted off the field.

8:24 p.m. — Trevor Lawrence throws to Laviska Shenault Jr. for a rushing first down to open the game.

8:23 p.m. — The Jaguars receive the ball first as the game commences.

How to watch Bengals vs. Jaguars

• Time: Thursday, Sept. 30 at 8:20 p.m. ET
• TV channels: NFL Network
• Live streams: NFL Network, fuboTV

Bengals vs. Jaguars is scheduled to kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on Thursday night. The game will be broadcast exclusively on NFL Network with Fox Sports announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call and Erin Andrews and Kristina Pink on the sidelines.

You can also stream "Thursday Night Football" live online with fuboTV, which offers a free seven-day trial.

'Thursday Night Football' schedule 2021

Week	Date	Matchup	TV channel
5	Oct. 7	Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
6	Oct. 14	Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers	NFL Network
7	Oct. 21	Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
8	Oct. 28	Arizona Cardinals vs. Green Bay Packers	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
9	Nov. 4	Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Jets	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
10	Nov. 11	Miami Dolphins vs. Baltimore Ravens	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
11	Nov. 18	Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
12	Nov. 25	New Orleans Saints vs. Buffalo Bills	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
13	Dec. 2	New Orleans Saints vs. Dallas Cowboys	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
14	Dec. 9	Minnesota Vikings vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
15	Dec. 16	Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
16	Dec. 23	Tennessee Titans vs. San Francisco 49ers	NFL Network
16	Dec. 25 (Sat.)	Green Bay Packers vs. Cleveland Browns	Fox, NFLN, Amazon
16	Dec. 25 (Sat.)	Arizona Cardinals vs. Indianapolis Colts	NFL Network

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Solar supply squeeze frustrates New Mexico's move away from coal - Reuters

Rows of solar panels at the Toms River Solar Farm which was built on an EPA Superfund site in Toms River, New Jersey, U.S., 26 May, 2021. Picture taken May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Dane Rhys/File Photo/File Photo

Sept 30 (Reuters) - A global solar panel supply bottleneck is frustrating plans to abandon an aging coal-fired power plant in New Mexico next year and raising concerns the state may be unable to keep the lights on as it weans its electricity sector from fossil fuels.

New Mexico's biggest utility warned state regulators this week that a large planned solar project will not be fully operational until a year after expected retirement of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station. Earlier this year, the utility flagged other solar capacity delays.

This has prompted questions from state officials about whether the coal plant might need to keep operating beyond its scheduled retirement date of June 2022.

Public Service Company of New Mexico plans to close the 847-megawatt San Juan plant, the state's second-biggest source of pollution and greenhouse gases. It has pledged to source electricity from only carbon-free sources by 2040, while New Mexico has a state mandate to phase out fossil fuels in power production by 2045.

But this year, PNM officials began warning the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission of delays faced by three solar projects meant to help replace the coal plant. It cited supply constraints stemming from the pandemic.

On Wednesday, PNM said the developer of the 200 MW San Juan Solar project had notified it on Sept. 24 of further delays. The project will not be fully online until April of 2023, the utility said in a regulatory filing.

Photosol US Renewable Energy, which is developing the project with Clearway Energy (CWENa.N), would not comment.

Two other solar projects, with a combined capacity of 400 MW, are also held up.

In April, 8minute Solar Energy told PNM its planned 100 megawatt Rockmont project could not meet the June 2022 timeline promised in its contract with the utility. PNM said it planned for a 12-month delay.

The 300 MW Arroyo Solar facility, which developer D.E. Shaw acquired from Centaurus Renewable Energy in August, will be fully operating by the end of 2022.

The delays mean the utility would be operating with a 5% reserve margin during peak summer demand season, it told regulators in July. The reserve margin is the difference between total generation available and forecast peak demand. One PRC commissioner said at a Wednesday meeting that the margin ideally should be around 18%.

When asked by the PRC in July about the possibility of extending the life of the San Juan coal plant, PNM said the utility would not rule out any options.

PNM did not respond to a question from Reuters about whether it was considering extending the life of the coal plant.

Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Senators Blast Facebook For Concealing Instagram's Risks To Kids - NPR

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Antigone Davis, Facebook's global head of safety, testifies remotely Thursday before a Senate subcommittee following leaks of internal research showing the company knows the harm its apps cause young people. Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

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If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 (en español: 888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Senators accused Facebook on Thursday of concealing and ignoring the ills its apps, including Instagram, pose to children and teens amid a widening outcry over revelations from internal research leaked by a whistleblower.

"We now know that Facebook routinely puts profits ahead of kids' online safety. We know it chooses the growth of its products over the well-being of our children," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. "The question that haunts me is how can we, or parents, or anyone trust Facebook?"

His fellow Democrat, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, compared Facebook to "Big Tobacco: pushing a product they know is harmful to the health of young people, pushing it to them early, all so Facebook can make money."

Fielding their questions was Antigone Davis, the social media giant's global head of safety. She testified remotely before the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection and got a bipartisan grilling over what the company knew, and when, about Instagram's effects on teenagers' mental health.

Republicans also slammed the company for not doing more to address the many risks identified by its own researchers and employees and exposed in a Wall Street Journal series.

"This is your company's reporting. You knew this was there. You knew it was there, but you didn't do anything about it," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the subcommittee's ranking member, referring to internal documents about the prevalence of sex trafficking on Facebook.

On Monday, the company announced it was "pausing" work on Instagram Kids, a platform intended for users under 13. That was not enough, the lawmakers told Davis at the hearing. They pressed her to commit Facebook to broader changes, including making its research public and agreeing not to launch any products for children under 13 with features that quantify popularity such as "likes" and follower counts. They also called for new regulations on privacy and protecting children's safety online.

Facebook vows not to retaliate against whistleblower for Senate appearance

Criticism of Facebook has escalated in recent weeks since The Wall Street Journal published a series of articles based on a trove of internal research and communications leaked by a company whistleblower.

Among the findings: One in three teenage girls said Instagram makes their body image issues worse. A small number of teens even traced their suicidal thoughts directly to the app.

On Thursday, Davis said that "we strongly disagree with how this reporting characterized our work" and that the research "showed that many teens say that Instagram is helping them with hard issues that are so common to being a teen."

She said Facebook takes "the privacy, safety and well-being of all those who use our platform very seriously, especially the youngest people on our services." The company conducts this sort of research, she said, "to make our platform better, to minimize the bad and maximize the good, and to proactively identify where we can improve."

Facebook made some of the research about Instagram and teens public late Wednesday, with heavy annotations that downplayed and cast doubt on some of the findings. Senators on Thursday accused the company of "cherry-picking" its data.

Davis said Facebook is working to release more documents, with appropriate protections for privacy. But she also dismissed their impact, saying, "I want to be clear: This research is not a bombshell."

"I beg to differ with you, Ms. Davis. This research is a bombshell," Blumenthal retorted. "It is powerful, gripping, riveting evidence that Facebook knows of the harmful effects of its site on children and that it has concealed those facts and findings."

The same subcommittee is slated to hear on Tuesday from a Facebook whistleblower who has turned over documents to Congress, Blumenthal said. He pressed Davis to commit that Facebook will not pursue legal action against the whistleblower.

"We've committed to not retaliating for this individual speaking to the Senate," she said.

As Facebook defends work on tweens, Zuckerberg hopes to change subject to the metaverse

Even as Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged Monday that the company would suspend plans to build a version of Instagram for kids ages 10 to 12, he doubled down on Facebook's commitment to the idea.

"I still firmly believe that it's a good thing to build a version of Instagram that's designed to be safe for tweens," he told NBC's Today show.

The aggressive stance the company is taking against the whistleblower's revelations and public criticism illustrate how its strategy in crisis has shifted away from apologizing.

"Facebook's brand is bad, and I think Facebook, you know, would freely admit that," said Katie Harbath, a former public policy director at the company. "But, you know, nobody else is gonna come and defend the company besides themselves."

Facebook doesn't want to just play defense. It also wants to turn the page — to Silicon Valley's latest favorite buzzword: the metaverse. That's an ambitious effort, drawn from science fiction, to move more of what we do every day in the physical world into a shared digital world.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it's Facebook's future.

"In this next chapter of our company, I think we will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company," he told tech journalist Casey Newton this summer.

But critics say, before Facebook creates a new digital world, it needs to fix its current social network.

"They've been able to weather these storms over and over again," said Yael Eisenstat, who worked at Facebook on elections integrity for political advertising in 2018.

"What I think is different this time is that I don't think they're fully understanding that internal employees have questions now."

Editor's note: Facebook is among NPR's financial supporters.

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Britney Spears is on the road to independence. The media should let her take the wheel - NPR

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#FreeBritney activists rally at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles during the Britney Spears conservatorship hearing Wednesday. Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images

Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images

On Wednesday, Britney Spears won a major victory in her fight to reclaim her personal independence and autonomy. Her father, Jamie Spears, was suspended from the conservatorship he initiated 13 years ago and has overseen for much of the time since — a situation that the pop star says her father exploited for his own financial benefit. At the next hearing, scheduled for Nov. 12, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Penny will weigh motions from both sides to terminate the conservatorship altogether.

Even this latest round in the Britney Spears saga has played out far more publicly than the pop star appears to have wanted, though she has often thanked #FreeBritney activists for their support and encouragement. As Wednesday's hearing approached, a small platoon of Britney Spears documentaries were released, and those seem to be drawing her ire.

Some of those projects may ultimately aid her cause, such as the pair of New York Times investigative documentaries that revealed allegations her lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has cited in his court filings. In the most recent one, Controlling Britney Spears, a former cybersecurity specialist on Spears' security team alleges that the security company for which he worked surveilled the pop star at her father's request, installing listening devices in her bedroom at her California home and mirroring all her text and phone communications. According to the documentary, those conversations included ones that Britney Spears had with her sons, boyfriend, mother and legal counsel.

Other documentaries seem more attuned to capitalizing on — and monetizing — this moment. Considering the extent to which her life became grist for the paparazzi, it's understandable that Spears herself seems to be wary of all such projects and of the various filmmakers' intentions. "It's really crazy guys," she wrote earlier this week in an Instagram post filled with emojis. "I watched a little bit of the last documentary and I must say I scratched my head a couple of times !!! I really try to disassociate myself from the drama !!! Number one ... that's the past !!! Number two ... can the dialogue get any classier??? Number three ... wow they used the most beautiful footage of me in the world !!! What can I say .. the EFFORT on their part !!!"

It's unclear exactly which "last" documentary she meant, given how many have been released in the days running up to Wednesday's hearing. Last Friday, FX and Hulu premiered the Times documentary Controlling Britney Spears; on Sunday, CNN released a special called Toxic: Britney Spears' Battle for Freedom; and on Tuesday, Netflix began streaming Britney vs. Spears.

When the first New York Times documentary came out in March, Spears expressed similar sentiments. In an Instagram post that is no longer available, Spears wrote: "My life has always been very speculated [sic] ... watched ... and judged really my whole life !!! ... I didn't watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in ... I cried for two weeks and well .... I still cry sometimes !!!!"

For a woman who has recently written that she grew up "in a world where basically almost everything I did was controlled by someone else," 2021 might well feel like 2007-08 all over again, when her life and personal challenges became the literal livelihood of parasitic paparazzi and "concerned" media.

This time is already different, at least in certain respects: Spears' situation has shone a light on the broader issues of conservatorship, with everyone from disability rights activists to members of Congress eager to use this moment to highlight problems and abuses. Spears' own attorney, Rosengart, evoked that in the press conference he held after Wednesday's hearing, saying: "As important as this matter is to Britney — and it is monumental to Britney, because this is a substantial step toward her freedom ... there's a larger issue here." After all, some 1.3 million Americans are currently in similarly structured legal guardianships and conservatorships, and advocates say that once you've been placed in one, it's very difficult to be extracted.

Moreover, the public has now heard Spears herself objecting to the conservatorship. Her fans around the world have aided in harnessing her fame to help her get what she wants, finally, on her own terms. Would she want to incorporate that into her music and stage shows in the years ahead, if she even returns to that kind of spotlight? Certainly, we now know that Spears wants a lengthy break from work — "I deserve to have a two- to three-year break and just, you know, do what I want to do," she told Judge Penny during her powerful testimony at a June court hearing — and the last thing anyone with ties to Spears should want to do at this juncture would be to dictate what she does next, in terms of career or her personal life.

Spears is a pop queen, not a confessional singer-songwriter: who knows if she would ever explicitly weave recent personal experiences into her art? She is in a singular position, however. There are many wonderful female musicians, pop and otherwise, who have written feminist anthems and narratives about staking a claim to their power. There are far fewer musical projects, however, from women who are one, two, three or more decades down the path of adulthood and career who have publicly addressed re-claiming their power and self-agency, of struggling, enduring, and hopefully eventually triumphing.

Many fans would find that very inspiring—and it would be an opportunity for Spears to finally use her own voice.

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German Police Arrest 96-Year-Old Nazi Suspect Who Tried to Skip Court - The New York Times

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The woman, a former secretary in a concentration camp now facing more than 11,000 counts of accessory to murder, failed to show up for a court appearance on Thursday.

BERLIN — The 96-year-old woman, a former secretary in a concentration camp, was supposed to appear in court to face charges of being an accessory in the deaths of more than 11,000 people, in what may be one of the last Nazi trials in Germany.

But instead of taking a taxi from her assisted living home outside Hamburg to the nearby court, Irmgard Furchner, who was 18 when she started work in 1943 at the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland, headed instead for a nearby subway station, according to the court.

It was not immediately clear where Ms. Furchner, who had previously told journalists and the judge she didn’t want to be part of the trial, was heading, but she was soon apprehended by the police after the court reported her missing. The court, in the town of Itzehoe, said she was undergoing a medical investigation.

Ms. Furchner was indicted in February after a five-year investigation into her work as a secretary to the commander of the Stutthof camp, located near Gdansk, then known as Danzig, between June 1943 and April 1945. The indictment was part of an effort by German prosecutors over the past decade to hold lower-ranking people to account for their actions during the Holocaust.

But they have been racing against the clock to bring aging suspects to court. Last year, a Hamburg court convicted a 93-year-old who was a guard in the same concentration camp on 5,230 counts of being an accessory to murder.

The former Nazi concentration camp Stutthof in July last year.Wojtek Radwanski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Ms. Furchner had written to the judge to ask for a trial in absentia, which is not allowed under German law, and had received a warning that she faced legal consequences if she did not appear in court.

Ms. Furchner was scheduled to hear the charges against her on Thursday morning and get a chance to respond. But the court, which had been moved to a local warehouse to accommodate more spectators and media because of high interest in the case, was kept waiting before the judge ordered the police to find the woman and bring her in.

The court had previously determined that Ms. Furchner would not be able to sit through full days of the legal proceedings because of her advanced age, and had agreed to hold shorter sessions for her, although she was classified as being physically fit enough to stand trial.

The trial turns on the question of how much Ms. Furchner knew about the killings that went on in the camp where she worked. Ms. Furchner had acted as a witness in Nazi trials in postwar Germany, including in one that led to the conviction of the camp’s commander, Paul-Werner Hoppe, who was her direct boss.

The International Auschwitz Committee, a group founded by Auschwitz survivors, condemned the woman’s flight. Christoph Heubner, the group’s executive vice president, said, “This shows an incredible contempt for the rule of law and also for survivors.”

Her next scheduled court date is Oct. 19.

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Biden's Approval Ticks Back Up; Democrats Lead Congressional Ballot - NPR

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President Biden has seen his approval rating tick back up some after last month's low, with 45% now approving and 46% disapproving. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Since the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan a month ago, President Biden's approval rating has recovered some in the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

Last month, just 43% of survey respondents approved of how he was doing his job and a majority — 51% — disapproved. Since then, Biden has gained back some of that, drawing to about even, with 45% approving and 46% disapproving.

"Some of it had to do with the proximity of Afghanistan, and that has sort of faded a little bit and is not as prominent in people's minds," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the poll. Miringoff said Biden appears now to be at "more of a plateau" rather than a continued decline.

The survey of 1,220 adults was conducted from Sept. 20 through Sunday and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points, meaning Biden's approval rating could be about 3 points higher or lower. The 7-point net change in his approval rating from one month to the next is slightly outside the margin of error.

Biden's somewhat-recovered numbers come from registered Democrats and independents. Miringoff noted that Republicans are essentially maxed out in their disapproval of Biden, and that of the 9% of respondents unsure of how they feel about the job the president is doing, many are Democratic-leaning voters.

"There are still some Democrats on the table," he said. "Those are winnable people. If he can get past this current congressional battle, there's the potential some of them could come home."

Democrats on Capitol Hill are currently negotiating with themselves over two massive spending bills. Centrists want the price tag of one bill to come down, while progressives want as much investment as they can get in infrastructure, social spending, climate and other measures while Democrats retain control of Congress.

Americans prefer Democrats to control Congress, but with a big caveat

On the question of which party's candidate people would vote for if next year's elections for Congress were held today, respondents chose Democrats by an 8-point margin, 46% to 38%.

That is the kind of margin Democrats have traditionally needed to do well in congressional elections, given that Democratic voters are typically packed more tightly in districts and Republicans control redistricting in more places in the country.

But Democrats' advantage on the question doesn't necessarily mean it will translate to congressional control, Miringoff noted.

That's because Democrats in the survey have huge leads in the Northeast and the West, where they already have big advantages in congressional seats, he said. But in the Midwest and the South, where a lot of the swing districts are, Republicans lead.

What's also notable is just how much partisanship has taken deep root throughout the country. Just 2% of Democrats and 1% of Republicans said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate of a different party.

All politics now truly appears to be national.

A majority of respondents trust that elections are fair

Voter fraud in this country has been proven repeatedly to be exceedingly small in scale. Despite that, former President Donald Trump and allies continue to spread false claims and make off-base accusations about the integrity of elections.

Those efforts, though, only appear to be convincing people already predisposed to support Trump.

A majority of respondents in the survey — 56% — said they have either a great deal or a good amount of trust that elections in this country are fair. That's actually up slightly from February 2020, before Trump began his conspiratorial election fraud claims.

More than 8 in 10 Democrats and almost 6 in 10 independents said they have trust in U.S. elections, while almost 7 in 10 Republicans said they do not.

Most support Biden's federal vaccination requirements

Some saw Biden's broad federal vaccine requirements as controversial when he unveiled them this month, but a majority of respondents largely agree with them.

Two-thirds said the federal government should require health care workers to be vaccinated, and almost 6 in 10 said the same of executive branch employees. A similar percentage back a vaccine-or-testing requirement for employers with 100 or more workers.

There are partisan divides, of course, but also racial ones. When it comes to the large employer mandate, for example, Latinos are 19 percentage points less likely than Black Americans to support the requirement (57% as compared with 76%). A slight majority of whites — 53% — are also supportive.

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Americans are split — 48% to 46% — however, when it comes to requiring vaccinations to return to work in person.

White women with college degrees are among the most likely to agree, while white evangelical Christians and white men without a college degree are the most likely to say a vaccine for returning to work should not be a requirement.

There's also a generational divide, one that cuts against some preconceived political trends. Even though younger voters are generally more likely to vote Democratic and older voters are more likely to vote Republican, Gen Xers are among the most likely to disagree with such a requirement, while baby boomers and those in the silent generation are among the most likely to say they should be required. The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected older Americans.

Unsurprisingly, Americans said they are stressed. More than a third said they're more stressed today than before the pandemic, while about 4 in 10 said they are equally as stressed as before. Only about 1 in 5 said they are less stressed.

What's notable is who is most stressed. More than 4 in 10 white women without college degrees, who strongly lean toward Republicans, for example, said they are more stressed than before the pandemic.

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