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In the run-up to the annual U.N. climate conference, set to take place in Brazils Amazon in November, the construction of a road is drawing attention, with critics arguing it will lead to environmental degradation. Before the talks, called COP30, the state government of Para is building a 13-kilometer (8-mile) avenue designed to ease traffic on a major highway that runs parallel. The road was planned long before Belem, a metropolitan area of 2.5 million people that sits on the edge of the Amazon, was chosen as conference host. That hasn’t spared it sharp criticism, however, because the road is expected to cut across the last remnants of rainforest in Belem. Road building in the Amazon, which historically has often led to deforestation and development of surrounding areas, also stands in stark contrast to a central aim of climate conferences, and in particular this one: conservation of biodiversity. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has made the slowing of deforestation a central focus of his administration, has frequently boasted that this will be the first such conference in the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon is key to regulating the climate, because trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that heats the planet when released into the atmosphere. We will hold the best COP in history because the topic of all the ones held in other countries was the Amazon,” Lula said while visiting Belem worksites in February. This one will be in the Amazon. An official project map shows a straight line dividing a green area through the citys outskirts. This protected area is slightly larger than Manhattan. It was designated in 1993 to protect two lakes, a river basin and to restore a degraded rainforest. However, its rules allow private properties, government-approved deforestation and public works. Two university campuses are located within its limits. Even with measures to reduce the damage, there are tough issues to address, said Roberta Rodrigues, a professor of architecture at the Federal University of Para. Its hard to imagine a road being built along the banks of the Guama River without it leading to illegal development. It may lead to the end of this protected area.” The project dates back to 2020. Construction began in mid-2024, despite criticism over its impact on one of the citys few remaining green areas. The project drew wider attention in March, when the BBC reported that the avenue was “being built for COP30. As the story was picked up by news outlets around the world, Brazils government issued a statement saying the avenue wasn’t among the 33 infrastructure projects planned for COP30. In a statement to The Associated Press, the state government of Para said that the avenue, named Liberdade, or Freedom, will be an expressway and development around it won’t be permitted. The chaotic growth of Brazilian cities, however, suggests it’s a promise that will be hard to keep. Countless public areas have been occupied for the irregular construction of housing from modest structures to luxury condos with the expectation that they will eventually be legalized, which often ends up happening. Belem is the capital of Para, which is run by Gov. Helder Barbalho, a politician from a traditional family who is an ally of Lula. Both support oil drilling in the nearby mouth of the Amazon River, likely a point of contention during COP30. The road is scheduled to be inaugurated just before the conference kicking off on Nov. 10. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Fabiano Maisonnave, Associated Press
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The woman behind Instacarts successful IPO, Fidji Simo, is joining OpenAIs C-suite. On Wednesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Simos new role as CEO of applications. She will report directly to him after transitioning out of her current role at Instacart later this year. “In her new role, Fidji will focus on enabling our traditional company functions to scale as we enter a next phase of growth,” Altman said in a blog post. “Fidji brings a rare blend of leadership, product, and operational expertise, and genuine commitment to ensuring our technology benefits everyone.” Before joining OpenAIs executive team, Simo served as a member of its board of directors. She will now concentrate on scaling the companys traditional functions as it moves into its next phase of growth. Simos addition signals OpenAIs potential expansion beyond ChatGPT. Previous reports have suggested the company is exploring ventures into social media platforms. This organization has the potential of accelerating human potential at a pace never seen before, and I am deeply committed to shaping these applications toward the public good, Simo said in the blog post. Heres everything you need to know about Silicon Valleys latest executive. Who is Fidji Simo? The 39-year-old is a first-generation high school graduate from the fishing village of Ste in France. As Fast Company previously reported, Simo was named after a perfume worn by her mother, a boutique owner. She graduated from one of Frances most prestigious business schools, HEC Paris, and began her career at eBay in 2007. Facebook alumna Prior to Instacart, Simo served as a senior executive at Facebook, working closely with her former mentor Mark Zuckerberg and eventually leading the Facebook app prior to the companys rebrand to Meta. During her tenure there, from 2011 to 2021, she held roles including director of product management and vice president of video, games, and monetization. Leading Instacart In January 2021, Simo became CEO of Maplebear Inc., Instacarts parent company. She went on to lead Instacarts highly anticipated IPO in 2023, which raised $660 million and valued the company at $9.9 billion. A healthcare initiative While serving as CEO of Instacart, Simo cofounded the Metrodora Institute after being diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and endometriosis. The clinic and research center is dedicated to treating women with neuroimmune axis disorders by collecting data from consenting patients and sharing it with partner research institutions, in hopes of finding a cure. These disorders include conditions in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, such as lupus, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and long COVID.
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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. National active housing inventory for sale at the end of April 2025 was up 31% compared with April 2024. Thats just 16% below pre-pandemic levels from April 2019. However, while the national housing market has softened and inventory has surpassed 2019 pre-pandemic levels in some pockets of the Sun Belt, many housing markets remain far tighter than the national average. Pulling from ResiClubs monthly inventory tracker, we identified the tightest major housing markets heading into the spring 2025 season, where active inventory is still the furthest below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. These markets are where home sellers have maintained more power compared with most sellers nationwide. Among the nations 200 largest metro area housing markets, 37 markets (see table below) at the end of April 2025 still had at least 50% less active inventory than in April 2019. Thats lower than last months countwhen 42 of the nations 200 largest metro area housing markets still had active inventory at least 50% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Many of those tight markets are in the Northeast, in particular, in states like New Jersey and Connecticut. Unlike the Sun Belt, many markets in the Northeast and Midwest were less reliant on pandemic-era migration and have fewer new home construction projects in progress. With lower exposure to the negative demand shock caused by the slowdown in pandemic-era migrationand fewer homebuilders in these regions offering affordability adjustments once rates spikedactive inventory in many Northeast and Midwest housing markets has remained relatively tight, maintaining a sellers advantage heading into spring 2025. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();
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