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Session 1, Part 1: Introduction and Overview of Business Plans



MIT 15.S21 Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans, IAP 2014
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Instructor: Joe Hadzima

What is it, why do I need it and what is it used for? Practical do’s and don’ts in preparing a Business Plan. Things to keep in mind in writing a Business Plan which will improve your chances of obtaining funding and running a successful business.

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How to Keep a Frozen Pipe From Becoming a Denied Claim


Right now, frozen pipes probably aren’t on your radar. But your insurance company is already thinking about them.

Cold snaps don’t follow your calendar. One hard freeze on a night your tenant is out of town, or during a two-week gap between leases, and a small crack in a supply line can soak your property before anyone notices.

And the bill isn’t small. State Farm reports that from 2024 through June 2025, it paid more than $628 million on over 20,000 freeze-related water damage claims. The average payout was more than $30,000. That’s one insurer, and an average that high means some claims came in bigger.

So here’s the question most landlords never ask: What happens if your insurer decides you didn’t do enough to prevent the damage? 

Many property policies treat winter prep as more than good maintenance. In certain situations, it’s a condition of coverage. Skip it, and a claim you assumed was covered can get denied.

We’ll walk through the policy language that trips up property owners, the winterization steps that actually matter, and how to make sure your landlord insurance coverage holds up when the temperature drops.

This winter, make sure your first freeze isn’t your most expensive one.

The Winter Clause Most Landlords Never Read

Let’s start with the fine print, because this is where a lot of winter claims are won or lost. Many property insurance policies include what’s called a freezing exclusion. The wording varies by carrier, but most property policies won’t pay for damage from frozen household systems unless you used reasonable care to either keep the heat on or shut off the water and drain the system. Many versions apply that rule when the property is vacant, unoccupied, or under construction.

Read that again: Whether you’re covered depends on something you did or didn’t do before the pipe burst.

And some policies don’t limit that condition to vacant properties at all. They exclude freeze damage unless you maintained heat or drained the plumbing and shut off the water.

What this looks like in real life

During the December 2022 freeze in Texas, a commercial building owner had turned off the heat while the property was being renovated. He didn’t drain the pipes or shut off the water before leaving for Christmas; a pipe froze, burst, and flooded the building.

State Farm denied the claim under its freezing exclusion. The dispute went to federal court, and the court sided with the insurer.

That result isn’t unusual. Courts have generally found freezing exclusions clear and enforceable.

Now think about how often rental properties are in that exact situation:

  • A unit sitting empty between tenants
  • A rehab with the utilities turned down
  • A short-term rental with no bookings for a week in January

Sound familiar?

Your action step

Before the first cold front, pull your full policy, not just the declarations page, and search for three words: freezing, vacant, and unoccupied. Then write down:

  • What your policy requires to keep freeze damage covered
  • How it defines “vacant” and “unoccupied,” since the two terms often mean different things
  • Whether any vacancy limits apply to your properties right now

If the language is confusing, ask your agent to explain it in plain English. It’s a much easier conversation to have now than after a claim.

Pipes and Plumbing: Your Biggest Winter Risk

If you only have time to winterize one system, make it your plumbing.

Water damage and freezing aren’t rare events. Insurance Information Institute data cited by This Old House shows that about 22.6% of home insurance claims from 2019 to 2023 involved water damage or freezing. The average claim was $15,400, and roughly 1 in every 67 insured homes filed one each year. Multiply that across a portfolio, and the odds stop feeling abstract.

The good news? Most freeze damage is preventable with a few hours of work and some inexpensive supplies.

Start outside

Exterior plumbing is the most exposed, so start there:

  • Disconnect every garden hose: Even frost-proof faucets can freeze and burst when a hose is left attached.
  • Shut off and drain outdoor spigots, using the interior valve if you have one.
  • Blow out irrigation lines before the ground freezes, or hire a pro to do it.

Then work inside

Next, look for pipes in the coldest parts of the property:

  • Insulate exposed pipes in crawlspaces, garages, attics, and along exterior walls.
  • Seal drafts near pipes, like gaps where lines come in through the foundation.
  • Give tenants a cold snap plan: Keep the heat at 55°F or higher, open sink cabinets on exterior walls, and let faucets drip on the coldest nights.

Know where the water stops

Here’s a question to ask yourself: If a pipe bursts at 2 a.m., does your tenant know how to shut off the water?

Find the main shutoff, label it, and show tenants where it is. Every minute the water keeps running adds to the damage.

Add an early warning system

Smart thermostats and water leak sensors are like insurance for your insurance. They can alert you when the indoor temperature drops or water shows up where it shouldn’t, even if you’re hundreds of miles away.

An inexpensive sensor that catches a leak in minutes can keep a small problem from turning into a months-long repair.

Ice Dams, Roofs, and the “Neglect” Denial

Frozen pipes get most of the attention. But winter has another way to leave you with the bill: the neglect denial.

Most property policies are designed for damage that’s sudden and accidental, like a burst pipe or a tree limb through the roof. Damage that builds slowly because something wasn’t maintained is a different story. Claims can be denied when water damage is blamed on a lack of upkeep, and a roof leak that gets worse over time may not be covered.

Winter makes those slow problems show up fast.

How ice dams form

Ice dams form when melting snow refreezes at the edge of the roof. Water pools behind that ridge of ice and can work its way under the shingles. The result is leaks that damage walls, ceilings, and insulation and can lead to mold.

And the ice dam usually isn’t the root problem. It’s a sign that heat is escaping into the attic or that the gutters can’t drain.

Your pre-winter roof plan

  • Clean gutters and downspouts so melting snow has somewhere to go.
  • Check attic insulation and ventilation: State Farm recommends ventilating eaves and ridges, sealing attic hatches, and adding insulation to the attic floor.
  • Inspect the roof and flashing for missing shingles, gaps, or rust before the first snowfall.
  • Look at the ceilings inside for stains that could point to an existing leak.

Document everything

If you file a claim this winter, the adjuster may want to know one thing: Was this property maintained?

Make that easy to prove. Take dated photos of your gutters, roof, attic, and plumbing work. Keep invoices from plumbers, roofers, and HVAC techs in one folder for each property. A few minutes of photos today could help get your claim paid later.

Vacant Units and Winter Liability

Remember the freezing exclusion from earlier? Vacant units are where it matters most. 

 

An empty rental in winter is a perfect storm. No one is there to notice the heat went out or to spot a leak. And depending on your policy, the vacancy itself may change what’s covered.

Your vacant unit playbook

For every empty unit, pick one of these two paths and stick with it:

  1. Keep the heat on: Keep the utilities in your name during turnover, set the thermostat to a safe minimum, and use a smart thermostat to confirm it holds.
  2. Shut off the water and drain: Turn off the main water supply and drain the lines and appliances. One caution: Shutting off the water also disables fire sprinklers, so talk to a plumber first if your property has them.

Whichever path you choose, schedule in-person checks and log each visit with photos. Also ask your agent how long a unit can sit empty before your coverage changes.

Winter liability doesn’t take a day off

Occupied properties have their own winter risks, and those are more about people than pipes:

  • Snow and ice removal: State in your lease who clears walkways, steps, and driveways. Check local rules too, because landlord responsibilities vary by city and state.
  • Heating safety: Schedule an annual furnace service, and have any fireplaces and chimneys inspected before tenants light the first fire.
  • Smoke and CO detectors: Test every detector and replace the batteries before the heating season starts.

An icy step or a heating problem can turn into a liability claim quickly. Winterizing protects the building, the people living in it, and your business.

Your Pre-Freeze Insurance Check

So you’ve winterized the pipes, cleaned the gutters, and made a plan for vacant units. That takes care of the physical side of winter risk.

Even a well-prepared property can still take a hit, though. A deep freeze can outlast a furnace. A tenant can leave a window cracked while they’re away for a week. That’s where your insurance policy comes in.

Winterization lowers the odds of a loss. Your policy decides who pays when one happens.

Too many landlords learn that their coverage doesn’t fit their rental only after the damage is done. Before temperatures drop, get out your policy and ask your agent these five questions:

  1. What does my policy require to keep freeze damage covered? Do I need to maintain heat, drain the plumbing, or both?
  2. How does my policy define “vacant” and “unoccupied”? How long can a unit sit empty before my coverage changes?
  3. Am I covered for water backup from sewers or drains?
  4. What’s my deductible for water damage, and has it changed since my last renewal?
  5. Are my liability limits high enough for a serious slip-and-fall claim?

If the answers are vague or you don’t like what you hear, it’s time to compare your options.

Where Steadily fits in

Steadily offers landlord insurance built for rental property investors, and you don’t need days of back-and-forth to find out what coverage would cost. You can get a quote online in minutes, without making a phone call.

That speed matters in the fall. Instead of pushing your insurance review past the first freeze, you can compare coverage for your rental before your coffee gets cold.

Keep in mind that whether a specific loss is covered always depends on the facts and the terms of your actual policy. That’s exactly why you should review your coverage before winter.

Don’t Wait for the First Freeze

Winter will show up whether your rental is ready or not. The landlords who come out ahead get both the property and the insurance policy ready first.

So take five minutes this week and get your free landlord insurance quote from Steadily to make sure your coverage is ready for winter.

The best time to check your coverage is before you need it.

Is Oklo the Next Trillion-Dollar Stock?


There are only a handful of companies in the world worth more than $1 trillion, and Oklo (OKLO +0.38%) is nowhere near joining them. And yet if Oklo’s ambitious plans for small nuclear reactors work out, it could become one of the most — if not the most — important energy companies in the U.S.

If it’s successful, could Oklo possibly become a trillion-dollar company?

Today’s Change

(0.38%) $0.13

Current Price

$34.70

No, Oklo probably won’t become a trillion-dollar company

I won’t mince words: I doubt Oklo will ever have 12 zeros after its name. That doesn’t make it a bad stock; it just means there will be a limit to its growth. That limit, I think, will be determined by how profitably Oklo can sell power.

The gist of Oklo’s business is this: Sell electricity generated from small nuclear reactors. More precisely, Oklo is developing sodium-cooled fast reactors that use metallic nuclear fuel and are engineered to operate for a decade or longer without refueling. It has an insanely talented executive team — including CEO Jacob DeWitte, who holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT — as well as agreements with companies leading the way in developing AI infrastructure.

A design of Oklo's Aurora powerhouse.

Image source: Oklo.

Small nuclear reactors, like Oklo’s Aurora, have a smaller footprint and theoretically will take less time to build. They can also be mass-produced in factories, which should make them cheaper to build.

Whether Oklo’s Aurora reactors will actually be cheaper remains to be seen, but even if they are cheaper to build, there’s another lingering question: How much will it cost Oklo to operate them?

A preprint, titled “The consequences of high SMR costs in electricity markets,” suggests the answer might not be encouraging.

This study, which hasn’t undergone peer review, found that many small reactor developers would need to charge unusually high electricity prices to earn a profit. The reason? Fuel and operating costs will simply be too high.

The study puts it bluntly: “SMRs are uneconomical primarily because investment cost reductions are offset by increased marginal costs.” In other words, a reactor that is relatively inexpensive to build can still be very expensive to operate. So expensive, in fact, that some customers might not be willing to pay the prices needed to make Oklo profitable.

Of course, high electricity prices won’t scare away every customer. Indeed, some might be willing to pay a premium for the kind of around-the-clock, clean power that Oklo hopes to provide. In fact, the study even mentioned Oklo’s older 15-megawatt (MW) Aurora model as one of the better-performing SMRs, suggesting its economics could be better than those of some competitors.

Still, that’s hardly a guarantee of profitability, at least not at the level a trillion-dollar company would need to justify its valuation. Add to that all the other uncertainties — building reactors, operating them safely, selling power to customers — and the question of a trillion dollars pales in comparison to a more pressing one: Can it actually build a successful business in the first place?

For now, Oklo remains a speculative growth stock with no guarantee of success. Only aggressive investors who can stomach volatility should consider opening a small position.

Russian tech giant Yandex halts Vladimir data center after fresh drone attack




Russian tech giant Yandex halts Vladimir data center after fresh drone attack

IHG Flash Sale: Buy Points With Up to 110% Bonus


Buy IHG Points With Up to 110% Bonus

IHG One Rewards has launched a limited time points sale, and this one comes with a little extra on top.

Now through October 13, 2026, members can get a 100% bonus when buying IHG points. And for the first time, members who buy at least 35,000 points can also get an extra 3,500 bonus points.

That means buying 35,000 points would get you:

  • 35,000 purchased points
  • 35,000 bonus points
  • 3,500 extra bonus points
  • 73,500 total points

The 100% bonus brings the usual cost down to about 0.5 cents per point. The extra 3,500 bonus points make this a 110% bonus offer if you purchase exactly 35,000 points.

The offer also comes with an increased purchase limit. IHG normally lets members buy up to 200,000 points per year, but recent 2026 sales have increased that cap to as much as 300,000 purchased points during the promo period.

Purchased points can be used toward Reward Nights, Points + Cash bookings and other redemptions, and Reward Nights start at 10,000 points at some properties.

BUY POINTS

Guru’s Wrap-Up

A 100% bonus is usually about as good as IHG points sales get, and the extra 3,500 points when buying at least 35K makes this one a little better. IHG points have an average value of about 0.4 cents each. Through this offer you’re purchasing them for 0.48 cents a piece, so just slightly above that. The best use of IHG points is to book 4-night stays where you get the fourth night free if you have an IHG One Rewards credit card.

Even though you’re getting these points for less than half the normal price, you shouldn’t buy them speculatively. Make sure you have a redemption in mind and also check cash prices to see if you would be getting a better deal by booking with purchased points.

These points are sold by Points.com and not directly from IHG, so just use a credit card that earns at least 2% on everyday spending. You can go a step further by purchasing a gift card and earning 5X, then use the gift card for the purchase. You can also try going through a portal to save even more.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you take action (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking a link, I may earn some beer 🍺🍺🍺 money, which I promise to drink responsibly. When applicable, you should always go through shopping portals to earn cashback. But when that’s not an option, your support for the site is always greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Ottawa unveils $2-billion home retrofit plan




New heat-pump rebates and financing for apartment upgrades follow last year’s closure of the Canada Greener Homes Loan.

The Ultimate Indian TAX-SAVING MASTERCLASS: Salary, Business & Investments | Nitesh Buddhadev | FWS



Download 1% Club App Now!

Tax season is here, and this episode is your complete playbook for legally paying less tax in India. Sharan sits down with CA Nitesh Buddhadev, Chartered Accountant and Founder of Nimit Consultancy, a Mumbai-based wealth management and tax planning firm. With over 10 years of experience in tax planning and more than 200 crores under management, Nitesh is a regular guest speaker on CNBC, Zee Business and Money9, and a columnist for Mint, Moneycontrol and Financial Express.

In this conversation, Nitesh breaks down exactly how much income you can earn tax-free under the new Income Tax Act 2025, whether you are salaried, earning rental income, freelancing, or living off capital gains. You will learn how salaried employees can pay zero tax up to 15.75 lakh using EPF, NPS and the new meal coupon allowance, why rental income up to 17 lakh can be completely tax-free, and how freelancers can use presumptive taxation to pay zero tax up to 24 lakh.

The episode also covers everything that has changed for ITR filing in 2026, including new deadlines for ITR 1 to 4, the four new metro cities that improve your HRA claim, and the revised children education and hostel allowances. Nitesh then goes deep into tax-efficient investing: why arbitrage funds beat FDs for short-term goals, how surcharge quietly pushes high earners into 39 to 43 percent tax brackets, the real tax difference between mutual funds and PMS, and how tax harvesting and loss harvesting can save you over 60,000 rupees every single year.

Finally, the two topics every modern professional needs to understand: how ESOPs are actually taxed at exercise and at sale (and how Section 54F can bring that tax to zero), and how an HUF really works, including the myths and clubbing provisions that catch most people off guard. If you want to keep more of your hard-earned money in your bank account this year, this is the episode to study.

CA Nitesh Buddhadev

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Sharan Hegde

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Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction
02:09 – Zero Tax on Salary Up to Rs 15.75 Lakh
06:31 – Zero Tax on Rental Income Up to Rs 17 Lakh
08:40 – Buying Property on Loan and Renting It Out
12:02 – How Freelancers Pay Zero Tax Up to Rs 24 Lakh
15:14 – Zero Tax on Capital Gains Income
17:06 – ITR Filing Deadlines and Which ITR to File
20:15 – Key Changes in Income Tax Act 2025
20:35 – New Metro Cities and Higher HRA Benefits
21:11 – Children Education and Hostel Allowance
22:59 – Old vs New Regime: Rs 30 Lakh CTC Example
26:09 – Saving Taxes on Short-Term Goals with Arbitrage Funds
28:44 – Tax-Efficient Investing for 3 to 5 Year Goals
31:38 – How Surcharge Pushes Your Tax to 39 Percent
33:16 – PMS vs Mutual Funds: The Tax Difference
37:56 – Tax Gain Harvesting Explained
43:53 – Loss Harvesting and Cross Asset Adjustment
48:07 – How ESOPs Are Taxed
53:26 – Saving Capital Gains Tax by Buying a House
54:51 – How to Use HUF to Save Taxes
58:48 – Conclusion

—

Sharan Hegde is a personal finance creator & founder of the 1% Club, simplifying money, markets, and mindset for India’s next generation of wealth builders.

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#financewithsharan #taxplanning #personalfinance #incometax #investing

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Meta bans TikTok parent ByteDance from advertising on its apps in the US and six other countries


Meta has banned TikTok parent ByteDance from advertising on its apps in the US and six other countries.

“We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps,” Meta said in a statement to Bloomberg.

The ban was first reported by Bloomberg on Thursday (October 8).

According to Bloomberg, Meta began blocking all ads and paid marketing messages from ByteDance across its platforms that day.

The restriction applies in seven markets, according to Meta: the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

It also covers campaigns from third-party advertisers that direct users in those markets to TikTok or to other ByteDance-owned services.

“We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps.”

META (via Bloomberg)

“Declining promotional services to a competitor is a normal business practice across industries,” Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro added in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “We will continue to compete on product quality and user experience.”

Sgro, TikTok, and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MBW.

The ban follows changes made by TikTok in September that limit how users can leave its app for other social platforms, according to Bloomberg.

Those changes included removing dedicated Instagram links from TikTok user profiles, the report added.

Links that launch other social media apps, or sign users into them, are not supported on TikTok, according to the platform’s website, Reuters reported separately. Profile links that point to those platforms’ websites are still permitted.

TikTok has rejected ads from Meta that called on it to sign on to child safety commitments similar to Meta’s own, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg pointed to what it called “a key imbalance” in the rivalry between Meta and TikTok: TikTok operates in the US, while Meta has been unable to operate in China.

The rivalry has intensified since August, Bloomberg added.

That month, Meta agreed to pay up to USD $18 billion to settle claims brought by US states over the impact of Facebook and Instagram on young users.

Under the settlement, Meta must set a combined two-hour daily limit by default for teenage users across Facebook and Instagram, and block their use of the apps between midnight and 6 a.m., according to Reuters.

Around USD $12.7 billion of the USD $18 billion is guaranteed and will be paid over a decade, the news agency reported. Meta only has to pay the other USD $5 billion or so if its rivals, including Snap, TikTok, and YouTube, introduce comparable safeguards and agree to pay the states similar sums.

Since the settlement, Meta has called on TikTok and Google-owned YouTube to match its teen safety commitments.

Meta ran ads in major newspapers to press the point, and its executives have publicly faulted TikTok for failing to attend a recent Office of the Surgeon General event focused on excessive screen use, according to Bloomberg.

TikTok has not responded publicly to Meta’s campaign, Reuters reported. In September, however, TikTok reached a settlement with Alabama that requires it to impose new usage limits and strengthen age verification for users in that state.

In January, TikTok closed a deal to form TikTok USDS Joint Venture, a majority American-owned entity that allowed the app to keep operating in the US.

Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each hold 15% of the joint venture, while ByteDance retains 19.9%.

Under that structure, TikTok‘s global business, through its US entities, manages “certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising, and marketing,” according to the joint venture’s announcement.

Bloomberg describes ByteDance as the company that “remains in charge of key parts of TikTok in the US.”

Days before the ban, TikTok opened its global ad network to campaigns targeting the US.

TikTok announced the move at Advertising Week New York on Monday (October 5).

It paired the announcement with Kantar data that named TikTok the No. 1 platform where marketers plan to increase ad spend in 2027, according to TikTok’s summary of the report.

In September, OpenAI stopped accepting ChatGPT ads for image- and audio-generation products that compete with its own tools, according to a report by The Information cited by Bloomberg.

Amazon, meanwhile, began blocking Meta’s personal AI agent, Muse, from its retail site on September 20, after Meta declined a request to exclude Amazon’s store from the agent, according to Bloomberg.

In April, a study commissioned by Meta from Luminate compared music audiences on Instagram and TikTok.

It found that 32% of Instagram’s daily music engagers qualified as superfans, compared with 27% of TikTok’s.

“Partnering with Luminate on this custom study helps to explain what we have long believed to be true: Instagram is the best place to build artist careers,” said Tamara Hrivnak, VP of Music & Product Partnerships at Meta, at the time. “Beyond short-lived moments, we see that Instagram can uniquely connect artists with Superfans and the high-value music audiences that drive their careers, both in terms of off-platform streaming and beyond.”

TikTok, for its part, struck a new multi-year licensing deal with Universal Music Group in May.

Under that agreement, the companies said, UMG‘s artists and songwriters would gain access to expanded marketing and advertising campaigns on TikTok.Music Business Worldwide

Texas Public Schools Lost 76,000 Students In One Year


Texas public schools lost about 76,000 students in the 2025-26 school year, the first enrollment decline outside the Covid-19 pandemic in nearly four decades, according to a Texas 2036 analysis.

Statewide enrollment fell 1.4%, and independent school district enrollment fell 1.7%. The drop came a year before Texas launched a statewide program that helps families pay for private school and homeschooling, adding to options like 529 plans for private elementary and high school.

Why It Matters

Nearly 60% of the losses came in grades K-5, according to Texas 2036. Smaller elementary classes move up through middle and high school for years, and they eventually reach colleges, where missed enrollment targets are already producing budget deficits.

Hispanic students accounted for about 81% of the losses. Mary Lynn Pruneda, director of education and workforce policy at Texas 2036, told KXAN the decline “is spread out across all types of students…so that makes it really hard to point to one particular thing.”

State-level reports like this one carry more weight now that the Education Department has stopped updating key school data.

What’s Driving The Decline

Texas 2036 and the experts KXAN interviewed point to several factors, including falling birth rates, the same demographic shift colleges are bracing for as closures pile up in 2026:

  • Birth rates: The U.S. birth rate is now below 1.6 children per woman, under the 2.1 replacement rate
  • Competition: Charter schools and private schools gained market share from traditional districts
  • Geography: 18 of 20 Education Service Center regions lost students, with the sharpest drops in the Rio Grande Valley, Amarillo and Midland
  • Population mismatch: Statewide population growth hasn’t translated into public school enrollment gains

How This Connects

Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the state’s new education savings account program, are now adding pressure. A total of 85,344 students confirmed enrollment for 2026-27, with awards of $10,474 per student for private school and up to $2,000 for homeschooling, Community Impact reported.

About 43% of selected students previously attended a Texas public school. A federal option arrives next, as the Education Freedom Tax Credit launches in 2027.

What’s Next

Texas 2036 projects roughly 100,000 fewer K-12 public school students by 2030.

The Texas Education Agency’s next annual enrollment count will be the first to reflect a full year of education savings accounts. More than half of states have already opted into the new federal scholarship tax credit, so Texas may not be the last state to post a decline like this.

Editor: Colin Graves

The post Texas Public Schools Lost 76,000 Students In One Year appeared first on The College Investor.

Attack on Saudi airport kills 12 people and wounds more than 300



The latest attack on the international airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh killed 12 people and injured over 300 others, civil aviation authorities said early Sunday, with some in critical condition.

The attack was the deadliest in any Gulf Arab country since the start of the Iran war, whose fronts have expanded to include the recent surge in fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and Saudi-backed government forces there.

The statement, which did not assign blame for the attack, said the dead included four Saudi citizens as well as two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a U.S. citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. It said the injured were being treated at several hospitals.

The attack — the latest of several in the past week on King Khalid International Airport that killed four people — is expected to increase Saudi pressure on allies including the United States to provide military support for the kingdom.

Shortly after the attack on Saturday afternoon, President Donald Trump said he was evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” Trump said. “We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

A missile struck an airport complex housing terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.

The surge in attacks, including against other Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure, has come in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against the Houthis. There was no immediate statement from the rebels, who earlier Saturday accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital. The rebels at times take days to claim responsibility.

Riyadh airport operations were suspended

Saudi civil aviation authorities earlier said airport operations were suspended. An official notice to aviators said the suspension was through midnight. The airport had a heavy police presence, with all entrances blocked, and lights around the complex were dimmed.

Flights diverted elsewhere, the Flightradar24 tracker said. Countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada warned citizens to avoid the airport. Statements later turned to condolences.

Later on Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition said a projectile had fallen near King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and a Houthi-launched ballistic missile had been intercepted in Al-Kharj governorate, southeast of Riyadh.

The attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, have rattled markets and the region. And yet the Saudi energy ministry hours after the latest one was still promoting a major international energy conference set to begin in Riyadh on Sunday.

Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping on a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.

Though the Houthis have told the AP and others they are only targeting Saudi shipping as part of a blockade in retaliation for one imposed on them, concerns about wider attacks persist. The Houthis previously attacked other ships after the war in Gaza began, calling it solidarity with Palestinians. A U.S. bombing campaign sharply limited that.

Saudi Arabia has run low on interceptors, officials say

Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defense support to the region, regional officials told the AP last month, with one noting that the U.S. has seen its own stock dwindle during the war with Iran.

Officials have said U.S. assistance has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive against the Houthis.

Earlier Saturday, Saudi Arabia said its foreign minister and Omani counterpart spoke by phone about the importance of “supporting diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions” in the region. Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, has played a mediator role at times in the region.

Flight disruptions are growing

The Houthis this week warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they described as a theater for their military operations.

Before the latest attack, Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines were among airlines suspending flights to and from Riyadh and other Saudi airports for varying periods.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency had expanded its guidance on Saudi airspace, noting the Houthis’ ability to strike targets deeper inside the kingdom, including Riyadh, and a “greater focus on aviation infrastructure.”

The missile and drone attacks and interception efforts “create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft,” it said.

Two regional officials said Houthi attacks on the Riyadh airport on Thursday damaged three planes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media. The Saudi national carrier said one of its aircraft was damaged while it was on the ground, with no passengers on board.

Meanwhile, Saudi authorities warned the public this week that “filming, publishing or sharing information related to countering missiles and drones and their impact sites exposes you to legal liability.”