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New school uniform rules won’t cut costs, Colne mum says

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Head-and-shoulders of Michaela Wilson who has long, straight blonde hair, blue eyes, red lipstick and has a pair of sunglasses on top of her head.

Michaela founded the community uniform and children’s clothing bank at Colne Market four years ago.

Families can visit, browse and take away items they need completely free of charge, without having to formally apply.

“It was just going to be a temporary thing over the summer, and four years later we’re still at it,” she said.

“At the end of term I get loads and loads of bags.

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“We’ve got a small space that we’ve been given by the local council, and we just hang it all up, nice and neat and tidy, and people are welcome to come and fill a bag with whatever they want. It’s all free.”

She said it is a “massive way of recycling”, describing how families “come down with one size, hang it up and take the next size along”.

“All that school uniform would end up in landfill otherwise,” she said.

She added that the stigma of using second-hand uniform is “definitely” lessening

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“Teenagers, even more than adults, have embraced the whole second-hand culture,” she said.

“We get teenagers coming and getting their own uniform.”

According to the Department for Education (DfE), external, the average total expenditure on school uniform, based on the items required in the school year 2023/24, was just under £250 – with PE kit cost approximately £140.

A DfE spokesperson said some families would save “up to £50 per child” when the new law comes into effect at the start of the new school year, adding the government is supporting schools to take further steps to bring down the cost of individual items.

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Quilter plc 2026 Q2 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (OTCMKTS:QUILF) 2026-08-10

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Seeking Alpha’s transcripts team is responsible for the development of all of our transcript-related projects. We currently publish thousands of quarterly earnings calls per quarter on our site and are continuing to grow and expand our coverage. The purpose of this profile is to allow us to share with our readers new transcript-related developments. Thanks, SA Transcripts Team

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Mineros S.A. 2026 Q2 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (OTCMKTS:MNSAF) 2026-08-10

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Seeking Alpha’s transcripts team is responsible for the development of all of our transcript-related projects. We currently publish thousands of quarterly earnings calls per quarter on our site and are continuing to grow and expand our coverage. The purpose of this profile is to allow us to share with our readers new transcript-related developments. Thanks, SA Transcripts Team

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Recursion Pharmaceuticals: I'm Still Bearish Despite Recent Genentech News

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Recursion Pharmaceuticals: I'm Still Bearish Despite Recent Genentech News

Recursion Pharmaceuticals: I'm Still Bearish Despite Recent Genentech News

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(PHOTOS) American Pie Shannon Elizabeth Now Runs Wildlife Charity In South Africa, Shows Ageless Look Today

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Shannon Elizabeth

LOS ANGELES — Shannon Elizabeth, the actress who became a defining face of early 2000s pop culture through her role in “American Pie,” has traded Hollywood red carpets for wildlife conservation work in South Africa, where she has spent nearly a decade building a foundation dedicated to protecting endangered animals.

Elizabeth first rose to widespread fame with her role as Nadia, the foreign exchange student who becomes Jim Levenstein’s crush in the 1999 teen comedy “American Pie,” a performance that turned her into an instant sex symbol and cultural fixture of the era. She followed that breakout with a memorable role in the horror-comedy parody “Scary Movie,” a performance still referenced today as inspiration for Halloween costumes, and appeared in Enrique Iglesias’ music video for “Be with You,” cementing her status as one of the most recognizable young stars of the early 2000s. She later took on a role in the ensemble romantic comedy “Love Actually,” further broadening her filmography beyond teen comedy.

Since 2016, Elizabeth has largely stepped away from the entertainment industry after relocating to South Africa to launch the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation, an organization focused on wildlife conservation. The move predated a wider wave of celebrities who left Los Angeles for quieter lives abroad in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, positioning Elizabeth as an early adopter of a lifestyle shift that has since become more common among entertainment figures.

Speaking to Fox News in April 2026 about her decision to relocate, Elizabeth described a growing sense that her work in Hollywood no longer felt as urgent as the conservation crisis she saw unfolding overseas. She said she came to feel that the entertainment work she had been doing “weren’t as important at the time,” explaining that she felt pulled toward being physically present for the issues she cared about rather than continuing to observe them from a distance. That realization, she said, ultimately led her to make the permanent move.

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The shift in priorities has also reshaped Elizabeth’s public image. Where she was once associated with the glossy, style-forward aesthetic of Y2K pop culture, recent photos show her embracing a more relaxed, outdoor-oriented look reflective of her conservation work. In one photo shared to social media in April 2026, Elizabeth appeared in an army-green coat alongside an animal companion, a departure from her earlier red carpet image, though she still incorporated a nostalgic butterfly hair clip reminiscent of the early 2000s style she helped popularize.

Elizabeth’s more recent social media activity suggests she has maintained an active travel and lifestyle presence even while based in South Africa. On July 17, 2026, she shared a selfie taken during a boat excursion in Mauritius, showing her en route to a private island resort. Describing the experience in her caption, Elizabeth wrote that “this place kept finding new ways to take my breath away.” In the photo, she appeared in a black dress featuring nude cutout panels and a ruffled trim, with her signature wavy, warm-brunette hair largely unchanged from the look that made her recognizable to audiences more than two decades ago.

That consistency in appearance has drawn attention from fans and entertainment outlets alike, with commentary noting that Elizabeth’s hairstyle has remained comparatively stable over the years compared with the dramatic transformations some of her contemporaries have undergone. Her continued public profile also traces back to earlier recognition of her looks, including a placement on Maxim’s Hot 100 list in 2008, a ranking that reflected her status as one of the era’s most prominent sex symbols at the peak of her mainstream visibility.

Elizabeth’s transition from teen comedy star to conservation advocate reflects a broader pattern among entertainment figures who have used their platforms to shift focus toward environmental and humanitarian causes later in their careers. Her foundation’s work in South Africa centers on protecting the region’s wildlife populations, an effort she has described as driven by a sense of urgency around threats facing endangered species and the communities that depend on that ecosystem.

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While Elizabeth has largely stepped back from a full-time acting career, her early filmography remains closely tied to her public identity, particularly her role in the “American Pie” franchise, which has continued to resonate with audiences through streaming rewatches and nostalgia-driven pop culture coverage in the years since its release. The franchise, which spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs, remains one of the most commercially successful teen comedy series of its era, and Elizabeth’s role as Nadia continues to be cited as one of its most memorable performances.

Elizabeth’s current life in South Africa stands in sharp contrast to the Hollywood-centered career that first made her famous, illustrating a broader shift many former stars of that era have made toward causes and lifestyles far removed from the entertainment industry that launched their careers. For Elizabeth, that shift appears to have brought a renewed sense of purpose, even as she continues to maintain visibility with fans through occasional glimpses of her travels and conservation work shared on social media.

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BOJ’s rate-hike path runs into Takaichi’s bond market problems

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BOJ’s rate-hike path runs into Takaichi’s bond market problems

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Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited 2026 Q2 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (OTCMKTS:AVIFY) 2026-08-10

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Seeking Alpha’s transcripts team is responsible for the development of all of our transcript-related projects. We currently publish thousands of quarterly earnings calls per quarter on our site and are continuing to grow and expand our coverage. The purpose of this profile is to allow us to share with our readers new transcript-related developments. Thanks, SA Transcripts Team

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Mercer International Inc. 2026 Q2 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (NASDAQ:MERC) 2026-08-10

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Seeking Alpha’s transcripts team is responsible for the development of all of our transcript-related projects. We currently publish thousands of quarterly earnings calls per quarter on our site and are continuing to grow and expand our coverage. The purpose of this profile is to allow us to share with our readers new transcript-related developments. Thanks, SA Transcripts Team

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P3 Health Partners Inc. (PIII) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the P3 Health Partners Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. William Hoover of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

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William Hoover

Thank you, operator, and thank you for joining us today. Before we proceed with the call, I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during this call are forward-looking statements under the U.S. federal securities law, including statements regarding our financial outlook and long-term targets. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are based largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or present expectations. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from statements made on this call is contained in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. The forward-looking statements made during this call speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.

We will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call, including adjusted operating expense, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA per member per month, normalized adjusted EBITDA, medical margin, medical margin per member per month, and cash flow. These non-GAAP financial measures are in

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Councils to get more powers to stop vape and betting shops, PM announces

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A high street scene in which there is a yellow sign with "Vape Shop Open" in black text. The sign is next to a bin. Pedestrians are in the background and there are shops either side of the walkway.

New vape shops will require planning permission and councils will get more powers to stop betting shops, under government plans aimed at improving high streets.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said town centres had been “hollowed out” by decades of decline and “for many people, the high streets they grew up with have become unrecognisable”.

BBC News has exposed organised crime on high streets across the country, revealing shops selling illegal cigarettes and vapes, selling cannabis and cocaine, enabling illegal working and suspected money-laundering.

The Conservatives and Reform said the proposals would lead to “more empty” shops, without tax relief for other small businesses.

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Burnham said the measures will give councils more power to control what businesses open in town centres.

The proposals come as the prime minister embarks on a tour of the UK, with Downing Street saying he will be in “listening mode” during his visits as he works on a “10-year plan to bring back hope”.

The plans announced by the government include:

  • Changes to planning law which would mean every new shop selling e-cigarettes, or vapes, would need to apply to their local council for permission to open (England only)

  • Tightening the definition of a vape shop to prevent businesses avoiding the rules by describing themselves as a general convenience store or retailer (England only)

  • Scrapping a rule known as “aim to permit”, which currently restricts councils’ ability to refuse new betting shops and 24-hour slot machine shops (Great Britain-wide)

  • Requiring planning permission for new adult gaming centres, which offer 24-hour access to gambling machines (England only)

  • New powers to extend closure orders for mini-marts and vape shops found to be selling illegal tobacco or up to twelve months, something previously proposed by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (England and Wales)

The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates that at least £1bn of criminal cash is laundered through high street stores in the UK each year through businesses connected to the sale of fake goods, tax evasion, illegal working and illegal drug supply.

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Burnham said “the rise of vape shops, betting shops and rogue operators have replaced the shops, services, and community spaces that people are crying out for”.

He added: “That’s not on. I said we would improve Britain’s high streets, and that’s exactly what we are starting to do.

“We’re putting communities back in control and giving local people a real say over what opens on their high street.”

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Nvidia gets $500bn from major banks to develop AI data centres

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang standing in front of a screen with the company's name and logo, gesturing upward with his hands, wearing a black leather jacket over a black shirt.

Nvidia has teamed up with some of Wall Street’s largest banks to help raise $500bn (£370bn) in capital to develop artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The chipmaker said it had struck deals with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR, and that the banks were for the first time treating AI hardware and infrastructure, often referred to as “compute”, as a separate asset class.

“In AI, compute is revenue”, Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, said. “We are bringing the world’s leading long-term capital providers together to independently underwrite AI infrastructure.”

The financing will go towards Nvidia’s own projects and those being built by its partners.

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Infrastructure projects backed by this fund will include the construction of new data centres to house, operate, and cool miles of stacked computer chips that process AI data and actions.

This will also back new factories to manufacture the AI chips needed to power these systems.

“Compute has become a critical infrastructure asset”, Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, co-cheif executives of KKR, said in a joint statement. “As we’ve scaled our approach to digital infrastructure, we’ve learned that delivery, not ambition, is the hard part.”

Essentially every major technology and AI company uses Nvidia’s computer chips, or graphics processing units (GPUs), to power their services, AI platforms and AI chatbots.

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Companies using Nvidia’s popular chips or GPUs include Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI and Anthropic.

Such companies have collectively spent over $1 trillion, external in just three years on AI projects and infrastructure, with much more spending expected. And their demand for Nvidia’s chips and services has driven the stock market value of the company up five fold in three years.

In a statement on Monday, Huang referred to Nvidia’s role as a chip-maker as the company’s beginning.

“Today, we are helping create a new class of productive, investable infrastructure: AI factories,” he said.

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With a new ability to tap some funding from the banks partnering with Nvidia, such banks will be able to finance more of the AI boom.

Jim Zelter, president of Apollo, a lender which manages more than $800 million in assets, said: “Modern compute has emerged as a scarce, mission-critical asset class.”

It is also “positioned to drive significant long-term economic growth and productivity gains”, Zelter added.

BlackRock last month entered into an individual deal with Meta, external to finance and take a majority ownership stake in one data centre in Texas.

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Anthropic also recently entered into a deal with Macquarie Asset Management and GIC, an investment bank in Singapore, for its own build-out of AI infrastructure.

The company did not specify the size of the deal, but said more financing was needed as its popular chatbot Claude had become so popular that the “demand requires significant new compute”.

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