Category Archives: National Vanguard

Image source: Getty Images

The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) has suffered in 2022, just like many other investments.

However, compared to some individual ASX shares and sectors, this exchange-traded fund has fared better with a decline of just 15%. The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is down 48% and the Vanguard US Total Market Shares Index ETF (ASX: VTS) is down by 19%, as two examples.

The performance of its underlying holdings dictates the performance of an ETF.

For the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF, it means names such as BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) have the biggest influence.

The VAS ETF tracks the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO), meaning the overall ASX 300 group of shares has fallen by 15%.

The fall in the VAS price means investors with a regular investment plan for this ETF can dollar-cost average at a lower price.

The VAS ETF also has a few attractive features, such as its low management fee of just 0.10%. Thats one of the lowest fees for an investment portfolio focused on ASX shares. Low fees are good because it means more of the investment returns are left in the hands of investors.

Another attractive element is its relatively high dividend yield for an ETF.

Many of the biggest positions in the ETFs portfolio have quite high dividend yields, such as BHP, CBA, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO).

These high dividend-paying shares significantly influence the dividend yield of the overall Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF.

According to Vanguard, the dividend yield of the VAS ETF, excluding franking credits, is 4.1%.

I do like to invest in assets at lower prices, so the current price of this ETF seems better.

However, I personally dont invest in the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF or index funds in general. Id only want to buy it for my portfolio if there was a painful sell-off for the banks and the large ASX mining shares, as these two areas make up a significant part of the ETFs holdings.

In my opinion, other ETFs have been sold off more heavily that could make better long-term buys because of the underlying quality, global nature (and therefore bigger addressable market), and higher tech focus. One idea is Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ), which I recently covered.

Read the original here:

Down 15% in 2022, is it time to jump on Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF? - The Motley Fool Australia

Follow along as Natalie commentates on the first show of the 2022 DCI season, Corps at the Crest - San Diego! Stream the show LIVE on FloMarching at 6:30pm PT/9:30pm ET

2022 Streaming Schedule | DCI 2022 At A Glance | 2022 Production Improvements

Good evening everyone and thanks for joining me during today's live blog of Corps at the Crest - San Diego! The show kicks off at 6:30pm PT/9:30pm ET, and you can stream it LIVE on FloMarching here. Be sure to refresh this page once every few minutes for up-to-the-moment updates from the field.

Before we get started this evening, here's some information about the 2022 DCI season that you may want to know ahead of this week's busy schedule.

That's all for now! Be sure to keep tuning in throughout the night, all leading up to the start of Corps at the Crest - San Diego at 6:30pm PT/9:30pm ET

It's getting close to go time in SoCal! As a brief refresher for y'all, here's the performance schedule for the evening:

*Note that all times are PT and subject to change

6:30pm - Welcome and national anthem

6:40pm - Vessel

6:50pm - Impulse

7:05pm - Golden Empire

7:20pm - Gold

7:35pm - Intermission

8:05pm - The Academy

8:23pm - Mandarins

8:41pm - Santa Clara Vanguard

8:59pm - Pacific Crest

9:24pm - Scores announced

The Corps at the Crest - San Diego stream starts in just FIFTEEN MINUTES! Tune in on FloMarching here!

It looks like a beautiful evening in Vista, CA! What a perfect backdrop for the beginning of the 2022 DCI season and DCI's 50th anniversary. The vocalist, Bianca, did a great job with the live vocal performance of the national anthem. Let's go!

More:

LIVE BLOG: 2022 Corps at the Crest - San Diego - FloMarching

GSEC business development meets with international biotech companies and industry leaders at national conference

Special to the Vanguard

Sacramento, CA The Greater Sacramento Economic Council attended the Bio International Convention in San Diego this week to meet with emerging biotech companies to share about the Greater Sacramento market.

The business development team met with scientific leaders, biotech companies and international industry life science hubs with more than 20 meetings scheduled to discuss the benefits of moving to the Greater Sacramento region. The yearly conference brings together the brightest biotech startups and allows them to pitch their ideas to venture capitalists and other key industry leaders.

Greater Sacramento is a top biotech market anchored by top talent at UC Davis and California State University, Sacramento. Greater Sacramento is home to a cutting-edge life sciences ecosystem. From groundbreaking medical research to burgeoning biotech and medical device startups, the region is pushing the boundaries of innovation on a global scale.

We are a global and national leading biotech market with a talent pool of top scientists, Greater Sacramento Economic Council President & CEO Barry Broome said. If you are a biotech startup or a company looking to scale, our region can help you innovate to the next level.

UC Davis is an industry leader in many rights, as one of the countrys first clinical and translational science centers and home to one of the most advanced Good Manufacturing Practice laboratories in the nation and a research funding portfolio of over $300 million.

It was a key driver to meet with these leading biotech companies and learning about their innovations, Greater Sacramento Business Development Manager Lucy Roberts said. Attending these national conferences puts the capital region on an international platform and helps us share why we are an emerging biotech market for companies. The state capital of California offers access to an affordable market while being close to other biotech hubs throughout the state.

Additionally, Greater Sacramento is building infrastructure and assets for future life science and biotech companies. UC Davis Aggie Square is a mixed-used innovation district adjacent to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Phase I will be a capital investment of $1.1 billion and add 1.2 million square feet of development by late 2024. Project plans include over 1 million square feet of research, wet labs, commercial space and housing. Anchor tenants include Amazon Web Services.

View post:

Greater Sacramento Attends Bio International Convention in San Diego - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

VIS and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Cofound "Intelligent Manufacturing and Management Laboratory"

Date:2022-06-17

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation announced today that the company cofounded the "Intelligent Manufacturing and Management Laboratory" with Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), incubating for the semiconductor industry digital transformation talents. The two parties held a plaque unveiling ceremony this afternoon, where NCYU Department of Industrial Engineering and Management's Professor Chang Yung-Chia, the head of the lab, and Professor Chen Sheng-I, and VIS Associate Vice President of Information Technology and Intelligence Management, Dr. Jonathan Chang, jointly unveiled the plaque.

"Semiconductor manufacturing is the most complicated among all the manufacturing industries in the world. The fully automated system established over the past 30 years has enabled semiconductor manufacturing to achieve the speed, order fill rate, quality, productivity, and cost advantage and competitiveness today," said Dr. Jonathan Chang, VIS Associate Vice President, Information Technology and Intelligence Management. "However, with continued innovation of technology and the unique characteristic of high-mix low-volume (HMLV) production, the entire supply chain still goes through changes every now and then. In addition to solving manufacturing variations on production lines, we are also proactively seeking a digital transformation model in the age of Indy 4.0, to continually enhance intelligent forecasting and decision-making throughout the entire eco-chain. Through the industry-academia collaboration with Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, NYCU, we look forward to this lab leveraging the power of new digital intelligence to sustain and expand the successful experience and influences of Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing and management, and incubate more Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing talents equipped with new digital management capabilities."

"Semiconductor is an industry where industrial engineering can play a key and effective role, and many alumni of the department occupy important positions in the industry," said Professor Chang Yung-Chia, the head of the lab. "Through cofounding the lab with VIS, we hope to bridge the industry and academia, jointly striving for the R&D and talent incubation of Taiwan's semiconductor industry."

VIS is a leading specialty IC foundry service provider, and has invested in intelligent manufacturing and management for years. Since joining the industry-academia cooperation with NYCU in 2020, the two parties have completed a number of projects that effectively enhanced the decision-making quality and efficiency of fab production management. This laboratory will deepen the two parties' long-term partnership and further develop the research achievements of the close cooperation in recent years, enhancing intelligent forecasting and decision-making capabilities through digital transformation; at the same time, the two parties engage in mutually-benefiting exchange, where industry experts from VIS serve as lecturers and share practical situations in semiconductor manufacturing and issues of digital transformation, and NYCU scholars introduce latest theories and trends of intelligent manufacturing and management, to jointly incubate semiconductor manufacturing and management talents with sound theoretical and practical knowledge for Taiwan, closing the gap between the industry and academia.

VIS Spokesperson

Amanda Huang

Vice President & CFO

Tel: 886-3-5770355

E-mail: pr@vis.com.tw

Media Contact

Dana Tsai

Manager, Public & Investor Relations Division

Tel: 886-3-5770355 ext. 1901

Mobile: 0920-483-591

E-mail: dana_tsai@vis.com.tw

See the original post here:

Vanguard International Semiconductor : VIS and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Cofound Intelligent Manufacturing and Management Laboratory -...

Political parties in Nigeria are already gearing up for the next general election, coming up in the first quarter of 2023. The 2023 election will be the seventh election in succession since the civil rule was reinstated in 1999, after 16 years of military rule. The last six years of that military interregnum were politically defined by what has entered the history books as the June 12 Struggle. June 12 was a defining moment in Nigerias history and yet it has not received as much critical attention as it deserves. While the current government has declared June 12 Democracy Day, the underlying forces that worked to keep the June 12 struggle alive remain under-discussed.

The annulment of the presidential election held on June 12, 1993, sparked a chain of events that began with civic uprisings in Lagos and across Nigeria, saw a military coup that installed General Sani Abacha as Nigerias leader and concluded with the reinstatement of civilian rule in 1999. During those six years of revolution and counter-revolution, Nigerias socialist left was at the heart of the democracy movement that led the struggle on Nigerias streets and beyond.

The left organized within the human rights community, using organizations such as the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) and the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR). And at the arrowhead of their organizing and mobilization efforts were coalitions. The first of these was the Campaign for Democracy (CD). This coalition was formed in November 1991 and took a stand against the military-led political transition that led to the June 12 elections. It called for the overthrow of the military junta, and for the military rule to be replaced by a provisional government which would immediately convoke a sovereign national conference (SNC).

THE LEFT: RECOMPOSITION AND DECLINE

CDs calls for popular boycott of the transition programme yielded no result. Mass anger in the wake of the annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential election (presumably won by Chief MKO Abiola) presented the coalition with a political base to relate with for the first time. In the early days of the June 12 struggle, CD seized the opportunity, providing leadership for mass mobilization to realize the presumed presidential mandate Abiola had from the June 12 election.

However, CD split at its 4 February 1994 national convention. Its left-wing was of the opinion that CDs demands for the restoration of Abiolas mandate had become primary, over the coalitions initial aim of transforming Nigeria with the convocation of a sovereign national conference being the proposed first step. After the split, CD gradually became irrelevant. The left-wing, which quit the coalition, formed the Democratic Alternative (DA) on 4 June 1994.

The DAs formation marked the first step by some sections of the radical left to advance beyond pressure group politics and towards contestation for power, as political parties. The DAs manifesto, theLiberation Charter, was modelled along the lines of the African National Congress (ANC) in South AfricasFreedom Charterand set out how the DA intended to run Nigeria after acquiring power. The other section of the left, which took a similar step, was centred around Chief Gani Fawehinmi, a popular radical lawyer who had confronted several military juntas in court since 1969. Fawehinmi announced the formation of the National Conscience Party (NCP) on 1 October 1994.

Both DA and NCP operated as radical parties of protest, in defiance of a 1994 decree by the Abacha regime that banned political parties. The two parties emerged just before an ebb of the mass movement that emerged from the annulment in 1993. This was the period when Abiola was arrested. Abiola remained in detention till his death in 1998. A massive oil workers strike in support of Abiolas presumed mandate was also crushed and over the next two years, the military junta ruthlessly stabilized its reign.

Reigniting the flames of resistance required the united efforts of a now clearly divided radical and revolutionary left. DA was central to establishing theUnited Action for Democracy(UAD) on 17 May 1997. UAD took up the gauntlet of radical mobilization by organizing a 5-million-man march in opposition to a 2 million-man-march in support of Abacha, who had taken up the reins of power in November 1993. But theJoint Action Congress of Nigeria(JACON) also emerged as a rival coalition to the UAD. It was organized around the NCP in rivalry with the DAs UAD project.

Despite being political parties that were formed and forged in the crucible of struggle to end the military dictatorship, when Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 neither DA nor NCP, nor indeed any other section of the radical left in the 1990s democracy movement found much success at the ballot box. The civilian wing of the ruling class took over the reins of power. Or better put, retired generals-turned-politicians took off their uniforms and retained power in civilian clothes.

Traditional politicians of the sort that had been actively involved in partisan politics since independence were late comers to the democracy movement of the 1990s. This set of politicians had collaborated with the military junta at each stage in the period leading to and immediately after the annulment of the 1993 election. Several times from 1989 to 1993, the military changed the rules of the political transition programme. At such times, politicians did not raise any objections. On the contrary, they just wanted to be clear that the junta would leave power. In 1993, for instance,Abiola claimedthat he had gotten clearance from the then-military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, before running for the presidency. And when General Babangida annulled the same elections, the leadership of the presumed Social Democratic Party accepted the annulment without any objection.

It was in this context that Abiola and the leadership of Campaign for Democracygave tacit supportto the military coup of November 1993 which brought Sani Abacha to power. They were under the illusion that the junta would set things right by rolling back the June 12 annulment. In 1994, when it became clear that Abacha was keen on holding on to power, the pro-June 12 section of the civilian political class and elements of theradical pro-democracy movementaround CDestablished the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

NADECO adopted the sovereign national conference slogan, which the radical left had previously advocated, but modified its underlying ideas. The earlier vision of an SNC was based on overthrowing the elites. The national question was considered secondary. NADECO made the national question primary in subsequent narratives of the SNC, reflecting elite politicians penchant for the political mobilization of ethnic and regional identity.

But it was not only these politicians who promoted this redefinition of the SNC agenda. Radical Yoruba ethno-nationalist groups like Oodua Youth Movement, Oodua Peoples Congress and Apaapo omo Oodua were established or supported by some socialist groups. With demands that ranged from autonomy to secession, such groups became allies of the political elite in prioritizing resolution of the national question.

DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION AND THE LEFTIN NIGERIA

The 1940s was a period of intense anti-colonial organizing in Nigeria. The emergingsocialist leftplayed important roles in these struggles. This radical force punched very much above its weight, combining the vibrancy of multiple groups including the trade union movement, nationalist parties, and the revolutionary youth movement into a cohesive struggle against colonial rule.

By the 1950s, the trade union movement in Nigeria became divided along ideological lines. The movement had split in 1948 over continued affiliation to the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), a nationalist party. Moderates within the movement argued that trade unions should not be partisan and overturned the affiliation.

Younger radical trade unionists and likeminded youths in the nationalist movement built the Zikist National Vanguard as a revolutionary wing of the NCNC. In 1948, the Zikist movement issued the pamphlet, A Call for Revolution, which was presented by Osita Agwuna, a Zikist leader, at a well-attended public lecture chaired by Anthony Enahoro, a leading publicist of the nationalist movement. In 1949, there was an assassination attempt on the life of Sir Hugh Foot, the Chief Secretary to the colonial government at the time. This event opened the floodgates of repression and the eventual suppression of the Zikists.

The Macpherson constitution of 1951 signalled the pending exit of the colonialists. Nationalist politicians, who by now saw power on the horizons, became less inclined to pursue a revolutionary pathway to independence. They, thus, gradually cut their ties with the radical trade unions that had earlier supported them.

Ethnicity replaced in politics what had been the pan-Nigerian agenda of the preceding decades nationalist movement. The burgeoning indigenous bourgeois class rallied their ethnic and regional kinsmen behind the three major parties: Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), Action Group (AG) and the NCNC.

The Nigerian left established alternatives to the three major political parties, such as the United Working Peoples Party, Convention Peoples Party and even a Communist Party of Nigeria, but few of these parties gained much traction. It was only after Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain that party-building efforts on the organized left began to take on some level of significance.

The Nigerian lefts democratic project remained anti-imperialist in the immediate post-colonial period of the First Republic (1960-1966). The newly independent Nigerian states pandering to the whims of its former colonial overseers,as demonstrated with the Anglo-Nigerian Defense Pact, helped to solidify this position against Britains neo-colonial influence in the country.

This period also marked the beginnings of a schism between the socialists rooted in the trade unions and the academia-based Nigerian left. The trio of Wahab Goodluck, Dapo Fatogun, and S. U. Basseyemergedas guardians of the trade unionleft with the formation of theNigeria Trade Union Congress (NTUC) in 1957. NTUC defined itself as a Marxist-Leninist trade union body and worked assiduously with the Nigeria Youth Congress to form the Socialist Workers and Farmers Party (SWAFP) in 1963.

SWAFP was arguably the most successful left partisan project in the country in the 1960s. It had the support of the Soviet Union, andpublished a bi-weekly newspaper,Advance,which was influential in Nigerias working-class movement. But SWAFP did not last as a united project of the Nigerian left. Within a year of its formation, there was a split in its ranks which resulted in the formation of the Nigeria Labour Party (NLP) in 1964. While the NLP was headed by Michael Imoudu, who was also a trade unionist, the majority of its leadershipincluding Ola Oni, Eskor Toyo and Baba Omojolareflected the growing importance of the left outside the trade unions.

The anti-imperialist politics and democratic revolution that thrived in the 1940s and 1950s lost considerable momentum in the period beginning with Nigerias first republic and then onto the 1966 coup and subsequent civil war. Leftists tried to rally together after the civil war, particularly during the transition to the Second Republic (1979-1983), but they ran into immense difficulties. After a series of All-Nigeria Socialist Conferences in Zaria and Lagos from 1977 to 1978, two parties emerged reflecting the makeup of the SWAFP and NLP: the Socialist Working Peoples Party (SWPP) and the Socialist Party of Workers, Farmers and Youth, respectively. But neither party successfully registered for the 1979 elections (the military junta had introduced party registration to weed out parties and candidates it disfavoured).

During the Second Republic (1979-1983), democratic principles and political, social and economic freedoms remained under attack, despite the ostensible return of the military to the barracks. The Alliance for Democratic Rights (ADR) was constituted in 1983. It included the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) and some fronts of left groups. The ADR was eventually dissolved in the aftermath of the December 1983 coup, and it was not until after the subsequent short-lived regime led by General Muhammadu Buhari that the Nigerian left would pick up the pieces of political organizing in furtherance of a democratic revolution.

PRELUDE TO JUNE 12: THE EMERGENCE OF THE PRO-DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT

General Ibrahim Babangidas regime (1985-1993) governed with a mixture of disillusionment and hope, repression and co-optation, carrots and sticks. All part of a strategy to confuse his opponents, with moves such as in 1986 when he appeared to give in to popular opposition to the IMFonly to later introduce a structural adjustment programme similar to that of the Bretton Woods institution.

A similar ploy was Babangidas creation, in 1986, of a political bureau and national discourse on the social and economic system Nigerians wanted for the future, only to suppress the report of the bureau which captured the desire expressed byNigerians for socialism.

Repression by the Babangida regime became more widespread after the first year of his rule. Human rights NGOssprung upto challenge the regime, beginning with the Civil Liberties Organization which was formed in October 1987. Two years later, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) was also inaugurated. (The CDHR had initially started as Free Femi Aborisade Committee, constituted to advocate for the release of Femi Aborisade, a socialist activist and editor of the TrotskyistLabour Militantnewspaper.)

During this period, other broad realignments were taking place within the socialist left, many of them influenced by global events. Such events included glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union, and the eventual collapse of the union and the broader Eastern Bloc. Generational shifts also had an important impact on the shape these realignments took. The younger generation of socialists in the 1980s were more receptive to ideas that had, at best, been on the margins in the Nigerian left movement for decades such as Trotskyism and Anarchism.

The SWAFP/SWPP political tradition was not growing its membership and would soon die a natural death. TheNLP/SPWFY renewed itselfby drawing in new members, to become the Socialist Revolutionary Vanguard (SRV) in 1989.

Meanwhile, however, a new academia-oriented left had emerged with the growth of universities and the radicalization of the university teachers union. This radicalization was marked by the transformation of the more conservative National Association of University Teachers (NAUT) to the Academic Staff of Universities Union (ASUU) in 1978. ASUU activists gave birth to the Socialist Congress of Nigeria (SCON) at its founding congress in Sokoto in 1986.

Revolutionary socialist left groups outside the Marxist-Leninist mould also flourished. The TrotskyistLabour Militant,the Anarchist Awareness League (AL) and the International Socialist May 31stMovement (M31M)were all formed in this period.

Elsewhere in Nigeria, the continued environmental degradation and economic extraction of the Niger Delta was challenged by local communities in the region. The most celebrated and best organized of these efforts was the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by the writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa. MOSOP led protests and organized campaigns against Shell, the major international oil company in Nigeria. MOSOP held a deep reservoir of support among the Ogonis and exercised this support in several ways, including by organizinga boycott of the 1993 election.

By 1990, Alao Aka-Bashorun, a radical activist and former president of the Nigeria Bar Association,declaredthat the Babangida junta had a hidden agenda behind its transition programme. The actual intent, Aka-Bashorun suggested, was for Babangida to transform into a civilian president. Echoing those concerns, the Nigerian left rejected the legitimacy of Babangidas transition programme. In line with similar sovereign national conferences that were common across West and Central Africa when the countries in those regions experienced their own democratic transitions, the Nigerian left demanded the dissolution of the military government and the convoking of an SNC.

As a means of institutionalizing its social-democratic agenda, an umbrella coalition of various left-wing groups was formed in 1991 under the name Campaign for Democracy. WhileSCON was the dominant groupwithin this coalition, it nonetheless brought together different elements of the democratic resistance to military rule in Nigeria. The human rights committee was involved, with Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti of the CDHR becoming the chairperson of CD. Organizations of radical ethnic minority groups like MOSOP were also affiliated with CD, with Ken Saro-Wiwa elected to the umbrella groups national leadership.

During the period between its formation in 1991 and the June 1993 presidential election, CD declared three times that it would convoke an SNC, with all such declarations failing to materialize. For the most part, CDs visibility was confined to releasing press statements and hosting symposiums. CD needed a moment like June 12 to inject the dose of momentum it needed to become a mass movement. But the June 12 movement itself might not have emerged as an organized force in 1993, if a body like CD was not already available to amplify June 12s revolutionary potential.

THE SIX-YEAR REVOLUTION AND ITS DISCONTENTS

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) were the only two political parties Babangidas regime allowed to contest in the June 12 presidential election. Both parties, including SDP, accepted the eventual annulment. But it was CD, which had unsuccessfully called for a boycott of the elections, that seized the moment to roar into action.

CD called for mass protests on 5 July 1993 to demand a reversal of the annulment. CD leaders expected anything between 5,000 and 10,000 people on the streets in Lagos. But the numbers of people that joined the demonstration far outstripped this.

The next six yearscould best be understoodas three unequal phases: 1993-94 were the heady days of uprising. This wave was countered by the General Sani Abacha junta which consolidated itself in the 1995-96 period. Then 1997-99 saw a shaky new balance of power that was resolved effectively with the deaths of Abacha and Abiola, within a month of each other.

It must be noted that there was no singular radical left agenda. On the contrary, the diverse elements of the Nigerian left were split down the line in the wake of sharp debates on what the strategic approach to the conflict between the pro-June 12 political elites and those backing continued military rule should be.

One of the key areas of disagreement on the left was the degree of support the left should lend to Abiolathe presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election. Some on the left argued for unreserved support of Abiola, while those within the Trotskyist-Labour Militant camp argued for a more restrained critical support. But this position lost sight of the fact that Abiola was deeply conscious of his class position. He was not ready to align himself with a revolutionary movement that could upturn the system he had benefited from and helped to build, simply because he wanted to be president of the country.

For instance, Abiola chose to meet with Babangida overnight rather than await the arrival of protesters to his house on 5 July 1993. It was only after the insistence of the crowd that Abiola briefly showed up to address us (I was one of the protesters). In November 1993, Justice Dolapo Akinsanya judged that the interim national government was illegal and, consequently, there were pro-Abiola demonstrations. But Abiola asked students to return home. He was, instead, in cahoots with Abacha,supporting a putschas the way to reclaim his mandate.

Uncritical support for Abiolas mandate as a Yoruba politician also paved the way for the formation of Oodua self-determination groups, including the Oodua Youth Movement, in September 1994. Over the next few years, similar movementsincluding the Oodua Peoples Congress and the Oodua Liberation Movementemerged as the Abacha regime, which had seized power in a November 1993 coup, consolidated its hold on power. The argument for democratic revolution and socialism was slowly replaced with one for self-determination, including secession.

Fissures within the various left groups were reflected in the splintering of the Campaign for Democracy in February 1994. The factions committed to broader goals beyond the validation of Abiolas mandate left the Campaign for Democracy and later formed the Democratic Alternative (DA), a party modelled after South Africas ANC. The DA aimed to gain power through the ballot or organized civil disobedience. Chima Ubani was a central figure in the DA and its politics. He was a tireless organizer with an amiable disposition who was respected across the different divides of the left. He helped build CD from the scratch as the coalitions General Secretary. While he led the faction which left CD in 1994, he maintained relatively cordial relations with many of those he left and was thus able to win some of them to join in forming UAD in 1997. The National Conscience Party was formed by Chief Gani Fawehinmi and his supporters on 1 October 1994. It stood in defence of the Abiola mandate but declared itself interested in power as well, presenting a 10-Care Programme as its manifesto to fulfil its motto: abolition of poverty.

Before these splinter groups could develop some momentum, however, the Abacha regime sprung into repression, beginning with the breakup of the 1994 oil workers strike.

By 1997, when Abachas civilian transition programme was well underway, the need for realignment of radical left forces, if the democracy movement was to realize its goals, was palpable. This led to the formation of new coalitions: UAD and JACON. The DA was the inspiration behind UAD, while NCP was the primary organization in JACON.

But neither of these two parties or any other formations on the left would benefit from the democratization that ushered in the Fourth Republic (1999-present).

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE LEFT; WHAT NEXT?

Many factors explain the rise and fall of the left with June 12. Infighting and a lack of lasting unity was definitely a major factor. But much more than this was the fact that, even when left-wing organizations were formally reconstituted as parties, they found it difficult to muster resources and adequately seize political opportunity structures.

Some arguments in this same direction would reduce the contest for power to the electoral realm. But even those would lose sight of the fact that winning office does not necessarily amount to winning power. Radical parties cannot reduce their struggle for power to electoral contests. But they need to see protests as one aspect of building nationwide political structures. Electoral contests might not be sufficient to consolidate democracies, but they are necessary for building power to bring about an alternative system through mass action.

The left is yet to adequately address the challenges posed in the June 12 period. In 2019, one-tenth of the 73 parties on the presidential election ballot were arguably on the left. And yet their cumulative votes did not account for up to 0.2 per cent of the total votes. At best, the Africa Action Congress led by Omoyele Sowore secured around 0.1 per cent of the votes. The AAC is also the only leftist party that has been able to mobilize for protests on the streets in several states of Nigeria.

As Nigeria heads towards the 2023 election, there will likely be several leftist candidates names on the ballot. But such candidates will not have a meaningful impact on the countrys politics if they do not have a critical mass base. Genuine efforts at building programmatic unity would be invaluable for building such a base.

More here:

The Shadow Of June 12 - The Left and Nigeria's Democratic Revolution, By Baba Aye - SaharaReporters.com

By Neshmia Alam

DAVIS, CA On June 5, 2022, Yolo County held its Juneteenth Holiday Celebration, an event meant to commemorate the date of June 19, 1865, when enslaved peoples in Galveston, Texas (the last state in the Confederacy that had institutionalized slavery) were freed. The county holds its celebration prior to the actual holiday in respect of other festivities.

The event comes after President Biden announced Juneteenth to be a federal holiday in 2021, making this years Juneteenth the second to be a national day of observance.

Held on the UC Davis campus in the Conference Center and Shrem Museum of Art, members from all communities were welcome and given free entry to participate in a variety of performances, talks, and exhibitions.

The theme for this years celebration was Sankofa: The Road to Freedom. Sankofa is a word originating from Ghana which means to go back and to get. The event mirrored this words meaning by encouraging people to go back into history and remember the impact of slavery on not just African Americans, but the United States as a whole.

Performances included a Legacy Fashion Show from JTL Productions, Drumming to the Same Beat from Grant Highschools Drumlines, and work from the Elite Epsilon Xi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Steppers.

Talks were held for the purpose of being both educational and art-focused. Some talks discussed the history of Juneteenth as a holiday, such as the Why Juneteenth? speakout. Others spoke about the history of Black individuals from a broader view, such as the Distortion of African History, given by Chloe Scott, Miquela Savage, and Zeinub Musa which discussed how African history has been hidden and reshaped, even from members of the African community.

Other guest speakers included the Vice Mayor of Davis, Lucas Frerichs, and UC Davis Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Renetta Garrison Tull.

Presentations on art were often given by artists themselves. Artists such as Shonna McDaniels, David Smith, Arthur Wright, Marsha Carter, and Tori Hunter all spoke about their art and inspirations from the African American community.

Students also got involved in the sharing of African art. UC Davis art students gave a presentation called Let Your Voices Be Heard Through Art, emphasizing the importance of art when sharing history, culture, and personal experiences.

Khristel Johnson, a quilter, also spoke about her work. Throughout the Juneteenth Holiday Celebration, approximately a dozen quilts created by Johnson with a variety of themes were displayed in the Shrem Museum of Art. Many covered how slavery, emancipation, and the fight for civil rights are integral to American history.

Johnson has been showing her work at Juneteenth celebrations for four years. Although she usually works within the Bay Area, she still comes to Yolo County to participate in its event. She feels that this event is so important because it allows the community at large to understand our history, our shared history. She emphasized that the history of oppression against the Black community is all part of American history, even though some people might think its a subset.

Johnson also praised the events director, Sandy Holman, for her level of commitment to the community.

Holman works with The Culture C.O.-O.P, which is a promoter of systematic change in order to challenge oppression in America. She directed the committee which planned the Juneteenth Holiday Celebration.

Other committee members included Library Regional Manager Scott Love, Davis Human Relations Commission Chair NJ Mvondo, UC Davis Director of Campus & Community Engagement Dr. Vicki Gomez, Program Analyst Mariana Galindo-Vega, Librarians Ruby Buentello, Katrina Laws-Ewals, and Joan Tuss, and Library Assistants Huda Abdelnur and Stephany Cortes Alvarado.

For members of the community who missed the event, wished to revisit it, or would like access to exclusive interviews, the entirety of the program was recorded and will be uploaded at yolojuneteeth.org on this years Juneteenth, June 19, 2022.

Read the original:

Yolo County Honors Juneteenth with Celebration - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

By David M. GreenwaldExecutive Editor

Los Angeles, CA There were a lot of bad media takes coming out of the primary election two weeks agoand a lot of them were due to a rush to judgment because the media failed to understand that that the old rules largely do not apply anymore as to how ballots come in and get counted. That led to premature calls.

It still looks like Chesa Boudin will get recalled, but by a 10- rather than a 20-point margin. One of the bad takes has been the use San Francisco as evidence for the limits of progressivism and even a warning to Democrats for the fall, and perhaps even deeper.

Gil Durans otherwise good piece warned, The primary election in California last week conveyed a warning to Democrats about the political threat posed by rising public anger toward the increasingly visible poverty and disorder on city streets in this case, San Franciscos.

It makes sense on one levelSan Francisco has been consistently one of the nations most progressive and reliably blue cities in the country, and, as Duran put it, while Chesa Boudin became a scapegoat for the problems in the community, [h]is loss in a recall attempt had much to do with Californias chronic failure to deal with homelessness, mental illness and poverty. These issues will persist without him.

But what if San Francisco is not really the best test case for such issues?

San Francisco, after all, is hardly the first city to see a backlash against a progressive prosecutor. We saw heavy money thrown into DAs races last year in Philadelphia and St. Louis, to name two. However, in each of those, the incumbent DA was (a) running against a named opponent with a record and agenda they could push back on, and (b) was able to prevailoverwhelmingly.

Boudin did not get a tangible opponent, but the big difference might be the demographics in San Francisco.

This is a point made by Erika Smith, an LA Times columnist, who argued yesterday that Los Angeles rather than San Francisco could become the most progressive city in California (and by virtue of that, the nation).

(One thing to bear in mind is that George Gascn faces a recall in Los Angeles, but, unlike San Francisco where the county is limited to the city of San Francisco, Los Angeles County encompasses a number of much more conservative areas, which could make it more dicey for Gascn).

But Smith points to things like the apparent victory of abolitionist City Council member Eunisses Hernandez over formidable establishment Democrat Gil Cedillo for City Council.

Moreover, there is also Hugo Soto-Martinez, who campaigned on having fewer cops and repealing the law that allows the city to remove homeless encampments, has pulled ahead of incumbent City Councilman Mitch OFarrell in District 13.

Moreover, In citywide races, its much the same thing. For controller, progressive activist Kenneth Mejia was the top vote-getter and faces City Councilman Paul Koretz in a runoff in November. For city attorney, civil rights lawyer Faisal Gill is in the lead after vowing to repeal the citys anti-camping law and enact a pause on prosecutions to evaluate the unacceptably broad charging of misdemeanors.

She also notes in the mayoral race, Rep. Karen Bass has pulled ahead of billionaire developer Rick Caruso, with those who voted by mail overwhelmingly choosing her more liberal approach to addressing crime, policing and homelessness.

That was one of the bad media calls that proclaimed him winner before the votes were all counted. Suddenly that race looks very different.

This progressive surge has made itself competitive, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of Cal State L.A.s Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs as quoted in her column. And thats a big deal.

Smith notes, Los Angeles is one of the most progressive cities in the country, but its rarely thought of as the most liberal city in the state. That title usually goes to San Francisco.

There is a perception of San Francisco as more liberal than L.A., Sonenshein said, back to the days when L.A. was more conservative than it is today. Im talking 30, 40, 50 years ago.

Here I think is probably the most important point, she writes: Nevertheless, given Boudins national profile, it was that vote that launched a thousand ill-thought-out think pieces and several more thousand speculative tweets.

Los Angeles has probably become more progressive, certainly since the 1980s, but a big factor that many have failed to recognizeSan Francisco has become much more affluent, in part due to the housing affordability crisis, and, as such, much less diverse and more white.

Whereas Kim Gardner in St. Louis and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia could tap into huge bases of Black voters when the going got tough, Chesa Boudin was hung out to dry when normally progressive upper middle class white voters panicked at perceptions of rising crime rates.

Writes Smith, Contributing to this has been the influx of tech wealth, followed by the housing affordability crisis. San Francisco has become a far more affluent city than it once was and far less of a working-class one, with even teachers forced to become super commuters. And this has had an impact on diversity.

Everybodys seen The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Melina Abdullah, a professor of pan-African studies at Cal State L.A., quipped about the 2019 film, the plot of which is exactly what it sounds like.

Youre starting to seeI mean, maybe not even startingwhat youre seeing is people who wed assume would be liberal have their class-based interests and are voting their class, rather than voting along with working-class people of color, she added.

John Pfaff, a law professor at Fordham University, noted in a June 5 tweet that San Francisco is only 5 percent Black compared with Philadelphia (44 percent) and St. Louis (46 percent).

He noted before the election that the notion if liberal SF cant vote for a progressive, then who will?? has traction but gets the racial politics of all this wrong: SF is (progressive), but MUCH whiter than most cities (with progressive) DAs.

Pfaff believes that support for reform from white progressives is much less reliable than for people of color.

As he told Smith, Crime is an abstraction for most of themfor most of us You read about it, you hear about it, but the moment crime is closer to you, its kind of shocking and appalling. But the Black community, they not only experience the violence, they experience the policing. Its not abstract for them. The fundamental humanization of it explains why theres more support for reform.

Put another way, for many white upper middle-class voterseven those who are progressivethey favor reform over there, when the threat is away from them and they are safe and secure in their homes of privilege.

What we learned is that white upper middle-class voters run from reform when they perceive it as a threat to their affluence and comfort, and thats why reform has succeeded in places like Philadelphia and the like but not San Francisco.

Smith makes one other point that is important, Thats one more thing going for progressive politics in Los Angeles, which could make getting rid of Gascn harder than getting rid of Boudin in San Francisco.

While working-class people of color continue to be displaced from the city of L.A., many remain in the county, relocating to Palmdale and other, cheaper high desert locales. Those priced out of San Francisco generally have no choice but to leave the city and the county, as the boundaries are basically the same.

Even though housing costs are rising in Los Angeles, outstripping wages, it may not have the same impact as it did in San Francisco.

There is time for those who want a progressive agenda to make sure that we dont go the way of San Francisco, Melina Abdullah said.

But again, there is a flip side to thatthere are a lot of more conservative areas in Los Angeles than there are in San Francisco. So well see how this plays out.

Here is the original post:

Commentary: Why San Francisco May Not Be the Best Test Case for Progressivism - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

Everywhere you go in my part of south-west London it is impossible not to know a major, possibly the major tennis tournament in the world, is about to commence.

Bars, restaurants and shops have giant yellow Slazenger tennis balls in their windows, alongside tennis rackets. Some are decked out in the green and purple colours of the Wimbledon championships.

On the roads, there are Wimbledon branded black Land Rover Defenders ferrying players back and forth to the practice grounds. At the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club itself, home of the competition, last-minute preparations are under way to welcome the crowds that will soon arrive.

For two weeks this leafy, quiet corner of the capital will be busy and heaving, firmly atop the global sporting calendar. This being the first proper Wimbledon with spectators since Covid, the atmosphere is especially buzzy and upbeat. There is, though, a cloud threatening the mood.

The famous tennis club sits in a bowl. At the top, in one direction, is the spire that provides the TV cameras with their iconic panoramic shots. Between church and courts is almost 30 hectares of landscaped parkland, which makes for a fabulous vista, as the architect, Lancelot "Capability" Brown, intended.

The greenery houses a golf club, Wimbledon Park. All of it, including golf course, has been bought by the All England Club, with the objective of building its Parkland Show Court in a 28-metre-high, 8,000 seat-stadium, extra facilities and 37 further courts for practice and the qualifying tournament, presently held at nearby Roehampton.

Wimbledon Village shops are ready for the tournament. Mark Chilvers for The National

Residents and historical protection groups object, saying the Wimbledon expansion will create an eyesore and destroy the areas carefully cultivated ambience. The parkland is Grade II* registered, designated as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, and an official Open Space.

The All England Club bought the land from Merton Council in 1993 and agreed to a restrictive covenant, not to use it except for leisure or recreational purposes or as an open space and not to build on it. It then leased the site back to the golf club, but has now bought out the lease, in a deal that saw the golfers, including television presenters Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly better known as Ant and Dec and broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan, each collect 80,000.

Wimbledon argues that since it leased the land to the golf club, tennis has exploded in popularity, and in financial potential. This year, 500,000 spectators will attend over the fortnight, and millions around the world will watch on TV. Last year, the All England made a profit of 43.3 million on increased revenue of 288m.

Despite that success, the club maintains the additional courts and buildings are vital because Wimbledon is in danger of losing prestige and falling down the pecking order of rival Grand Slam tournaments in terms of what it offers and what it can therefore earn.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Aerial view across the grounds as spectators watch the big screen on the outside of No.1 Court during Day Seven of The Championships - Wimbledon 2021 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 05, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by AELTC/Joe Toth - Pool/Getty Images)

The opposition is unimpressed, and since last year, more than 1,200 people have made formal objections to council planning officers. The two sides are at loggerheads and passions are running high.

In several respects, the tennis club does not have a leg to stand on its protected open parkland and the covenant is there, in black and white. But if the All England is correct and it has consistently shown itself to be a smart judge, constantly making changes that have kept Wimbledon at the peak of the sport it should be allowed to redevelop.

The championships may only last a fortnight but theyre a godsend to the economy of the surrounding district, to London and to Britain. Theyre a fixture of the summer season, a magnet for foreign visitors, a global advert for British tradition and success.

Its true that the vista will be spoiled however hard Wimbledon tries, a new stadium is not easily hidden. But that view was available only to those in the smart apartments and large houses overlooking the parkland. It was not land either that could be walked upon, except by golfers.

Wimbledon, though, is determined its agreed to all sorts of expensive environmental and aesthetic measures to blend in the new project. Its also willing to let locals have access to the grounds outside the championships, and in a first for the tournament, its prepared to throw in free tickets for the new show court.

The planned expansion of the Wimbledon site. Photo: AELTC

Even this may not be enough to win the necessary approval. There are local left-wingers who regard the championships and the All England as elitist. The recent change in control of neighbouring Wandsworth council, from Tory to Labour, does not augur well for Wimbledons prospects.

Its certainly true that membership of the club is afforded only to the privileged few. Tennis, as well, is hardly a peoples sport. Its mostly played in private clubs and is not noted, in the UK anyway, for its diversity and inclusivity.

... too often in the past, where architecture and heritage are concerned, weve allowed the regulations to stand in the path of progress

Nevertheless, strides are being made to improve, and in this regard, Wimbledon, despite the exclusivity of the All England, is in the vanguard. Much of the cash generated by the championships is going towards initiatives to make tennis more popular.

Which is the point. Because Wimbledon is a fine example (some might say, increasingly rare example) of something that Britain does extraordinarily well. To risk that hegemony seems crazy.

There are rules, of course there are, and they should be followed. But too often in the past, where architecture and heritage are concerned, weve allowed the regulations to stand in the path of progress, when compromise and reasonableness would achieve an acceptable result for both sides.

The All England should be prevailed upon to pay due heed to the legacy of Capability Brown and the concerns of the various groups and residents. That means going as far as possible to make the plans conform and non-objectionable. But equally, it should be acknowledged, where Wimbledon is concerned an exception can and must be made. Its a matter of national interest and importance, culturally and economically, and Wimbledon has to prevail.

A view of the outside courts and centre court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London. All photos: Getty Images

Published: June 22, 2022, 1:51 PM

View post:

As tennis fans gather Wimbledon worries expansion won't get over the line - The National

64% of American donors diversified their giving strategy to include new charities

MALVERN, Pa., May 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1 in 3 (37%) American donors (defined as those who donated to charity in the past 12 months) gave half or more of their charitable contributions to disaster relief efforts in the last year, such as the Ukraine humanitarian crisis, COVID-19 relief, and relief in the wake of natural disasters like wildfires or other crises. The online survey of more than 1,300 American donors conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Vanguard Charitable, a leading nonprofit that administers donor-advised funds (DAFs), also found that 64% of American donors gave to a charity that they had never donated to before, with the top reason for doing so being a reaction to a recent local, national, or global disaster (42%).

"From COVID-19 to a devastating humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, we've seen donors respond to disaster relief needs in inspiring and meaningful ways," says Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable. "In fact, this data reflects that disaster relief support is an integral part of the giving landscape, often increasing total generosity as donors look to give when and where support is needed most. And because the money in donor-advised funds has already been set aside for charitable purposes, donations from DAFs tend to be more responsive in moments of crisis, and more resilient during moments of economic uncertainty."

The survey found that the top reasons American donors who gave to disaster relief in the past 12 months did so were:

Enhanced giving through disaster relief support

The survey found that donors who contributed to disaster relief efforts gave more overall, meaning that disaster relief giving did not take away from, or occur in place of, ongoing giving.

Enhanced giving through disaster relief support is evident in the story of Razom for Ukraine, a nonprofit that amplifies Ukrainian voices with a mission of building a more prosperous Ukraine.

"It has been incredible to witness the global response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine," said Dora Chomiak, president of Razom. "We have historically been an all-volunteer organization with about 4,000 donors and $150,000 in annual revenue. Since the war started, our organization has witnessed a surge in donations, receiving more than $50 million in funding from over 125,000 donors, driven significantly by donor-advised funds. DAFs offer a fast and effective way for us to receive donations and deploy them quickly to procure life-saving tactical medical supplies and deliver them to Ukrainians in hot spot areas, as Razom is one of the few organizations that is on the ground in Ukraine. We have seen tremendous generosity from Vanguard Charitable donors in every single state across the United States, representing over 5% of our recent funding, but we must keep going and not lose momentum as this unjustified war continues."

Vanguard Charitable donors have taken an active role more broadly in responding to a wide range of disasters and crises. Vanguard Charitable donors have granted more than $138 million to organizations focused on disaster relief efforts over the past 12 months.

Direct Relief, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency medical assistance and disaster relief in the United States and internationally, has benefited from Vanguard Charitable donors' increased focus on disaster relief giving.

"As Direct Relief has responded to disasters of increasing scale and frequency in recent years, donor-advised funds like those sponsored by Vanguard Charitable have proven to be powerful, essential catalysts for individuals to participate in the humanitarian response activities that are so critical to people whose lives are upended," said Thomas Tighe, president and CEO of Direct Relief. "Charitable giving is such a deeply personal act of generosity, and DAFs provide a safe, easy, efficient mechanism that has democratized philanthropy and allowed people to make their own decisions at their own pace.The spike in disaster giving from DAFs that Direct Relief has witnessed, including for Ukraine, has been hugely consequential in Direct Relief's response. We have been able to deliver more than 350 tons of urgently needed medical material as well as over $10 million in emergency funding for local partner organizations doing essential work at high personal risk."

Other key survey findings:

As the world continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, climate change, and other disasters, sustained short- and long-term philanthropic giving will remain a critical component to safeguarding and revitalizing our communities. In an effort to support donors in their charitable missions, Vanguard Charitable launched the updated Nonprofit Aid Visualizer (NAVi) for Hunger & Homelessness in 2021. NAVi is a free, interactive web-based tool that better connects donors with nonprofits operating in geographic areas struggling with homelessness and hunger.

For more information about Vanguard Charitable or giving through donor-advised funds, please visitwww.vanguardcharitable.org.

Survey method:

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Vanguard Charitable from April 7-11, 2022, among 2,067 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,341 donated to charity in the past 12 months. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Katie Miller at [emailprotected].

About Vanguard CharitableVanguard Charitable is a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that fulfills its mission to increase philanthropic giving by administering a donor-advised funda tax-effective way to consolidate, accrue, and grant assets to charity. Since it was founded by Vanguard1in 1997 as an independent 501(c)(3) organization, Vanguard Charitable has granted more than $14 billion to charity. More information is available atwww.vanguardcharitable.org/giving-with-vc/how-it-works.

1Although Vanguard provides certain investment management and administrative services to Vanguard Charitable pursuant to a service agreement, Vanguard Charitable is not a program or activity of Vanguard. A majority of Vanguard Charitable' s trustees are independent of Vanguard.

SOURCE Vanguard Charitable

Read the original post:

Vanguard Charitable survey: More than 1 in 3 American donors gave half or more of their charitable contributions to disaster relief efforts in the...

posteriori/E+ via Getty Images

National Grid (NYSE:NGG) -1.4% in Thursday's trading after the U.K. electricity and gas utility company reported better than forecast full-year operating profit but warned that rising inflation and a cost of living crisis poses a "significant' challenge.

The U.K. electricity and gas utility company said FY 2022 underlying operating profit rose to 3.99B ($4.93B) from 2.69B in the prior year, driven by the acquisition of Western Power Distribution, and beating the market consensus of 3.85B provided by the company.

FY 2022 pre-tax profit from continuing operations more than doubled to 3.44B ($4.25B) from 1.66B a year earlier.

National Grid (NGG) reiterated its financial outlook for the five-year period through FY 2026, and forecast broadly flat earnings for FY 2023.

The company delivered "another strong set of results," Jefferies analysts said, according to Bloomberg, driven by higher revenues in British electricity transmission and reduced impact from COVID-19 compared to the previous year.

National Grid's (NGG) price return shows a 4% YTD gain and a 14% increase during the past year.

More here:

National Grid warns on cost-of-living challenges after strong profit (NYSE:NGG) - Seeking Alpha