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Williams (knee) isn't on the injury report for Thursday's game versus the Cavaliers.
Williams will return to action Thursday after missing Memphis' previous game with left knee soreness. The second-year forward should return to the starting lineup and is averaging 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 34.0 minutes across his last five appearances.
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Grizzlies' Vince Williams: Not playing Monday
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Grizzlies' Vince Williams: Gets multi-year deal
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/grizzlies-vince-williams-good-to-go-thursday/
| 2024-01-31T23:44:59Z
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Barely a few days ago, news reports broke out that Ghanaian actress and socialite Moesha Bodoung had suffered stroke and was in a critical condition.
The cause of Moesha's stroke is still unknown.
However, her brother, Ebito Bodoung has confirmed the reports and is appealing for funds for her treatment.
According to a GoFundMe account set up in his name to raise funds for Moesha, Ebito Bodoung said that the stroke has impaired her mobility and speech, and that she needs urgent medical attention.
He is asking the public to support him with any amount they can to help Moesha recover.
According to the statement, the funds received will cater for various expenses including therapy sessions and assistive devices.
The account has a target of $10,000 (123,600) and has so far received $570 (7,045.20) in donations.
Read full statement below:
Hi I'm Ebito , my sister Moesha Bodoung sister recently experienced a life-altering stroke, and her journey to recovery has just begun. The impact of stroke on her life has been immense, affecting her mobility, speech, and overall quality of life. But we believe in the power of God ,love, support, and community to bring about positive change!
By contributing to this campaign, you will be directly supporting my sisters rehabilitation journey. These funds will be used to cover medical expenses, therapy sessions, assistive devices, and any other resources needed to aid her recovery.
My goal is to provide my sister with the best possible care and support during this challenging time. We want to help her regain her independence, rebuild her strength, and restore her abilities. Together, we can make a significant impact on her journey to recovery!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness, compassion, and generosity. Your support means everything to us and to our beloved sister . Let's come together as a community and make a lasting impact on her journey to recovery!
Please Donate today and be a part of our family's story of resilience and hope. Together, we can make a difference and help our beloved sister on her path to recovery!
ID/OGB
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Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
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https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Moesha-s-brother-confirms-stroke-reports-appeals-for-funds-1914314
| 2024-01-31T23:44:59Z
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Stew Peters Show
Jan 30, 2024
Dr. E. Michael Jones is here to talk about how Israel is desperate for the United States start a war with Iran.
Watch this new segment NOW at https://StewPeters.com
Mirrored from https://rumble.com/v4adgik-dr.-e.-michael-jones-on-middle-east-turmoil-zionists-neocons-dragging-ameri.html
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https://www.brighteon.com/2e87483f-5ce2-4faf-97da-b5883791daa3
| 2024-01-31T23:45:00Z
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The Chisel has announced spring tour dates for the US. Home Front will be joining them on all dates, except for festival dates. Tickets go on sale on Friday. The Chisel will be releasing their album What A Fucking Nightmare on February 9 via Pure Noise Records and will begin their tour of the US, UK, and Europe tomorrow. The band released Retaliation in 2021. Check out the dates below.
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The Chisel, Poison Ruin, Pest Control, more to play final Static Shock Weekend festival
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https://www.punknews.org/article/81981/tours-the-chisel-home-front-us
| 2024-01-31T23:45:01Z
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The guy realizes that the brand new services owned because of the for each and every sex is liquid and not limited by one or even the almost every other
Both emails has characteristics of the opposites sex enabling them to flow in the enjoy in ways you to compliment for each most other
The distinctions between these two letters are quite apparent. Rosalind is the prominent character throughout they gamble. Regardless if the woman is dressed up due to the fact a guy, at the beginning of the brand new play, she actually is still represented because the an aggressive woman, if you are Orlando succumbs towards oppression from his sis. The gender spots established because of the area inside Renaissance is applicable to each reputation. Rosalind are intellectual, official, ingenious, and you may obvious throughout the personal areas. While doing so, Orlando was submissive, caring, mental, and simply controlled. Their perfection and you can understanding of the human being person is obvious inside their strange technique for depicting this new character out of man and you may lady in the As you like It.
Dunn, Catherine M. The Changing Image of Woman in Renaissance Society and Literature. What Technique of Lady. Ed. Marlene Springer. New York: NYU Press, 1977. 15-38.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Introduction. The fresh new Norton Shakespeare. Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, and Katharine Eisaman Maus et al. New York: Norton, 1997.
Montrose, Louis A. The Shaping Fantasies of Elizabethan Culture. Spinning the newest Renaissance. Ed. Margaret W. Ferguson, Maureen Quilligan, and Nancy J. Vickers. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1986, 65-87.
Of the assigning the brand new positions in order to reverse sexes, Shakespeare inquiries the the total amount to which one must follow the fresh new particular part recommended each sex
Wiesner, Merry E. Womens Defense of Their Public Role. Women in the center Many years plus the Renaissance. Ed. Mary Beth Rose. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1986. 1-27.
The latest court position of individuals in Elizabethan neighborhood plus had distinct features. While dudes kept nearly pure expert, hitched feminine got simply no liberties as people. Women differed regarding the men within their capacity to become witnesses, generate wills, try to be guardians for their very own college students, build agreements, and you may individual, get , and sell possessions (Wiesner cuatro). These were lawfully helpless regarding the society where it existed. The brand new guys inside their lifestyle, if their dads or the husbands, got done command over all the constitutional things of their lives. Feminine was indeed not 100 % free; 100 % free designed to all of them [Renaissance students] experiencing the rights and you will benefits out-of a citizen and you may possessing an enthusiastic knowledgeable capacity for reasoning, neither of which are easy for feminine (Wiesner step 1). When you are hitched female got pair legal rights in this society, solitary female, if widowed otherwise single, you certainly will, once they was indeed regarding full many years, inherit and you can give land, make a could, signal a binding agreement, enjoys property, sue and start to become sued, instead of a masculine guardian otherwise proxy. However, hitched feminine had no eg liberties according to the common law (Greenblatt 9-10). In selecting so you’re able to wed, women forfeited people court otherwise constitutional legal rights once the people.
Orlando can viewed as possessing feminine characteristics. Oliver, his domineering earlier sibling, has actually withheld any window of opportunity for knowledge and it has complete control of their lifetime. Not simply is actually Orlando robbed of intellectual stimulation, however, they are including eliminated hvor mye er en cambodian brud throughout the inheritance kept of the his father. A new element of his female gender quality is their caring opportunities. When Adam offers to assist Orlando escape the fresh new oppression off their cousin, Orlando knows that the guy have to help Adam through the tree. He offers Adam more than harsh landscapes following discovers your dining and you will protection before thinking about himself. After that, Orlando chooses to conserve their brothers lives actually courtesy Oliver treated your so badly in the previous years. In this instance, Orlando seems to be contributed of the his ideas, as he try prepared to put aside people issues they had prior to now in order to preserve the protection away from Oliver. Orlando performs female functions when he try oppressed of the their sis, when he cares having Adam, incase he hinges on emotion alternatively one to rationality to store their cousin.
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https://respuestaenlinea.info/the-guy-realizes-that-the-brand-new-services-owned/
| 2024-01-31T23:44:56Z
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Flagler Pride, the non-profit Eryn Harris established four years ago as the county’s first LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, and the organizational muscle behind the annual Pride Fest in Palm Coast’s Town Center, installed its new, four-member board at Coquina Coast Brewing on Jan. 12. The organization’s founding board members–Harris, Erica Rivera and Garrett Marinconz–have taken on advisory roles.
The new board will be led by President Tyler Jones, with Skyler Loder as vice president, Margaret “Maggie” Potter as secretary and Calvin Vincent Neugent as treasurer. All but Neugent are local residents. Neugent lives in St. Johns County.
Flagler Pride’s recurring events include Pride Night at Coquina Brewing the second Friday of every month–with drag queen shows from time to time–the monthly LGBTQ all-ages social at Sweet Melissa’s Homemade Ice Cream in Palm Coast the second Saturday of every month (or at Flagler Tea Company in Flagler Beach in colder months), and Morning Networking, an LGBTQ-friendly business networking event at a different business every month, on the third Tuesday. The last one was at Jacked Up Bean, the coffee shop at St. Joe’s Plaza. The organization also put on Flagler County’s annual gay prom, this year scheduled for April 12. In conjunction with Pride Fest, Flagler pride also organizes the annual vigil commemorating the Pulse nightclub massacre of 2016, when 49 people were gunned down and 53 were injured.
Harris is hoping to see the new board draft more volunteers and make more appearances at community events, as well as getting more local governments behind Flagler Pride. The organization got a proclamation read at a Flagler Beach City Commission meeting last year. So far it is the only local government to have approved a formal proclamation recognizing LGBTQ rights, and getting other governments to join in has been like “pulling teeth,” Harris said.
For now Flagler Pride has not taken on political advocacy of any kind. “Because we’re in Florida, we’ve been a little bit careful with what we’ve done and said,” Harris said. “If the new board decides that they wanted to take that route, I would love for them to. In the past we’ve just been a lot more careful, because we don’t want anything coming back at us.” The organization would also have to ensure that it stays compliant with its non-profit status, though advocacy would not be a violation of that. (On the other hand, the organization could not–and would not–endorse political candidates.) In any case, Harris says, “gender and sexuality should not be political. It is not political. But they’re trying to make it that way.”
Rivera is a sexual health educator and victim advocate who set out to create a safe space for adult LGBTQ individuals when she was entrusted to be Flagler pride’s first president. “I am filled with gratitude and pride for the journey we have embarked upon together during my tenure as your president,” she said the night of the installation, “advancing the well-being of our LGBTQ families here in Flagler.” The new board members will build on that foundation. “Your role,” she told the new board members, “is pivotal in shaping the future of our organization, and I believe that under your guidance, we will continue to be a beacon of support and empowerment for the LGBTQ+ community.”
Rivera described the local community as “diverse, vibrant and unwavering in its pursuit of justice and equality. Together we have the power to overcome challenges and create a world where everywhere can live authentically and without fear.”
Jones, the new president, describes himself as a transgender man from an unsupportive small town, a “huge nerd,” a hard worker, and a coach for trans people, helping them navigate dysphoria, stress, anxiety, and life in general. (“It’s not about how many college degrees you have. It’s not about being the smartest person in the room,” he’d written in a piece about “4 Of The Most Important Things I’ve Learned In Life.” “It’s about doing everything that you enjoy, being with the people that you love, and being yourself as fiercely and and fearlessly as you can be.
Jones’s goal is to have a career based in LGBTQ+ and sees his presidency at Flagler Pride as a step in that direction. He also works for Come Out With Pride, which hosts Orlando’s annual Pride celebration, giving him experience coordinating and marketing events. “I also have an extensive background in customer service, so I have excellent communication, customer service, and de-escalation skills,” he wrote in his application–the last a useful skill to have in potentially confrontational situations. ” It’s incredibly important to me that ALL LGBTQ+ folks in Flagler, and everywhere, are able to find their community, spend time with like-minded individuals, and have a safe place to be when the going gets tough,” he wrote.
For six months, Harris will be on an advisory board with Rivera and Garrett Marinconz, giving the new board a place to bounce off ideas or have its questions answered, especially as the organization’s signature event is organized in early summer. The advisory board will not exactly sunset after that, but it won’t have as prominent a role. In addition to the new board members, Flagler Pride also has a new events chair in Quinn Azaria Vickers and a communications chair in Christine Vincent Sikora.
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https://flaglerlive.com/flagler-pride-installs-its-new-board-as-it-looks-to-be-a-beacon-of-support-and-empowerment/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:02Z
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Travis Kelce is keeping his head in the game—and that means strictly no Grammys, despite the fact that his girlfriend is up for several major awards there this Sunday.
“I wish I can go and support Taylor at the Grammys and watch her win every award that she is nominated for,” the tight end said on Wednesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “But I think I’ve got practice.”
The 34-year-old said he knew he had practice on Saturday, and that his Sunday was either going to be a “travel day” or another practice.
“Unfortunately, I gotta get ready for this big ol’ Super Bowl we got in a week,” Kelce added.
Taylor Swift, 34, is nominated for six awards, including Record of the Tear and song of the year for the track “Anti-Hero,” as well as Album of the Year for Midnights. Should she cinch best album, Swift will become the winningest artist in that category, pulling ahead of Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon.
A week after the awards show, the Kansas City Chiefs are set to face off against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. As such, Kelce and his teammates are on a strict training schedule that won’t allow for any distractions like “fun” or “hanging out with your superstar girlfriend.”
TMZ first reported on Tuesday night that Kelce wouldn’t be present at the Grammys in Los Angeles, with sources close to the matter telling the tabloid that the Chiefs are expected to touch down in Vegas the same weekend.
But the couple are figuring out how to make their respective jam-packed schedules work, with Swift set to attend the Super Bowl after jetting out of Tokyo, where she’ll play a show the night prior. “It’s a brutal flight, but she’ll get on her plane right after the concert,” an insider confirmed to Page Six.
What’s more, Swift was present in Baltimore, Maryland last weekend to cheer her man on to a 17-10 victory over the Ravens in the AFC Championship. On the field after the game, the two packed on the PDA for the world to see, appearing to exchange declarations of love between hugs and kisses.
“We’re just two people in a relationship supporting each other and having fun with it,” Kelce explained on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday. “I love it when Taylor comes and supports me and enjoys the game with the fam and friends. It’s been nothing but a wonderful year.”
Now just one question remains: Who will Swift bring as her plus-one to music’s biggest night?
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/travis-kelce-explains-why-hes-not-going-to-the-2024-grammys-with-taylor-swift
| 2024-01-31T23:45:02Z
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AREQUIPA, Peru – A grand LGBTI festival in Cuba is planned for next summer on Cayo Santa María. The event would be the first of its kind in the history of the island and another attempt by the regime to revive the depressed tourism sector.
A report from the La Voz de Galicia newspaper points to the Spanish travel agency Turidove as the organizer of the festival, which will take place between July 31st and August 4th.
“We estimate that around 3,000 people will be traveling from abroad – from various parts of Latin America, but also from Spain – in addition to the Cuban audience,” said Xabier Álvarez Pombo, one of the four owners of the travel agency.
“What we are looking for is an alternative to overcrowded destinations, a very comfortable and completely open destination in the Caribbean environment,” the entrepreneur added.
Named Spartacus, the festival will include a package with four, 5-star hotels, in addition to The One Gallery Beachfront Art Resort, an accommodation that will serve as the headquarters for most of the artistic and cultural programming, which will be managed by Puerto Rican artist Celso González.
According to Álvarez Pombo, the prices for accommodation for a one-week stay on an all-inclusive basis, range from 600 to 800 euros, excluding the air flight.
Additionally, the Turidove team promises an open program with a high musical content, drag shows, painting, sculpture, and photography.
“Although it is a festival for the LGBTQ+ community, it is also aimed at the entire community, inclusive, even designed for families. Furthermore, we are expecting a top-level artist closely tied to the LGBTQ+ community in Latin America. There will be surprises,” emphasized the entrepreneur.
The impression of the Spanish agency is that Cuba is a welcoming space for the LGBTQ+ community.
“It is true that there was a dark period, but many years have passed since it opened up to LGBTQ+ tourism, and today’s Cuba is very respectful of the community,” Álvarez Pombo pointed out.
Regarding Spartacus, the intentions of the company, which has organized a series of highly focused events in Old Havana, is to give the festival continuity and turn it into an exportable brand to the rest of the Caribbean.
On the other hand, the hotels where the first major LGBTI festival in Cuba is planned are owned by Gaviota, the hotel company of the military conglomerate GAESA, and are located in a tourist area that regular Cubans cannot access.
Around the same time of this year’s Spartacus festival, but last year, Cuban Americans with affiliations to the Island’s dictatorship organized the controversial Santa María Music Fest. That event was criticized by activists, musicians, and civil society in general for considering it an insult to all the people who are currently suffering from hunger in Cuba. Furthermore, it stood out for its chaotic organization and poor service, especially towards Cuban nationals who attended.
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https://www.cubanet.org/english/gaesa-hotels-will-host-the-first-major-lgbti-festival-in-cuba/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gaesa-hotels-will-host-the-first-major-lgbti-festival-in-cuba
| 2024-01-31T23:45:02Z
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Williams (hand) won't play in Thursday's game versus the Cavaliers.
Williams will miss his second straight game due to left hand soreness. His next chance to suit up is Friday's matchup with Golden State.
More News
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Grizzlies' Ziaire Williams: Not suiting up Monday
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Grizzlies' Ziaire Williams: Doubtful for Monday
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Grizzlies' Ziaire Williams: Pops for 17 points Friday
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Grizzlies' Ziaire Williams: Moves to bench Thursday
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Grizzlies' Ziaire Williams: Moves into starting lineup
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Grizzlies' Ziaire Williams: Plays 27 minutes in victory
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/grizzlies-ziaire-williams-remains-out-447497/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:05Z
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Users and content creators of TikTok who also happen to be fans of Stonebwoy and some other African and international may face a hard time as some songs by their favourite artistes may be pulled from the app.
TikTok, the popular video-sharing app, is at risk of losing millions of songs from its platform after failing to reach a new deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's largest music company.
UMG, which represents artists such as Mr Eazi, Stonebwoy, Yemi Alade, Nasty C, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Drake, accused TikTok of trying to pay a fraction of the fair value for its music and of bullying and intimidating it during negotiations.
UMG said it would stop licensing its music to TikTok when its current contract expires on January 31, meaning that TikTok users would no longer be able to use songs from UMG's vast catalogue to create and share videos.
UMG also expressed its concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence and online safety on its artists and songwriters.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and has more than one billion users worldwide, responded by saying that UMG was putting its own greed above the interests of its talent.
It said that it was sad and disappointing that UMG had chosen to walk away from a platform that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for them.
UMG is the dominant player in the global music industry, with a market share of about 33% and a roster of stars that includes the Beatles, Elton John, Coldplay, Adele, BTS, and Blackpink.
In contrast, Warner Music Group, the world's third-largest music company, signed a new licensing deal with TikTok in July last year, allowing its artists and songwriters to benefit from the exposure and revenue generated by the app.
ID/BB
Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Entertainment WhatsApp channel
Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
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https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Songs-from-Stonebwoy-Mr-Eazi-etc-to-be-pulled-from-Tiktok-over-fair-compensation-1914292
| 2024-01-31T23:45:05Z
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There’s absolutely no reason for an Islamic marriage (nikah) if there won’t be any sex between the few
If fifty something Muhammad didn’t want to have sex with nine yr old Aisha but wanted to keep their particular within the his household, he may easily has accompanied their once the his huge-child instead. The guy already had an observed child.
Plus when we was to take on the wedding while the good results of Allah’s foreknowledge, it still does not define why he might not predict that an incredible number of more youthful girls today do deal with pedophilic youngster enraged and you can Aisha’s dating given that excuse.
The hadiths don’t say Muhammad got sex having Aisha whenever she is actually 9. They truly are defectively translated
When you look at the numerous sahih hadiths, because the talked about on this page, the new Arabic terminology put was “udkhilath” and you may “bana biha”, that the perspective is only able to feel writing on “sexual intercourse” and absolutely nothing otherwise.
Discover 1 hadith that states Aisha “never watched the personal components of Muhammad”
The latest hadith becoming regarded is situated in Sunan Ibn Majah. This distinctive line of hadith (that has had Arabic text near to the English interpretation) are available in publication form or freely seen towards Websites, and contains a different sort of and you can of good use ability one to separates it out-of most other hadith choices. For each and every narration “is also with their reputation in regards to the authenticity.”
The new hadith regarding Aisha “never ever enjoying the non-public elements of Muhammad” could have been classified due to the fact da’if, definition it is poor. And you may poor hadiths hold no power during the Islam and get zero worthy of for the purpose of creating shari’ah. While the people who utilize this hadith for apologetic aim was alert to the position as the kissbrides.com lea lo que dijo weak, brand new omission from the crucial detail is generally thought by some as the disingenuous.
On the other hand, this new hadiths you to definitely establish Aisha consummated their wedding is mutawatir (‘corroborated’), definition a similar narrations (either having small type or term-for-word) was indeed handed down because of more isnads (chains).
If exact same/equivalent narration try passed down through several isnads, then it is out of higher credibility than the one that tends to be claimed thanks to lower isnads (particularly when it contradict). Which category is inserted with other classifications; such as for instance, if the a narration have been one another ‘sahih’ and you will ‘mutawatir’ then it is of your own higher authenticity regarding category regarding ahadith.
Due to the fact all really genuine choices confirm that the relationship ranging from Muhammad and you will Aisha are a great sexual you to, that it solitary, weak hadith is going to be ignored.
The idea you to definitely Aisha is actually an excellent virgin their unique expereince of living was an enthusiastic alien that Islam, assuming we had been as since “difficult” and/or disingenuous since the apologists appear to be, we can constantly point out that, virtually speaking, you don’t have to “comprehend the personal bits” from somebody for having sex together.
There are even hadith and that tell us Muhammad got sex having the (nine to 11) out of his wives in one evening, and you may Sauda (who was simply lbs) threw in the towel their unique nights sex so you can Aisha. Was we have now to trust he was in reality devoid of sex using them, however, discovering them bedtime stories otherwise getting into some other nights interest?
There are even sahih narations hence write to us one Muhammad’s first encounter having Aisha pursuing the their unique admittance on his family “surprised” their particular, one to she accustomed tidy and you will abrasion off of the semen regarding his clothes, and that he regularly fondle their unique and draw their unique tongue.
Particular Islamic sources say Aisha try aged twelve, 14, fifteen, 17, 18 and 21 whenever Muhammad had sex with her
All the real resources of Aisha’s very own testimony show she is actually aged 9 at that time. These types of alternate ages had been based on misquotations, secondary offer, blurred relationships process, and you may slander, to try to shed question abreast of activities which have been unquestionably recognized of the Muslims for pretty much 1,500 many years.
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https://respuestaenlinea.info/there-s-absolutely-no-reason-for-an-islamic/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:08Z
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In a win for Gov. Ron DeSantis, a federal judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the state unconstitutionally retaliated against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts because of the company’s opposition to a controversial education law.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor issued a 17-page ruling that said Disney did not have legal standing to pursue the lawsuit against DeSantis and state Commerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly. He also rejected claims against the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which the Legislature and DeSantis created last year to largely govern an area that includes Disney’s Central Florida properties.
In dismissing the claims against the district, Winsor cited legal precedents preventing First Amendment retaliation claims against “facially constitutional” laws. He said the disputed laws do not mention Disney and that their effects would go beyond Disney.
“The laws are directed at a special development district in which Disney operates,” Winsor wrote. “But as Disney acknowledges, it is not the district’s only landowner, and other landowners within the district are affected by the same laws.”
Also, Winsor rejected the idea that he should look at the motivations of lawmakers in passing the changes. He pointed to two precedents from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Florida.
“At the end of the day, under the law of this circuit, ‘courts shouldn’t look to a law’s legislative history to find an illegitimate motivation for an otherwise constitutional statute.’ Because that is what Disney seeks here, its claim fails as a matter of law,” Winsor wrote.
The lawsuit stemmed primarily from a decision last year by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature to replace the former Reedy Creek Improvement District with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The decades-old Reedy Creek district was closely aligned with Disney, while DeSantis appoints the new district’s board.
The decision came after Disney officials in 2022 opposed a new state law that restricted instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that the state retaliated against Disney in violation of speech rights.
Disney attorneys argued in the lawsuit that it “is a clear violation of Disney’s federal First Amendment rights for the state to inflict a concerted campaign of retaliation because the company expressed an opinion with which the government disagreed” on the education issue.
“Disney regrets that it has come to this,” the lawsuit said. “But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain state officials.”
DeSantis’ office celebrated Wednesday’s ruling, with spokesman Jeremy Redfern saying in a statement that the “days of Disney controlling its own government (district) and being placed above the law are long gone.”
“The federal court’s decision made it clear that Gov. DeSantis was correct: Disney is still just one of many corporations in the state, and they do not have a right to their own special government,” Redfern said. “In short — as long predicted, case dismissed.”
Similarly, Charles Cooper, an attorney for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, issued a statement that said Winsor “applied clear precedent to reject Disney’s claim that it, rather Florida’s Legislature and her governor, gets to choose the officials who will serve on its local government body. Disney may own the land in the district, but it does not own the government.”
In finding that Disney did not have standing to sue DeSantis, Winsor wrote that allegations that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board operates “under the ‘governor’s thumb,’ are conclusory.”
“Disney has not alleged any specific actions the new board took (or will take) because of the governor’s alleged control,” the ruling said. “In fact, Disney has not alleged any specific injury from any board action. Its alleged injury … is its operating under a board it cannot control. That injury would exist whether or not the governor controlled the board, meaning an injunction precluding the governor from influencing the board would not redress Disney’s asserted injury.”
While the federal lawsuit was tossed out, Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District continue to battle in a separate case in Orange County circuit court.
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida
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https://flaglerlive.com/judge-dismisses-disney-lawsuit/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:08Z
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Yonkers Councilwoman Accused of Saying She’d ‘Slit’ Her Colleague’s Throat
FIGHTING WORDS
A city councilwoman in Yonkers, New York was accused of making threatening remarks in a formal letter this week, which claimed that Tasha Diaz said she wanted to slit a fellow lawmaker’s throat, according to Lohud. On Jan. 2, Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac voted against keeping Diaz as the Democratic majority leader, saying in a meeting that Diaz’s “unprofessionalism, the lack of decorum [and] disregard for others,” has remained since she was first elected to the position. Shortly after the meeting, a witness heard Diaz say “I need to get out of here before I slice this bitch’s throat,” according to the USA Today Network. Another witness told the network that she repeated the comment later, but said “slit” instead of “slice.” Pineda-Isaac detailed three other instances that Diaz had allegedly made violent comments in a letter to the city’s human resources commissioner. Diaz has not denied the accusations, but claimed the letter was retaliatory and a waste of city resources. She apologized, but also defended her speech. “In politics and while fighting for the residents of my district, I often speak hyperbolically as I am very passionate for fighting for the people of my district,” Diaz said.
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/yonkers-councilwoman-accused-of-saying-shed-slit-her-colleagues-throat
| 2024-01-31T23:45:08Z
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MIAMI, United States. – Vladimir Komlev, head of Russia’s National Payment Card System (NSPK, by its Russian acronym), disclosed to the news agency RBC that his organization is in talks with the Cuban Government to allow the issuance of MIR cards by banks in the Island.
“We have spoken with Cuban colleagues and discussed the possibility of starting to issue MIR cards in Cuba. They have a RED S.A. payment system there. The technologies are a bit different for now. But in the same way, we are ready to share our standards, formats, systems so that they can also issue chip cards,” explained Komlev.
The incorporation of MIR cards, a Russian alternative to Western payment systems, could facilitate the Cuban regime’s transactions both nationally and internationally.
Komlev also highlighted that Cuba is not the only country with which Russia is seeking to cooperate in this area. ‘We have a number [of countries] in Southeast Asia with whom we are beginning to cooperate now. In some places, the tests are almost finished, we hope that now the expansion of the network will take place. For example, Laos. There are also a number of countries about which it is [too early to speak],’ he added.
On December 5, the press office of NSPK announced the start of accepting MIR cards at point-of-sale (POS) terminals in Cuba, a move that marks the beginning of a deeper integration of the Russian and Cuban payment systems.
Additionally, since March 2023, cash withdrawals with MIR cards have been enabled across the entire network of ATMs in Cuba.
On the other hand, in mid-December 2023, banking authorities in Sancti Spíritus clarified that MIR cards could not be used by Cuban citizens.
The information came to light in the official newspaper Escambray following statements made by Arelys Alfonso Valero, head of the Electronic Banking Department at the Credit and Commerce Bank Directorate in the province.
“The Russian MIR cards are international cards, issued by the Central Bank of Russia, and their use in the country will not have any implications for Cubans, but for Russian citizens, for tourists from that nation who come to Cuba,” the official specified.
According to Alfonso Valero, visitors can use these cards at ATMs to withdraw national currency at the current exchange rate and in operations at currency collecting stores to purchase the goods they desire; also, if they visit a hotel or need some service as tourists.
“The Russian cards will also not be issued to Cuban citizens, here we use those issued by the three national banks: Metropolitano for people living in Havana, those from BANDEC and BPA, to pay salaries, pensions and for the self-employed, among other segments,” she added.
The officer recalled that the MIR cards are added to other international cards such as Visa and MasterCard, which foreign citizens use throughout the Island for various financial operations.
The operation of the MIR cards on the Island is part of a process of “Russification” of the economy which initially seeks to offer Russian tourists more options when it comes to paying for services and also to be the payment platform for investors. The start of the process had been delayed several times. In 2022, the authorities guaranteed its operation before the end of the year, but it was not achieved.
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https://www.cubanet.org/english/russia-plans-to-allow-the-issuance-of-mir-cards-in-cuban-banks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=russia-plans-to-allow-the-issuance-of-mir-cards-in-cuban-banks
| 2024-01-31T23:45:09Z
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McGowens will start Wednesday's game against the Bulls, Sam Perley of the Hornets' official site reports.
McGowens has been on the fringes of the Hornets' rotation recently, but he'll make his 11th start of the season Wednesday since LaMelo Ball (ankle) has been ruled out once again. Over his previous starts this year, McGowens has averaged 8.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 22.1 minutes per game.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/hornets-bryce-mcgowens-starting-against-chicago/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:11Z
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Health News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: classfmonline.com
The 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has shed light on contraception preferences among married women, highlighting notable differences between urban and rural areas.
According to the findings, urban married women in Ghana exhibit a higher preference for the 'pullout' method or withdrawal as a traditional contraception method compared to their rural counterparts.
The survey indicates that 10% of urban married women opt for traditional methods, such as periodic abstinence, withdrawal, and lactational amenorrhea, whereas the figure stands at 7% for rural married women.
In contrast, the use of modern contraception methods slightly favours rural areas, with 29% of currently married women in rural regions utilising modern methods compared to 27% in urban areas.
The study categorises modern contraception methods to include oral contraceptive pills, implants, injectables, contraceptive patches and vaginal rings, intrauterine devices (IUDs), female and male condoms, female and male sterilisation, and vaginal barrier methods, among others.
Among currently married women, injectables and implants emerge as the most commonly chosen modern methods, each accounting for 8%, followed by oral contraceptive pills at 4%, and female sterilisation at 3%.
Overall, the survey reveals that 36% of currently married women in Ghana are using some form of contraception, with 28% utilising modern methods and 9% opting for traditional methods.
Additionally, the study highlights that the total demand for family planning among currently married women stands at 60%.
An interesting observation from the report is the urban-rural divide, emphasising the need for targeted family planning initiatives that consider regional disparities in contraception choices among Ghanaian married women.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Contraceptive-Married-women-most-likely-to-opt-for-withdrawal-method-GSS-report-1914300
| 2024-01-31T23:45:12Z
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5 charged with murder in death of Quinte West teen
Body of Kiean Stoddard, 17, found in motel on Jan. 7
Five people have been charged with first-degree murder after the body of a teen was found at a Quinte West, Ont., motel earlier this month.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say their officers were conducting a wellness check at the Dundas Street E. motel on the morning of Jan. 7 when they found someone dead inside the building.
Nine days later, OPP identified the victim as 17-year-old Kiean Stoddard from Quinte West.
In an update Wednesday, police said they had arrested four people and charged them each with first-degree murder:
- Morgan Belyea, 22, from Belleville, Ont.
- Steven Courneyea, 26, from Belleville.
- Harold Russell, 43, from Quinte West.
- Aaron Ryan, 27, from Quinte West.
OPP have also issued an arrest warrant for first-degree murder for a fifth person, 29-year-old Khadijah Courneyea, also from Quinte West.
Police say they're seeking doorbell camera or dashcam video taken near 276 Dundas St. E. on the evening of Jan. 3, four days before Stoddard's body was found.
Anyone with information can call Quinte West OPP or Crime Stoppers.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/5-charged-with-murder-in-death-of-quinte-west-teen-1.7100965?cmp=rss
| 2024-01-31T23:45:13Z
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AREQUIPA, Peru. – In the midst of the crisis and scarcity facing the island, the Cuban government invested 20 million pesos in the creation of the new Snorkeling and Diving Center “La Batea” in the province of Sancti Spíritus.
A report from the official newspaper Escambray indicates that the facility is located a short distance from Trinidad and aims to “promote ecological and responsible tourism in the underwater activities carried out in the coral reef of the province’s southern coast.”
The tourist facility is subordinate to the Flora and Fauna company in Sancti Spíritus, and its construction was underwritten by “Valle de los Ingenios” business unit.
“We conceived this space as a source of entertainment and environmental education for both national and international markets, but above all, we hope that this center generates some currency,” explained Yailén Rodríguez Acosta, spokeswoman from the Flora and Fauna company.
With an investment of more than 20 million pesos and a construction period that took more than two years, La Batea is oriented towards generating net income and creating “true environmental awareness.”
To achieve this, the new diving center will provide catering services, an essential complement to the tourism activity, and will specialize primarily in marine cuisine and mixology.
In Sancti Spíritus, out of the 390 million pesos that the Ministry of Construction (MICONS) allocated to the province in 2023, approximately 227 million went towards tourism, particularly for the construction of the Meliá Trinidad Península hotel. This figure represents approximately 60% of the provincial budget.
In contrast, another article in Escambray indicates that only about 35 out of the 100 projected housing units in the housing plan of the province have been completed.
Engineer Rislander Torres Díaz, General Director of the Construction and Assembly Company in Sancti Spíritus, acknowledged that housing has been, as in the entire country, “one of the most depressed programs.”
In this regard, he pointed out causes such as a shortage of fuel and finishing materials, as well as problems in the production of aggregates and prefabricated concrete, which are essential resources for the construction of housing and other projects.
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https://www.cubanet.org/english/the-government-allocates-20-million-pesos-for-a-scuba-diving-center-amid-the-crisis/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-government-allocates-20-million-pesos-for-a-scuba-diving-center-amid-the-crisis
| 2024-01-31T23:45:16Z
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Washington won't start Wednesday's game against the Bulls, Sam Perley of the Hornets' official site reports.
The Hornets went big against the Knicks on Monday, with Washington, Miles Bridges, Nick Richards, Brandon Miller and Cody Martin starting. However, they'll roll out a more traditional lineup Wednesday, with Bryce McGowens replacing Washington. The latter should still handle a sizable role off the bench, as he's averaged 29.7 minutes over his last nine appearances (four starts).
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Hornets' P.J. Washington: Limited production in return
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/hornets-p-j-washington-back-to-bench-447491/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:17Z
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This month, the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew joined the seven existing astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) from the Expedition 70 mission, comprised of the crews of Crew-7 and MS-24 — becoming the first all-European crewed mission to the Station.
This brings a total of 11 astronauts aboard the ISS and a total of 14 people in orbit, including three taikonauts from the Shenzhou 17 mission currently aboard the Chinese Tiangong space station.
The record still technically stands, albeit very briefly, at 17 in orbit — this was set last May when the launch of China’s Shenzhou 16 crew added three more to the existing count of Axiom-2, Expedition 69, and Shenzhou 15 astronauts already in space, only for the Axiom-2 crew to then depart within a day of their arrival.
Those latter three missions also contributed to a record of 20 people in space at an altitude of over 80 kilometers. This was set that same month when Virgin Galactic Unity 25 very briefly contributed an additional six people for a few minutes. This record was reached again this month when the Virgin Galactic-06 suborbital mission carried its astronauts into space for a few minutes on Jan. 26.
The Ax-3 crew is the third entirely private astronaut mission to visit the orbiting laboratory and is led by Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria (Spain/US), colloquially known amongst his team as MLA. He is visiting the station for the second time, having previously arrived via a Soyuz as part of Expedition 14.
This is the sixth time this veteran astronaut has been in space, whose experience includes three Shuttle missions dating back to his debut mission on STS-73 in 1995. Lopez-Alegria is accompanied by Pilot Walter Villadei (Italy) and Mission Specialists Alper Gezeravci (Turkey) and Marcus Wandt (Sweden) who are all enjoying their first trip over the Karman line. Villadei has previous flight experience aboard Galactic 01 aboard VSS Unity last year.
Crew Dragon Freedom automatically docked to the Harmony module’s forward port on Jan. 19 and the quartet will spend about two weeks conducting over 30 science and research experiments in microgravity before they return to Earth. The planned undocking date is currently Feb. 3, weather permitting, and will splash down off the coast of Florida.
The Expedition 70 crew were quickly back to work this year after an off-duty day on Jan. 1 and were quickly preparing or conducting their experiments. Naturally, the crew spent some time preparing and checking hardware in the days ahead of the Ax-3 crew’s arrival.
The delay to the launch gave SpaceX additional time to complete some data analysis of the straps that connect the Dragon’s parachute bag to the parachute door, having noticed that some of the stitches didn’t pull through as expected after Dragon had returned from CRS-29. This has been since improved for Ax-3, and these straps are folded and stitched together in such a way that the stitches will intentionally break, regulating the load applied to the main chutes by allowing the straps to pull at a constant force during the handoff between drogue and main parachutes.
The station performed an orbital reboost to a slightly higher position on Friday, Jan. 12, firing the engines on the Progress MS-24 (identified by NASA as “85P”) for 17 minutes and 30 seconds. This sets up the correct phasing ahead of the Progress 87 resupply mission (also referred to as Progress MS-26), which is set to arrive at the Station on Feb. 15.
The Cygnus cargo spacecraft S.S. Laurel Clark, which departed the station in late December after a four-and-a-half-month stay, finally re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere for a fiery end above the Pacific Ocean this month.
Another Cygnus, the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson (NG-20), will arrive at the very end of the month bearing more supplies but also many new and exciting experiments for the crew. Astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli have been practicing the process of capturing the cargo craft via the Canadarm2 robotic arm ahead of its anticipated arrival in the early morning of Jan. 31.
Robotics experiments
The Astrobee free-flying robots have been on the move again, this time using a perching arm to grapple station handrails and move about the Kibo laboratory module, rather than via propellant. These ‘Astrobatics’ test hops across the station involved Astrobee Vehicle (AB) 1 performing a self-toss maneuver to send itself away from a handrail in a particular trajectory, and a soft-landing in which it grabbed another rail — all monitored with essential data capture by AB2.
These maneuvering tests will inform future robotic missions and could even feed back to the control algorithms used on terrestrial robots, which face similar mobility challenges while running to those encountered here during hops.
NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara has been configuring a Robotic Arm Repair Satellite experiment that intends to advance the use of robotics in space, focusing on small-scale robots that could, one day, perform surveying and repair of spacecraft.
The latest iteration, called the Robotic Experimental Construction Satellite, is a cubesat with robotic arms that are fitted with claws and cameras. It will be constantly fed by ISS power and communications to allow the focus to remain on the objectives of repeatedly reaching a target object with its end effectors, the passing of an object between them, and the performance of a full 360-degree survey using its onboard cameras.
Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt began to help simulate a long-distance robotic exploration mission in which the robots would be controlled off-planet from a spacecraft. Using a laptop in the Columbus module, Wandt has been testing the orbit-to-ground control of Earth-based robots that may one day be deployed to asteroids or other planets but could also be utilized for under-sea missions.
This Surface Avatar experiment will better understand the considerations or challenges in setting up and supervising a semi-autonomous robot team, including taking over control of one individual to then fully control it as an avatar, when necessary. The experiment includes testing with a high latency or lossy signal to simulate less-than-ideal conditions.
The NG-20 cargo ship will arrive with another surgical robot with two ‘hands’ that will help the team to test the process in microgravity and any communications latency performing remote surgery in space with an operator on the ground.
This little surgeon is going to space! Researchers will evaluate the performance of this surgical robot which can be remotely controlled from Earth.
Learn more about what’s launching on NG-20. https://t.co/yZOrn4LvVM pic.twitter.com/8oXia4lpnH
— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) January 25, 2024
Long-duration mission experiments
A common theme running through a series of experiments being conducted on the ISS is the preparation for longer-duration missions to the Moon and Mars and a number of technologies and procedures that will be needed. These missions will place additional expectations on the life-supporting systems and food supply and could present new considerations, such as medical emergencies or parts needing replacement whilst en route.
NASA Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara harvested three crops of wild-type tomatoes as part of the Plant Habitat-06 experiment. This explores the impacts of spaceflight on plant defense responses, such as their genetic activation and immune functions. This will continue to inform the growth of plants and food production for lengthier missions in the future.
Last week I saw plants for the first time in 4 months. I might have gotten a little teary. We get fresh fruit and veggies via our cargo vehicles and they provide welcome pops of color and scent, but it turns out this does not compare at all to seeing living plants and smelling… pic.twitter.com/AfxHemAUbz
— Loral O'Hara (@lunarloral) January 24, 2024
Flight Engineers Jamin Moghbeli (NASA), Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA), and Commander Andreas Mogensen (ESA) also performed experiments as part of the Plant Water Management 5 experiment. This will advance our understanding of fluid flow and delivery systems that will be needed to provide adequate water and nutrition to these plants grown in space.
Various nutrients in stored foods and supplements have been found to degrade significantly in space, hence this experiment to provide on-demand production of human nutrients through engineered yeast-like microbes. Astronauts have been periodically hydrating, activating, and later freezing a series of prepared storage and growth packets as part of a five-year BioNutrients experiment. The frozen experiments are eventually returned to Earth for analysis, with roughly one onboard experiment conducted per year.
Jasmin Moghbeli has also been demonstrating hardware that can monitor the microbial environment onboard spacecraft, which will become key on lunar and Mars missions where samples need analyzing locally rather than sending them back to Earth for analysis. By extracting DNA from station water samples, this BioMole experiment will analyze microbes in situ, to protect crew health as well as the life support systems.
The Ax-3 crew have also begun conducting their own set of experiments, including a study of how microgravity affects the biochemistry of neurodegenerative diseases. It is known that the microgravity environment can affect nervous system functions, in particular, altering the folding and unfolding of proteins, which could lead to an aggregation of ‘misfolded’ proteins. Astronauts Villadei and Lopez-Alegria conducted these Amyloid Aggregation experiments, which will inform any potential risks to astronauts on longer-duration missions, as well as help to advance monitoring and prevention approaches on Earth.
Additional research and experiments
Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı has been conducting a botany experiment that could lead to using CRISPR gene editing to enhance plant stress resistance. This could ultimately help to sustain life support systems where plants could be used for the recycling of oxygen and the purification of water, and there may be benefits to improve crop yields here on Earth too.
To date, seeds exposed to radiation in space, as well as microgravity, have displayed characteristics that make them resistant to drought and certain diseases. The experiment will test how CRISPR approaches are affected by microgravity and the salt stress tolerance of two species of plants.
Pilot Walter Villadei has been using the Kermit microscope to observe cancerous cell cultures in an endeavor to better understand how conditions in low-Earth orbit, such as radiation, affect cancer growth. During their stay, the crew will be exposed to ionizing radiation and changes to their immune system functions, which could put them more at risk for certain cancer types. The goal is to develop models that predict that risk and, in the longer term, to develop countermeasures to mitigate it.
Satoshi Furukawa also explored whether microgravity enabled the manufacture of superior fiber optic cables using a blend of elements called ZBLAN (zirconium, barium, lanthanum, and aluminum sodium fluoride). Theoretical studies suggest fibers created in this environment will exhibit an order of magnitude higher qualities with reduced attenuation.
ZBLAN fibers could potentially transmit signals up to 100 times more efficiently than more typical silica optical fibers, and the market for these low-loss fibers includes ultra-high-speed broadband, supercontinuum light sources, as well as high power and ‘eye-safe’ mid-IR lasers.
The Microgravity Science Glovebox was used for this experiment. This is a floor-to-ceiling rack-based facility that allows similar physical and biological experiments to those that would be carried out in ground-based laboratories, including those involving flames, liquids, or particles. It comes with its own airlock to avoid contamination, and the astronauts can manipulate experiments inside the sealed work volume through glove ports on the front and sides.
Other experiments this month included the testing of an antimicrobial coating in space which may prevent the spread of microbes on spacecraft caused by human touch, and another to better understand how plasma crystals form in microgravity.
Microbes can catch a joyride on cargo and crew traveling to the @Space_Station. Most are harmless, but some microbes may cause diseases and affect spacecraft systems. Crews are testing ways to monitor and catalog microbes on station: https://t.co/b7M9NyASIw pic.twitter.com/GKM7Tk2T8a
— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) January 18, 2024
The Ax-3 crew also tested the new Smart Flight Suit 2 (SFS2) for both comfort and performance in microgravity, including the inbuilt sensors that can monitor and report biomedical data to integrated devices in real-time as well as store the data locally. This new suit will be tested for a minimum of eight hours and is constructed from over 200 pieces to provide a fireproof yet breathable suit that is intended to be the most comfortable yet. SFS2 is capable of actively maintaining body temperature through cooling in more extreme scenarios such as physical exertion.
Plasma makes up over 99% of the visible universe and is commonly seen forming around returning spacecraft on livestreams as they re-enter our atmosphere. These experiments need to be conducted and observed on orbit as they would otherwise be disturbed by the influence of gravity on Earth. The insights from these explorations could lead to better heat shield or vehicle designs as well as improve our understanding of this phenomenon.
Crew health and wellbeing
For some experiments, the astronauts themselves become the test subjects, as part of increasing our understanding of how our bodies respond to various experiences in space. Loral O’Hara donned the Actiwatch which will monitor her sleep-wake patterns through the night. This waterproof wrist-worn device collects data on body movement and ambient light intensity and has been in periodic use since the Shuttle days of STS-120.
Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara also wore Bio-Monitor headbands which were packed with sensors to monitor crew health.
With as many as sixteen sunrises and sunsets visible each day, this can affect the crew’s circadian rhythms and Commander Mogensen has been conducting assessments for a new LED lighting system installed in their sleeping quarters.
The experiment hopes to benefit astronauts through gradually changing intensity and color, mimicking the variations experienced on Earth such as bluer and brighter morning light changing to dimmer, redder evening light but also subtler variations that represent more overcast or sunnier days. It’s thought this will help to battle monotony but could, perhaps, even boost their cognitive performance.
Various crew members have undergone routine hearing assessments, supporting an ongoing review of auditory functions in microgravity, while Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has been measuring his heart activity in microgravity. This contributes to an ongoing long-term cardiac study capturing data from sensors worn periodically by the astronauts.
The crew has also been using virtual reality headsets to experience and evaluate biking sessions aboard the outpost, as well as for simpler relaxation using 360-degree video and sound scenarios to explore the potential impact on mood and mental health – again with longer duration expeditions in mind.
With Virtual Reality for Mental Hygiene (VRMH) now considered a proven technology, this builds on whether the long-term use of VRMH could have a stabilizing effect on the nervous system and promote both mental and physical health through frequent use.
A photo of your favorite place from a whole new perspective. 🖼️@CommanderMLA has special plans for his images. #Ax3 #TeamAxiom pic.twitter.com/w4NAhHrLLI
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) January 20, 2024
Maintenance
Aside from these experiments, there are plenty of less exciting but nonetheless essential maintenance tasks to do, as well as audit and inventory tasks that occupy the crew’s time. These can include visual inspections around the station and measuring acoustic levels via body-worn microphones. There’s also been a focus on checking stowage bags, tethers, helmets, and suits ahead of forthcoming spacewalks.
There’s a lot of housekeeping to do on a station this size, and this month, the crew has cleaned the ventilation system, replaced filters, sensors, and heat exchangers, cleaned the station cameras, and serviced the science freezers and combustion research gear, to name but a few.
The crew has also taken part in various outreach projects, recording short educational ‘STEMonstrations’ and space physics videos for students and teachers. The Ax-3 crew also found time for occasional video check-ins on their progress.
The station continues to inform research, improve life, and inspire the next generation.
(Lead image: The cupola on the ISS. Credit: NASA)
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https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/01/iss-roundup-310124/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:18Z
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Revisiting the Legendary Final Concerts of 6 Late Pop Icons
The too-soon deaths of music’s most iconic musicians — from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain — are infamous and storied. But what about their final performances?
Some stars gave their all during their last concerts before they passed away, while others struggled to perform due to struggles with their health, addiction or exhaustion.
While Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston were criticized for their last official concert performances, their final appearances onstage showcased their true identities as both artists and people. Winehouse showed up for her goddaughter for a sweet duet, while Houston joined a friend and fellow musician onstage for a meaningful, impromptu moment. Both instances brought the singers back to their roots and what motivated them in the first place: the music.
READ MORE: Inside the 27 Club: Celebrities Who Died at Age 27
From Elvis Presley's final U.S. concert in the late '70s to Prince's very last tour, these renowned, fallen musicians left an indelible mark on the world and remain immortalized by their electric stage presence and once-in-a-lifetime talents. Their final performances are cherished and remembered by fans to this day.
The Final Concerts of 6 Fallen Pop Icons
Gallery Credit: Taylor Alexis Heady
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https://popcrush.com/final-concerts-dead-pop-stars/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:18Z
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General News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
Health Minister Hon. Kwaku Agyemang- Manu has disclosed reasons why delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) retained him as their parliamentary candidate in the parliamentary primaries.
The Health Minister won the Dormaa Central contest of the New Patriotic Party.
He won with 345 votes against his competitor, who secured 339. With a total of 722 delegates, only 687 voted, with 3 ballots rejected.
The MP said the delegates were not influenced by money, but they used their senses to determine who was more qualified to lead them as a candidate.
He noted that the delegates also thought of the one who was capable of winning the parliamentary election on December 7, 2024.
“I very much believe that the delegates did not vote because of money. They used their senses; they used what they thought should be good for us (NPP). They also thought of the one who has the capacity and capability of winning the parliamentary election for the party.”
He extended gratitude to those who voted for him and those who also voted against him, stressing the need for unity toward victory in 2024.
He said that the party did a lot in its first term and was prepared to sustain the gains; however, the outbreak of COVID-19 and other global factors affected us.
“I want to extend my sincere gratitude to those who voted for me and those who even voted against me. The most important thing is ahead of us. We have a bigger election on December 7. If anyone should tell you that the election will be easy, then the person is a liar.
We were not lucky because right after Nana Addo took over, we were struck with several challenges, but now that the economy has started stabilising, I believe we can break the 8 and win the election with Bawunia. But we cannot be complacent. We have to work extremely hard for the victory to be secured.
For us to work hard, we need all hands on deck.
The philosophy of the party is that, right after primaries, we have to unite and work together in the interest of the party and secure the victory we all want. I believe this is not the first time we have organised primaries in Dormaa, and I know we will talk to ourselves and pursue unity towards victory in 2024.”
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/I-won-my-primary-because-the-delegates-used-their-senses-to-vote-for-me-and-not-money-Health-Minister-1914301
| 2024-01-31T23:45:18Z
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Citi names Luke Lu as China country officer and head of banking Lu, who has been at the US bank for over 20 years, is replacing Christine Lam, who is retiring. January 31, 2024
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https://www.financeasia.com/tag/country%20officer
| 2024-01-31T23:45:18Z
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Sutcliffe accepted developer donation during campaign despite vowing not to
Mayor says money from Groupe Katasa exec would have been returned had he caught it earlier
Ottawa's mayor has acknowledged receiving a donation from a local developer during the 2022 municipal election despite campaigning on a pledge not to accept such contributions.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Wednesday he'd only just become aware of the donation, and that had it been caught earlier the money would have been returned.
The $1,000 contribution from Groupe Katasa executive Tanya Chowieri came to light in a news release issued Wednesday by Horizon Ottawa, a local lobby group that advocates for progressive voices around the council table.
Horizon Ottawa sent out the release in response to comments Sutcliffe made Tuesday on CBC Radio's All In A Day during a broader discussion about Groupe Katasa's decision to offer — and then withdraw — a $300,000 donation that would have gone toward affordable housing and traffic calming measures in Capital ward.
The company is planning to build a 22-storey tower at Bronson and Carling avenues.
"As you know, I did not accept any contributions from developers during my mayoralty campaign, and I thought that was the right thing to do," Sutcliffe said during the interview.
"I didn't accept donations from the development community, and I don't think the city should either."
'Frankly shocked,' says board member
Those comments left Horizon Ottawa "frankly shocked," said board member Meaghan Burden in the group's news release.
"Other candidates who did promise not to accept developer donations managed to do so. Sutcliffe promised to do so, didn't, and is now hoping we won't notice," she wrote.
If I had known about it previously, it would have been returned immediately.- Mayor Mark Sutcliffe
CBC also confirmed independently that the $1,000 contribution from Chowieri was included in the financial statement filed with the city by Sutcliffe's campaign team, although her name is misspelled.
Both Sutcliffe and his main rival in the 2022 mayoral race, former downtown councillor Catherine McKenney, vowed during their campaigns not to accept any money from developers.
In a statement to CBC on Wednesday, Sutcliffe reiterated that he made that point "frequently" during the campaign, and that his team not only reviewed all the contributions that came in but also sent several back.
"I was disappointed to learn today that despite these efforts, a donation from the executive of a development company was processed and not returned," Sutcliffe wrote.
"This is the first I have heard of this contribution, and it was not identified when the media and others reviewed the list of contributors that was filed with the elections office. If I had known about it previously, it would have been returned immediately."
In Ontario, individuals are allowed to donate to any candidate running for municipal office.
But when those donations come from developers, there's an element of controversy as council decisions around planning-related matters can be lucrative for their companies.
With files from Elyse Skura and Alan Neal
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/sutcliffe-accepted-developer-donation-during-campaign-despite-vowing-not-to-1.7100752?cmp=rss
| 2024-01-31T23:45:19Z
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Austin Lauds Strength Of US-UK Relationship
By DoD News
By Joseph Clark
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps today underscored the U.S. and United Kingdom’s shared commitment to upholding global peace and security as the two leaders met to discuss a range of security issues.
Austin said the U.S.-U.K alliance remains central as both countries work together to address the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza; attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea; and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
Amid the range of security challenges, Austin said the “U.S.-U.K. special relationship is as strong as ever.”
The leaders met at the Pentagon on the heels of precision strikes against military targets in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen that were carried by the U.S. and U.K. with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
The two successful strikes launched earlier this month were aimed at diminishing the rebel group’s ability to launch further attacks against vessels operating in international waters.
“The United Kingdom’s partnership is pivotal to addressing these reckless and illegal attacks against military vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” Austin said as he met with Shapps. “We can see Iran’s hand here, as well — providing the Houthis with advanced conventional weapons, intelligence and expertise. The U.S. and U.K. are deeply committed to the rules-based international order and defending the freedom of navigation.”
Austin also thanked Shapps for his leadership as the two countries work shoulder to shoulder to confront the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“We share the view that Israel must be able to defend itself from Hamas’ terrorism in accordance with international law,” Austin said. “We also believe that Israel has a duty to avoid harming Palestinian civilians and that the people of Gaza urgently need far more humanitarian assistance.”
He added that the U.S. and U.K. continue to “stand foursquare together with Ukraine” as Russia’s invasion enters its third year.
“I look forward to discussing ways that we can continue to strengthen Ukraine’s capability to defend its sovereign territory,” Austin said.
In remarks ahead of their meeting, the two leaders also previewed discussions about NATO‘s central role in maintaining transatlantic security, as members of the alliance prepare for next month’s meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. They’ll meet again at a summit marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance in Washington later this year.
Also ahead of today’s talks, both leaders condemned attacks in Jordan over the weekend that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members and wounded dozens more.
Austin reiterated his “anger and grief” on behalf of the whole of the department over the deaths of the three U.S. soldiers and those wounded in the attack.
“The president and I will not tolerate attacks on U.S. forces from Iran-backed terrorist groups or anyone else,” he said. “As President [Joe] Biden has said, we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-austin-lauds-strength-of-us-uk-relationship/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:22Z
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Vezenkov (ankle) has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Heat, Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee reports.
Vezenkov will miss a fourth straight game due to a right ankle sprain. He was initially deemed week-to-week, but the Kings continue listing him as questionable. Vezenkov's next chance to suit up will come Friday in Indiana.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/kings-sasha-vezenkov-out-again-wednesday/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:23Z
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SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AustralianPrivacyPrinciples—AppOmni, the pioneer of SaaS security posture management (SSPM), proudly announces the establishment of a new data centre in Sydney, Australia, hosted by Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
This new initiative brings AppOmni’s comprehensive SaaS security solutions to any organisation—private or public—required to comply with Australia’s data sovereignty regulations, including the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles.
As AppOmni continues its global expansion efforts, Australia remains a strategic location for the company. The new data centre helps address a growing need in the APAC region to counter sophisticated threats targeting SaaS applications. These concerns are echoed by the 25% of Fortune 100 companies that already trust AppOmni to secure their SaaS ecosystems.
Key Benefits:
- Global and Local Compliance: As AppOmni’s Australian cloud data centre provider, Google Cloud Platform implements and maintains technical and organisational security measures under globally and locally recognised security assurance frameworks and certifications, including APRA, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 27701, SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3. The IRAP-certified data centre will satisfy the data privacy and data sovereignty requirements for customers as they seek to secure business-critical platforms, including Microsoft365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Okta, and Workday. This is a top priority for businesses, critical infrastructure sectors, and government agencies alike.
- Local SaaS Security Service: Australia-New Zealand organisations will have local access to AppOmni’s proven SaaS Security Posture Management Service. The cybersecurity company’s regional data centre presence ensures lower latency and faster response times to support the end-user experience and application performance.
- Enhanced Scalability: The new data centre provides robust monitoring of SaaS services in the APAC region, enabling efficient and proactive resource allocation to handle increased user workloads and surging volumes of data traffic. This proactive approach can help minimise the risk of service disruptions and data loss.
“In the rapidly evolving SaaS threat landscape, it’s important to maintain a robust security posture,” said Brendan O’Connor, CEO and co-founder of AppOmni. “As AppOmni leads the way in SaaS Security Posture Management, our expansion into Australia and the addition of the data centre represents a significant milestone in our own global growth. We are committed to helping our customers and partners in APAC meet local compliance standards — including APRA and ISM — and leverage insights gained from our experiences worldwide.”
Please reach out to understand how AppOmni can help you meet your SaaS security needs.
About AppOmni:
AppOmni is the pioneer of SaaS Security Posture Management enabling customers to achieve secure productivity with their SaaS applications. With AppOmni, security teams and SaaS application owners quickly secure their mission-critical and sensitive data from attackers and insider threats. The AppOmni platform constantly scans SaaS APIs, configurations, and ingested audit logs to deliver complete data access visibility, secure identities and SaaS-to-SaaS connections, detect threats, prioritize insights, and simplify compliance reporting.
For more information, please visit AppOmni.com
Contacts
CONTOS DUNNE COMMUNICATIONS for AppOmni
AppOmni@cdc.agency (e)
+1 (408) 776-1400 (o) +1 (408) 893-8750 (m)
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https://www.01net.it/appomni-harnesses-google-data-centre-in-australia-to-address-regional-demand-for-specialised-saas-security-solutions/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:23Z
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A look from Maui six months after devastating wildfires By Debbie Elliott Published January 31, 2024 at 3:39 PM MST Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 5:06 As we approach the six-month anniversary of the Maui fires, we look at the biggest issues that people on the island are still facing. Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/a-look-from-maui-six-months-after-devastating-wildfires
| 2024-01-31T23:45:22Z
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General News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: classfmonline.com
The National Peace Council (NPC) has commended the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for heeding its appeal to return to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
It will be recalled that after the 2020 elections, the National Democratic Congress decided not to attend the Inter-Party Advisory Committee meetings.
This became a matter of concern to all stakeholders in Ghana’s democratic and elections space.
At a Post-Elections Stakeholders’ workshop organised by the National Peace Council at Ada in 2021, the participants tasked the National Peace Council to facilitate the return of the NDC to IPAC.
The NPC, therefore, engaged the NDC, E.C., and several other stakeholders to facilitate the NDC’s return to IPAC.
On December 14, 2023, during a stock-taking conference, organised by the National Peace Council at Peduase, as part of the preparations for the 2024 elections, the National Democratic Congress responded to the appeal of the National Peace Council by publicly committing to return to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee.
Pursuant to this commitment, the NDC has participated in two recent IPAC meetings on 22nd and 29th January 2024.
"We are hopeful that the commitment made will be sustained to further strengthen the existing democratic credentials of Ghana", the NPC said in a statement signed by Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman, dated Wednesday, 31 January 2024.
"We would like to express our appreciation to the Electoral Commission, political parties, all political actors and stakeholders within the electoral management system for their support to the NPC in the bid to promote sustainable peace in Ghana". We urge all stakeholders in the political space to use dialogue and consensus building to ensure a free, fair, credible, and peaceful 2024 elections", NPC urged.
In addition, the Council urged the public "to appreciate the fact that peacebuilding can sometimes be a slow process. Therefore, we must all exercise patience and support the NPC and its partners in building a sustainable, peaceful country. May the Lord bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Peace-Council-commends-NDC-for-returning-to-IPAC-1914310
| 2024-01-31T23:45:25Z
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Ontario limiting access to Ozempic to conserve supply for those with diabetes
Semaglutide, widely popular as weight-loss aid, will only be covered for those with Type 2 diabetes
The Ontario government is taking steps to restrict access to Ozempic and conserve its supply for people with Type 2 diabetes under a province-funded program amid shortages due to popular demand for the drug for weight loss.
Starting Wednesday, people who don't have Type 2 diabetes will no longer have coverage for the drug under the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) program, according to the Ministry of Health.
"This move has been taken to conserve supply for those who need Ozempic most and aligns Ontario with many other provinces who have taken steps to protect their supply," Ministry of Health spokesperson Hannah Jensen said in a statement to CBC News Wednesday.
Ozempic, one of several brand names for a drug known as semaglutide, is a weekly injection that helps lower blood sugar levels by helping the pancreas create more insulin, and belongs to a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide1, or GLP1s.
Currently, ODB and OHIP+ cover most of the cost of roughly 5,000 prescription medications for all seniors above the age of 65, or people aged 24 or younger who are not covered by a private insurance plan, people living in long-term care homes, as well as for people receiving Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Program funding or are enrolled in the Trillium Drug Program.
The ministry said that moving Ozempic from general benefit category to limited use under its program means any patient seeking a prescription of the drug must meet clinical criteria.
The change, which aims to help pharmacies and patients grappling with shortages for Ozempic and similar drugs, is one that is necessary at this time, said Sanjeev Sockalingam, scientific director for Obesity Canada and professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. But the ministry should also reconsider the limitations for individuals struggling with obesity, Sockalingam said.
"I understand that the government's response to do this to limit it to people who qualify for Type 2 diabetes," said Sockalingam.
"I think this decision really speaks to the shortages of Ozempic or semaglutide more broadly that's in the system and this class of medications that are being used both for diabetes, but for those living with obesity as well."
Patients under the program who will no longer qualify for the drug under the new "limited use" criteria will have to pay out of pocket for the drug if it is intended for weight loss. Sockalingam says that means anywhere between $450 and $500 monthly.
Ontario woman 'felt robbed' during shortage
Whitby, Ont., resident Lynda Williston uses Ozempic to treat Type 2 diabetes. She said the drug was a significant help in keeping her blood glucose in control until the shortage hit and she could no longer get her hands on the shot last year.
"Unfortunately, when there was a shortage of it, I had to be taken off and that's when I noticed how much it had been helping me," Williston said.
Williston said she was prescribed a similar medication, but it was not as strong. When Ozempic was back in stock at pharmacies, she got back on the drug and noticed a big difference.
"It was very disturbing because I knew some people were taking it for their weight issues and while that's wonderful for them, it was taking medicine away from me and that was very disturbing and very upsetting," Williston told CBC News.
"I felt robbed because I knew it was something that was helping me medically. And I just thought that would be like someone walking up to you and taking your crutches away and then saying 'Yeah you can walk, you're still okay,' but you're not."
Drug should be considered for obesity: health professionals
Kyro Maseh, pharmacist and owner of Lawlor Pharmasave in Toronto, said his pharmacy, like all others in the province, has experienced shortages of Ozempic over the past six months.
"It's important to allocate the medication for diabetic patients. But in the future, I think it should be considered also for obese patients," Maseh said Wednesday.
"Obesity carries a very heavy social burden and health and has a lot of healthcare costs."
Maseh said he has seen firsthand the positive outcomes that some patients have after losing weight as a result of being on the drug.
"It may be anecdotal from my perspective, but it's definitely worth looking at from the provincial perspective and looking at the impact that a decrease in obesity rates would have on the overall cost of healthcare," he said.
Sockalingam shares that view, saying obesity needs to be recognized as a chronic and complex medical condition similar to diabetes and other chronic conditions.
"It's important for us to take a look more broadly at a policy level, whether it's provincial government formularies as well as health insurance and private health insurance," he said.
"We have treatments available and we need to think about how do we value those treatments the same as other medical condition to make sure they're accessible. It's not just for this medication but for all the available medications that are now approved and indicated for obesity. We really need to think about how do we get them to the patients who need them the most."
With files from Patrick Swadden and Radio-Canada
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ozempic-ontario-drug-access-changes-1.7100352?cmp=rss
| 2024-01-31T23:45:25Z
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- TikTok and Universal Music Group are sparring over a licensing contract that expires in January.
- UMG has threatened to pull its catalog from TikTok starting Thursday.
- The two firms are at an impasse, with both believing they have the upper hand in negotiations.
Music licensing talks are heating up between TikTok and Universal Music Group as negotiations have left the conference room and entered the public sphere.
UMG, the label behind Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, published an "open letter" on Tuesday, claiming a range of grievances against TikTok. It accused the app of being "flooded with AI-generated recordings," allowing a "tidal wave of hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment," and "selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists."
A TikTok spokesperson shot back in a statement to Business Insider, describing the letter as presenting a "false narrative and rhetoric" and claiming that UMG "has chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent."
One of the top-line points in UMG's letter centered on how generative artificial intelligence could impact artists. The company isn't interested in moving forward with an agreement that doesn't address AI's impact on its music, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. AI was also a sticking point in negotiations between Hollywood studios and writers and actors last year.
But at the end of the day, corporate jabs aside, this fight is about money.
UMG and its peers want TikTok and its parent ByteDance to pay more to license music. It's an increasingly important platform for music-rights holders as TikTok gobbles up hours of daily attention from millions of fans, with aims to build a business in music streaming. TikTok forged a licensing deal with Warner Music Group in July and previously announced an agreement with Sony Music Entertainment in November 2020.
"Their core mission is to generate as much money as they can from their recordings for their shareholders," David Herlihy, a copyright lawyer and music industry professor at Northeastern University, told BI.
TikTok's ability to settle its dispute with UMG is critical for the company. Music is the core of the app, which grew in popularity in 2018 after merging with lip-synching platform Musical.ly. The company is in the process of launching a dedicated streaming app, TikTok Music, and has worked closely with artists on influencer listening parties, livestreams, and in-person events. The loss of UMG's catalog and the support of its artists would hamper the momentum for many of its projects in music.
The companies' existing licensing agreement expires Wednesday, the same day that TikTok's CEO is testifying before Congress and ByteDance is sunsetting its music-streaming app Resso in India after hitting government roadblocks. If the two parties don't reach an agreement, TikTok will have to remove UMG artists' music from videos or face takedown notices, though the specifics of that process haven't been worked out by the parties.
Two music giants face off
TikTok versus UMG is not a David versus Goliath battle, but rather, a Goliath versus Goliath cage fight.
UMG is the largest record label in the world by market share, per Billboard. TikTok has become the most important social platform for music discovery.
The two parties have sparred in the past over licensing, maintaining a complicated relationship where both have sought to work together on marketing and content while guarding their bottom lines.
"Whenever these negotiations take place, it boils down to a debate over which side needs the other more," Tatiana Cirisano, a senior music industry analyst and consultant at MIDiA Research, told BI. "Social platforms will argue they are an indispensable marketing tool that labels can't afford to lose, and labels will argue that the platforms couldn't function without music. With the latest news, UMG seems keen on proving the latter."
Withholding music isn't an uncommon tactic in licensing negotiations. In 2008, Warner Music Group removed its music from YouTube during payment negotiations. Sony Music Entertainment in late 2022 pulled its song catalog from ByteDance's Resso. And, TikTok, in early 2023, tested removing access to songs from major labels for some users in Australia.
But TikTok, as a global social giant, is an important product for music artists and labels. If UMG follows through on its threat to pull its catalog from the app, it's unlikely to do so for long, music industry professionals told BI.
In its letter, UMG called for a TikTok "time out," not a divorce.
"Sometimes you have to take a dramatic measure to get someone back to the negotiating table, which is what I feel like this is," Jonny Kaps, cofounder and CEO of the independent label +1 Records, told BI. "TikTok can move on without Universal better than Universal can move on without TikTok long term."
Still, UMG works with some of the most important artists on TikTok, including four of the app's top five most popular artists in the US in 2023.
And TikTok is no longer the only player in town when it comes to short-video music marketing, as Instagram reels and YouTube shorts have emerged as viable alternatives.
TikTok's rising influence in music
Over the last few years, TikTok has been building a business around music.
TikTok threw in December a sold-out music event showcasing performers who had made their mark on the app. The company also offers artist services via its SoundOn division and partners with SiriusXM on a "TikTok Radio" station.
Some industry insiders have wondered whether the company's push into artist services encroached on record labels' territory.
"It's pretty clear to me that TikTok is no longer just about marketing," MIDiA's Cirisano said. "The platform is becoming a form of consumption in its own right, especially for younger generations. This is why the music industry is seeking to capture more value."
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https://www.businessinsider.com/how-tiktok-music-influence-is-put-to-the-test-in-umg-fight-2024-1
| 2024-01-31T23:45:25Z
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NFL players steadily have used more mental health resources since the pandemic, league and union say
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Former NFL offensive lineman T.J. Lang said no one discussed mental health 15 years ago at the start of his career.
“When you’re a big, burly athlete there’s part of you that takes pride in keeping things to yourself and looking like you’re put together,” said Lang, who played in Green Bay for eight seasons and wrapped up his career after the 2018 season following a two-year stint with the Detroit Lions. “It’s a different world now. I think it’s good that the NFL and teams are trying to help out, and make sure their players are in the right head space.
“There’s ultimate pressure in this sport. Sometimes people fail, and sometimes people need help. The more that teams encourage and normalize it, the better.”
The NFL and NFL Players Association in 2019 agreed to make it a requirement to have a licensed behavioral health clinician on the staff of each team in an effort to increase mental health resources.
“It was pivotal in terms of setting a standard,” said Amber Cargill, director of wellness at the NFLPA.
The Kansas City Chiefs, who will face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, are one of several teams in the league with a full-time professional dedicated to mental health.
The Niners have a licensed behavioral health clinician at their training facilities for 20 to 30 hours a week, much more than the eight to 12 hours mandated in the collective bargaining agreement.
The Ravens, whom the Chiefs beat in the AFC title game, hired someone before it was an obligation, adding team clinician Tricia Bent-Goodley to their staff in 2015.
“I believe we have a culture that has supported my work from its inception really and that starts from the top,” she said.
The league and union may not agree on a lot, but they seem to be like-minded in making mental health a priority and ensuring services are readily available.
There has been a steadily increasing number of players taking advantage of the opportunity to talk with mental health professionals ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the league and union say.
“Post-pandemic, we’ve seen an uptick in the willingness to have conversations about getting help and a normalizing of challenges like anxiety and depression,” Nyaka NiiLampti, the NFL’s vice president of clinical and wellness services, said in a recent telephone interview. “There’s also an increase in the recognition that you can’t have optimal physical performance if you’re not optimizing mental performance.”
Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker tried to keep his mind right during his rookie season this past year while coming back from a knee injury that ended his college career at Tennessee and coping with the death of loved ones. Hooker said he spoke with Michelle Garvin, a clinical psychologist who works with the Lions along with co-directors of player engagement, to develop strategies such as learning how to sleep better.
Garvin was hired by Lions general manager Brad Holmes three years ago and is part of a wellness team that includes Sean Pugh and Jessica Gray, whose offices are just steps outside the players’ locker room.
Linebacker Alex Anzalone had an issue of his own that he wanted to talk to someone about to try to get over the trauma triggered by the sound of his son’s leg breaking while they went down a slide together.
“When I came into work a couple days later I said: ‘Hey, Dr. Garvin. I got to talk to you,’” Anzalone recalled. “I could not get the sound of his leg cracking out of my head.
“We see her around all the time. She has open office hours, and Brad does a good job to emphasize that we should see her throughout the year.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Garvin has become an “unbelievable” part of the team, cultivating relationships with players over time to build trust.
“I do think our players, every year, they’re using it more and I do think it’s helping in all regards,” Campbell said. “You’re dealing with time management. You’re dealing with family issues. You’re dealing with anxiety issues.
“And she always pokes her head up there, too, with the coaches,” Campbell added. “She’ll come around once a week, once every couple of weeks and she wants to make sure that we’re being smart, getting rest.”
Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller put it simply.
“There’s a stigma but heck, it’s help,” he said. “If you’ve got a hamstring pull, you go to the doctor. If you’ve got a mental something, you go to the doctor.
“Sometimes you can’t control what happens physically. Like the body’s going to do it what the body’s going to do it. But if you’re solid mentally, all the other stuff works.”
___
AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-sports/nfl-players-steadily-have-used-more-mental-health-resources-since-the-pandemic-league-and-union-say/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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Chicago becomes largest US city to pass Gaza ceasefire resolution
CHICAGO - Chicago City Council members cast their votes Wednesday on a resolution that calls for an "immediate" ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The resolution passed after Mayor Brandon Johnson broke a 23-23 tied vote. The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) says Chicago is the largest city in the country to pass a ceasefire resolution.
The resolution, known as "Uniting for Peace," was introduced by Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) and Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd). It is modeled after one put out by the United Nations General Assembly last month.
In addition to calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the resolution seeks "the unconditional release of all hostages and ensuring humanitarian access."
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that sparked the war killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s offensive is up to 26,900, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. It does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths but says most of those killed were women and children.
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., State Rep. Abdelnaseer Rashid, Jewish Voices for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine and other groups will hold a news conference Wednesday morning calling on City Council members to support the resolution.
A rally was scheduled to take place at Daley Plaza immediately after the City Council meeting.
The Illinois Republican Party issued a statement on the city council's decision, shared below:
"Democrats in Chicago and across the state would rather engage in posturing theatrics than take action to protect our citizens. Today's vote is not only a slap in the face to the hostages held at the hands of terrorists abroad, but sends a clear message that the City Council and Chicago Democrats would rather do anything except their jobs. Much like Nero, Chicagoans are dying due lax criminal prosecution backed by Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker. Migrants are overrunning Chicago due to inconsistent, dysfunctional responses from the city and state. Chicago Public Schools are failing and about to become less safe if Johnson succeeds in removing police officers from schools.
Democrats would rather waste time virtue signaling about a conflict half a world away than do the hard work of governing for the common good."
On Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools students staged a walkout in solidarity with Palestine outside City Hall.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/chicago-ceasefire-resolution-israel-hamas
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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Spiderwebs could offer a snapshot of an ecosystem, study shows
Scientists have found that spiderwebs can be used to capture environmental DNA, which reflects the animal population of an area. The technique may help track the biodiversity of an ecosystem.
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https://www.npr.org/2024/01/31/1228214207/spiderwebs-could-offer-a-snapshot-of-an-ecosystem-study-shows
| 2024-01-31T23:45:25Z
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https://www.voanews.com/a/7443099.html
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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Springfield will soon be getting a drug court to divert those with substance abuse issues who commit low-level crimes from jail to services.
Those arrested in Springfield for low-level, drug related crimes are more likely to end up in jail than in programs that connect them to treatment and services.
A new drug court established with the assistance of a $900,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant could change that.
Court program coordinator Erin Selvey said the goal is to address root causes that trap people in the criminal justice system.
“I'm very excited to have this opportunity to address some of those needs in our community,” she said, “and stop that revolving door of criminal behavior and get people reconnected.”
Springfield leaders hope the court, Springfield Municipal Adult Rehabilitation and Treatment Court, or SMART for short, will reduce overdose deaths and recidivism. According to the city, approximately 70 residents died from overdoses in 2021, and 64 died in 2022.
The new drug court will start reviewing cases in the next few weeks. Participants can refer themselves, or be referred through the legal system. They’ll be required to complete a program that includes behavioral health and substance abuse services, as well as other community resources.
This court will differ from other drug courts available in the county in that it is for misdemeanor crimes, and only people who have committed crimes in the city of Springfield are eligible.
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https://www.klcc.org/crime-law-justice/2024-01-31/springfield-to-launch-new-drug-court-in-hopes-of-reducing-recidivism
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush told recently hired University of Southern California athletic director Pat Haden last week that he was so sorry for his actions that landed the Trojans on NCAA probation that he would give back his Heisman Trophy if he could, USA Today reported Friday.
Haden told the newspaper that Bush, who won the Heisman in 2005, said he wished he could make amends to the school, which received sanctions that banned it from bowl games for two seasons and reduced its scholarships by 30. An investigation revealed that Bush received cash and benefits from a sports marketer while at USC.
"He's really contrite," Haden said. "He knows he made a series of mistakes. It wasn't just one mistake. It was a series of mistakes.
"He told me, 'If I could turn the clock back, I would. If I could give the Heisman Trophy back, I would.' "
The sanctions included the Trojans forfeiting 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season, and the school still might lose its 2004 BCS national title.
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https://www.patriots.com/news/report-saints-bush-tells-usc-he-would-give-heisman-back-109361
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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“I Deserve 20 Already”: Davido Says After He Was Asked if His Past Record Merited Grammy
- Davido has opened up about his Grammy nomination ahead of the event which will take place in a few days
- In an interview with Eyes on Africa, the singer said that he worked hard for all the album that got him three Grammy nominations
- He also said that he deserves 20 Grammy when asked if he merited the award in some of his past records
Afrobeat singer David Adeleke, professionally known as Davido, has stated that he put a lot of effort into the 'Timeless' album that earned him three nominations at the 66th Grammy Awards taking place in February.
Legit.ng had reported that the singer got his first nomination in different categories including Best Global Music Performance, Best African Performance, and Best Global Album.
While granting an interview with Eyes on African, the 'Aye' crooner stated that the nominations were well deserved.
Davido says he deserves 20 Grammys
The DMW boss who welcomed a set of twins last year was asked if his past records merited any Grammy Award and he responded that he deserved 20 Grammys already.
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He concluded by saying that God's timing was the best. He also made a shout out to the Recording Academy for the recognition.
See the video here:
How fans reacted to the video
Reactions have trailed the interview that Davido granted. Here are some of the comments below:
@timi_of_lagos:
"It looks like he already bought a slot because he's so confident he's getting a Grammy award."
@JoyMart14:
"TBH Davido deserve an award. Ghosthurt.'
@iconicsteve01:
"I’m coming back to this on Sunday. For now I reserve my comment."
@Hybrid_Ola:
"He has been cheated for too long !! Now is the time !! 001 for a reason.'"
@JoyMart14:
"What he did in Timeless album is magical."
@the_cruisetv:
"Nobody can stop that Grammy. Everywhere You Tweet.'
@MayJaYBaE:
"If Davido no later collect any hennn."
@ElonChapo:
"20 Grammy for rubbish way he dey sing.'
@Heis_Duke:
"You go explain tire."
@Homiebis:
"If this one no win am em fit die oo."
@Adanma007:
"And he deserves that 20 Grammy."
Davido shares the secret of making classic music
Legit.ng had reported that Davido had caught the attention of his fans after sharing his trade secret online.
According to him, he had to make some lifestyle changes which helped him to make good music.
He stated that he usually shows up like a homeless person in the studio. Once he does that, he will churn out good music.
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Source: Legit.ng
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https://www.legit.ng/entertainment/music/1576436-i-deserve-20-davido-asked-merited-grammy-past/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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Ash Jogalekar, a chemist and science writer, recently posted a list of “academic papers” that “stand as timeless testaments to both great thinking and great writing.” Ash’s list got me thinking about papers I admire. I’ve given this topic a lot of thought, because I’m always on the lookout for readings to assign in my humanities and science-writing classes. Ideally, these readings should be short and punchy, conveying big ideas in small packages. They can be challenging but not opaque. If I happen to know the author, that’s a plus, because I can provide a little background. Collectively, the readings should cover a lot of intellectual territory. Here is my list of 10 papers, in chronological order. Not to brag, but I have met and can gossip about the final six authors.
“The Communist Manifesto”
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. 1848.
Yeah, communism has been a failed experiment; even China’s economic upsurge stems from controlled capitalism. I nonetheless make my students read the first section of this infamous polemic because it does a great job detailing the upside as well as downside of capitalism. Capitalism, Marx and Engels acknowledge, has undermined repressive institutions such as religions and monarchies while promoting literacy and female equality; the problem is that it inevitably leads to devaluation of workers. This 19th-century analysis of capitalism remains all-too-relevant. Aren’t the billionaire tech bros producing their own “gravediggers”?
“War Is Only an Invention—Not a Biological Necessity”
Margaret Mead. Asia, 1940.
Social-injustice warriors love bashing Mead. The hell with them, she was a great scientist. In this paper, Mead refutes the insidious idea that war is the inevitable consequence of evolutionary impulses. Subsequent research has corroborated her claim that war is an “invention,” like marriage and trial by jury. Writing at the dawn of World War II, Mead acknowledges that eradicating war will be hard, because it is so deeply rooted in our culture. Mead nonetheless gives me hope that we can end war if we have the will to do so.
“Computing Machinery and Intelligence”
Alan Turing. Mind, 1950.
This paper doesn’t just introduce what we now call the Turing test, a method for determining whether a machine can think; it’s also loaded with profound, witty arguments about the nature of intelligence and mind, arguments even more relevant in the era of ChatGPT. Make sure you note Turing’s riff on extrasensory perception.
“The quest for peace and justice”
Martin Luther King. Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, 1964.
King’s moral clarity has become even more impressive over time. “There is a sort of poverty of the spirit,” he warns, “which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance.” Yup, still true. King urges us to work against racism, poverty, and war while remaining nonviolent. Nonviolence is a hard sell in our cruel era, but we must embrace it to create a just, free, peaceful world. Good thing we have those altruism genes (see next entry)!
“The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism”
Robert Trivers. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1971.
Why, if we’re bundles of mean, selfish genes, are we ever kind to each other? And not only to kin who share our genes but to strangers? Drawing upon evolutionary and game theory and animal ethology, Trivers proposes an elegant, persuasive answer. Trivers’ insights into our twisted psyches, which make more sense than Freud’s, helped spawn sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. If you wonder why Trivers isn’t better known, check out my profile of him.
“What Is It Like To Be A Bat?”
Thomas Nagel. The Philosophical Review, 1974.
Best title ever for a philosophical paper! The text is terrific, too. Nagel is one of those rare philosophers who writes well and avoids getting bogged down in definitional nitpicking. Here, confronting what David Chalmers—two decades later!—dubbed “the hard problem,” Nagel explains why consciousness is a uniquely intractable puzzle that might forever elude scientific solution. Integrated information theory? Give me a break.
“Is the End in Sight for Theoretical Physics?”
Stephen Hawking, Physics Bulletin, 1981.
Published seven years before A Brief History of Time made him a celebrity, this paper presents, in three brisk pages, Hawking’s audacious vision of a unified theory, or “theory of everything,” that solves the riddle of our cosmic existence. Based on the twist at the end, you have to wonder: Was Hawking kidding all along? My students find this paper tough, but it gives me an excuse to brag about the time I carried Hawking in my arms.
“The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”
Oliver Sacks. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, 1985.
This case study, after which Sacks’ bestselling 1985 collection is named, showcases his remarkable combination of literary and scientific talent. Sacks’ contemplation of a patient’s broken brain leads to deep reflections on how healthy brains make sense of the world. And yet Sacks is an ardent anti-reductionist, who implies that no theory can encompass us all, because each of us, even the most damaged, is unique. Sacks renders what could be a sappy truism into a rich, humane vision of humanity.
“Information, Physics, Quantum: The Search for Links”
John Wheeler. Proceedings of 3rd International Symposium on Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 1989.
Wheeler, a hard-nosed physicist with mystical yearnings, proposes fusing quantum theory with information theory, a notion he condenses into the phrase “it from bit.” He elaborates that “every it—every particle, every field of force, even the spacetime continuum itself—derives its function, its meaning, its very existence entirely—even if in some contexts indirectly—from the apparatus-elicited answers to yes-or-no questions, binary choices, bits.” Wheeler’s “it from bit” helped inspire the thriving field of quantum information science; it also gives succor to those who suspect mind matters at least as much as matter. For more background, see my profile of Wheeler. This is the only paper on this list I haven’t assigned to students—yet.
“Why Most Published Research Findings Are False”
John Ioannidis. PLOS Medicine, 2005.
This paper by Ioannidis, an epidemiologist, triggered what came to be known as the replication crisis. Ioannidis calmly, methodically, scientifically deals a devastating blow to science, from which it has not recovered. Ioannidis not only quantifies the unreliability of the scientific literature; he also traces it to scientists’ competition for fame and financial rewards; “hotter” scientific fields are more likely to produce bogus findings. I inform all my students about Ioannidis’ findings, which can help explain why, for example, cancer care is such a mess and science in general is stalling.
Lead image by Tasnuva Elahi; with images by nik93737, Stamptastic, spatuletail / Shutterstock
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https://nautil.us/10-timeless-papers-that-challenged-our-thinking-505026/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed also discussed the need to ensure urgent delivery of humanitarian relief, and medical aid to Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip
Several parts of the UAE witnessed light to moderate to heavy rainfall late on Wednesday night (January 31) and the early hours of Thursday morning (February 1).
According to the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) in the UAE, light to moderate to heavy rain was reported in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.
The Met department had said on Tuesday that the country will be affected by a surface depression.
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The Met department had said that on Thursday, the upper air trough will gradually deepen as the amounts of clouds increase over scattered areas, with convective clouds, especially over the northern, eastern and coastal areas, accompanied by rainfall frequently with a decrease in temperature.
Dubai Police had, on Wednesday, urged motorists to drive safely during rain. The authority asked drivers to reduce speed limits and maintain a safe distance from the road's edge.
Watch video below:
Importantly, the authority urged motorists to use the air conditioning on the outer circulation mode to avoid wind shield fogging and maintain clear visibility. They also asked drivers to use low-beam headlights to enhance visibility as well ensure the wind shield wipers were good and in working order. The police also urged motorists to inspect their vehicle's brakes after traversing through puddles.
Dubai's Road and Transport Authority (RTA) asked drivers to follow speed limits.
The Traffic and Patrols Directorate of Abu Dhabi urged motorists to adhere to safety rules, avoid reckless driving and drifting, and follow traffic laws during rainfall.
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Originally manufactured in the US, the device was introduced in the Emirates just over a year ago
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https://www.khaleejtimes.com/ta/uae/weather/look-heavy-rains-lash-different-parts-of-uae
| 2024-01-31T23:45:26Z
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Fournier (personal) has been removed from the injury report ahead of Thursday's game with the Pacers.
While Fournier will be available for Thursday's game, that doesn't mean he'll touch the floor. He's made just three, brief appearances for the Knicks this season, logging a total of 39 minutes.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/knicks-evan-fournier-off-the-injury-report/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:29Z
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CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AccountsReceivable—Bectran, Inc., a pioneer in credit, collections, and accounts receivable management technology, is thrilled to unveil its Advanced Order Hold Management System. This innovative product addition is exclusively designed for credit departments to swiftly resolve order holds in real-time, minimize exposure risk, and accelerate the order-to-cash cycle, marking a significant leap in operational efficiency.
“The system minimizes manual interventions, allowing businesses to focus on strategic growth and enhancing customer relationships. It’s a smart solution for balancing risk, speed, and customer satisfaction.” – Louis Ifeguni, CEO of Bectran, Inc.
Order holds are a critical business process for most companies with high transaction volumes, yet this process is primarily manual. Traditional processes lack data analysis, increase the risk of human error, and often miss time-sensitive order approvals. Whereas out-of-the-box or homegrown order hold management systems are typically rigid, demand significant intervention, and may place holds on orders using only basic or mundane criteria, disregarding the customer’s transaction performance history. These traditional systems typically require a credit manager’s undivided attention for approval evaluation, failing to offer true efficiency.
Bectran is leading the market with its Advanced Order Hold Management system
Bectran has been consistently launching products that meet and exceed market expectations. The Bectran Advance Order Hold Management system provides a suite of automation models that intelligently combine a range of customer data, business policies, and processes to evaluate and decide on order holds in real-time. In addition, the system provides a range of metrics to guide the user on overall model performance and potential outliers for process refinement. Moreover, credit managers and admins can create order release models without internal IT involvement. This self-service option allows teams to tailor condition criteria for each hold circumstance. Another distinctive feature is its intelligent reprocessing logic, which reassesses all orders on hold, considering factors such as changes in customer credit limits, payments, and improved payment histories. This automation not only enhances customer experience but also substantially cuts down average order hold times, ultimately increasing productivity by over 70%.
About Bectran
Bectran is the premier SaaS platform for Finance Departments, akin to CRM for Sales. Trusted by diverse organizations, from SMEs to Fortune 500 companies, we streamline credit processing by over 90%, reducing credit defaults and collection costs. Many businesses rely on Bectran for efficient Accounts Receivable and Collections management, achieving up to 60-90% cost savings. With rapid onboarding in days, our platform is hailed by credit professionals as the future of credit management. Visit Bectran.com to learn more about financial solutions for your industry.
Contacts
Lilly Filippov
312-637-3545
PR@Bectran.com
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https://www.01net.it/bectrans-advanced-order-hold-management-system-revolutionizes-credit-departments/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:29Z
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Laws on abortion are out of step with public opinion. One Republican legislator in Tennessee is working to establish exceptions to his state's strict abortion laws, but he faces a tough battle.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Laws on abortion are out of step with public opinion. One Republican legislator in Tennessee is working to establish exceptions to his state's strict abortion laws, but he faces a tough battle.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/a-tennessee-lawmaker-helped-pass-a-strict-abortion-law-hes-now-trying-to-loosen-it
| 2024-01-31T23:45:29Z
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Engineers Develop Hack To Make Automotive Radar Hallucinate
A black sedan cruises silently down a quiet suburban road, driver humming Christmas carols quietly while the car’s autopilot handles the driving. Suddenly, red flashing lights and audible warnings blare to life, snapping the driver from their peaceful reprieve. They look at the dashboard screen and see the outline of a car speeding toward them for a head-on collision, yet the headlights reveal nothing ahead through the windshield.
Despite the incongruity, the car’s autopilot grabs control and swerves into a ditch. Exasperated, the driver looks around the vicinity, finding no other vehicles as the incoming danger disappears from the screen. Moments later, the real threat emerges — a group of hijackers jogging toward the immobilized vehicle.
This scene seems destined to become a common plot point in Hollywood films for decades to come. But due to the complexities of modern automotive detection systems, it remains firmly in the realm of science fiction. At least for the moment.
Engineers at Duke University, led by Miroslav Pajic, the Dickinson Family Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Tingjun Chen, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, have now demonstrated a system they’ve dubbed “MadRadar” for fooling automotive radar sensors into believing almost anything is possible.
The technology can hide the approach of an existing car, create a phantom car where none exists or even trick the radar into thinking a real car has quickly deviated from its actual course. And it can achieve this feat in the blink of an eye without having any prior knowledge about the specific settings of the victim’s radar, making it the most troublesome threat to radar security to date.
The researchers say MadRadar shows that manufacturers should immediately begin taking steps to better safeguard their products.
The research will be published in 2024 Network and Distributed System Security Symposium, taking place February 26 – March 1 in San Diego, California.
“Without knowing much about the targeted car’s radar system, we can make a fake vehicle appear out of nowhere or make an actual vehicle disappear in real-world experiments,” Pajic said. “We’re not building these systems to hurt anyone, we’re demonstrating the existing problems with current radar systems to show that we need to fundamentally change how we design them.”
In modern cars that feature assistive and autonomous driving systems, radar is typically used to detect moving vehicles in front of and around the vehicle. It also helps to augment visual and laser-based systems to detect vehicles moving in front of or behind the car.
Because there are now so many different cars using radar on a typical highway, it is unlikely that any two vehicles will have the exact same operating parameters, even if they share a make and model. For example, they might use slightly different operating frequencies or take measurements at slightly different intervals. Because of this, previous demonstrations of radar-spoofing systems have needed to know the specific parameters being used.
“Think of it like trying to stop someone from listening to the radio,” explained Pajic. “To block the signal or to hijack it with your own broadcast, you’d need to know what station they were listening to first.”
In the MadRadar demonstration, the team from Duke showed off the capabilities of a radar-spoofing system they’ve built that can accurately detect a car’s radar parameters in less than a quarter of a second. Once they’ve been discovered, the system can send out its own radar signals to fool the target’s radar.
In one demonstration, MadRadar sends signals to the target car to make it perceive another car where none actually exist. This involves modifying the signal’s characteristics based on time and velocity in such a way that it mimics what a real contact would look like.
In a second and much more complicated example, it fools the target’s radar into thinking the opposite — that there is no passing car when one actually does exist. It achieves this by delicately adding masking signals around the car’s true location to create a sort of bright spot that confuses the radar system.
“You have to be judicious about adding signals to the radar system, because if you simply flooded the entire field of vision, it’d immediately know something was wrong,” said David Hunt, a PhD student working in Pajic’s lab.
In a third kind of attack, the researchers mix the two approaches to make it seem as though an existing car has suddenly changed course. The researchers recommend that carmakers try randomizing a radar system’s operating parameters over time and adding safeguards to the processing algorithms to spot similar attacks.
“Imagine adaptive cruise control, which uses radar, believing that the car in front of me was speeding up, causing your own car to speed up, when in reality it wasn’t changing speed at all,” said Pajic. “If this were done at night, by the time your car’s cameras figured it out you’d be in trouble.”
Each of these attack demonstrations, the researchers emphasize, were done on real-world radar systems in actual cars moving at roadway speeds. It’s an impressive feat, given that if the spoofing radar signals are even a microsecond off the mark, the fake datapoint would be misplaced by the length of a football field.
“These lessons go far beyond radar systems in cars as well,” Pajic said. “If you want to build drones that can explore dark environments, like in search and rescue or reconnaissance operations, that don’t cost thousands of dollars, radar is the way to go.”
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-engineers-develop-hack-to-make-automotive-radar-hallucinate/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:29Z
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With scoring up less than 1% over last season, the NBA is not seeing cause for alarm
Joe Dumars went to a game a couple of weeks ago that came down to the very last shot, and he thought it was one of the best games of the season to this point. Final score: Denver 102, Boston 100.
It was a reminder that defense still can get played in the NBA.
Amid a flurry of big individual performances — Luka Doncic scoring 73, Joel Embiid scoring 70, Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns each scoring 62 — in the last two weeks alone, Dumars said Wednesday that NBA officials aren’t alarmed by such numbers because the league’s scoring average is up only slightly compared to last season.
“It’s where the game is today,” said Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations. “It’s the pace of the game. It’s the amount of 3s guys are shooting now. You’re going to have some offensive eruptions like that.”
There hadn’t been an instance since April 1978 of two players scoring at least 60 points in the same day. That is, until it happened twice last week: Embiid and Towns had their huge games on Jan. 22, Doncic and Booker put on their scoring shows on Jan. 26.
Having those events happen twice in the span of a few days is a statistical oddity, for certain. But the numbers show it’s not really much more than that.
Scoring leaguewide this season is up just 0.78% over last season entering Wednesday, from 114.7 points per game to 115.6 points per game. The jump was far bigger last season, when scoring rose 3.7% over the rate of 110.6 points per game that the league saw in 2021-22.
There have been more high-scoring games, but the averages suggest things also tend to balance out. Entering Wednesday, there had been 78 instances of teams scoring at least 135 points in a game this season — already the second most for a full season in league history and on pace to smash the record of 112, set last season. The previous mark was 74 games of 135 or more, done in 2019-20.
“We’re going to see offensive eruptions with this kind of pace and the amount of 3s people shoot,” Dumars said. “But there’s no push here at the league office from me or anyone else that we want to see a certain score. I left that Boston-Denver game saying, ‘wow, great game.’ That’s what fans want. Fans want to leave a game or watch a game and at the end say, ‘that was incredible.’ The score is secondary to that. Fans just want to see great games.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-sports/with-scoring-up-less-than-1-over-last-season-the-nba-is-not-seeing-cause-for-alarm/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:32Z
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Guardians' home opener on collision course with solar eclipse in Cleveland
CLEVELAND - Talk about high drama.
By the time the first pitch is thrown at the Cleveland Guardians' home opener on April 8 at Progressive Field, fans will have seen something more unusual than a no-hitter, more rare than a perfect game and astronomically more exciting than an unassisted triple play.
It will be truly an out of this world moment.
At 3:13 p.m. EDT, Cleveland will experience a total solar eclipse — a once-in-generations event — for the first time since 1806, 13 years before the birth of Abner Doubleday, the Civil War hero some have credited with inventing baseball.
The alignment of sun, earth and moon will plunge the city into darkness, and as long as the maddeningly unpredictable Northeast Ohio weather cooperates, people will view a spectacle that lasts just under four minutes but occurs only three times in a 638-year span above the city.
The next one isn't until 2444.
"It’s a really, really, really big deal," said Jay Ryan, a self-described "astronomy nerd" and eclipse educator. "It’s hard to communicate to people how big of a deal this is. They’ve seen a partial eclipse in the past, and were like, meh. This is breathtaking."
RELATED: Solar eclipse 2024: These U.S. cities are in the path of totality
Undoubtedly exciting for many, the eclipse does create some logistical concerns for others, especially the Guardians, who are trying to decide an ideal time to start the opener while balancing transportation, parking and other concerns.
Cleveland will be jam packed.
File: A general view of the field during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday, April 7, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Lauren Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Officials are estimating 200,000 visitors will descend upon the city strictly to view the eclipse, with 50,000 expected to attend an event at the Great Lakes Science Center, where NASA is setting up one of three national broadcasting hubs.
Throw in any college basketball fans still in town from the NCAA Women’s Final Four from April 5-7, on top of the 35,000 coming to see the Guardians game, and downtown Cleveland will be bursting at the seams.
The Guardians have started their home openers in recent years with a 4:10 p.m. first pitch. This year, though, that falls in the partial-eclipse window when fans may still be distracted by the overhead phenomenon and not focused on seeing All-Star third baseman José Ramírez step into the batter's box against the Chicago White Sox.
The team has spent months weighing whether to embrace the eclipse and open the ballpark early to allow fans to watch it together — an opening act on opening day — or wait until it's over and play a night game.
The Guardians, who start on an 11-game trip, are expected to announce their decision on the opener in coming days.
Ryan believes the social element of the eclipse can't be underestimated. As he excitedly described the moon's 124-mile shadow gradually fading and then temporarily extinguishing the sun's brightness, Ryan said the moment before darkness is overwhelming.
File: The sun is is in full eclipse over Grand Teton National Park on August 21, 2017 outside Jackson, Wyoming. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
"The color of the sky goes from bluish, grayish to black," he said. "And then, boom! Totality. You are in nighttime. It's heart pounding. It's exciting. People are screaming. I'll tell you what, to be with a sports crowd, just imagine someone hitting a grand slam. To be down there with a bunch of fans would be great."
There could be one problem: Cleveland's wacky weather.
"You had to go there," Ryan said.
The Guardians have dealt with snow on opening day before. In 2007, their first four games in Cleveland were snowed out from April 6-9, forcing the team to play its "home" opener in Milwaukee.
RELATED: Southwest offers flights to view 2024 total solar eclipse from the sky
Ryan has been closely monitoring the long-term forecast and Cleveland's weather history. He feels somewhat encouraged that April 8 in 2020 and 2023 there were "blue, crystal-clear skies," while also noting that wasn't the case in 2021 and 2022.
"It's a coin toss," he said with a laugh.
Who knows. Maybe the eclipse could be a sign of something bigger on the way in Cleveland, which hasn't celebrated a World Series title since 1948.
"If we get a beautiful day," Ryan said. "This is going to beat the 1948 World Series."
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/cleveland-guardians-home-opener-solar-eclipse
| 2024-01-31T23:45:32Z
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Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.
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https://www.voanews.com/a/7443115.html
| 2024-01-31T23:45:32Z
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Drugmaker Biogen is pulling the plug on its controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, following disappointing sales. It had been expected to be a blockbuster product.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Drugmaker Biogen is pulling the plug on its controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, following disappointing sales. It had been expected to be a blockbuster product.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-health-fitness/2024-01-31/expected-to-be-a-big-deal-alzheimers-drug-is-pulled-after-disappointing-sales
| 2024-01-31T23:45:32Z
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Photos emerge as Tinubu, Shettima’s Wives Visit Aisha Buhari
- Oluremi Tinubu has got Nigerians talking on social media following her visit to Aisha Buhari
- The First Lady made this known in a post on her X account that was accompanied by photos of the development
- In reaction, some Nigerians queried the essence of her visit in the wake of the worsening economy and rising insecurity
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Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements
Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, paid a surprise visit to her predecessor, Aisha Buhari, who just welcomed a grandchild.
Aisha Mukhtar, Buhari’s granddaughter, welcomed a baby girl.
Mukhtar is the daughter of Fatima, Buhari’s second daughter, who is a board member of the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria (CIFCFEN), Daily Trust reported.
Mrs Tinubu made this known in a post shared on her X account on Wednesday, January 31, adding that she was accompanied by the wife of the vice president, Hajia Nana Shettima.
The First Lady disclosed further that Aisha Buhari and her daughter were back home to nurture the baby.
She tweeted:
"It was a pleasure for me and the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima to be at the residence of Former First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Her Excellency, Dr. Aisha Buhari to welcome her back home after her stay with her daughter to nurse her new grandchild.
"May God bless the new baby, her parents, and the grandparents."
Nigerians react as Remi Tinubu visits Aisha Buhari
Nigerians took to the comment section of X and reacted to the development. Legit.ng captured some of their reactions.
@Dandy__x tweeted:
"Did she bring the baby back from the Ọmụgwọ or what?
@ngmayor55 tweeted:
"Tell your husband me President to resign if he can't stop insecurity in the country you heard me right."
@ArewaYouth93292 tweeted:
"What is the importance of this message to the general public."
@cuppydat tweeted:
"What a joke."
@EnitanTaiwo88 tweeted:
"Mummy we are solely behind you and your husband to take us to a greater heights. Mummy please talk to daddy to prioritise security while the economy is recovering. We are defending you but the pressure is high especially from the children of perdition."
Oluremi Tinubu welcomes Abuja's 1st baby of the year
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Senator Oluremi Tinubu paid a visit to the National Hospital in FCT yesterday to celebrate the birth of the first baby of the year recorded at the prestigious medical facility.
The mother of three, who was full of joy, warmly congratulated the parents of the newborn as she held the baby in her arms and welcomed him to the world.
A video posted by NTA showed the president’s wife cuddling the baby boy, who was named Boluwatife Johnson, while his mother, who was resting on the bed, smiled shyly.
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Source: Legit.ng
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https://www.legit.ng/nigeria/1576435-photos-emerge-tinubu-shettimas-wives-visit-aisha-buhari/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:32Z
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Regional News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: Michael Ackon, Contributor
A group of students from the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) have hosted a successful OnCampus event, kicking off the first stage of the prestigious Hult Prize competition. This global challenge, offering a $1 million prize, empowers students to find innovative solutions to critical social issues.
UPSA's OnCampus program saw passionate student volunteers, known as Campus Directors, organize training sessions and community events centered around this year's theme.
Their dedication culminated in a final pitch competition, where team EcoSynergy Network emerged victorious.
This dynamic team, composed of Claudia Obeng Agyemang, Grace Korkor Wortey, Hannah Nchidebon Johnson, and Samuel Mensah, impressed judges with their innovative solution.
They will now advance to the regional competition, where they will compete against teams from across the globe for a chance to join the Hult Prize's prestigious Global Accelerator.
The Global Accelerator is an intensive program designed to refine and amplify the chosen teams' social ventures. From there, only six teams will earn the coveted title of Finalists, pitching their ideas on the world stage in London for the ultimate prize: $1 million to bring their vision to life.
"Putting this competition together was a challenge, but witnessing the passion and dedication of our students makes it all worthwhile", Michael Ackon, the UPSA Campus Director said.
"We are confident that EcoSynergy Network, or an equally strong team from Ghana
will make it to the finals", he added.
About the Hult Prize:
The Hult Prize, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize for students" challenges aspiring social entrepreneurs to develop solutions for pressing global issues. Each year, students from around the world compete for the chance to win $1 million to launch their social venture and make a lasting impact.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/UPSA-students-host-Hult-Prize-2024-OnCampus-event-1914303
| 2024-01-31T23:45:31Z
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Anunoby (elbow) is questionable for Thursday's game against the Pacers.
Anunoby is in danger of missing a third straight game due to right elbow inflammation. If he joins Julius Randle (shoulder) on the sidelines again, Josh Hart and Precious Achiuwa would likely retain increased roles.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/knicks-og-anunoby-listed-questionable-for-thursday/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:35Z
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Southern Gaza has seen the heaviest fighting over the past few weeks. But bombing has restarted in the north and the humanitarian situation has worsened there.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Southern Gaza has seen the heaviest fighting over the past few weeks. But bombing has restarted in the north and the humanitarian situation has worsened there.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/as-israel-resumes-bombing-in-the-north-thousands-of-gazans-face-desperate-conditions
| 2024-01-31T23:45:36Z
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Iran, Uzbekistan Hold Political Talks In Tashkent
Ranking diplomats from Iran and Uzbekistan convened in Tashkent for the seventh round of political consultations between the two Asian states.
The meeting was co-chaired by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Baqeri and First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhromjon Aloyev.
They discussed the latest situation and prospects of cooperation between the two countries in the political, security, economic, and cultural fields in regional and international arenas.
Highlighting the growing relations between Iran and Uzbekistan, the two sides called for regular political consultations with the aim of accelerating cooperation in various fields.
“Considering the existing capacities, we should pay more attention to developing relations between us in different dimensions and fields,” Baqeri said, noting that there are no restrictions to closer cooperation.
For his part, Aloyev stressed the importance and position of Iran in the region, and hailed its growth in various fields of science and technology under the pressure of sanctions.
He further expressed Uzbekistan’s readiness to cooperate with Iran within the framework of regional and international organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, ECO, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations.
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-iran-uzbekistan-hold-political-talks-in-tashkent/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:36Z
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OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In the last 90 days, Best’s Review readers have been most interested in the following stories:
- “Sprouting from Chaos: Opportunity Brings New Insurers to Florida” provides a look at the five new carriers that have come to the Sunshine State in the wake of legislation aimed at driving down litigation and opening up the homeowners market.
- “How AI Is Remaking the Insurance Workforce” examines how AI will empower the insurance workforce by transforming roles and opening new avenues for value creation and claims management.
- “Top Audit and Actuarial Firms” features a magazine-exclusive ranking based on loss reserves that focuses on independent accountants and third-party actuaries.
- “What’s Driving the Rise in Auto Costs” examines the trends that have led to large underwriting losses in 2022.
Best’s Review is AM Best’s monthly insurance magazine, covering emerging issues and trends and evaluating their impact on the marketplace. Access to the complete content of Best’s Review is available here.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2024 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Contacts
Patricia Vowinkel
Executive Editor, Best’s Review®
+1 908 882 1771
patricia.vowinkel@ambest.com
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https://www.01net.it/bests-reviews-most-popular-stories-how-ai-is-remaking-the-insurance-workforce-and-more/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:36Z
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A court rejected Elon Musk’s $55.8B pay package. What is he worth to Tesla?
Even when compared with other CEOs, who routinely get paid roughly 200 times more than their typical employees, Elon Musk’s pay package was eye-opening.
A judge in Delaware on Tuesday struck down the package that Tesla established for Musk in 2018, ruling that the process was “flawed” and the price “unfair.” Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick called the package “the largest potential compensation opportunity ever observed in public markets by multiple orders of magnitude.”
So, if Musk isn’t worth the maximum $55.8 billion value of the package, how much is he worth? It’s a thorny question without an easy answer in the notoriously complex world of executive compensation.
McCormick’s ruling bumped Musk out of the top spot on the Forbes list of wealthiest people. The magazine on Wednesday lopped $25 billion off his net worth, reducing it to $185.3 billion, putting him behind fashion and cosmetics magnate Bernard Arnault and family.
Critics have argued for years that CEO pay packages are exorbitant. The median compensation for a CEO of an S&P 500 company was valued at $14.8 million, according to the latest AP CEO pay survey for 2022 conducted with the executive compensation research firm Equilar. It would take the typical worker at one of those companies more than 185 years to earn what their chief executive reaped in just 12 months.
In 2018, Tesla estimated the value of Musk’s compensation package at $2.28 billion, topping the previous highest package of $1.39 billion given to Blackstone’s Steven Schwarzman 10 years earlier, according to Equilar. The value of Musk’s package has grown as Tesla’s stock price increased. By comparison, in 2022 the median worker at Tesla made $34,084.
Under Musk’s pay plan, he received a chunk of stock options each time Tesla’s market value rose by $50 billion. Ultimately, he would have the chance to buy nearly 304 million shares for $23.34 each. Tesla has met each of the performance hurdles since the package was awarded. Its stock is trading at roughly $191 compared with $21 at the start of 2018.
The judge determined that Tesla’s board lacked independence from Musk. His lawyers said the package needed to be rich to give Musk an incentive not to leave — a line of reasoning the judge shot down.
“Swept up by the rhetoric of ‘all upside,’ or perhaps starry eyed by Musk’s superstar appeal, the board never asked the $55.8 billion question: ‘Was the plan even necessary for Tesla to retain Musk and achieve its goals?’” McCormick wrote.
Musk’s fans would argue that he shouldn’t be paid like other CEOs because he isn’t like other CEOs. He and Tesla are practically inseparable, so keeping him as CEO is key to the company’s growth. He built the company from an idea to the most valuable automaker in the world, last year selling more electric vehicles than any other company. His star power gets free publicity, so the company spends little on advertising. And he has forced the rest of the auto industry to accelerate plans for electric vehicles to counter Tesla’s phenomenal growth.
To figure out how much to pay their CEO, corporate boards often start by looking at how much their rivals are paying theirs: They need to pay enough to attract and keep the talent.
General Motors, for example, considers executive salaries at 3M, Boeing, Ford, IBM and other huge companies, and uses complex formulas to determine CEO compensation. For GM CEO Mary Barra, part of that depends on how GM’s stock return compares to its peers and how much progress the company makes on electric vehicles.
In 2022, Barra earned total compensation that GM valued at $29 million. That included $2.1 million in salary. Ford CEO Jim Farley’s compensation was valued at $22 million that year.
Even though Tesla makes automobiles, investors often lump its stock in with Big Tech stocks. They’re the companies disrupting industries and people’s ways of life.
Plus, Musk is closely identified with Tesla the way Meta Platforms’ Mark Zuckerberg or Apple’s Tim Cook are with their companies. Pay packages at Big Tech companies are among the largest in the U.S.
Cook’s compensation was valued at $63.2 million for 2023, mainly due to stock awards valued at nearly $47 million. A year earlier, he earned total compensation valued at roughly $99 million.
In the nuanced world of executive compensation, these numbers don’t indicate how much a CEO actually takes home, they’re just an estimate of the compensation package’s value. The final value may exceed or fall far below those figures because it is tied to stock.
Corporate law experts say any new compensation package for Musk will likely be challenged in court unless Tesla’s board either resigns en masse or follows a meticulous process to protect shareholders by passing a substantially smaller package.
“This is just a mess for them,” said Charles Elson, a retired corporate law professor and founder of the corporate governance center at the University of Delaware. “They kowtowed to this apparent superstar with poor results.”
Elson, who has followed the court for more than three decades, said this is the first time he can remember a judge invalidating an executive compensation plan at a public company.
Lawyers for Musk and the directors had countered that the plan was fairly negotiated by a compensation committee whose members were independent, and that it was blessed by a shareholder vote.
Shareholders who approved Musk’s deal, Elson said, were unaware that Musk essentially was negotiating with himself. “If the shareholders were aware of that, they may well have not approved it.”
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-world/a-court-rejected-elon-musks-55-8b-pay-package-what-is-he-worth-to-tesla/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:38Z
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Demi Moore addresses Bruce Willis' dementia battle: 'He's doing very well'
Demi Moore is continuing to stand by Bruce Willis’ side as he suffers from dementia.
The "Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans" actress candidly spoke out about her ex-husband’s health battle, as she gave an update on his current condition.
"I think, given the givens, he's doing very well," Moore shared on "Good Morning America."
BRUCE WILLIS HOLDS FAMILY TIGHT DURING THANKSGIVING WHILE BATTLING DEMENTIA
"What I'll say is what I say to my children, which is it's important to just meet them where they're at and not hold onto what isn't," she added. "Because there's great beauty and sweetness and loving and joy out of that."
Moore and Willis have remained close since their divorce in 2000, often coming together to support their three daughters: Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. The family regularly posts snaps of them hanging out on their social media accounts. The two were married for 13 years.
The "Ghost" actress has stood by Willis' side as he battles frontotemporal dementia or FTD, which the family announced last year.
BRUCE WILLIS DIAGNOSED WITH FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA FOLLOWING APHASIA BATTLE, FAMILY SAYS
The "Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans" actress candidly spoke out about her ex-husband’s health battle, as she gave an update on his current condition. (Getty Images)
Moore previously encouraged other families struggling with dementia to "let go."
When asked, "What message do you have for people out there who have family members who have dementia?" Moore replied on Andy Cohen’s Sirius XM show, "When you let go of who they've been or who you think they [should be], or who even you would like them to be, you can then really stay in the present.
"Take in the joy… the love that is present and there for all that they are, not all that they're not."
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Willis announced he was diagnosed with aphasia in 2022, prompting the actor to retire. In March 2023, the Willis family shared that his condition had developed into frontotemporal dementia.
His family continues to support the "Die Hard" star as he battles dementia and consistently shares special moments with him on social media.
Moore has a good relationship with Willis' current wife, Emma Heming. (Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for goop)
Earlier this month, Willis' daughter Scout rang in the New Year by reflecting on 2023. She posted a series of photos, including one where she tightly holds onto her father.
Scout, 32, is seen smiling and hugging her father, while he places his hands on her head. He is seen wearing a towel, as he displays his body tattoos. A beam of sunlight shined on the sweet father-daughter duo.
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Meanwhile, Willis’ wife Emma Heming recently shared a major milestone with the beloved actor and noted the holidays and anniversaries can be especially challenging.
In December, the couple celebrated more than a decade of love in their relationship, as Emma shared sweet photos of the two tightly embracing and kissing one another.
"16 years with this special man. My love and adoration for him only grows," she posted on Instagram.
Heming and Bruce were originally married in 2009 but celebrated a vow renewal in 2019 with all his children and even his ex-wife Moore.
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/demi-moore-bruce-willis-dementia-battle-update
| 2024-01-31T23:45:38Z
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Jorge Rubiano arrived alone in Chicago, but his pain and trauma came with him.
For months, he tried to find steady work. For months, he's been sleeping in a crowded temporary shelter, worrying about his wife and mother back in Colombia. Are they safe? Did I make the right decision?
He recalls a frightening phone call with his wife in Colombia, cut short when the bus she was riding on was being robbed.
Rubiano, 43, is also haunted by memories of his harrowing journey to Chicago, during which he says he was kidnapped for a month, before escaping.
He left his country, he says, over a land dispute in which the government threatened his life.
"I'm still in between two dangers," Rubiano says in Spanish. "If I return it's very possible they kill me, and if I stay I don't know what can happen here."
More than 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August of 2022 — most of them from South and Central America. They are fleeing the collapse of their economies, a lack of food and jobs, and violence back home.
Many came here on a bus from Texas, sent by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who said Chicago — and other so-called sanctuary cities that embrace immigrants — would provide much-needed relief "to our small, overrun border towns."
The buses haven't stopped since.
Migrants fleeing hardship, danger, fear and loss
Interviews with more than 30 people reveal the emotional toll migrants face, and the efforts of individuals and organizations that are trying to fill the gaps of a frayed mental health system.
Some of those efforts are catching the attention of leaders in other big U.S. cities also coping with large influxes of newly-arrived migrants.
For many, their journeys here were terrifying. A young girl who fell into a river, her pregnant mother struggling to hold her small hand, so the current wouldn't whisk her away. Women who were forced to have sex with gang members to get from country to country. People who walked over the dead in the jungle, or are wracked with guilt over the sick and injured left behind.
Their stories have unfolded across Chicago: in the quiet space of a therapist's office, at an informal healing circle in the back of a store, with a nurse at a folding table propped up outside a police station.
But for many migrants, taking care of their mental health might not be a priority.
"They're in survival mode," says Sharon Davila, a school-based social worker who has screened migrant families. "They need their basic needs met. The number one thing is they're looking for jobs."
Just getting in front of a therapist or a social worker can be extremely difficult for even the most savvy and persistent. With a shortage of mental health workers, wait lists for an appointment can be months long.
Layer on being new to this country, speaking a different language, and having no health insurance. Getting help can seem impossible.
Therapist Susie Moya worries about a mental health crisis brewing for many migrants.
"Right now it's on the back burner," says Moya, who has worked with migrants on Chicago's Lower West Side. "But I'm thinking a year from now when these families are settled in. Who is going to be providing that support?"
Informal support, with a side of soup
It's a Monday night in the back room of an insurance agency on the Southwest Side. About 20 migrants have arranged their chairs in a circle. Each person takes a turn describing how they feel on a scale of one to 10, as social worker Veronica Sanchez gently encourages them to share why.
Warm homemade chicken soup and arepas await them for dinner.
A woman says her husband got deported, and she's heartbroken that she left her children behind. A man says he worked several days that week, but never got paid. Another says he is grateful to God for bringing him to America, but he misses his mom, dad and brothers.
Finding work and reuniting with family is important, Sanchez tells them. But right now she's concerned about their mental health.
"Maybe we have answers. Maybe we don't. But when you open up a safe space where you can share your sorrows... you don't feel so alone," Sanchez says in Spanish.
Sanchez understands the migrants' desperation. She comes from a long line of pottery makers in Mexico. Sanchez was just four years old when her father left to work in Cicero, a suburb outside Chicago. She didn't see her father for almost seven years, until they were reunited as a family in Cicero.
Those memories fuel her work with the healing circle. "When I was talking to them, it really came from the heart," Sanchez says. "I was seeing the migrants' faces, that they were so scared."
Informal support groups like this one have popped up around Chicago in shelters, storefronts, churches and schools, led by volunteers or mental health professionals.
Many of these support groups don't last long. Volunteers get burned out. Migrants prioritize other needs. Or the city moves them from place to place.
The costs of ignoring loss and trauma
Some volunteers and mental health providers emphasize that not every migrant might be experiencing severe trauma.
But for many, trauma can have lasting impact. Trauma can change the wiring in a person's brain and make someone more vulnerable to depression and anxiety.
Daily or ongoing stressors can add up to what Chicago psychologist Laura Pappa calls "little t trauma" — like not feeling welcomed right away.
"A lot of people come here seeking the American dream and they realize that that's not there," says Pappa, who came to the U.S. from Argentina as a teen. "A lot of people were not expecting that, how hard it is on this side. I've had a lot of parents who've come alone and ask themselves, was it worth it?"
It can be hard to persuade migrants to seek help, however. There's a stigma about the need for mental health care in many immigrant communities, particularly among Latino men, Pappa says.
But, she adds, the stigma is easing as talking about emotions becomes more common.
Training the front-line workers in shelters
One effort to provide faster help involves training hundreds of peoplewho don't have a medical background, but work in city-run shelters. These front-line workers, such as case managers and shelter supervisors, are learning to lead support groups called Café y Comunidad charlas — coffee and community talks.
The initiative is led by the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health, the University of Chicago's Crown Family School, and Lurie Children's Center for Childhood Resilience.
The idea is to help migrants feel less isolated and try to prevent the most extreme outcomes, such as suicide.
"We have to help people the minute they arrive," explainsAimee Hilado, an assistant professor at UC's Crown School and chair of the coalition. "That's actually going to promote healing down the line."
Case manager Albert Ayala has led a charla in the ballroom of a downtown shelter. He recalls moments of joy, such as when a woman said she was searching for love — and hands shot up hoping to catch her attention.
Ayala says he's watched migrants who arrive scared and shy blossom after attending a charla.
"We try to tell them we're no different from you," says Ayala, who is Mexican American. "Your dream is possible."
Leaders in Philadelphia and San Jose have reached out asking how to replicate the effort, Hilado says.
Outside his shelter, Rubiano, the migrant from Colombia, says he hasn't attended one of these support groups. He says he tries to keep busy working on his English skills. And he recently found a full-time job in a supermarket.
He longs for his family, and for the chance to bring them here — once there is a stable life he can offer them.
WBEZ is part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The Collaborative's partners include The Carter Center, the Center for Public Integrity and newsrooms in select states across the country.
WBEZ's Manuel Martinez contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 WBEZ
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-health-fitness/2024-01-31/for-chicagos-new-migrants-informal-support-groups-help-ease-the-pain-and-trauma
| 2024-01-31T23:45:38Z
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Tinubu's Economy Policy: Gain or Loss for Nigerians? Analyst Reacts
- President Bola Tinubu's economic policy has been rated as a gain for Nigerian considering global economic reality and index since his assumption into office
- Okanlawon Gaffar, an analyst who spoke on the matter with Legit.ng, said assessing the economic progress of the president was beyond the naira-to-dollar exchange rate
- Gaffar spoke on the background of the claim that the economic policy of President Tinubu has been a loss for Nigerians
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Legit.ng journalist Bada Yusuf is an accomplished politics and current affairs editor, boasting over seven years of experience in journalism and writing.
President Bola Tinubu's removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira on his assumption to the office of the number one citizen of Nigeria has kept the cost of basic things higher since May 29.
There have been different perceptions about the president's move. While some have argued that the president was taking the right path to the rebirth of a new Nigerian, many believe that the president had failed in his economic strategy.
Recently, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, accused the president of following the advice of the World Bank and the International Monetary Funds without considering the pains Nigerians are going through. Thus, to him, Tinubu's economic policy is a loss to Nigerians.
Why Tinubu's economic policy is a plus for Nigerians
However, Okanlawon Gaffar, a legal practitioner with an in-depth understanding of the economy, shared a contrary view while speaking with Legit.ng in an interview.
The legal luminary was of the opinion that Tinubu's economic policy was a gain for Nigeria, adding that it was beyond the naira-to-dollar exchange rates that many people clamoured about.
According to the legal icon:
One of the most significant parts of democracy is government decision(s) on economic policy. Of course, economic objectives are a constitutional provision. It's well-recognized, so if a wrong decision is made, it will affect all facets of society.
Frankly speaking, the president's economic policy is a gain for Nigerians. The decisions are borne out of taking Nigerians out of wood.
However, the current economic reality is a global phenomenon and not only peculiar to Nigeria alone. Mind you, Nigerians are always concerned about quick results. However, If you check the economic index since the president assumed office, you would have seen tremendous changes. The current economic reality is being measured by some of the ups and downs of foreign currencies in the capital market. It's beyond that.
Tinubu, Bwala meet in France, PDP chieftain reacts
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu has been alleged to be searching for 10 PR experts with national and international sympathies to shape his image.
Rilwan Olanrewaju, a PDP chieftain, who made the claim while speaking with Legit.ng, said Daniel Bwala and Reno Omokri are well-suited for the role.
Olanrewaju also said Bwala was never a member of the PDP but was hired to be the spokesperson of Atiku Abubakar during the election.
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Source: Legit.ng
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https://www.legit.ng/politics/1576399-tinubus-economy-gain-loss-nigeria-analyst-reacts/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:38Z
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General News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: classfmonline.com
The Youth Alliance for Green Ghana (YAGG) has sounded the alarm on the nation's environmental crises.
The youth-based organization pointed to rampant deforestation and pollution from illegal mining, emphasizing the need for immediate attention and decisive measures.
YAGG invoked the principle of intergenerational equity in international environmental law, stressing the shared responsibility of each generation for the Earth.
YAGG in a statement dated January 29, 2024 and signed by Mr Kenneth Paa Kwesi Agyir, the National Coordinator called on the Ghanaian government, organizations, and citizens to unite and take decisive actions to address these environmental challenges.
YAGG highlighted the depletion of Ghana's forest cover, connecting it to habitat loss, endangerment of wildlife, and climate change.
The statement explained that pollution, both in the air and water, was identified as a serious health risk for present and future generations.
The organization urged Ghanaians to adopt eco-friendly practices and encouraged the government to institutionalize intergenerational equity.
In conclusion, the Youth Alliance for Green Ghana emphasized the need for collective efforts to create a greener, cleaner, and more vibrant Ghana for generations to come.
They urged the government to institutionalize intergenerational equity and set up an independent body to supervise the prioritization of this principle by all state and non-state actors.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/YAGG-calls-for-decisive-measures-to-fight-pollution-1914323
| 2024-01-31T23:45:39Z
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Home E-Edition Wednesday, January 31, 2024 Wednesday, January 31, 2024 January 31, 2024 Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest WhatsApp Thank you for reading! Help support local journalism: SUBSCRIBE HERE for award-winning local news and unlimited digital access. For a low monthly rate, or try one day for 99¢. Subscribers, please LOGIN to continue. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR E-Edition Tuesday, January 30, 2024 E-Edition Monday, January 29, 2024 Special Sections 2024 Chamber Directory
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https://news-banner.com/2024/01/wednesday-january-31-2024/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:39Z
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Grimes (right knee sprain) is questionable for Thursday's game against the Pacers.
We'll likely get another update on Grimes after he's able to test it at Thursday's shootaround, but if he's not able to give it a go, that would open up some more minutes for Miles McBride. Check back for another update closer to Thursday's tip.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/knicks-quentin-grimes-questionable-for-thursday/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:41Z
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Microgreens Made To Order: Italian Scientists Tailor Iodine And Potassium Content Of Radishes, Peas, Rocket And Chard
In a significant development for personalised nutrition, researchers in Italy have cultivated microgreens with bespoke nutritional profiles to serve individual dietary requirements.
The study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (doi: 10.1002/jsfa.13222), provides a blueprint for the soilless cultivation of nutritionally enriched plants in a commercial greenhouse setting.
Co-authors Massimiliano D’Imperio and Francesco Serio, both at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA) National Council of Research (CNR); and Massimiliano Renna, professor of agricultural and environmental science at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy, explained the motivation behind the research.
‘Propelled by an ever-growing awareness of the importance of following dietary recommendations, interest in personalised nutrition is on the rise. Soilless biofortification of vegetables has opened the door to the potential for adapting vegetable production to specific dietary requirements,’ Renna explained.
The team cultivated four different species – radish, pea, rocket and Swiss chard – and focused on two nutrients that play a crucial role in health and nutrition: iodine and potassium.
Iodine is critical to thyroid function, with deficiency affecting approximately two billion people worldwide. Fortifying table salt with iodine is a strategy used internationally to combat deficiency, while other sources in the human diet include fish, milk and eggs.
However, recommendations from the World Health Organisation to reduce daily salt intake, paired with an increase in vegetarian and vegan diets, mean demand is growing for alternative iodine sources.
Using tailored nutrient solutions for plant growth, the team successfully cultivated plants with iodine content up to 14 times higher than unfortified microgreens, as a novel dietary source of iodine.
They also grew microgreens with a 45% reduction in potassium levels, to cater for chronic kidney disease sufferers – for whom its intake must be restricted to avoid health complications.
‘Since vegetables contain high concentrations of potassium, patients with impaired kidney function are sometimes advised not to eat vegetables, or that they should be soaked in water and boiled to reduce the potassium content through leaching.
‘However, the reduction in potassium using such cooking methods can be considered limited, while other important minerals and vitamins could be significantly lost,’ the researchers noted. ‘In this context, the production of vegetables with low potassium content could be of great interest.’
The study was conducted in a commercial setting – at Ortogourmet, a working microgreen farm in southern Italy. Crucially, this supports the viability of cultivating customised microgreens on a large scale while maintaining optimal agronomic performance.
The microgreens were grown in a soilless system, where a liquid medium is used in place of soil and the plants are fed through a nutrient solution.
Explaining the advantages of a soilless system, the authors said, ‘Soilless cultivation is considered an advanced, environmentally friendly agricultural practice for enhancing the quality of fresh vegetables. In fact, although soilless cultivation systems have been developed primarily to address the challenge of excessive soil pathogens, it is nonetheless true that they also favour optimal control of plant growth, high productivity, and an efficient use of water and fertilisers. Furthermore, soilless systems represent an opportunity to modulate the nutrient solution precisely and efficaciously.’
The researchers are now turning their attention to manipulating the biological pathways of plants to produce desired compounds. ‘The key idea is to leverage in-depth knowledge of plant metabolic pathways to identify key points where intervention is possible to increase the production of desired molecules,’ they note.
‘The optimisation of these techniques will require in-depth research into the molecular biology of plants, including the metabolic pathways involved in the synthesis of target molecules, and a constant refinement of growth conditions. The combination of advanced scientific knowledge and innovative technologies can open new perspectives in the production of healthier and nutritionally biofortified vegetables.’
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-microgreens-made-to-order-italian-scientists-tailor-iodine-and-potassium-content-of-radishes-peas-rocket-and-chard/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:42Z
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Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:45:42Z
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MATTOON, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSL) (the “Company” or “Consolidated”), a top 10 fiber provider in the U.S., today announced that, based on the preliminary vote count provided by its proxy solicitor following the Company’s special meeting of shareholders (the “Special Meeting”) held earlier today, Consolidated shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed acquisition of the Company by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. (“Searchlight”) and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“BCI”) (the “Proposed Transaction”). Approximately 75% of disinterested shareholders voted to approve the proposal to adopt the merger agreement and approve the Proposed Transaction. Consolidated will file final, certified voting results on a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as practicable.
“Today’s vote by Consolidated shareholders is a clear endorsement that they recognize the value-maximizing nature of this transaction,” said Robert J. Currey, the Chairman of the Consolidated Communications Board and the Special Committee Chair. “With the financial flexibility and access to capital this transaction provides, we will be well positioned to bring broadband services to underserved and unserved communities across rural America. We look forward to continuing to deliver for our stakeholders, including our customers and our employees, for many years to come.”
The Proposed Transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals. The Proposed Transaction is not subject to a financing condition. Following the closing of the Proposed Transaction, shares of Consolidated Communications common stock will no longer be traded or listed on any public securities exchange.
Advisors
Rothschild & Co is acting as financial advisor to the special committee and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is acting as its legal counsel. Latham & Watkins LLP is providing legal counsel to Consolidated Communications.
About Consolidated Communications
Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSL) is dedicated to moving people, businesses and communities forward by delivering the most reliable fiber communications solutions. Consumers, businesses and wireless and wireline carriers depend on Consolidated for a wide range of high-speed internet, data, phone, security, cloud and wholesale carrier solutions. With a network spanning nearly 60,000 fiber route miles, Consolidated is a top 10 U.S. fiber provider, turning technology into solutions that are backed by exceptional customer support.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this communication are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, the Company’s current expectations, plans, strategies and anticipated financial results.
There are a number of risks, uncertainties and conditions that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including: (i) the risk that the Proposed Transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; (ii) the possibility that any or all of the various conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction may not be satisfied or waived, including the failure to receive any required regulatory approvals from any applicable governmental entities (or any conditions, limitations or restrictions placed on such approvals); (iii) the possibility that competing offers or acquisition proposals for the Company will be made; (iv) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the definitive transaction agreement relating to the Proposed Transaction, including in circumstances which would require the Company to pay a termination fee; (v) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the Proposed Transaction on the Company’s ability to attract, motivate or retain key executives and employees, its ability to maintain relationships with its customers, suppliers and other business counterparties, or its operating results and business generally; (vi) risks related to the Proposed Transaction diverting management’s attention from the Company’s ongoing business operations; (vii) the amount of costs, fees and expenses related to the Proposed Transaction; (viii) the risk that the Company’s stock price may decline significantly if the Proposed Transaction is not consummated; (ix) the risk of shareholder litigation in connection with the Proposed Transaction, including resulting expense or delay; and (x) (A) the risk factors described in Part I, Item 1A of Risk Factors in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and (B) the other risk factors identified from time to time in the Company’s other filings with the SEC. Filings with the SEC are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
Many of these circumstances are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict. These forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions on the Company’s part. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “should,” “may,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on the Company’s behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements that appear throughout this communication. Furthermore, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which are based on the information currently available to the Company and speak only as of the date they are made. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements.
Contacts
Philip Kranz, Investor Relations
+1 217-238-8480
Philip.kranz@consolidated.com
Jennifer Spaude, Media Relations
+1 507-386-3765
Jennifer.spaude@consolidated.com
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https://www.01net.it/consolidated-communications-shareholders-approve-proposed-transaction-with-searchlight-and-bci/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:42Z
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Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charge in fatal film-set shooting
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a rehearsal on a movie set in New Mexico.
Court documents filed Wednesday show Baldwin entered the plea in state district court in Santa Fe, waiving an arraignment Thursday that was scheduled to take place remotely by video conference.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on the Western movie “Rust,” was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin says that he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-world/alec-baldwin-pleads-not-guilty-to-involuntary-manslaughter-charge-in-fatal-film-set-shooting/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:44Z
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Puppy Bowl 2024: Meet the adorable dogs competing in the 20th anniversary event
LOS ANGELES - Forget about Taylor Swift.
Sunday, Feb. 11 marks the 20th anniversary of America's real favorite pastime: Puppy Bowl.
Puppy Bowl XX will feature 131 puppies from 73 shelters across the country who are all looking forward to showing off their moves.
"Puppies are taking over the show's production by operating the cameras and lighting, directing from the control room, stage managing on the studio floor," Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement.
Ahead of the game, here's your chance to meet the players from Team Ruff and Team Fluff who will be playing for the "Lombarky" Trophy:
Team Ruff:
Team Fluff:
Hosted by Beth Stern, the Great American Rescue Bowl airs on Great American Family Channel on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 11, from noon-2 p.m. ET.
Puppy Bowl XX will also feature special needs puppies
Six puppies with special needs will be introduced including Riddle who suffers from a neurological condition called cerebellar hypoplasia and Mr. Bean who is a two-legged Papillon.
All of the Puppy Bowl dogs are also available for adoption.
READ MORE:
- Super Bowl 2024: All you need to know
- Super Bowl 2024: Chiefs, 49ers to square off in Las Vegas showdown
- Super Bowl: Can Taylor Swift arrive in time to see Chiefs, Travis Kelce play?
- Super Bowl 2024: Ticket prices hit mind-boggling highs
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/puppy-bowl-2024-meet-the-adorable-dogs-competing-in-the-20th-anniversary-event
| 2024-01-31T23:45:44Z
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Top tech CEOs were being grilled in Washington by lawmakers, who said the companies have failed to protect children from being subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation on their websites.
The executives include Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, X's Linda Yaccarino and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew, among others.
The social media apps have "given predators powerful new tools to exploit children," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at the kickoff of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. He noted that the powerful apps "have changed the way we live, work and play."
The hearing is one of several over the past year as pressure builds for federal regulators to do more to hold tech companies accountable for children's safety online. Lawmakers have spoken out, have written letters to the CEOs and are pushing five separate bills that cover social media and child safety.
States have also targeted the social media companies. Last year, 13 states passed laws to protect kids on social media, and more states are expected to do the same.
"You have blood on your hands," Sen. Lindsey Graham tells Zuckerberg
Of the companies testifying on Wednesday, Meta has especially come under fire for allegedly creating a toxic environment for children. In October, a group of more than 40 states sued the company for allegedly designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive.
Separately, New Mexico's attorney general filed another suit against Meta, alleging it fails to remove child sexual abuse material from its platforms and also makes it easy for adults to solicit minors.
That lawsuit came after a Facebook whistleblower, Arturo Bejar, testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in November. Based on data he collected while working at Facebook, he said he found that 24% of teens had received unwanted sexual advances. And when harmful posts are reported, he said, only 2% are taken down.
During Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., laid into Zuckerberg.
"Mr. Zuckerberg," Graham began, "you have blood on your hands. You have a product that's killing people."
The packed audience, which included parents, survivors and child advocates, erupted in applause.
Zuckerberg has testified several times before members of the Senate, and he voluntarily agreed to speak again on Wednesday. In his opening statement, he said, "Keeping young people safe online has been a challenge since the internet began."
"No matter how much we invest or how effective our tools are, there's always more to learn and more improvements to make," Zuckerberg added.
Internal emails show Zuckerberg declined to hire staff to protect children online
In the lead-up to Wednesday's hearing, Meta rolled out new tools geared toward protecting kids online. Those include barring children under age 18 from seeing posts about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. The company says it has around 40,000 people working on safety and security issues.
But just hours before the hearing began, lawmakers released 90 pages of internal emails that showed Meta has refused to fully commit to improving child safety on its platforms. At one point in 2021, the emails show, Zuckerberg declined a proposal to hire 45 new staff members dedicated to children's well-being.
The emails show top executives at Meta discussing budget and head count, as well as the fact that if they didn't address the issue they'd face increased regulatory risk and external criticism.
"This work & narrative has of course become a more critical focal point for policymakers, regulators et al in recent weeks — this is not likely to diminish going forward," Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs wrote in a 2021 email to Zuckerberg.
The internal emails were produced in response to a letter that Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent to Meta in November.
Five federal bills introduced
Of the other executives to testify, TikTok's Chew has also appeared before Congresslast year, but this is the first time lawmakers have grilled X's Yaccarino and the two other CEOs: Snap's Evan Spiegel and Discord's Jason Citron. Chew volunteered to speak on Wednesday, but Yaccarino, Spiegel and Citron agreed only after being subpoenaed.
Snap has come out as the sole social media company to throw its support behind the Kids Online Safety Act, which is one of the bills that lawmakers are hoping to bring to the Senate floor this year. If passed, it would hold tech companies accountable for feeding teens toxic content.
"Many of the largest and most successful internet companies today were born here in the United States of America, and we must lead not only in technical innovation but also in smart regulation," Snap's Spiegel said in his opening remarks on Wednesday.
Throughout the hearing, several of the senators tried to get the tech CEOs to agree to back legislation. All of the executives said more had to be done and they agree with regulation, but besides Spiegel, none said they'd fully back one of the bills.
At one point Senator Chris Coons, D-Del., tried to get the CEOs to support legislation he and several other senators introduced, the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act.
"Is there any one of you willing to say now that you support this bill?" Coons asked the CEOs.
After the question didn't elicit a response, he followed up with: "Mr. Chairman, let the record reflect a yawning silence from the leaders of the social media platforms."
Child safety groups and parents joined lawmakers for several press conferences on Wednesday. They echoed the senators' demands that more has to be done to protect kids online.
"Parents used to worry about where their kids were at 10 p.m.," said Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. "These days, they may be physically present, but we don't know who they're spending time with online and what they're being exposed to every day."
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-news/2024-01-31/you-have-blood-on-your-hands-senator-tells-mark-zuckerberg-for-failing-kids-online
| 2024-01-31T23:45:44Z
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Akeredolu's Death: What's Next in Ondo's Politics?
- The Ondo state political fortune has been predicted to be signalling turbulence following the death of former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
- In an analysis by Titilope Anifowoshe, a legal practitioner, Governor Aiyedatiwa, who was expected to continue from where Akeredolu stopped, has come up with new ideas
- Aiyedatiwa's moves and attention were toward getting the governorship ticket of the APC ahead of the 2024 governorship election in the state
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The sudden death of the former governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu, has brought an unexpected change in the political structure in the Sunshine State.
Titilope Anifowoshe, a legal practitioner, spoke with Legit.ng about the unfolding political events in the state, posited that one would expect continuity from the new governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, but it appears he was coming up with new ideas.
Focus of new Ondo state governor
Anifowoshe was of the view that the governor appeared to be making moves to have control of the party and with the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming election in the state.
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However, the legal practitioner commended the fast taking of the law in the state when Akeredolu was sick and immediately after his death. The lawyer pointed out the fact that Aiyedatiwa was acting governor and immediately sworn-in after his boss' death.
She also commented on the resignation of some of Akeredolu's loyalists soon after the former governor's death before the dissolution of the cabinet by Aiyedatiwa, adding that the new appointments by the new governor revealed potential political turbulence in the state.
How Anifowoshe reacts to development in Ondo state
The legal icon told Legit.ng that:
"While one might expect a government of continuity and consolidation given Aiyedatiwa's previous role as deputy governor, he appears to be introducing his own unique approach and style.
"Events in Ondo State post Aketi's death may go in one of two ways.
"I'm apprehensive that this new era in Ondo could jeopardize effective governance or lead to political conflicts. Aiyedatiwa's focus in the next 11 months seems to be centred on establishing political influence, possibly aiming to secure the party's Gubernatorial ticket for the 2024 election, either through outstanding performance or strategic political manoeuvres."
Governor Aiyedatiwa was accused of forging the UI certificate
Legit.ng earlier reported that Aiyedatiwa was charged with parading forged academic credentials as the APC prepared for its governorship primary in April.
Ondo State Redemption Initiative (OSRI) warned the APC against presenting Aiyedatiwa as its governorship candidate in the forthcoming state election.
The group alleged that the claim by Aiyedatiwa that he had a diploma from the University of Ibadan in 2001 was false.
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Source: Legit.ng
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https://www.legit.ng/politics/1576410-akeredolus-death-whats-ondos-politics/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:45Z
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Sports News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: ghanasoccernet.com
In the lead-up to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarterfinals, Mali coach Eric Chelle is optimistic about his team's chances against hosts Ivory Coast.
Following a convincing 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso in the round of 16, the Eagles are now preparing to face the challenge presented by the Ivorian team.
Chelle expressed humility in victory and highlighted the hard work of his players, acknowledging the potential danger of their 'determined' opponent.
He stated, "We need to be humble in our victory and continue with hard work. I am very happy for the players. They deserve the victory because they are a group of hard workers."
Looking ahead to the quarterfinal clash with Ivory Coast, Chelle emphasized the difficulty of the upcoming match but assured that Mali would bring their quality and give their best effort.
"We know that it will be difficult against them, but we will bring our quality and give it our best against them. I want to emphasize the importance of humility in this victory," he added.
As Mali prepare for the quarterfinal showdown with Ivory Coast in Bouake on Saturday, the team remains focused on the task at hand to clinch their first-ever title.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/AFCON-2023-We-will-bring-out-our-quality-against-Ivory-Coast-Mali-coach-Eric-Chelle-1914306
| 2024-01-31T23:45:45Z
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Mathurin (toe) is questionable for Thursday's game in New York.
Mathurin sat out Tuesday's game, which resulted in most of his minutes shifting to Andrew Nembard. It'll be more of the same if he's out again Thursday, and managers can expect to get another update following shootaround.
More News
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Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Unavailable Tuesday
• -
Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Questionable for Tuesday
• -
Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Top scorer off bench in win
• -
Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Good to go
• -
Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Iffy for Friday
• -
Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Nets 25 points despite ankle injury
•
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/pacers-bennedict-mathurin-questionable-for-thursday/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:47Z
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Pentagon Says US Harnesses Science, Technology To Counter Adversaries
By DoD News
By David Vergun
China is attempting to offer an alternative to the international world order, increasing its capacity to reshape international borders and rapidly developing capabilities in artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, shipbuilding and space capabilities, said Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.
Addressing these long-term challenges requires a robust and accelerated science, technology and development response by the Defense Department, with fewer bureaucratic processes that impede that goal, Shyu told attendees of the 10th Annual Defense R&D Summit in Alexandria, Virginia.
“Unfortunately, there’s no monolithic solution to accelerate the department’s effort in development and acquisition of leading-edge technologies,” she said.
Shyu said one of the many ways the department is approaching the effort is the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve program, established two years ago. She said the program aims to deliver the best technology and address common problems that are faced by companies through experimentation and exercises that accelerate technology from prototype to validated military capabilities, she said. Shyu noted that industry works directly with the services, combatant commanders and the joint staff.
The program focuses on areas crucial to joint warfare in highly contested environments, including command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; unmanned systems; contested logistics; joint fires; information; and command and control, she said.
The department is also assisting private-sector investment in critical technologies. The Office of Strategic Capital was stood up a year ago, as authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act, to allow the department to provide loans to small companies, she said.
The Office of Strategic Capital will help secure the department’s supply chain and facilitate onshore production of cutting-edge technologies, including microchips and quantum, she said.
“I’m absolutely confident that our nation’s R&D enterprise will continue to deliver the most advanced military capability to the warfighters,” she said, referring to industry research and development professionals.
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-pentagon-says-us-harnesses-science-technology-to-counter-adversaries/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:48Z
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NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with constitutional scholar Philip Bobbitt about the effort from House Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Copyright 2024 NPR
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with constitutional scholar Philip Bobbitt about the effort from House Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/constitutional-scholar-says-gop-charges-against-mayorkas-dont-meet-impeachment-bar
| 2024-01-31T23:45:48Z
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Revenue of $106M, Record End of Quarter ARR of $108M
ARR Surpasses Quarterly Revenue for First Time
Cash Flow From Operations was $19 Million
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Digi International® Inc. (Nasdaq: DGII), a leading global provider of business and mission critical Internet of Things (“IoT”) products, services and solutions, today announced its financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023.
First Fiscal Quarter 2024 Results Compared to First Fiscal Quarter 2023 Results
- Revenue was $106 million, a decrease of 3%.
- Gross profit margin was 57.6%, an increase of 130 basis points.
- Net loss per diluted share was $0.08, driven by the $0.26 impact of the term B debt issuance cost write off, compared to net income per diluted share of $0.16.
- Adjusted net income per diluted share was $0.48, flat year over year.
- Adjusted EBITDA was $23 million, flat year over year.
- Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) was $108 million at quarter end, an increase of 13%.
Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures appear at the end of this release.
“Double digit ARR growth propelled Digi to reach a milestone of ARR exceeding quarterly revenue for the first time,” said Ron Konezny, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Lowered inventory levels combined with a reduction in debt significantly improved our balance sheet. We are committed to achieving $200 million of ARR and $200 million of adjusted EBITDA within the next five years.”
Additional Financial Highlights
- We retired the term loan existing under our prior credit facility in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, incurring a one-time expense of $10 million for the write-off of debt issuance costs. In addition, we made payments towards our new revolving credit facility, reducing our gross outstanding debt to $196 million at quarter end and debt net of cash and cash equivalents to $163 million.
- We had $5.7 million of interest expense in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, compared to $6.0 million a year ago. The decrease was driven by reduction of our effective interest rate and decreased debt outstanding.
- Cash flow from operations was $19 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, compared to $3 million a year ago, driven primarily by year over year changes in inventory.
- Net inventory ended the quarter at $68 million, compared to $74 million at September 30, 2023. This represents a $13 million reduction from the balance a year ago, reflecting continued efforts to manage inventory levels.
Segment Results
IoT Product & Services
The segment’s first fiscal quarter 2024 revenue of $82 million decreased 3% from the same period in the prior fiscal year. This decrease was driven by decreases in sales volume in Console Server and Cellular products, partially offset by growth in OEM products. ARR as of the end of the first fiscal quarter was $23 million, an increase of 64% from the prior fiscal year. This increase primarily was due to growth in the subscription base for Console Server services, complemented by growth in other business lines. Gross profit margin decreased 110 basis points to 53.5% of revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2024, driven primarily by decreased volume in Console Server, partially offset by increased volume and higher margin mix in OEM. Operating income was $10 million, a decrease of 18%, primarily due to the decrease in revenue.
IoT Solutions
The segment’s first fiscal quarter 2024 revenue of $24 million decreased 4% from the same period in the prior fiscal year. This decrease was a result of decreased sales of Ventus offerings, partially offset by volume growth in SmartSense. ARR as of the end of the first fiscal quarter was $85 million, an increase of 4% from the prior fiscal year primarily driven by growth in SmartSense. Increased revenue and expanding margins in SmartSense drove a 950 basis points gross margin increase to 71.6% in the first fiscal quarter of 2024. Operating income was $1.8 million, compared to an operating loss of $0.7 million a year ago.
Capital Allocation Strategy
We intend to continue to deleverage the company while managing inventory appropriately as our supply chain continues to normalize. Our inventory position remains elevated, but we believe this investment will deliver working capital benefits for Digi in future quarters.
Acquisitions remain a top capital priority for Digi. We will be disciplined in our approach and act when we believe an opportunity is appropriate to execute in the context of prevailing market conditions. We are evolving and monitoring our acquisition pipeline, and we intend to focus more on scale and ARR.
Second Fiscal Quarter 2024 and Full-Year 2024 Guidance
Digi remains steadfast in achieving our new long term strategic goals of doubling ARR and Adjusted EBITDA to $200 million within the next five years. Digi’s resilient execution in a large and growing Industrial Internet of Things market has stayed consistent. Our outlook for fiscal 2024 remains unchanged, with our ARR and Adjusted EBITDA growing 5% and our revenue projects to be flat year over year.
For the second fiscal quarter, revenues are estimated to be $105 million to $109 million. Adjusted EBITDA is estimated to be between $22.5 million and $24.5 million. Adjusted net income per share is anticipated to be between $0.45 and $0.49 per diluted share, assuming a weighted average diluted share count of 37.7 million shares.
We provide guidance or longer-term targets for Adjusted net income per share as well as Adjusted EBITDA targets on a non-GAAP basis. We do not reconcile these items to their most similar U.S. GAAP measure as it is difficult to predict without unreasonable efforts numerous items that include but are not limited to the impact of foreign exchange translation, restructuring, interest and certain tax related events. Given the uncertainty, any of these items could have a significant impact on U.S. GAAP results.
First Fiscal Quarter 2024 Conference Call Details
As announced on January 19, 2024, Digi will discuss its first fiscal quarter results on a conference call on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. CT). The call will be hosted by Ron Konezny, President and Chief Executive Officer and Jamie Loch, Chief Financial Officer.
Participants may register for the conference call at: https://register.vevent.com/register/BI5fa5a3d6e5ca4856948123f5f6ddf85e. Once registration is completed, participants will be provided a dial-in number and passcode to access the call. All participants are asked to dial-in 15 minutes prior to the start time.
Participants may access a live webcast of the conference call through the investor relations section of Digi’s website, https://digi.gcs-web.com/ or the hosting website at: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/tn9spd4c/.
A replay will be available within approximately two hours after the completion of the call for approximately one year. You may access the replay via webcast through the investor relations section of Digi’s website.
A copy of this earnings release can be accessed through the financial releases page of the investor relations section of Digi’s website at www.digi.com.
For more news and information on us, please visit www.digi.com/aboutus/investorrelations.
About Digi International
Digi International (Nasdaq: DGII) is a leading global provider of IoT connectivity products, services and solutions. We help our customers create next-generation connected products and deploy and manage critical communications infrastructures in demanding environments with high levels of security and reliability. Founded in 1985, we’ve helped our customers connect over 100 million things and growing. For more information, visit Digi’s website at www.digi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions. These statements often can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “should,” “target,” or “will” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or similar terminology. Among other items, these statements relate to expectations of the business environment in which Digi operates, projections of future performance, inventory levels, perceived marketplace opportunities, interest expense and statements regarding our mission and vision. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Among others, these include risks related to ongoing and varying inflationary and deflationary pressures around the world and the monetary policies of governments globally as well as present concerns about a potential recession, the ability of companies like us to operate a global business in such conditions as well as negative effects on product demand and the financial solvency of customers and suppliers in such conditions, risks related to ongoing supply chain challenges that continue to impact businesses globally, risks related to cybersecurity, risks arising from the present wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the highly competitive market in which our company operates, rapid changes in technologies that may displace products sold by us, declining prices of networking products, our reliance on distributors and other third parties to sell our products, the potential for significant purchase orders to be canceled or changed, delays in product development efforts, uncertainty in user acceptance of our products, the ability to integrate our products and services with those of other parties in a commercially accepted manner, potential liabilities that can arise if any of our products have design or manufacturing defects, our ability to integrate and realize the expected benefits of acquisitions, our ability to defend or settle satisfactorily any litigation, the impact of natural disasters and other events beyond our control that could negatively impact our supply chain and customers, potential unintended consequences associated with restructuring, reorganizations or other similar business initiatives that may impact our ability to retain important employees or otherwise impact our operations in unintended and adverse ways, and changes in our level of revenue or profitability which can fluctuate for many reasons beyond our control. These and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions identified from time to time in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, those set forth in Item 1A, Risk Factors, of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2023, subsequent filings on Form 10-Q and other filings, could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. Many of such factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date for which they are made. We disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release includes adjusted net income, adjusted net income per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDA, each of which is a non-GAAP measure.
We understand that there are material limitations on the use of non-GAAP measures. Non-GAAP measures are not substitutes for GAAP measures, such as net income, for the purpose of analyzing financial performance. The disclosure of these measures does not reflect all charges and gains that were actually recognized by Digi. These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for measures prepared in accordance with, generally accepted accounting principles and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies or presented by us in prior reports. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. We believe that non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. We believe these measures should only be used to evaluate our results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our cash expenditures, the cash requirements for the replacement of depreciated and amortized assets, or changes in or cash requirements for our working capital needs.
We believe that providing historical and adjusted net income and adjusted net income per diluted share, respectively, exclusive of such items as reversals of tax reserves, discrete tax benefits, restructuring charges and reversals, intangible amortization, stock-based compensation, other non-operating income/expense, changes in fair value of contingent consideration, acquisition-related expenses and interest expense related to acquisitions permits investors to compare results with prior periods that did not include these items. Management uses the aforementioned non-GAAP measures to monitor and evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and to gain an understanding of our comparative operating performance. In addition, certain of our stockholders have expressed an interest in seeing financial performance measures exclusive of the impact of these matters, which while important, are not central to the core operations of our business. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA, defined as EBITDA adjusted for stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses, restructuring charges and reversals, and changes in fair value of contingent consideration is useful to investors to evaluate our core operating results and financial performance because it excludes items that are significant non-cash or non-recurring items reflected in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. We believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue is useful because it provides a reliable and consistent approach to measuring our performance from year to year and in assessing our performance against that of other companies. We believe this information helps compare operating results and corporate performance exclusive of the impact of our capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired.
Contacts
Investor Contact:
Rob Bennett
Investor Relations
Digi International
952-912-3524
Email: rob.bennett@digi.com
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https://www.01net.it/digi-international-reports-first-fiscal-quarter-2024-results/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:49Z
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Syphilis reaches 1950s levels in US, while other STD rates show mixed trends
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. syphilis epidemic isn't abating, with the rate of infectious cases rising 9% in 2022, according to a new federal government report on sexually transmitted diseases in adults.
But there's some unexpected good news: The rate of new gonorrhea cases fell for the first time in a decade.
It's not clear why infectious cases of syphilis rose 9% while gonorrhea dropped 9%, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, adding that it's too soon to know whether a new downward trend is emerging for the latter.
RELATED: America's most bed bug infested cities may surprise you
They are most focused on syphilis, which is less common than gonorrhea or chlamydia but considered more dangerous. And while it continues to have a disproportionate impact on gay and bisexual men, it is expanding in heterosexual men and women, and increasingly affecting newborns, too, CDC officials said.
Total cases surpassed 207,000 in 2022, a 17% increase and the highest count in the United States since 1950, according to data released Tuesday. The count includes not only the most infectious stages of the disease but also latent cases and cases in which pregnant women passed syphilis on to their babies.
Syphilis is a bacterial disease that can surface as painless genital sores but can ultimately lead to paralysis, hearing loss, dementia and even death if left untreated.
RELATED: Respiratory illnesses remain 'elevated' throughout much of country: CDC
New syphilis infections plummeted in the U.S. starting in the 1940s when antibiotics became widely available and fell to their lowest by 1998.
About 59,000 of the 2022 cases involved the most infectious forms of syphilis. Of those, about a quarter were women and nearly a quarter were heterosexual men.
"I think it's unknowingly being spread in the cisgender heterosexual population because we really aren’t testing for it. We really aren't looking for it" in that population, said Dr. Philip Chan, who teaches at Brown University and is chief medical officer of Open Door Health, a health center for gay, lesbian and transgender patients in Providence, Rhode Island.
The report also shows rates of the most infectious types of syphilis rose not just across the country but also across different racial and ethnic groups, with American Indian and Alaska Native people having the highest rate. South Dakota outpaced any other state for the highest rate of infectious syphilis at 84 cases per 100,000 people — more than twice as high as the state with the second-highest rate, New Mexico.
South Dakota's increase was driven by an outbreak in the Native American community, said Dr. Meghan O’Connell, chief public health officer at the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board based in Rapid City, South Dakota. Nearly all of the cases were in heterosexual people, and O'Connell said that STD testing and treatment was already limited in isolated tribal communities and only got worse during the pandemic.
RELATED: Cancer cases increasing in US, but overall deaths decreasing, new research shows
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year convened a syphilis task force focused on stopping the spread of the STD, with an emphasis on places with the highest syphilis rates — South Dakota, 12 other states and the District of Columbia.
The report also looked at the more common STDs of chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Chlamydia cases were relatively flat from 2021 to 2022, staying at a rate of about 495 per 100,000, though there were declines noted in men and especially women in their early 20s. For gonorrhea, the most pronounced decline was seen in women in their early 20s as well.
Experts say they're not sure why gonorrhea rates declined. It happened in about 40 states, so whatever explains the decrease appears to have occurred across most of the country. STD testing was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and officials believe that's the reason the chlamydia rate fell in 2020.
It's possible that testing and diagnoses were still shaking out in 2022, said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention.
"We are encouraged by the magnitude of the decline," Mermin said, though the gonorrhea rate is still higher now than it was pre-pandemic. "We need to examine what happened, and whether it's going to continue to happen."
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/syphilis-reaches-1950s-levels-in-us-while-other-std-rates-show-mixed-trends
| 2024-01-31T23:45:50Z
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Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Broadway star Hinton Battle, who played the original Scarecrow at the 1978 "The Wiz", has died at 67. He was a three-time Tony Award winner.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-obituaries/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:45:50Z
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Biden accepts mayor’s invitation to visit East Palestine, Ohio, a year after train derailment
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will visit the eastern Ohio community that was devastated by a fiery train derailment almost one year ago, accepting an invitation from the East Palestine mayor to see firsthand how the cleanup of spilled toxic chemicals and the recovery are coming along.
Mayor Trent Conaway, a conservative who does not support Biden, said Wednesday he extended the invitation to the Democratic president because he thinks the visit will be good for his community.
“I’m as red as they come. I’m as conservative as they come. Sometimes I have to do what’s best for the people so, yes, that’s why I invited him,” Conaway said in an interview with The Associated Press.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier Wednesday that Biden would visit sometime in February. She said the White House and local officials were still hashing out timing for Biden’s long-awaited trip.
The Feb. 3, 2023, derailment forced thousands of people from their homes near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Area residents still have lingering fears about potential health effects from the toxic chemicals that spilled in the crash and from the vinyl chloride that was released a few days after the crash to keep five tank cars from exploding.
The absence of a visit by Biden, who is campaigning for reelection in November, had become a subject of persistent questioning at the White House, as well as among residents in East Palestine. Some residents have said they felt forgotten as time marched by and as they watched Biden fly to the scenes of other disasters, such as the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui and hurricanes in Florida.
East Palestine resident Joe Bethuy, a 36-year-old steelworker and a Republican, said he was disappointed in the Biden administration’s handling of the derailment and the president’s delay in visiting, adding that all he had to do “was show up just for an hour or something.”
Bethuy and friend Jeremy Smith, who moved to East Palestine after the derailment, spoke to an Associated Press reporter inside Sprinklz on Top, a downtown diner.
“I don’t know what the point is really,” Smith said of Biden’s visit. “It’s kind of a year late.”
Several weeks after the derailment, former President Donald Trump visited East Palestine and criticized the federal response under Biden as a “betrayal.” He also donated cleaning supplies and Trump-branded bottled water. Trump currently is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump criticized Biden for planning to visit “a year late, and only to develop some political credibility because EVERYTHING else he has done has been such a DISASTER. I know those great people, I was there when it counted, and his reception won’t be a warm one.”
The Biden administration defended its response right after the toxic freight train derailment, even as local leaders and members of Congress demanded that more be done. The White House said then that it had “mobilized a robust, multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” and it noted that officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies were at the rural site within hours even though Biden didn’t immediately visit.
Asked at the end of last week about a potential Biden visit to Ohio, Jean-Pierre said he would visit “when it is appropriate or helps … the community for him to be there.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s in a rural area, urban area, suburban area, red state, blue state, the president has always been there to … assist and be there for the community,” Jean-Pierre added. “So, when it is helpful, he certainly will do that.”
Though the administration has defended its response, Biden has not declared a federal disaster in East Palestine, which remains a sticking point for residents. Such a declaration would unlock additional federal funding and assistance that people could apply for to help rebuild their lives.
But state and federal officials say a federal disaster declaration has not been issued because they are designed to help cover unmet needs no one is paying for after a disaster. In this case, there are not as many unmet needs in the government’s eyes because Norfolk Southern is paying the bills and compensating residents for the damage to their homes and businesses.
Biden ordered federal agencies to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the derailment and appointed an official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to oversee East Palestine’s recovery.
Norfolk Southern has estimated that it will cost the company more than $1.1 billion to remove all the hazardous chemicals, help the community and deal with lawsuits and related penalties. Insurance will likely cover much of that, but the total is expected to grow.
Reforms have been proposed in Congress but the bill calling for federal standards for trackside detectors that help spot mechanical problems, additional inspections by qualified workers and at least two people on every freight train crew has stalled. The railroads have lobbied against several of the provisions they believe aren’t related to this crash, and many Republicans pushed to wait until after the final National Transportation Safety Board report on the derailment later this year.
“In the past, there have been times when Congress stood up against the railroad lobby and stepped up on railroad safety. They should do that now,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a call with reporters Wednesday.
___
Associated Press writers Josh Funk in Omaha, Neb., Patrick Orsagos in East Palestine, Ohio, and Matthew Daly in Washitngton contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-world/biden-accepts-mayors-invitation-to-visit-east-palestine-ohio-a-year-after-train-derailment/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:50Z
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AFCON 2023: List of Former EPL Stars Who Met With Victor Osimhen at Africa Cup of Nations
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9-year-experience covering sports and football
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire - Super Eagles of Nigeria's arguably best performer so far at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the reigning African Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen.
The Napoli of Italy striker is on a mission to write his legacy at AFCON 2023 in Côte d'Ivoire as Nigeria guns for her fourth AFCON title.
Although not banging in the goals, Osimhen has been praised for his work rate and overall contribution to the squad, especially his performance in the round-of-16 match against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
In Ivory Coast, everyone wants to make contact with Osimhen, and former English Premier League (EPL) stars are not left behind.
In this report, Legit.ng writes on ex-EPL stars who have met Osimhen at AFCON 2023 — whether personally or in a group.
1) Emmanuel Adebayor
Togo legend, Emmanuel Adebayor, visited Osimhen and the Super Eagles at their Pullman Hotel base in Abidjan.
The former Arsenal and Manchester City striker then expressed his support for the team to win the coveted trophy in Cote d’Ivoire.
2) Djibril Cissé
After the Super Eagles game against Cote d'Ivoire, Osimhen was spotted having a moment with Champions League winner and Liverpool legend, Cisse.
Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba was also present.
A viral video showed the trio chatting shortly after the final whistle in the tunnel.
Nigeria managed to secure a 1-0 victory over Ivory Coast on January 18, with Osimhen playing a crucial role in the win. His tenacity on the field resulted in a penalty, subsequently contributing significantly to the match’s outcome.
3) Didier Drogba
Victor Osimhen has been linked with a transfer to both Arsenal and Chelsea.
The 25-year-old was able to celebrate the Super Eagle's AFCON win over Cameroon in the presence of his 'idol' Drogba.
Osimhen enjoyed a friendly moment with his hero for another playful embrace before then taking to the television with Drogba.
The current African football king paid tribute to the Chelsea legend.
He told Ivorian network NCI on January 27:
"It’s an honour to play on the land of Didier Drogba, my idol."
4) Jay-Jay Okocha
Former Nigeria captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, handed the Super Eagles a boost ahead of their 2023 AFCON clash against Ivory Coast.
Okocha paid Osimhen and the players a visit.
The former Nigeria captain visited the current Super Eagles players during their dinner on Wednesday night, January 17.
It was indeed a visit the players needed as most of them were happy to see the highly-respected retired playmaker join them in camp.
Okocha’s visit was also appreciated by Super Eagles boss, Jose Peseiro, thanking him for coming to show support for the players ahead of the all-important encounter.
Earlier, on January 14, Okocha casually met with Osimhen and his teammates after the Eagles' opening match versus Equatorial Guinea. The match ended in a draw.
Okocha is a legend at Bolton Wanderers, a club he skippered in the EPL.
Watch the video below:
What to read about Osimhen, AFCON:
- Osimhen prostrates to greet his former school teacher
- CAF reportedly picks Osimhen for drug test following superb performance against Cameroon
- 2023 AFCON: Asamoah Gyan hails Osimhen after Cameroon match
Nwabali receives criticism for alleged unethical act
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Super Eagles goalkeeper and one of the shining lights of AFCON 2023, Stanley Nwabali, came under criticism for posting a picture without its watermark.
Some X users reprimanded Nwabali for putting up a picture of him, whose original copy had been tampered with.
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Source: Legit.ng
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https://www.legit.ng/sports/football/1576396-afcon-2023-list-epl-stars-met-victor-osimhen-africa-cup-nations/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:51Z
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Sports News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: footballghana.com
AFC Bournemouth manager, Andoni Iraola, has said that Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo is available and ready to play Bournemouth’s upcoming game against West Ham United.
Speaking in a pre-game press conference preceding The Cherries' English Premier League clash with The Hammers on Thursday, February 1, Iraola stated, “He'd just landed without sleeping, he was available if we needed him for a short period, but lucky for us that wasn't necessary – he’s ready to go.”
Semenyo, who recently participated in the 2023 AFCON in Cote D’Ivoire with Ghana’s Black Stars, missed advancing to the round of 16 after Ghana failed to secure a victory in any of the three group-stage games.
Despite being eligible for selection in Bournemouth’s FA Cup tie against Swansea City, Semenyo didn’t see action as Bournemouth secured a commanding 5-0 victory.
However, Iraola confirmed that Semenyo has been actively training with the team and is now poised to contribute against West Ham, stating, “Antoine has been training with us as normal, and we didn't want to use him in the FA Cup.”
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Antoine-Semenyo-ready-to-go-against-West-Ham-United-Bournemouth-manager-1914315
| 2024-01-31T23:45:51Z
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Smith (back) is questionable to play Thursday against the Knicks.
Smith powered through the back issue Tuesday and logged his usual minutes off the bench, but it's still giving him some discomfort, and he'll likely want to test it at shootaround. If he's not able to give it a go, that would open up some minutes for Obi Toppin. Stay tuned.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/pacers-jalen-smith-questionable-for-thursday-447489/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:53Z
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President Of Taiwan Joins Pope Francis In Call For Regulating AI
By CNA
By Matthew Santucci
President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen sent a letter to Pope Francis on Wednesday joining the pontiff in calling for greater regulation of artificial intelligence, reaffirming what Ing-wen said was Taiwan’s commitment “to promote peace and improve the quality of life of all humanity.”
Noting that Taiwan “is eager to work with the international community to build a more stable society,” the Jan. 31 letter reflected on the country’s position as a “world leader in the semiconductor industry.”
“As the wave of AI sweeps across the world, Taiwan will continue in its endeavor to be a highly reliable, effective, and secure partner in the international community,” the president continued.
Taiwan is a vital player in the global development of AI. The growth in demand for accelerator chips produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the country’s largest company — and the world’s second-most-valuable semiconductor company — has helped fuel an economic rebound for the island, according to Bloomberg.
Investing and developing AI tools also plays a critical role in maintaining Taiwan’s national security apparatus amid growing threats of military intervention and economic sanctions from Beijing.
Tsai highlighted these themes and underscored the broader ethical considerations of developing emerging technologies in her letter to the pope.
“As Your Holiness has warned, the growing scope of AI applications and its implications for human values engender grave ethical risks, such as invasion of privacy, data manipulation, and illegal surveillance, which all have serious consequences for free and democratic societies,” she wrote.
“For Taiwan, as for other democracies, one major challenge has been disinformation campaigns,” the president continued. “Taiwan will deepen cooperation with the Holy See across many areas as we work toward exercising good technological governance, maintaining social harmony and stability, and jointly creating a peaceful future for humanity.”
Tsai sent the letter in response to the pope’s message marking the 57th World Day of Peace, a celebration that is observed by the Catholic Church on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
The pope’s message for the 2024 World Day of Peace was titled “Artificial Intelligence and Peace.” In it, the pontiff called on policymakers and international stakeholders to direct the development of AI toward “the pursuit of peace and the common good.”
The pope in his Dec. 14 letter underscored the risks posed by AI with its usage in automated warfare as well as the bias it can effect when used in the job hiring process, mortgage applications, and even criminal recidivism. These “systemic errors can easily multiply,” the pope argued.
The Holy Father stressed that AI is a supplemental technology as it can only “imitate or reproduce certain functions of human intelligence,” adding that “the unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making is more than a complex collection of algorithms, and that capacity cannot be reduced to programming a machine, which as ‘intelligent’ as it may be, remains a machine.”
The ethical regulation and orientation of AI for the common good has been a common theme of Francis’ pontificate in recent years. In a Feb. 20, 2023, audience with the Pontifical Academy for Life, the pope urged the academy to study emerging technologies in order to “ensure that scientific and technological growth is reconciled more and more with a parallel development … in responsibility, values, and conscience.”
The Holy See is a vital diplomatic partner for Taipei as it is the only sovereign European entity that maintains diplomatic relations with the democratically governed island.
Formal diplomatic relations between the Republic of China (ROC) and the Holy See were officially established in 1942. However, following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the government of the Republic of China relocated to the island of Taiwan, which sits 110 miles off mainland China’s Southeastern coast. The Holy See, at present, does not maintain official diplomatic relations with the PRC.
Taiwan, or the Republic of China, currently maintains diplomatic relations with 12 states after the Pacific island nation of Narua severed relations on Jan. 15, two days after presidential elections in Taiwan, which saw the election of Lai Ching-te, the current vice president and staunch advocate for Taiwanese sovereignty.
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-president-of-taiwan-joins-pope-francis-in-call-for-regulating-ai/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:54Z
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Drugmaker Biogen is pulling the plug on its controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, following disappointing sales. It had been expected to be a blockbuster product.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Drugmaker Biogen is pulling the plug on its controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm, following disappointing sales. It had been expected to be a blockbuster product.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/expected-to-be-a-big-deal-alzheimers-drug-is-pulled-after-disappointing-sales
| 2024-01-31T23:45:55Z
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SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LiveRamp® (NYSE: RAMP), the leading data collaboration platform, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Habu, a data clean room software provider that makes sharing data across organizations safe, simple, scalable and smart.
“The acquisition of Habu further cements LiveRamp’s leadership position in data collaboration, bringing together the scale and simplicity our customers need,” said LiveRamp Chief Strategy Officer David Eisenberg. “Through our combined offering, companies will now have one, simple platform to measure campaigns across all walled gardens, programmatic, and media channels while connecting data seamlessly across any cloud, warehouse, or clean room. I’m thrilled to officially welcome Habu to the LiveRamp team.”
The combination of LiveRamp and Habu establishes the industry-leading interoperable platform for data collaboration across all clouds and walled gardens globally, strategically expands the Company’s collaboration network, and drives further adoption of the Company’s core identity and connectivity solutions.
About LiveRamp
LiveRamp is the data collaboration platform of choice for the world’s most innovative companies. A groundbreaking leader in consumer privacy, data ethics, and foundational identity, LiveRamp is setting the new standard for building a connected customer view with unmatched clarity and context while protecting precious brand and consumer trust. LiveRamp offers complete flexibility to collaborate wherever data lives to support the widest range of data collaboration use cases—within organizations, between brands, and across its premier global network of top-quality partners. Hundreds of global innovators, from iconic consumer brands and tech giants to banks, retailers, and healthcare leaders, turn to LiveRamp to build enduring brand and business value by deepening customer engagement and loyalty, activating new partnerships, and maximizing the value of their first-party data while staying on the forefront of rapidly evolving compliance and privacy requirements. LiveRamp is based in San Francisco, California with offices worldwide. Learn more at LiveRamp.com.
Contacts
LiveRamp Investor Relations
Investor.Relations@LiveRamp.com
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https://www.01net.it/liveramp-completes-acquisition-of-habu/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:55Z
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Valley Fever started out as flu-like symptoms, then paralysis for Arizona woman
SURPRISE, Ariz. - A woman remains on a ventilator as she continues to struggle with extreme Valley Fever symptoms. Doctors say it started as a respiratory infection that became pneumonia, then she reported paralysis in her throat and face that has since spread throughout her body. Now all she's able to move is her neck.
Thomas Hannah's world has completely turned upside down after finding out his wife, Cassandra, is suffering from extreme Valley Fever complications – a diagnosis he says doctors almost missed.
"The first thing she reported besides flu-like symptoms was paralysis of the face, and I was with her at home, and they had accepted her into the ER the day before and gave her a false diagnosis and sent her home with prodome shingles, and medication for that," he said.
Cassandra and Thomas Hannah
As the days went on, her symptoms began to worsen.
"Friday.. two weeks ago and she was in abject pain.. pain shooting down her legs and I rushed her to hospital... she was no longer able to swallow," explained Thomas.
Doctors were able to see her right away. Thomas says it's a moment he'll never forget.
"I heard her murmur.. she was waving her hands.. and said she was suffocating, and I had to grab her by her ankles and pull her off that bed, stand her up, and she was wobbling."
Due to the Valley Fever condition, Hannah was also diagnosed with meningitis. And now every day, they look for signs of hope.
"The lead doctors at Banner are insistent that's her best chance of recovering and survival. And time is a factor," said Thomas. "She's been devoted to me, dedicated to me, and she's my full-time job. And we're trying to make this happen."
A fundraiser has been set up for Hannah at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-my-beautiful-wife.
According to the University of Arizona, about 150,000 people are diagnosed with Valley Fever every year and nearly two thirds of the cases happen in Arizona.
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https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/valley-fever-started-out-as-flu-like-symptoms-then-paralysis-for-arizona-woman
| 2024-01-31T23:45:56Z
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Laws on abortion are out of step with public opinion. One Republican legislator in Tennessee is working to establish exceptions to his state's strict abortion laws, but he faces a tough battle.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Laws on abortion are out of step with public opinion. One Republican legislator in Tennessee is working to establish exceptions to his state's strict abortion laws, but he faces a tough battle.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-politics/2024-01-31/a-tennessee-lawmaker-helped-pass-a-strict-abortion-law-hes-now-trying-to-loosen-it
| 2024-01-31T23:45:57Z
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Californians don’t have to pass a background check every time they buy bullets, federal judge rules
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California residents don’t have to pay for and pass a background check every time they buy bullets, a federal judge has ruled.
The Tuesday ruling by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez took effect immediately. California Attorney General Rob Bonta asked Benitez on Wednesday to delay the ruling to give him time to appeal the decision. It’s unclear if Benitez will grant that request.
Many states, including California, make people pass a background check before they can buy a gun. California goes a step further by making people pass a background check, which cost either $1 or $19 depending on eligibility, every time they buy bullets. A few other states also require background checks for buying ammunition, but most let people buy a license that is good for a few years.
Benitez said California’s law violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because if people can’t buy bullets for their guns, they can’t use their guns for self-defense. He criticized the state’s automated background check system, which he said rejected about 11% of applicants, or 58,087 requests, in the first half of 2023.
“How many of the 58,087 needed ammunition to defend themselves against an impending criminal threat and how many were simply preparing for a sporting event, we will never know,” Benitez wrote. “What is known is that in almost all cases, the 322 individuals that are rejected each day are being denied permission to freely exercise their Second Amendment right — a right which our Founders instructed shall not be infringed.”
Bonta said Benitez’s ruling puts public safety at risk because it would immediately let people who are not legally allowed to have ammunition to buy it — including convicted felons, people with mental illnesses and those with some domestic violence convictions.
“We will not stop in our efforts to protect the safety of communities and Californians’ rights to go about their business without fear of becoming victims of gun violence, while at the same time respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Bonta said.
Chuck Michel, president and general counsel of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said California’s requirement for a background check on all ammunition purchases “has not made anyone safer.”
“But it has made it much more difficult and expensive for law-abiding gun owners to exercise their Second Amendment right to defend themselves and their family,” he said.
California has some of the nation’s toughest gun laws. Many of them are being challenged in court in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a new standard for interpreting gun laws, stating they must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Benitez has already struck down two other California gun laws — one that banned detachable magazines that have more than 10 bullets and another that banned the sale of assault-style weapons. Those decisions have been appealed. Other gun laws being challenged include rules requiring gun stores to have digital surveillance systems and restricting the sale of new handguns.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-world/californians-dont-have-to-pass-a-background-check-every-time-they-buy-bullets-federal-judge-rules/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:56Z
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Sports News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: footballghana.com
In anticipation of the 13th All African Games scheduled to kick off in Accra from Friday, March 8 to Saturday, March 23, 2024, the Black Satellites are leaving no stone unturned in their quest for excellence.
Currently stationed at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, the team, under the watchful eyes of U20 Head Coach Desmond Ofei and the dedicated technical team, is engaged in a rigorous training session.
U20 Head Coach Desmond Ofei and the technical team invited 30 players to prepare for the competition.
The technical team has been working with different sets of players at the Technical Centre in Prampram in their quest to put together a decent squad that will represent Ghana at the African Games scheduled for Accra from Friday, March 8 – Saturday, March 23, 2024.
As part of the preparations, the team has been playing some low-profile training matches at the Technical Centre.
The Draw for the African Games Football Tournaments (Men and Women) will be staged on the sidelines of the ongoing TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Final Tournament on February 1, 2024.
According to CAF, host Ghana and the 8 quarterfinalists of the TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON, Egypt 2023 are qualified to compete in the football tournament of the 13th African Games, Ghana 2023.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Black-Satellites-forge-ahead-in-intensive-preparations-for-13th-All-African-Games-1914308
| 2024-01-31T23:45:58Z
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McConnell (illness) is questionable for Thursday's game against the Knicks.
McConnell was unavailable for Tuesday's game against the Celtics after missing Sunday's win over the Grizzlies due to personal reasons. It's not yet clear whether he'll be available for the first half of a back-to-back set Thursday, but Andrew Nembhard is a candidate to see increased run if McConnell is sidelined once again.
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/pacers-t-j-mcconnell-questionable-for-thursday/
| 2024-01-31T23:45:59Z
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Researchers Uncover Potential Non-Opioid Treatment For Chronic Pain
Among the most difficult types of pain to alleviate is neuropathic pain, pain that is usually caused by damage to nerves in various body tissues, including skin, muscle and joints. It can cause patients to suffer feelings like electric shocks, tingling, burning or stabbing.
Diabetes, multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy drugs, injuries and amputations have all been associated with neuropathic pain, which is often chronic, sometimes unrelenting and affects millions of people worldwide. Many of the available pain medications are only moderately effective at treating this type of pain and often come with serious side effects, as well as risk of addiction.
Now researchers at UT Austin, The University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Miami have identified a molecule that reduces hypersensitivity in trials in mice by binding to a protein they have shown is involved in neuropathic pain.
The findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We found it to be an effective painkiller, and the effects were rather long-lived,” said Stephen Martin, the June and J. Virgil Waggoner Regents Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin and co-corresponding author of the paper. “When we tested it on different models, diabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, for example, we found this compound has an incredible beneficial effect.”
The new compound, dubbed FEM-1689, does not engage opioid receptors in the body, making it a possible alternative to existing pain medications linked to addiction. In addition to reducing sensitivity, the compound can help regulate the integrated stress response (ISR), a network of cellular signaling that helps the body respond to injuries and diseases. When well regulated, the ISR restores balance and promotes healing. When it goes awry, the ISR can contribute to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and metabolic disorders.
“It’s our goal to make this compound into a drug that can be used to treat chronic pain without the dangers of opioids,” Martin said. “Neuropathic pain is often a debilitating condition that can affect people their entire lives, and we need a treatment that is well tolerated and effective.”
NuvoNuro Inc., a company co-founded by Martin and other authors on the paper, was recently awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health HEAL Initiative, which funds research to find scientific solutions to the national opioid crisis, to create a drug based on their findings.
“This work is the culmination of a wonderful five-year collaboration with our colleagues at UT Austin and is a great example of academic drug discovery pushing the field of non-opioid pain therapeutics forward,” said Theodore Price, a professor of neuroscience at The University of Texas at Dallas and co-corresponding author of the paper. “Our funding from NIH on this continuing project through our spin-out company, NuvoNuro, has the potential to take us toward clinical development in the next few years, which is extraordinarily exciting.”
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-researchers-uncover-potential-non-opioid-treatment-for-chronic-pain/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:00Z
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Jorge Rubiano arrived alone in Chicago, but his pain and trauma came with him.
For months, he tried to find steady work. For months, he's been sleeping in a crowded temporary shelter, worrying about his wife and mother back in Colombia. Are they safe? Did I make the right decision?
He recalls a frightening phone call with his wife in Colombia, cut short when the bus she was riding on was being robbed.
Rubiano, 43, is also haunted by memories of his harrowing journey to Chicago, during which he says he was kidnapped for a month, before escaping.
He left his country, he says, over a land dispute in which the government threatened his life.
"I'm still in between two dangers," Rubiano says in Spanish. "If I return it's very possible they kill me, and if I stay I don't know what can happen here."
More than 30,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August of 2022 — most of them from South and Central America. They are fleeing the collapse of their economies, a lack of food and jobs, and violence back home.
Many came here on a bus from Texas, sent by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who said Chicago — and other so-called sanctuary cities that embrace immigrants — would provide much-needed relief "to our small, overrun border towns."
The buses haven't stopped since.
Migrants fleeing hardship, danger, fear and loss
Interviews with more than 30 people reveal the emotional toll migrants face, and the efforts of individuals and organizations that are trying to fill the gaps of a frayed mental health system.
Some of those efforts are catching the attention of leaders in other big U.S. cities also coping with large influxes of newly-arrived migrants.
For many, their journeys here were terrifying. A young girl who fell into a river, her pregnant mother struggling to hold her small hand, so the current wouldn't whisk her away. Women who were forced to have sex with gang members to get from country to country. People who walked over the dead in the jungle, or are wracked with guilt over the sick and injured left behind.
Their stories have unfolded across Chicago: in the quiet space of a therapist's office, at an informal healing circle in the back of a store, with a nurse at a folding table propped up outside a police station.
But for many migrants, taking care of their mental health might not be a priority.
"They're in survival mode," says Sharon Davila, a school-based social worker who has screened migrant families. "They need their basic needs met. The number one thing is they're looking for jobs."
Just getting in front of a therapist or a social worker can be extremely difficult for even the most savvy and persistent. With a shortage of mental health workers, wait lists for an appointment can be months long.
Layer on being new to this country, speaking a different language, and having no health insurance. Getting help can seem impossible.
Therapist Susie Moya worries about a mental health crisis brewing for many migrants.
"Right now it's on the back burner," says Moya, who has worked with migrants on Chicago's Lower West Side. "But I'm thinking a year from now when these families are settled in. Who is going to be providing that support?"
Informal support, with a side of soup
It's a Monday night in the back room of an insurance agency on the Southwest Side. About 20 migrants have arranged their chairs in a circle. Each person takes a turn describing how they feel on a scale of one to 10, as social worker Veronica Sanchez gently encourages them to share why.
Warm homemade chicken soup and arepas await them for dinner.
A woman says her husband got deported, and she's heartbroken that she left her children behind. A man says he worked several days that week, but never got paid. Another says he is grateful to God for bringing him to America, but he misses his mom, dad and brothers.
Finding work and reuniting with family is important, Sanchez tells them. But right now she's concerned about their mental health.
"Maybe we have answers. Maybe we don't. But when you open up a safe space where you can share your sorrows... you don't feel so alone," Sanchez says in Spanish.
Sanchez understands the migrants' desperation. She comes from a long line of pottery makers in Mexico. Sanchez was just four years old when her father left to work in Cicero, a suburb outside Chicago. She didn't see her father for almost seven years, until they were reunited as a family in Cicero.
Those memories fuel her work with the healing circle. "When I was talking to them, it really came from the heart," Sanchez says. "I was seeing the migrants' faces, that they were so scared."
Informal support groups like this one have popped up around Chicago in shelters, storefronts, churches and schools, led by volunteers or mental health professionals.
Many of these support groups don't last long. Volunteers get burned out. Migrants prioritize other needs. Or the city moves them from place to place.
The costs of ignoring loss and trauma
Some volunteers and mental health providers emphasize that not every migrant might be experiencing severe trauma.
But for many, trauma can have lasting impact. Trauma can change the wiring in a person's brain and make someone more vulnerable to depression and anxiety.
Daily or ongoing stressors can add up to what Chicago psychologist Laura Pappa calls "little t trauma" — like not feeling welcomed right away.
"A lot of people come here seeking the American dream and they realize that that's not there," says Pappa, who came to the U.S. from Argentina as a teen. "A lot of people were not expecting that, how hard it is on this side. I've had a lot of parents who've come alone and ask themselves, was it worth it?"
It can be hard to persuade migrants to seek help, however. There's a stigma about the need for mental health care in many immigrant communities, particularly among Latino men, Pappa says.
But, she adds, the stigma is easing as talking about emotions becomes more common.
Training the front-line workers in shelters
One effort to provide faster help involves training hundreds of peoplewho don't have a medical background, but work in city-run shelters. These front-line workers, such as case managers and shelter supervisors, are learning to lead support groups called Café y Comunidad charlas — coffee and community talks.
The initiative is led by the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health, the University of Chicago's Crown Family School, and Lurie Children's Center for Childhood Resilience.
The idea is to help migrants feel less isolated and try to prevent the most extreme outcomes, such as suicide.
"We have to help people the minute they arrive," explainsAimee Hilado, an assistant professor at UC's Crown School and chair of the coalition. "That's actually going to promote healing down the line."
Case manager Albert Ayala has led a charla in the ballroom of a downtown shelter. He recalls moments of joy, such as when a woman said she was searching for love — and hands shot up hoping to catch her attention.
Ayala says he's watched migrants who arrive scared and shy blossom after attending a charla.
"We try to tell them we're no different from you," says Ayala, who is Mexican American. "Your dream is possible."
Leaders in Philadelphia and San Jose have reached out asking how to replicate the effort, Hilado says.
Outside his shelter, Rubiano, the migrant from Colombia, says he hasn't attended one of these support groups. He says he tries to keep busy working on his English skills. And he recently found a full-time job in a supermarket.
He longs for his family, and for the chance to bring them here — once there is a stable life he can offer them.
WBEZ is part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The Collaborative's partners include The Carter Center, the Center for Public Integrity and newsrooms in select states across the country.
WBEZ's Manuel Martinez contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 WBEZ
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/for-chicagos-new-migrants-informal-support-groups-help-ease-the-pain-and-trauma
| 2024-01-31T23:46:01Z
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BURBANK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Loop Media, Inc. (“Loop Media”) (NYSE American: LPTV), a leading multichannel streaming CTV platform that provides curated music videos, sports, news, premium entertainment channels and digital signage for businesses, will host a conference call on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time to discuss its financial and operating results for its 2024 fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2023.
Loop Media’s management will host the conference call, followed by a question and answer period. Below are the details for those participants who would like to dial in and ask questions.
Date: February 6, 2024
Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Participant registration link: Q1 Link
Conference ID: 9046830
Participant Toll-Free Dial-In Number: 1(800) 715-9871
Participant International Dial-In Number: 1(646) 307-1963
The conference call will also be available for replay on the investor relations section of Loop Media’s website at https://ir.loop.tv/.
About Loop Media, Inc.
Loop Media, Inc. (“Loop®”) (NYSE American: LPTV) is a leading connected television (CTV) / streaming / digital out-of-home TV and digital signage platform optimized for businesses, providing music videos, news, sports, and entertainment channels through its Loop® TV service. Loop Media is the leading company in the U.S. licensed to stream music videos to businesses through its proprietary Loop® Player.
Loop® TV’s digital video content is streamed to millions of viewers in CTV / streaming / digital out of home locations including bars/restaurants, office buildings, retail businesses, college campuses, airports, among many other venues in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Loop® TV is fueled by one of the largest and most important premium short-form entertainment libraries that includes music videos, movie trailers, branded content, and live performances. Loop Media’s non-music channels cover a wide-range of genres and moods and include movie trailers, sports highlights, lifestyle and travel videos, viral videos, and more. Loop Media’s streaming services generate revenue from programmatic and direct advertising, and subscriptions.
To learn more about Loop Media products and applications, please visit us online at Loop.tv
Follow us on social:
Instagram: @loopforbusiness
X (Twitter): @loopforbusiness
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/loopforbusiness/
Safe Harbor Statement and Disclaimer
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including, but not limited to, Loop Media’s expected performance, ability to compete in the highly competitive markets in which it operates, statements regarding Loop Media’s ability to develop talent and attract future talent, the success of strategic actions Loop Media is taking, and the impact of strategic transactions. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations, opinion, belief or forecasts of future events and performance. A statement identified by the use of forward-looking words including “will,” “may,” “expects,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimate,” “should,” and certain of the other foregoing statements may be deemed forward-looking statements. Although Loop Media believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future activities and results to be materially different from those suggested or described in this news release. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof. Loop Media takes no obligation to update or correct its own forward-looking statements, except as required by law, or those prepared by third parties that are not paid for by Loop Media. Loop Media’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings are available at www.sec.gov.
Contacts
Loop Media Investor Contact
Andrew J. Barwicki
andrew@barwicki.com
ir@loop.tv
Loop Media Press Contact
Jon Lindsay Phillips
loop@phillcomm.global
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https://www.01net.it/loop-media-schedules-2024-fiscal-first-quarter-conference-call-for-february-6-2024-at-500-p-m-et/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:02Z
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President Biden will turn to longtime Democratic strategist and climate aide John Podesta to handle international climate policy after climate envoy John Kerry steps down from the job in coming weeks, the White House said on Wednesday.
Podesta has worked in the Biden White House since Sept. 2022, overseeing the implementation of the climate incentives and funding in the $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act.
He will continue to lead the rollout of the landmark climate law even as he takes the reins on international climate talks from Kerry, who was an outsized figure on the world stage as a former secretary of state, senator and presidential candidate.
Podesta is well-known in Washington and Democratic circles as a chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton and a climate adviser to former President Barack Obama. He was chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016.
"Having served the three most recent Democratic presidents over three decades, he is an American statesman, a fierce champion for bold climate action, and a leader who without a doubt the world will know has the trust of and speaks for the president of the United States," White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said in a statement.
Biden came to office pledging to make curbing climate one of his top priorities. Earlier this year, he faced backlash — particularly from young voters — for approving a large drilling project, known as Willow, in Alaska. Polling shows many young voters are not aware of the climate incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act.
But as he heads into his reelection race, his administration won praise last week from climate groups for a decision to pause approvals for new exports of liquified natural gas where Biden explicitly nodded to "the calls of young people" to take more climate action.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-politics/2024-01-31/bidens-new-climate-envoy-is-john-podesta-he-has-a-big-domestic-climate-job-too
| 2024-01-31T23:46:03Z
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Chicago becomes latest US city to call for cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s City Council narrowly approved a resolution Wednesday calling for a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, with Mayor Brandon Johnson casting the tiebreaking vote.
The symbolic declaration in the nation’s third-largest city follows weeks of rowdy public meetings with disruptions from demonstrators, including on Wednesday when things became so boisterous the first-term mayor had to temporarily clear the council chambers. The resolution, approved 24-23, includes a call for humanitarian aid and the the release of all hostages. Supporters in the chambers included the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Chicago is latest U.S. city to approve such a non-binding resolution, following Atlanta, Detroit and San Francisco in recent months.
“Do I believe that the words that we speak today, how we vote today influences directly international policy? I don’t. I don’t have those illusions,” said Alderman Daniel La Spata, one of the resolution’s sponsors. “But we vote with hope. We vote with solidarity. We vote to help people feel heard in a world of silence.”
The ordinance remained largely unchanged over the past few months despite urging from the council’s sole Jewish member, Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, who sought more support of Israel and criticism of Hamas.
“We all want an end to the bloodshed and an end to the war. But it is vital to understand what caused the conflict, and we should pass a resolution that addresses the issue responsibly,” she said during the meeting. “We should not pass a resolution unless it makes clear that Hamas cannot and should not attack again.”
The war began with Hamas attacking Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 26,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million others from their homes.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-world/chicago-becomes-latest-us-city-to-call-for-cease-fire-in-israel-hamas-war/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:03Z
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Sports News of Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Source: ghanasoccernet.com
Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) Vice President Fred Pappoe has urged the association to exercise caution in its search for a new coach for the Black Stars, citing the potential financial burden associated with hiring high-profile coaches.
Pappoe's comments come in response to the GFA's decision to form a five-member committee tasked with finding a suitable replacement for coach Chris Hughton, who was recently dismissed due to the team's poor performance. The former vice president supports the decision to part ways with Hughton but stresses the need for fiscal responsibility in the search for his successor.
"If Ghana intends to engage high-profile coaches of the calibre of Herve Renard, a two-time AFCON winner, or others noted for their successful track record, then as a country we must be prepared to make a significant financial investment," Pappoe warned.
He questioned whether the government was willing to commit to the substantial fees demanded by elite coaches, pointing out that the cost of hiring such coaches could be prohibitively expensive for Ghana. Pappoe suggested that the GFA should establish a clear budget for the coaching position and consider coaches who align with Ghana's football culture and are willing to work within the country's financial means.
"In the end, we must define our budget for that position. Are we prepared to pay €35,000 or €40,000 a month for a coach?" Pappoe asked rhetorically. "If we think that is what we can conveniently afford, or we want to go for the cream of coaches like Herve Renard and the rest, who would be calling for huge sums of money, that may appear repugnant to Ghanaians," he advised.
Several coaches including former Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath and German tactician Jürgen Kohler are said to be interested in the top job.
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https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Fred-Pappoe-urges-caution-in-pursuit-of-high-profile-coaches-for-Black-Stars-1914307
| 2024-01-31T23:46:04Z
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Haliburton (hamstring) is questionable for Thursday's game against the Knicks.
Haliburton said Wednesday that he expects to play Thursday against the Knicks, but he'll still land on the Pacers' initial injury report. He returned to action Tuesday against the Celtics after a five-game absence due to a hamstring injury, and he tallied 13 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes.
More News
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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Expects to play Thursday
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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Double-doubles in return
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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Will play Tuesday
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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Questionable, but plans to play
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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Could return Tuesday
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Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton: Out Sunday, but day-to-day
•
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https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/pacers-tyrese-haliburton-officially-listed-as-questionable-447485/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:05Z
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Saudi Arabia To Witness Surge In Number Of Millionaires In Next Decade
By Arab News
Saudi Arabia is poised for a 105 percent surge in average wealth per person in the next 10 years, jumping from the current $54,000, a new study showed.
According to Henley & Partners’ BRICS Wealth Report, the Kingdom presently holds the sixth position within the bloc in terms of high-net-worth individuals.
The consulting agency added that Saudi Arabia currently hosts 58,300 millionaires, encompassing 195 centi-millionaires and 22 billionaires, marking a significant 32 percent increase since 2013.
Centi-millionaires, defined as individuals with assets exceeding $100 million, contribute to this affluent demographic.
The report highlighted India as the leader in the per capita wealth list, with a projected increase in assets by 110 percent over the next 10 years, rising from the current $6,800.
Additionally, the average wealth per capita in the UAE is expected to rise by 95 percent by 2033, followed by China and Ethiopia at 85 percent and 75 percent, respectively.
Similarly, South Africa is projected to increase by 60 percent in this segment, while Egypt is predicted to grow by 55 percent by 2033.
“These countries exhibit divergent economic conditions: Saudi Arabia and the UAE enjoy robust economies, while Egypt confronts systematic economic challenges,” said Robert Mogielnicki, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
“There are also major differences in each country’s respective positions in the international order and how senior government actors therein pursue political and diplomatic interests on the world stage,” he added.
The document further reveals that the total investable wealth currently held in the BRICS bloc amounts to $45 trillion, with the millionaire population in these nations expected to surge by 85 percent in the next 10 years.
Presently, there are 1.6 million individuals in BRICS countries with investable assets exceeding $1 million, encompassing 4,716 centi-millionaires and 549 billionaires.
According to the findings, private wealth in China experienced a substantial 92 percent growth over the last decade. The Asian giant is currently home to 862,400 millionaires, including 2,352 centi-millionaires and 305 billionaires.
China is closely followed by India, where private wealth soared by 85 percent over the last 10 years. The country currently has 326,400 millionaires, including over 1,000 centi-millionaires and 120 billionaires.
Since 2013, the millionaire population in the UAE has surged by 77 percent, with the Emirates now boasting a total of 116,500 millionaires.
“Economically, non-Western nations — with BRICS at the vanguard — are pushing the globe into a new reality: An emerging economic, social, and monetary status quo that is upending what the world has accepted as normal for nearly eight decades,” commented Jeff D. Opdyke, a personal finance and investment expert on the report.
However, the number of millionaires in South Africa witnessed a decline of 20 percent since 2013, while in Iran, the number fell by 38 percent during the same period.
Chinese capital Beijing secured the top spot with the highest number of high-net-worth individuals, currently hosting 125,600 millionaires, which includes 347 centi-millionaires and 42 billionaires.
Following Beijing, Shanghai and Dubai claim the second and third positions with 123,400 and 72,500 millionaires, respectively.
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https://www.eurasiareview.com/01022024-saudi-arabia-to-witness-surge-in-number-of-millionaires-in-next-decade/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:07Z
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From the occupied West Bank, an emergency hotline assists rescue efforts in Gaza By Aya Batrawy Published January 31, 2024 at 3:39 PM MST Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 5:17 NPR visits an emergency hotline center in the West Bank assisting first responders in the Gaza Strip. Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.ksut.org/2024-01-31/from-the-occupied-west-bank-an-emergency-hotline-assists-rescue-efforts-in-gaza
| 2024-01-31T23:46:07Z
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Co-founder, Current CEO and Chairman Patrick C.S. Lo to Retire as Part of Planned Leadership Transition
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR), a global networking company that delivers innovative networking and internet connected products to consumers and businesses, today announced that Patrick C.S. Lo, current Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board, is retiring from his position at NETGEAR and from the company’s Board. Lo will remain as a strategic advisor to support a seamless leadership transition through July 2024. The Board has appointed Charles (CJ) Prober, a senior technology executive, to succeed him effective immediately. Prober is also joining NETGEAR’s Board of Directors.
“As co-founder of NETGEAR, and leader for nearly three decades, it goes without saying that Patrick Lo’s impact on the company is undeniable. His vision for delivering the future of connectivity through advanced networking products and solutions has shaped who we are as a company, and we celebrate all he has accomplished,” said Thomas H. Waechter, NETGEAR Lead Independent Director. “CJ has the full confidence of the Board. We look forward to working with him and the NETGEAR leadership team to take the company forward for its next phase of innovation.”
“When Mark Merrill and I founded NETGEAR 28 years ago, the internet was beginning to show its impact on the world,” said Lo. “We seized the opportunity, and we’ve been innovating and leading the industry in the creation of advanced networking technologies for homes and businesses around the world ever since. We’ve pushed the boundaries of what can be experienced in a connected world, and I am all for the next chapter of the NETGEAR story.”
Prober to Succeed Lo
The appointment of Prober follows a thorough search process over the last 12 months, conducted by the NETGEAR Board, with the goal of appointing a next-generation leader with extensive consumer electronics, software and subscription experience. Prober has the unanimous support of the Board and meets all the criteria that are critical to NETGEAR’s future success in distinguishing itself as a high-performing leader in the consumer and business networking industry.
Prober is a seasoned and successful business leader who has focused on driving growth, transformation and innovation in his past roles, with decades of expertise in building cutting edge consumer experiences for devices and digital platforms. His experience spans leadership positions at top consumer and technology brands, including roles as President of Life360, CEO at Tile (acquired by Life360), Chief Operating Officer at GoPro, and SVP of Digital Publishing at Electronic Arts (EA). Prior to his operating roles, Prober served as a consultant with McKinsey & Company where he helped to guide some of the world’s leading B2B technology companies.
He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Life360 and Glorious Gaming. Past accomplishments include driving subscription and revenue growth at Life360, Tile and GoPro. Additionally, he was central to EA’s transformation from a packaged software to digital services company that unlocked significant shareholder value over his years at the company. His extensive experience in managing large teams and complex global businesses demonstrates his ability to deliver value to customers, investors, and employees.
“As an innovator and pioneer, NETGEAR is an admired and respected brand by both consumers and businesses at a time when connectivity matters more than ever,” said CJ Prober, NETGEAR CEO. “I have built my career on delivering innovative and industry-leading products and services and am proud to join the NETGEAR team to continue this path and to create value for all stakeholders, continuing the company’s strong focus on innovation in the industry. The path forward is incredibly exciting, and I look forward to partnering with the Board, our partners and NETGEAR’s global employee base.”
About NETGEAR, Inc.
NETGEAR® (NASDAQ: NTGR) has pioneered advanced networking technologies for homes, businesses, and service providers around the world since 1996 and leads the industry with a broad range of award-winning products designed to simplify and improve people’s lives. By enabling people to collaborate and connect to a world of information and entertainment, NETGEAR is dedicated to delivering innovative and advanced connected solutions ranging from mobile and cloud-based services for enhanced control and security, to smart networking products, video over Ethernet for Pro AV applications, easy-to-use WiFi solutions and performance gaming routers to enhance online game play. The company is headquartered out of San Jose, Calif. with offices located around the globe. More information is available from the NETGEAR Press Room or by calling (408) 907-8000. Connect with NETGEAR: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the NETGEAR blog at NETGEAR.com.
©2024 NETGEAR, Inc. NETGEAR and the NETGEAR logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NETGEAR, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holder(s). The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. NETGEAR shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. All rights reserved.
Source: NETGEAR-G
Contacts
U.S. Media Contact:
Valerie Motis
Valerie.motis@NETGEAR.com
NETGEAR@AccesstheAgency.com
U.S. Sales Inquiries: (408) 907-8000, sales@netgear.com
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https://www.01net.it/netgear-appoints-technology-leader-charles-cj-prober-as-new-ceo/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:08Z
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NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with constitutional scholar Philip Bobbitt about the effort from House Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Copyright 2024 NPR
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with constitutional scholar Philip Bobbitt about the effort from House Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.klcc.org/npr-politics/2024-01-31/constitutional-scholar-says-gop-charges-against-mayorkas-dont-meet-impeachment-bar
| 2024-01-31T23:46:09Z
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Deadly school bus crash in Ohio yields new safety features and training — but no seat belt mandate
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After a deadly school bus crash last summer, a task force convened by Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended Wednesday more training, driver benefits and safety features — but not a seat belt mandate.
How and when safety upgrades are made would be up to individual school districts, DeWine said at an event releasing the Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group’s final report. He said his office has begun discussions with the Legislature about establishing a grant fund to help school districts pay for vehicle upgrades or new safety-enhanced buses.
DeWine created the working group in August, after a school bus crash in Clark County’s Lawrenceville, about 55 miles (88.51 kilometers) southwest of Columbus, left one child dead and 23 others injured.
“We know that buses are the safest way to transport children to school; that remains true,” he said Wednesday. “But when we have a tragedy like this, I think it’s important for us to reexamine what we can do to make the trips that our kids are taking, and grandkids are taking, as safe as we can.”
The working group issued 17 recommendations. Sixteen related to bus driver recruitment and retention, training and education, school bus safety features, road and traffic safety, and emergency response.
Ohio Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said the group stopped short of recommending that the state mandate that all school buses have seat belts, instead leaving the decision to individual school districts.
“As a group — after hearing form the experts, hearing from our bus drivers, looking at the data or the lack of data from states that have mandated seat belts, and listening to the school districts who have tried pilot programs on their buses — we became convinced that the statewide mandate of seat belts on buses is not the most effective use of government resources to keep our kids safe,” he said.
Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Stephen Dackin said adding seat belts to a bus costs about $19,000. By contrast, the other twelve safety features the group recommended — including collision avoidance systems, electronic stability control, lighted crossover mirrors and fully illuminated stop arms at the front and rear — would cost about $13,000 per bus.
The final recommendation, involving commercial bus services, addressed a second Ohio bus crash that took place even as the task force was working. In that November accident, a charter bus of high school students was rear-ended by a semi truck on an Ohio highway, killing six and injuring 18.
To address private buses, the working group recommended that school districts adopt policies requiring “thorough evaluation of contracted commercial bus services.”
For public school bus drivers, the group recommended that the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce develop a uniform training curriculum, as well as a regional advanced training program, and that Ohio require six hours of training for drivers each year. The grant program DeWine has in mind would allow the state to offer the training to school districts at no cost, he said.
Other recommendations include improved access to professional development, wellness support and regular performance reviews for bus drivers, expanded engagement with parents and the public, school zone and bus route safety audits, and enhanced penalties for drivers of other vehicles who violate traffic laws in school zones or around school buses.
According to state data, between 2018 and 2023, the other driver was at fault in 68% of school bus crashes involving minor injuries, in 80% of crashes involving serious injuries; and in 75% of crashes involving fatalities.
DeWine said about 13,000 school buses are operating in Ohio at this time, but school districts typically don’t replace them all at once, but perhaps at a pace of one or two a year. New buses run about $120,000, Dackin said.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://www.whec.com/national-world/deadly-school-bus-crash-in-ohio-yields-new-safety-features-and-training-but-no-seat-belt-mandate/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:09Z
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Extended: Sen. Amy Klobuchar on measures to protect children online
A surprising apology on Capitol Hill in the middle of a hearing on protecting children online. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood up and apologized to families. The room was filled with parents who lost children to suicide due to harassment or exploitation online. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar spoke on measures she hopes to get through the legislature.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/video/extended-sen-amy-klobucharon-measures-to-protect-children-online/
| 2024-01-31T23:46:10Z
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