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Justin Bieber has fans excited with a few of his recent Instagram posts.
In one post, Justin appears to be singing while backed up by a DJ, guitarist and other instruments; he’s put a “shush” emoji in the caption. His wife, Hailey, commented, “Exactly!!!!!!!!!” Fans lost their minds in the comments, with one writing, “JUSTIN REMEMBERED HE’S AN ARTIST EVERYONE SCREAMED,” and another adding, “THIS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!”
Another wrote, “The prince of pop is BACK!!!” while yet another wrote, “Rehearsals? Oh we are so back.”
To be fair, it’s not clear why or where Justin was performing. He then posted another series of photos in which he’s singing in the same location, which looks like it may be a studio or a rehearsal room.
Earlier in January, Justin posted that he was “excited for this year.” Could it be because new music is coming? If it is, it would be the Canadian superstar’s first solo single since 2021’s “Ghost.” He released other songs in 2022 and 2023, but they were collaborations with other artists.
While we wait for more news, Justin will be serving as a celebrity captain for one of the teams participating in NHL All-Star Weekend, beginning Thursday, which is being hosted in Toronto by his favorite team, the Maple Leafs. Fellow Canadian stars Will Arnett, Tate McRae and Michael Bublé are also serving as celebrity captains during the event.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
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https://www.movin925.com/why-is-justin-bieber-singing-again/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:28Z
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VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 31, 2024 /CNW/ - New Pacific Metals Corp. (TSX: NUAG) (NYSE American: NEWP) ("New Pacific" or the "Company") is pleased to outline its 2024 plans for its operations in Bolivia.
Andrew Williams, President and CEO, states: "2024 is expected to be a pivotal year for New Pacific. At our Silver Sand project, we expect to deliver our Preliminary Feasibility Study by mid-year, enabling us to declare mineral reserves for the first time in our Company's history. Simultaneously, with several important initiatives underway, we continue our steady march towards submitting our Environmental Impact Assessment Study. At our Carangas project, we plan to build upon last year's inaugural mineral resource estimate, revealing conceptual economics through an anticipated mid-year release of a Preliminary Economic Assessment."
"In the past year at New Pacific, we have successfully added new project development capabilities while retaining our exploration capacity to strategically expand or reduce risk at our projects and capitalize on new opportunities as they arise. At our Silver Sand and Carangas projects we have made back-to-back greenfield silver discoveries in a country with a rich history of silver mining spanning 500 years. We have also curated a team of Bolivians who are energized to develop responsibly the country's next generation of great silver mines. With our balance sheet recently bolstered by a C$35 million financing, New Pacific has a strong growth foundation in a world with an increasing demand for silver."
The Preliminary Feasibility Study (the "PFS") in respect of the Company's Silver Sand project is progressing as planned, with an expected delivery by mid-2024. Independent consultants AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd., NewFields Canada Mining & Environment ULC and Halyard Inc. are actively involved in completing the PFS. Significant milestones achieved include the completion of mine optimization, strategic phasing, processing flowsheet optimization, and tailings trade-off studies. Concurrently, ongoing efforts encompass strategic mine scheduling, tailings and site infrastructure design, and processing plant layout design. We expect the technical route to remain largely consistent with the Preliminary Economic Assessment in respect of the Silver Sand project (the "Silver Sand PEA Technical Report") published in January 2023. Please see "Cautionary Note Regarding Results of Preliminary Economic Assessment". For more details on the Silver Sand PEA Technical Report, please refer to the Company's news releases dated February 16, 2023 and January 9, 2023.
In May 2023, the Silver Sand project obtained its environmental categorization as a proposed open pit operation from Bolivia's Ministry of Environment and Water, formally commencing the Environmental Impact Assessment Study ("EEIA") process. The Company continues to advance its socialization process with communities located within the Silver Sand project's area of influence and collect wet and dry season environmental baseline data. In addition, the Company is establishing a development fund for sustainable development projects in partnership with local communities, demonstrating its long-term commitment to the region.
After completion of the socialization process, the Company plans to achieve the following:
1) obtain surface rights through long-term land lease agreements;
2) finalize a resettlement and compensation plan for impacted families; and
3) implement measures to safeguard cultural and historical heritage.
Integral to our pathway towards obtaining the EEIA, the Company is establishing a framework to coexist with artisanal and small-scale miners ("ASMs") in areas of the Silver Sand project that do not encroach on our mineral rights. New Pacific recognizes the importance of ASMs to the region's economic and political landscape and is committed to ensuring the shared benefits from a proposed modern mining operation, including access to milling capacity, technology, infrastructure, and capital, are realized. The Company is also undertaking measures, with the assistance of both local government authorities and external contractors, to address the presence of ASMs whose activities do not align with the development objectives of the Silver Sand project.
The Company is also pursuing compliance with the International Finance Corporation's eight performance standards for sustainable development, building on an assessment conducted with an independent consultant last year. This aligns with New Pacific's commitment to responsible mining while providing the ancillary benefit of positioning the project for development by the Company, or another party, upon successful completion of the EEIA process.
The Company continues to engage with the Bolivia state mining corporation, Corporación Minera de Bolivia (the "COMIBOL"), to obtain the ratification and approval of the signed Mining Production Contract (the "MPC") at the Silver Sand project by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. The Company and COMIBOL have refined the MPC to concentrate exclusively on claims immediately adjacent to the Silver Sand project boundary. This streamlined landholding, while maintaining the core value of the MPC to the Silver Sand project, is anticipated to facilitate progress towards ratification and approval of the MPC.
The Preliminary Economic Assessment in respect of the Company's Carangas project (the "Carangas PEA") remains on schedule for completion by mid-2024. The Company and its independent consultants are currently undertaking trade-off studies based on the Mineral Resource Estimate in respect of the Carangas project (the "Carangas MRE"). For more details on the Carangas MRE, please refer to the Company's news releases dated September 5, 2023 and September 18, 2023. There are a variety of open pit mining options under review, all focusing on the higher-grade, near-surface starter pit at the Carangas project that can be mined at a lower strip ratio. Additionally, the Company is undertaking a metallurgical test program to enhance the processing flowsheet and gather valuable data to support the Carangas PEA.
At the Company's Silverstrike project, exploration activities remain on standby as the Company focuses on the programs for the Silver Sand project and Carangas project, as outlined above.
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Alex Zhang, P. Geo., Vice President of Exploration (the "Qualified Person"), who is a qualified person (as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101")) for the purposes of NI 43-101. The Qualified Person has verified the information disclosed herein using standard verification processes, including the sampling, preparation, security and analytical procedures underlying such information, and is not aware of any significant risks and uncertainties or any limitations on the verification process that could be expected to affect the reliability or confidence in the information discussed herein.
New Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company with three precious metal projects in Bolivia. The Company's flagship Silver Sand project has the potential to be developed into one of the world's largest silver mines. The Company is also rapidly advancing its Carangas project towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment. For the Silverstrike project, the Company completed a discovery drill program in 2022.
For further information, please contact:
Andrew Williams, CEO
New Pacific Metals Corp.
1750 – 1066 Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3X1, Canada
U.S. & Canada toll-free: 1 (877) 631-0593
E-mail: [email protected]
For additional information and to receive the Company news by e-mail, please register using New Pacific's website at www.newpacificmetals.com
The results of the preliminary economic assessment (the "PEA") contained in the Silver Sand PEA Technical Report, are preliminary in nature and are intended to provide an initial assessment of the Silver Sand Project's economic potential and development options. The PEA mine schedule and economic assessment includes numerous assumptions and is based on both indicated and inferred mineral resources. Inferred resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the project economic assessments described herein will be achieved or that the PEA results will be realized. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by geology, environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Additional exploration will be required to potentially upgrade the classification of the inferred mineral resources to be considered in future advanced studies. AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. ("AMC Consultants") (mineral resource, mining, infrastructure and financial analysis) was contracted to conduct the PEA in cooperation with Halyard Inc. (metallurgy and processing), and NewFields Canada Mining & Environment ULC (tailings, water and waste management). The qualified persons (as defined in NI 43-101) for the PEA for the purposes of NI 43-101 are Mr. John Morton Shannon, P.Geo, General Manage and Principal Geologist at AMC Consultants, Mr. Wayne Rogers, P.Eng, and Mr. Mo Molavi, P.Eng, both Principal Mining Engineers with AMC Consultants, Mr. Andrew Holloway, P.Eng, Process Director with Halyard Inc., and Mr. Leon Botham, P.Eng., Principal Engineer with NewFields Canada Mining & Environment ULC, in addition to Ms. Dinara Nussipakynova, P.Geo., Principal Geologist with AMC Consultants, who estimated the mineral resources. All qualified persons for the PEA have reviewed the disclosure of the PEA herein. The PEA is based on the Mineral Resource Estimate (the "MRE"), which was reported on November 28, 2022. The effective date of the MRE is October 31, 2022. The cut-off applied for reporting the pit-constrained mineral resources is 30 g/t silver. Assumptions made to derive a cut-off grade included mining costs, processing costs and recoveries and were obtained from comparable industry situations. The model is depleted for historical mining activities. Mineral resources are constrained by optimized pit shells at a silver price of US$22.50 per ounce, silver metallurgical recovery of 91%, silver payability of 99%, open pit mining cost of US$2.6/t, processing cost of US$16/t, G&A cost of US$2/t, and slope angle of 44-47 degrees. Key assumptions used for pit optimization for the PEA mining pit include silver price of US$22.50 per ounce, silver metallurgical recovery of 91%, silver payability of 99%, open pit mining cost of US$2.6/t, incremental mining cost of US$0.04/t (per 10 m bench), processing cost of US$16/t, tailing storage facility operating cost of US$0.7/t, G&A cost of US$2/t, royalty of 6.00%, mining recovery of 92%, dilution of 8%, and cut-off grade of 30 g/t silver.
Certain of the statements and information in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategies", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "budgets", "schedules", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: anticipated exploration, drilling, development, construction, and other activities or achievements of the Company, including, but not limited to, the PFS, the MPC, the PEA, the Company's socialization efforts, establishment of a development fund, negotiations with ASMs, and the Company's efforts to comply with the International Finance Corporation's performance standards; inferred, indicated or measured mineral resources or mineral reserves on the Company's projects; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals, including, but not limited to, the EEIA; and estimates of demand for silver.
Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks that: exploration, drilling, development, construction, and other activities or achievements of the Company, including, but not limited to, the PFS, the MPC, the PEA, the Company's socialization efforts, establishment of a development fund, negotiations with ASMs, and the Company's efforts to comply with the International Finance Corporation's performance standards, will not proceed in the manner anticipated, or at all; inferred, indicated or measured mineral resources or mineral reserves on the Company's projects are not accurate; the timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals, including, but not limited to, the EEIA, is not as anticipated; estimates of demand for silver are not as anticipated; and other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form for the year ended June 30, 2023 and its other public filings. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information.
The forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates, assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this news release that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates, assumptions, beliefs, expectations and options include, but are not limited to, those related to the Company's ability to carry on current and future operations, including: the duration and effects of COVID-19 on our operations and workforce; development and exploration activities; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; the Company's ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the stabilization of the political climate in Bolivia; the Company's ability to obtain and maintain social license at its mineral properties; the availability and cost of inputs; the price and market for outputs; foreign exchange rates; taxation levels; the timely receipt of necessary approvals or permits, including the ratification and approval of the Mining Production Contract with COMIBOL by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia; the ability of the Company's Bolivian partner to convert the exploration licenses at the Carangas Project to administrative mining contracts; the ability to meet current and future obligations; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions; and other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry.
Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Other than specifically required by applicable laws, the Company is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any such obligation to update or alter the forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release.
This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. All mining terms used herein but not otherwise defined have the meanings set forth in NI 43-101. Unless otherwise indicated, the technical and scientific disclosure herein has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, which differs significantly from the requirements adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Accordingly, information contained in this news release containing descriptions of the Company's mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Additional information relating to the Company, including the Company's annual information form, can be obtained under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, on EDGAR at www.sec.gov, and on the Company's website at www.newpacificmetals.com.
SOURCE New Pacific Metals Corp.
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https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/new-pacific-metals-announces-2024-plans-for-operations-in-bolivia-884587392.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:31Z
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Mississippi eyes quicker Medicaid coverage in pregnancy to try to reduce deaths of moms and babies
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi could allow Medicaid coverage earlier in pregnancy in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a poor state with the nation’s worst rate of infant mortality.
With wide bipartisan support, the state House passed a bill Wednesday to allow up to 60 days of “presumptive eligibility” for Medicaid, starting July 1. This means a pregnant woman’s outpatient medical care would be paid by Medicaid as her application for coverage by the government insurance program is being considered.
Processing Medicaid applications can take weeks, and physicians say early prenatal care is important.
House Medicaid Committee Chairwoman Missy McGee of Hattiesburg pointed out that Mississippi has high rates of fetal mortality, infant mortality and maternal mortality.
“I think this will go a long way in helping moms and babies be healthy … and give babies the best shot for a healthy life,” McGee said.
Mississippi ranks worst in the U.S. for infant mortality, with Black infants nearly twice as likely as white ones to die over the past decade, according to a report unveiled Jan. 18 by the state Department of Health.
Presumptive Medicaid eligibility during pregnancy would be based on questions about income, asked by health care providers such as employees of county health departments. If a woman’s Medicaid application is ultimately rejected because her income is too high, Medicaid would still pay health care providers for services they provided during the time of presumptive eligibility.
McGee said presumptive eligibility could cost the Medicaid program just under $600,000 a year.
Medicaid is funded by federal and state governments, with the federal government paying at least 50% of costs in all states and a higher share in poorer states. The federal government pays for nearly 77% of Medicaid expenses in Mississippi.
In Mississippi, Medicaid coverage for pregnant women 19 and older is based on income. A woman who is in that age category and has no dependents can earn up to about $29,000 and qualify for Medicaid during pregnancy. A pregnant woman in that age category who has three dependents can earn up to $59,700 and qualify.
Mississippi Medicaid coverage is available to all income levels for those who are pregnant and younger than 19.
Democratic Rep. John Hines Sr. of Greenville said earlier eligibility for Medicaid coverage during pregnancy could help the state in recruiting OB-GYNs.
“Where we are right now is that we are last in everything,” Hines said. “This is a step toward making Mississippi a better place.”
The bill passed the House 117-5. It moves to the Senate for more work in coming weeks. Republicans control both chambers.
About 41% of births in the U.S. and 57% in Mississippi were financed by Medicaid in 2022, according to the health policy research group KFF. Only Louisiana had a larger share of births covered by Medicaid that year, at 61%.
In 2023, Mississippi extended postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a full year, with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves saying the change was part of a “new pro-life agenda” to help mothers in a state where abortion is tightly restricted.
____
Associated Press/Report For America reporter Michael Goldberg 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://kstp.com/associated-press/ap-us-international/mississippi-eyes-quicker-medicaid-coverage-in-pregnancy-to-try-to-reduce-deaths-of-moms-and-babies/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:32Z
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Get into a UFC cage – Postecoglou tells Spurs to focus on football not fighting
Spurs and Brentford played out a fiery London derby with five goals and plenty of stoppages.
Ange Postecoglou was pleased Tottenham regained their composure to storm back to earn a crucial 3-2 home win over Brentford but told both sets of players to enter the UFC ring if they want to focus on grappling over goals.
Spurs were sluggish in the first half and trailed to Neal Maupay’s 15th-minute opener, which saw him mock James Maddison’s darts celebration and appeared to be the catalyst for a fiery contest between the London rivals.
Whatever Postecoglou said at half-time did the trick though with Tottenham scoring twice in 72 seconds through Destiny Udogie and substitute Brennan Johnson before Richarlison made it three goals in eight second-half minutes when he steered home with 56 minutes on the clock.
Ivan Toney set up a grandstand finish when he pounced on Udogie’s error to score in front of England boss Gareth Southgate, but Spurs held on to leapfrog Aston Villa and reclaim fourth spot following a chaotic encounter.
Asked if Maupay’s darts celebration had fired up his team, Postecoglou replied: “I hope not because that’s exactly what I’m talking about.
“I’m not a fan of it. I don’t like the whole bravado, pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things, my players and their players, get into a UFC cage and I’ll see how brave they are.
“We’re out there to play football and that’s what I want our guys to do, focus on playing football and they shouldn’t get motivated by things that aren’t really that important to us.
“Like I said, we got sucked in first half. Second half was better.
“I think we started the game well, started with good intensity and good tempo, obviously they score and then we lost our way.
“We lost focus. I was a bit frustrated with our inability to stay disciplined, just too many stops and starts, it kind of plays into their hands, lots of set pieces and throw ins.
“We spent more time talking to the referee than playing the game. I was a bit frustrated we lost our real clear focus.
“Second half, I think for 25-30 minutes we were outstanding, scored three great goals and probably should have had a couple more.”
Spurs started on the front foot but were rocked when Udogie gave away possession to Christian Norgaard, who sent Toney away and while Guglielmo Vicario denied him, Maupay was on hand to bundle home and score for a fourth consecutive match.
Tottenham got sucked into Brentford’s game-plan after with the rest of the first 45 stop-start and containing plenty of melees, but a double substitution at the break inspired the hosts’ comeback with Johnson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg introduced.
Udogie slotted home after a slick one-two with Werner, who then set up Johnson at the back post in the 49th-minute.
When Richarlison fired in for his seventh league goal in as many matches, after Maddison’s shot had been blocked, Spurs were on track for three points but another poor Udogie pass allowed Toney to tee up a dramatic finale in N17.
Maddison was forced off late on with cramp, but Postecoglou’s side survived seven minutes of stoppage-time to return to the top four.
Opposite number Thomas Frank stoked the fire further after full time when he questioned why Tottenham had allowed Maupay’s darts celebration to irritate them.
“If that’s what’s irritating them, then they have a problem,” Frank said.
“Is that fair enough? If they are talking about darts celebrations winding them up, then I think they have an issue, personally.”
On Postecoglou’s UFC suggestion, Frank added: “Yeah, I agree. Just in general concentrate on playing football.”
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https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/ufc-richarlison-spurs-ivan-toney-brentford-b2488428.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:32Z
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A beheading video was on YouTube for hours, raising questions about why it wasn’t taken down sooner
NEW YORK (AP) — A graphic video from a Pennsylvania man accused of beheading his father that circulated for hours on YouTube has put a spotlight yet again on gaps in social media companies’ ability to prevent horrific postings from spreading across the web.
Police said Wednesday that they charged Justin Mohn, 32, with first-degree murder and abusing a corpse after he beheaded his father, Michael, in their Bucks County home and publicized it in a 14-minute YouTube video that anyone, anywhere could see.
News of the incident — which drew comparisons to the beheading videos posted online by the Islamic State militants at the height of their prominence nearly a decade ago — came as the CEOs of Meta, TikTok and other social media companies were testifying in front of federal lawmakers frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress on child safety online. YouTube, which is owned by Google, did not attend the hearing despite its status as one of the most popular platforms among teens.
The disturbing video from Pennsylvania follows other horrific clips that have been broadcast on social media in recent years, including domestic mass shootings livestreamed from Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and Buffalo, New York — as well as carnages filmed abroad in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the German city of Halle.
Middletown Township Police Capt. Pete Feeney said the video in Pennsylvania was posted at about 10 p.m. Tuesday and online for about five hours, a time lag that raises questions about whether social media platforms are delivering on moderation practices that might be needed more than ever amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and an extremely contentious presidential election in the U.S.
“It’s another example of the blatant failure of these companies to protect us,” said Alix Fraser, director of the Council for Responsible Social Media at the nonprofit advocacy organization Issue One. “We can’t trust them to grade their own homework.”
A spokesperson for YouTube said the company removed the video, deleted Mohn’s channel and was tracking and removing any re-uploads that might pop up. The video-sharing site says it uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human moderators to monitor its platform, but did not respond to questions about how the video was caught or why it wasn’t done sooner.
Major social media companies moderate content with the help of powerful automated systems, which can often catch prohibited content before a human can. But that technology can sometimes fall short when a video is violent and graphic in a way that is new or unusual, as it was in this case, said Brian Fishman, co-founder of the trust and safety technology startup Cinder.
That’s when human moderators are “really, really critical,” he said. “AI is improving, but it’s not there yet.”
Roughly 40 minutes after midnight Eastern time on Wednesday, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, a group set up by tech companies to prevent these types of videos from spreading online, said it alerted its members about the video. GIFCT allows the platform with the original footage to submit a “hash” — a digital fingerprint corresponding to a video — and notifies nearly two dozen other member companies so they can restrict it from their platforms.
But by Wednesday morning, the video had already spread to X, where a graphic clip of Mohn holding his father’s head remained on the platform for at least seven hours and received 20,000 views. The company, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.
Experts in radicalization say that social media and the internet have lowered the barrier to entry for people to explore extremist groups and ideologies, allowing any person who may be predisposed to violence to find a community that reinforces those ideas.
In the video posted after the killing, Mohn described his father as a 20-year federal employee, espoused a variety of conspiracy theories and ranted against the government.
Most social platforms have policies to remove violent and extremist content. But they can’t catch everything, and the emergence of many newer, less closely moderated sites has allowed more hateful ideas to fester unchecked, said Michael Jensen, senior researcher at the University of Maryland-based Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.
Despite the obstacles, social media companies need to be more vigilant about regulating violent content, said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“The reality is that social media has become a front line in extremism and terrorism,” Ware said. “That’s going to require more serious and committed efforts to push back.”
Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the media advocacy group Free Press, said among the tech reforms she would like to see are more transparency about what kinds of employees are being impacted by layoffs, and more investment in trust and safety workers.
Google, which owns YouTube, this month laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams. Last year, the company said it cut 12,000 workers “across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions,” without offering additional detail.
___
AP journalists Beatrice Dupuy and Mike Balsamo in New York, and Mike Catalini in Levittown, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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.kob.com/news/business-money/a-beheading-video-was-on-youtube-for-hours-raising-questions-about-why-it-wasnt-taken-down-sooner/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:33Z
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Conor Gallagher and Chelsea were adamant they deserved a penalty in the early stages of their match at Liverpool but the referee got it right.
Paul Tierney was in a good position to judge the incident and he judged it correctly. Sadly, players are looking to go to ground rather than use their strength and stay on their feet. So many players wait for minimal contact in order to go to ground and win a penalty.
If Gallagher managed to stay on his feet, he would have been in a position to put Chelsea ahead. I read lots of comments online that said “LiVARpool” had benefitted from a wrong decision but this could not be further from the truth. It was competent refereeing.
You have to have clarity of judgement and the way you sell the decision on such a big call early in the game is your positioning. Tierney was positioned excellently, which showed his authority in making the call. It was the right decision, certainly not a clear an obvious error, and so no penalty was given.
Joe Cole, on commentary, said: “Front of the Kop, first 10 minutes, I think the referee has not been brave there.”
I do not agree here and such comments promote controversy. It is a myth that decision-making in front of the Kop, or any ground in the Premier League, is compromised by loud crowds or intimidating atmospheres. Tierney is a very experienced referee and he will give what he sees. No referee worth their salt is going to be swayed what happens in the stadium.
His yellow card for an act of simulation by Ben Chilwell looking for another penalty kick was again the correct call. It was a clear attempt at deceit that warranted a yellow card. It was a pity that VAR took too long to verify that.
One of the only drawbacks in the first half was the VAR check for the second goal. It took an age to award Conor Bradley his goal, and while he celebrated, at the back of his mind would be a check for a possible infringement. The VAR needed to be a lot quicker in this instance.
Tierney, who had a strong game throughout, was then in an excellent position to award Liverpool a penalty when Diogo Jota was fouled in the area by Benoit Badiashile. His fitness levels were exemplary in keeping up with the play, which enabled him to correctly judge his calls from the best possible position.
Christopher Nkunku went down in the second half, again under a challenge from Virgil van Dijk, and once again the penalty shouts were waved away. This time, though, it appears Tierney made a clear and obvious error – Nkunku was fouled by the Liverpool defender. VAR should have intervened and advised Tierney to have another look.
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/01/31/fans-may-cry-livarpool-but-chelsea-did-not-deserve-penalty/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:33Z
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A look from Maui six months after devastating wildfires By Debbie Elliott Published January 31, 2024 at 4:39 PM CST 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.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/a-look-from-maui-six-months-after-devastating-wildfires
| 2024-01-31T23:50:33Z
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https://music.yandex.ru/showcaptcha?cc=1&mt=1A142D42A7D726E45945FAAF31DE809968F7F3CA4B302C0CC3359C3CF0D5415BEB269BC9517F04AFD17C4440648D0D51C14E140D9533CF9FBC595F523279E68C7A8FF4AA1130FA5237B7B03560F5FF1D1B75C9A1F0A73F413A219211781DAE46E4E51BBBD05EE8DE537F1356EFD2E6147F4BF75B9663FF59740A4D3747FA0A6463D91371BA215032672A0711CA49AC19C554C0FB2AAA87E06A990F707B7E9C1402D4A14FB4212894904D45668D6261F5D858D18621ED8CB68E5513ABCE7BEF0D91F999F895C9B23DAE6BAA36FD92669437CB4E86FC8D5E9C49A1A831D4FE&retpath=aHR0cHM6Ly9tdXNpYy55YW5kZXgucnUvc2l0ZW1hcC1hcnRpc3RzLXAyMS50eHQ__acec7024093bf6e6de6acb80ab1bfc94&t=2/1706744770/c5fc954fd0ae1f0325d7fa1ad5d91360&u=5063fcf4-d07304f-7d6caac4-be008887&s=2a0737ced51fe81994f1e2145e15da22
| 2024-01-31T23:50:33Z
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A Houthi missile got so close to a US destroyer the warship had to turn to a last resort gun system to shoot it down: report
A Houthi missile put a US destroyer's Close-In Weapon System to the test in a recent engagement.
A warship's CIWS is usually considered its last line of defense and is for close-range intercepts.
The Tuesday incident marks the latest Houthi missile attack, though not the latest exchange of fire.
A Houthi anti-ship cruise missile fired into the Red Sea came within a mile of a US Navy destroyer on Tuesday, close enough that the American warship had to turn to its Close-In Weapon System — a last line of defense.
Most missiles are shot down further out. This is the closest that a Houthi attack has come to an American warship, four US officials told CNN, which reported additional details of the incident on Wednesday.
US Central Command, or CENTCOM, initially said on Tuesday that around 11:30 p.m. local time, the Houthis fired a single anti-ship cruise missile from Yemen toward the Red Sea and it was shot down by the USS Gravely.
There was no reported damage or injuries. CENTCOM declined Business Insider's request for additional information on Tuesday's missile downing.
For several months, the Iran-backed rebels have relentlessly fired one-way attack drones and missiles into key waterways off the coast of Yemen. Many of these threats have been shot down by US warships — and sometimes by British or French forces — though some of the munitions have struck commercial vessels transiting the region. No warships have been struck.
A warship's CIWS consists of two close-range, automatic machine guns that can fire up to 4,500 rounds per minute but have a range that only goes out to two nautical miles.
Before a ship's CIWS is engaged, the warship's SM-2 or SM-3 interceptors come into play. These are fired from a vertical launch system cells before they then intercept and destroys airborne threats. An SM-3 "hits threats with the force of a 10-ton truck traveling 600 mph," according to Raytheon, the weapon's manufacturer.
Warships can also use a chaff mechanism, which confused a missile's radar.
The incident involving USS Gravely came just hours before US forces stuck and destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile that was prepared to launch in Yemen and "presented an imminent threat" to American aircraft in the region, the military said on Wednesday.
The US has carried out several rounds of preemptive strikes this month targeting Houthi missiles — mostly the anti-ship capabilities — as the rebels were preparing to launch, posing a threat to commercial vessels and American warships off the coast of Yemen.
In addition to these preemptive actions, the US and UK have also conducted widespread strikes across Yemen, targeting Houthi sites like missile launchers, weapons storage facilities, radars, and air-defense systems.
Western officials have stressed that these strikes are a direct response to the Houthis' ongoing attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden — a key global trade route, and they will continue unless the rebels cease the provocations.
"We're certainly taking aggressive action against the Houthis to try to defend shipping in the Red Sea," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said this week. He stressed though that the US is "not at war" with the Iran-backed rebels.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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https://news.yahoo.com/houthi-missile-got-close-us-221324950.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:35Z
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OMNI SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCY SELLOUT LAUNCHES IN TORONTO TO CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO OF CREATIVE COMMERCE IN-STORE AND OUT
TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2024 /CNW/ - Creatives and artists who embrace the commercial side of creativity are often referred to as "sellouts." Today marks the launch of Sellout Agency, Inc., a new boutique omnichannel shopper agency co-founded by Amy Creyer, Sheldon Power, and Natalie Zaturski to service clients in Canada and the United States. Prior to launching Sellout, the trio worked at Mosaic as a leadership unit for the agency's Integrated Commerce practice, successfully winning business from numerous F500 CPG clients. Prior to Mosaic's merger with Acosta, Sheldon Power worked at Hunter-Straker, Commix, and Match. Natalie Zaturski was previously at Dacs and Sun Media, and Amy Creyer was at Momentum Toronto, Momentum Chicago, Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide, and FCB Chicago.
Together, the founders of Sellout offer their trade, shopper, and brand clients across North America a go-to-market team with a proven track record of success. Their combined 45 years of experience working on shopper, retail, and omnichannel programs for CPG brands includes deep experience with the nuances of Canadian and American retailers.
As a full-service agency with partners on both sides of the border, Sellout offers creative, strategy, design and production, and retail media planning & purchasing starting today.
Website: https://www.imasellout.com
SOURCE Sellout Agency, Inc
For further information: Natalie Zaturski, [email protected]
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https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/omni-shopper-marketing-agency-sellout-launches-in-toronto-to-challenge-the-status-quo-of-creative-commerce-in-store-and-out-821750569.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:37Z
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Parents arrested in case of social media model charged with killing boyfriend
MIAMI (AP) — The parents of a social media model charged with fatally stabbing her live-in boyfriend in South Florida have been arrested in Texas on charges related to the case, jail records show.
Deborah Lyn Clenney, 57, and Kim Dewayne Clenney, 60, were taken into custody Tuesday in Austin, Texas, on an out-of-state warrant, according to the records. A Miami-Dade circuit judge had signed arrest warrants for the couple last week, charging them each with a felony count of unauthorized access to a computer.
Their daughter, 27-year-old Courtney Clenney, faces the same new charge. Jail records show she’s been held without bond on a second-degree murder charge since August 2022.
Clenney, who had used the name Courtney Tailor on such platforms as Instagram and OnlyFans, fatally stabbed Christian Obumseli at the couple’s Miami apartment in April 2022 as the culmination of a “tempestuous and combative relationship” that began in November 2020, prosecutors said previously.
Clenney has acknowledged killing Obumseli but said she was acting in self-defense. Her attorney, Frank Prieto, previously said that Obumseli was regularly abusive.
Clenney previously told investigators that Obumseli had pushed her and thrown her to the floor, which prompted her to grab a knife and throw it at Obumseli from about 10 feet (3 meters) away. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Obumseli said his wound could not have been caused by a knife thrown from that distance.
Clenney was arrested in Hawaii several days after the stabbing, but investigators believe she gave Obumseli’s computer to her parents some time between the killing and her arrest. According to the arrest warrants, detectives recovered text messages where the parents discuss trying to gain access to the computer.
Jail records didn’t list attorneys for Clenney’s parents, and her attorney didn’t respond to new messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.
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://kstp.com/associated-press/ap-us-international/parents-arrested-in-case-of-social-media-model-charged-with-killing-boyfriend/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:38Z
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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.kob.com/news/business-money/a-court-rejected-elon-musks-55-8b-pay-package-what-is-he-worth-to-tesla/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:39Z
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As border crossings slow, Denver prepares to discharge migrant families from shelters
On Monday, Feb. 4, the City of Denver will begin to move families with children from shelters after a pause that was enacted in November.
Denver announced the change two weeks ago as it also said it would extend the previous time limit families can remain in shelters from 37 to 42 days.
Meantime, city officials have been watching border crossings slow in El Paso, Texas, 9 hours south by bus, and the city where most of Denver's newcomers have come from.
"Arrivals have slowed over the last couple of weeks as fewer people are processed in border towns like El Paso," said Jon Ewing, spokesperson for Denver Human Services. "We do not expect this slowdown to last but are taking advantage of the timing as we focus on moving our 4,000 guests out of the shelter and onto better solutions. We will begin discharging families again on Monday and continue to do so in a rolling fashion through late March."
RELATED: Welcoming and overwhelmed, a Denver school is stretched to meet migrant students' needs
Meantime, Denver Public Schools reported last week that its schools saw student enrollment jump by more than 600 newcomer students in the first month of this year, with the week of Jan 8-12 seeing the highest number of new arrivals enrolling since August.
"We are starting to see enrollment shifts between schools as families are relocated to different shelters, and new hot spots are emerging at and around Eagleton Elementary. In the past week, several hundred students have registered for school in the Far Northeast," said a report by the superintendent to the school board.
Meantime DPS is trying to address the unfunded needs of students who arrived after the October count which determines school budgets for the academic year. DPS has enrolled nearly 2900 new-to-country students since August.
While DPS is asking the state for additional funds, Jeremy Meyer, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Education said, "CDE does not have the authority to adjust School Finance funding outside of the Student October Count process. Any funding adjustments through School Finance would need to be made by the General Assembly. CDE is evaluating if there are any funding streams available internally that could be used to support districts experiencing an influx of newcomer students. Also, we are working closely with districts that have had an influx of newcomers. We have developed a newcomer cohort in which districts can exchange ideas and follow best practices."
Meantime the city is focused on getting migrant families on their feet.
"Over the next several weeks we will also roll out more legal and work permit clinics, as well as continue our efforts of connecting guests with housing resources," added Ewing.
for more features.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/border-crossings-slow-denver-prepares-discharge-migrant-families-shelters/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:39Z
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Nine people, including two children and three police officers, have been taken to hospital after a suspected acid attack in London.
A woman and her two young children were the suspected victims of the attack, as a man is believed to have thrown a corrosive substance over them on a road near Clapham Common.
Police were called to Lessar Avenue at around 7.25pm on Wednesday.
He said three adults had been taken to hospital with injuries thought to have been suffered as they came to the aid of the women and her children.
In total nine people have been treated, five of whom were taken to a major trauma centre. Three patients were taken to a local hospital and the another was discharged at the scene.
Three police officers were among the wounded, though their injuries are understood to be minor.
Detective Superintendent Alexander Castle said: “Officers are on scene following this horrific incident.”
He added: “While tests are ongoing to determine what the substance is, at this stage we believe it to be a corrosive substance.
“A man was seen fleeing the scene. We are drawing on resources from across the Met to apprehend this individual and work is ongoing to determine what has led to this awful incident.”
No arrest has been made and police said they will give an update on the conditions of the injured people as soon as they can.
It is understood police are using a helicopter to search for the suspect.
Marina Ahmad, Labour’s London Assembly member for Lambeth & Southwark, posted on Twitter: “There has been a traffic collision with a man assaulting occupants in a car and throwing acid. Victims include children.”
A spokesperson for London Ambulance Service said it deployed to the scene two incident response officers, three ambulance crews, and members of its hazardous area response team.
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/31/acid-attack-clapham-latest-news-mother-children-injured/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:39Z
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Boeing released its 2023 earnings Wednesday, but the company's CEO spent most of a call with investors talking about safety and quality.
Boeing is facing big questions about quality control after a door plug panel blew off one of its 737 Max 9 jets in midair earlier this month.
"We are not issuing financial outlook for 2024 today. Now is not the time for that," chief executive Dave Calhoun said during an earnings call.
Instead, Calhoun focused much of the call seeking to reassure analysts — and the flying public — that the plane maker is taking the incident seriously.
"We will simply focus on every next airplane, and ensuring we meet all the standards that we have, all the standards that our regulator has and that our customers demand," he said.
Calhoun did not offer any information about the cause of the incident on January 5th, which is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. No one was seriously injured, but the incident touched off another crisis for Boeing. The troubled plane maker was still working to rebuild public trust after 346 people died in two 737 Max 8 jets that crashed in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing said Wednesday it lost $30 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. That's a better performance than the final quarter of 2022, when the company lost more than $600 million. Overall, Boeing lost $2.2 billion last year — its best result in 5 years.
But any improvement in the company's financials has been overshadowed by the latest safety incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to fly again after an inspection and maintenance. Calhoun said airlines have now returned 129 Max 9 planes to service, out of a total of 171 that were grounded by the FAA.
Earlier this week, Boeing formally withdrew its request for an exemption from federal safety rules in order to speed up certification of its new Boeing Max 7 jet to start flying. The company had been hoping to begin delivering those smaller planes to airlines this year, despite a design flaw with the Max's engine de-icing system that could be potentially catastrophic.
Boeing wanted to use the same workaround that's already in use on its Max 8 and Max 9 jets. Now the company says it will focus on a permanent engineering fix instead.
Calhoun told analysts on Wednesday that process is expected to take about nine months, likely pushing certification of the Max 7 back into 2025.
The FAA has also taken the unusual step of ordering production caps at Boeing's factories. Calhoun said the company will continue producing 737s at the rate of 38 per month until the FAA agrees to lift that limit. And Calhoun told analysts that slowing down production at the behest of regulators would help the company fix problems in its factory and supply chain.
"I'm sort of glad they called out a pause. That's an excuse to take our time, and do it right," Calhoun said. "This is what we do, and how we get better."
But some longtime observers are skeptical that Boeing management is ready to confront the true scale of the problem.
"I'm sure they're hoping for a quick fix," said Peter Lemme, a former Boeing engineer who's now an aviation consultant. "But this is like a cancer in the system. And how far has it infiltrated, and what are you gonna do to eradicate it? I think it's going to take years for Boeing to really get back to where they should be on quality and manufacturing."
The NTSB is expected to release preliminary findings from its investigations of the Alaska Airlines incident in the coming days.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/boeing-declines-to-give-a-financial-outlook-as-it-focuses-on-quality-and-safety
| 2024-01-31T23:50:39Z
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Patriot continues to intersect spodumene at the CV13 Pegmatite, with highlights:
26.1 m at 1.21% Li2O (CV23-286).
18.3 m at 1.33% Li2O (CV23-249).
17.8 m at 1.11% Li2O (CV23-269).
19.1 m at 1.00% Li2O (CV23-250).
16.4 m at 1.51% Li2O (CV23-294).
15.2 m at 1.29% Li2O (CV23-263).
21.3 m at 0.85% Li2O, including12.2 m at 1.33% Li2O (CV23-238).
Previously identified higher-grade zone has been extended to at least 200+ m strike length.
15.7 m at 1.52% Li2O, including 10.6 m at 1.99% Li2Oor2.5 m at 5.28% Li2O (CV23-271).
The CV13 Pegmatite has been traced to a 2.3 km strike length, as defined by multiple outcrop exposures and drilling completed to date, and remains open along strike at both ends and to depth.
Additional step-out drilling is planned at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite as part of the 2024 winter program currently underway at the Property, along strike and downdip of the principal pegmatite body.
Assays are reported herein for 22 drill holes completed in 2023 at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite.
For drill holes completed in 2023, results remain to be reported for an additional 35 holes at the CV13 Pegmatite, 54 holes at the CV5 Pegmatite, and 18 holes at the CV9 Pegmatite.
Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Patriot") (TSX: PMET) (ASX: PMT) (OTCQX: PMETF) (FSE: R9GA) is pleased to announce additional drill results from the 2023 program completed at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite at the Corvette Property. The Corvette Property (the "Property" or "Project"), wholly owned by the Company, is located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec. The CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite is located approximately 3 km west-southwest of the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite, which hosts a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O inferred1 and is situated approximately 13.5 km south of the regional and all‑weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure.
Drill results for 22 drill holes completed in 2023 at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite are reported herein (Figure 1). These holes primarily target the near-surface and downdip extension of the principal pegmatite body in the apex of the regional host structure, as well as the immediate western limb. Results include:
26.1 m at 1.21% Li2O (CV23-286),
18.3 m at 1.33% Li2O (CV23-249),
19.1 m at 1.00% Li2O (CV23-250), and
16.4 m at 1.51% Li2O (CV23-294).
The drilling continues to trace spodumene pegmatite at CV13 to the west-northwest along geological trend and remains open along strike and downdip in this area. The most westerly drill result reported to date in this area include 19.1 m at 1.00% Li2O (CV23-250), as announced herein. The mineralized pegmatite in this area has a shallow northeasterly dip resulting in pegmatite being traced down dip for over 250 m with minimal drilling, while still only being approximately 100 m vertical depth below surface (see geological cross-sections in Figure 2 and Figure 3).
Additionally, the drill results reported herein have extended the previously identified higher-grade zone at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite (see news release dated October 18, 2023). Drill hole CV23-271 returned 10.6 m at 1.99% Li2O or 2.5 m at 5.28% Li2O within a wider interval of 15.7 m at 1.52% Li2O. This higher-grade zone now extends northeasterly along the eastern limb of the principal pegmatite for at least 200+ m, is present at shallow depth (typically within 40-50 m vertical depth) and remains open in several directions. Results of previously reported drill holes from this zone include 12.7 m at 2.46% Li2O (CV23-191), 8.0 m at 2.86% Li2O (CV23‑195), 10.2 m at 2.70% Li2O (CV23-198), 10.7 m at 2.79% Li2O (CV23‑200), 14.0 m at 2.14% Li2O (CV22‑092), and 7.0 m at 1.98% Li2O (CV22-095).
The CV13 Pegmatite is currently interpreted to be characterized by a principal "upper" dyke and a secondary "lower" dyke, as well as several subordinate sub-parallel dykes, and are collectively geologically modelled to be shallowly dipping northerly. The principal dyke (the "upper" dyke), which hosts the higher-grade zone, dips typically between 20-25° and has been traced at depth to at least 300 m down-dip (vertical depth from surface of ~140 m) and remains open.
Additional step-out drilling is planned at the CV13 Spodumene Pegmatite as part of the 2024 winter program currently underway at the Property. This is anticipated to include step-out drilling along strike and downdip of the principal pegmatite body (Figure 4), as well as delineation drilling at the higher-grade zone.
Core sample assays for drill holes reported herein are presented in Table 1 for all pegmatite intersections >2 m. Drill hole locations and attributes are presented in Table 2. For drill holes completed in 2023, results remain to be reported for the CV13 Pegmatite (35 holes), the CV5 Pegmatite (54 holes), and the CV9 Pegmatite (18 holes). The Company has completed processing of the drill core backlog from the 2023 program with the final samples to arrive on the lab shortly.
1 The CV5 mineral resource estimate (109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O and 160 ppm Ta2O5 inferred) is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.40% Li2O with effective date of June 25, 2023(through drill hole CV23-190). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. Largest in the Americas based on contained LCE.
Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QAQC)
A Quality Assurance / Quality Control protocol following industry best practices was incorporated into the program and included systematic insertion of quartz blanks and certified reference materials into sample batches at a rate of approximately 5%. Additionally, analysis of pulp-split and coarse-split sample duplicates were completed to assess analytical precision at different stages of the laboratory preparation process, and external (secondary) laboratory pulp-split duplicates were prepared at the primary lab for subsequent check analysis and validation.
All core samples collected were shipped to SGS Canada's laboratory in Val-d'Or, QC, for sample preparation (code PRP89 special) which includes drying at 105°C, crush to 90% passing 2 mm, riffle split 250 g, and pulverize 85% passing 75 microns. The pulps were shipped by air to SGS Canada's laboratory in Burnaby, BC, where the samples were homogenized and subsequently analyzed for multi-element (including Li and Ta) using sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-AES/MS finish (codes GE_ICP91A50 and GE_IMS91A50).
About the CV Lithium Trend
The CV Lithium Trend is an emerging spodumene pegmatite district discovered by the Company in 2017 and is interpreted to span more than 50 kilometres across the Corvette Property. The core area includes the approximate 4.35 km long CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite, which hosts a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O inferred1.
To date, seven (7) distinct clusters of lithium pegmatite have been discovered across the Corvette Property – CV4, CV5, CV8, CV9, CV10, CV12, and CV13. Given the proximity of some pegmatite outcrops to each other, as well as the shallow till cover in the area, it is probable that some of the outcrops may reflect a discontinuous surface exposure of a single, larger pegmatite "outcrop" subsurface.
Qualified/Competent Person
The information in this news release that relates to exploration results for the Corvette Property is based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr. Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and member in good standing with the Ordre des Géologues du Québec (Geologist Permit number 01968), and with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (member number 87868). Mr. Smith has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.
Mr. Smith is Vice President of Exploration for Patriot Battery Metals Inc. and holds common shares and options in the Company.
Mr. Smith has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization, type of deposit under consideration, and to the activities being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as described by the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code). Mr. Smith consents to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
About Patriot Battery Metals Inc.
Patriot Battery Metals Inc. is a hard-rock lithium exploration company focused on advancing its district-scale 100% owned Corvette Property located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, and proximal to regional road and powerline infrastructure. The Corvette Property hosts the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite with a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O inferred1 and ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas based on contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), and one of the top 10 largest lithium pegmatite resources in the world. Additionally, the Corvette Property hosts multiple other spodumene pegmatite clusters that remain to be drill tested, as well as more than 20 km of prospective trend that remains to be assessed.
1 The CV5 mineral resource estimate (109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O and 160 ppm Ta2O5 inferred) is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.40% Li2O with effective date of June 25, 2023(through drill hole CV23-190). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability.
For further information, please contact us at [email protected] or by calling +1 (604) 279-8709, or visit www.patriotbatterymetals.com. Please also refer to the Company's continuous disclosure filings, available under its profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.asx.com.au, for available exploration data.
This news release has been approved by the Board of Directors.
"KEN BRINSDEN"
Kenneth Brinsden, President, CEO, & Managing Director
Disclaimer for Forward-looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are included to provide information about management's current expectations and plans that allows investors and others to have a better understanding of the Company's business plans and financial performance and condition.
All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this news release, regarding the Company's strategy, future operations, financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "plan", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. In particular and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to the 2024 winter program currently underway at the Corvette Property and, predictions of a single, larger pegmatite "outcrop" subsurface .
Forward-looking information is based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such information or statements. There can be no assurance that such information or statements will prove to be accurate. Key assumptions upon which the Company's forward-looking information is based include the total funding required to complete the development of the Company's lithium mineral project at the Corvette Property.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. Forward-looking statements are also subject to risks and uncertainties facing the Company's business, any of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Some of the risks the Company faces and the uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the ability to execute on plans relating to the Company's Corvette Project, including the timing thereof. In addition, readers are directed to carefully review the detailed risk discussion in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR+, which discussion is incorporated by reference in this news release, for a fuller understanding of the risks and uncertainties that affect the Company's business and operations.
Although the Company believes its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions and has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. As such, these risks are not exhaustive; however, they should be considered carefully. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements found herein. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions inherent in forward-looking statements, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are presented for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's business plans, financial performance and condition and may not be appropriate for other purposes.
The forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. The Company qualifies all of its forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
Competent Person Statement (ASX Listing Rule 5.22)
The mineral resource estimate in this release was reported by the Company in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.8 on July 31, 2023. The Company confirms it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the previous announcements and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the previous announcements continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the competent person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.
Appendix 1 – JORC Code 2012 Table 1 information required by ASX Listing Rule 5.7.1
Section 1 – Sampling Techniques and Data
Section 2 – Reporting of Exploration Results
SOURCE Patriot Battery Metals Inc
For further information: please contact us at [email protected] or by calling +1 (604) 279-8709, or visit www.patriotbatterymetals.com.
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https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/patriot-drills-26-1-m-at-1-21-li2o-in-step-out-hole-at-the-cv13-pegmatite-quebec-canada-891908048.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:43Z
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Ruling moves University of Idaho closer toward controversial bid to acquire University of Phoenix
The University of Idaho said Wednesday it would move forward with its planned acquisition of the for-profit University of Phoenix for nearly $700 million after a judge dismissed the state attorney general’s lawsuit alleging the deal was done in violation of an open meetings law.
Attorney General Raúl Labrador failed to prove the Board of Regents violated Idaho’s Open Meetings Law when considering the transaction, an Idaho judge ruled Tuesday in dismissing Labrador’s lawsuit.
The university hailed the decision as a victory for both the board’s executive session practices and for access to higher education in Idaho. The lawsuit has been one of the biggest impediments to closing the deal.
“We look forward to completing our affiliation with the University of Phoenix in the coming months and bringing this unique opportunity to the citizens of Idaho,” said a statement from university spokesperson Jodi Walker. “Higher education has never been more important than now as we work to meet the workforce needs of our state.”
The deal is the latest attempt by troubled for-profit schools to cleanse their reputations after investigations into deceptive practices and face less regulation as nonprofits, said David Halperin, a Washington, D.C., attorney and longtime critic of the for-profit college industry.
“Why Idaho wants to buy is a little harder to understand,” he said.
During a meeting open to the public last year, the board unanimously voted to approve the creation of a not-for-profit entity that will acquire the operations of the University of Phoenix. In other, closed-door discussions, the board “reasonably believed” it was in competition with one or more public agencies in other states to acquire the University of Phoenix, which allowed for an executive session, District Judge Jason Scott’s ruling said.
The ruling “will lead to far less government transparency and accountability,” Labrador said in a statement Wednesday. “That is bad for Idaho citizens, and it defies the entire purpose of the law. We are looking closely at all appellate options to ensure Idaho’s Open Meetings Law remains a bulwark for openness and government accountability.”
Labrador complained the board kept details of the deal secret until the last moment and decided to purchase the University of Phoenix despite fines for deceptive and unfair practices.
The University of Phoenix was among the for-profit schools involved in a 2022 settlement to cancel federal student debt for former students who applied for debt cancellation because of alleged misconduct by the schools.
In 2019, the University of Phoenix reached a record $191 million settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that the institution used deceptive advertisements that falsely touted its relationships and job opportunities with companies such as AT&T, Microsoft and the American Red Cross.
The University of Idaho has hailed the deal as expanding educational access to adult learners who seek online programs: “University of Phoenix serves primarily working adults. U of I will remain Idaho’s land-grant, residential university serving primarily traditional learners.”
The two will retain a separate operational structure. Each will have its own president and leadership team, the University of Idaho said.
Representatives for the University of Phoenix didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Wednesday.
A deputy attorney general advising the board had approved the executive sessions as compliant with Idaho’s Open Meeting Law, the judge’s ruling noted.
State Board President Linda Clark said they will seek payment of legal fees by the attorney general’s office.
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://kstp.com/associated-press/ap-us-international/ruling-moves-university-of-idaho-closer-toward-controversial-bid-to-acquire-university-of-phoenix/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:44Z
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Colorado lawmakers seek to regulate dating apps following cardiologist case: "Something clearly has to be done"
Looking to bring accountability to online dating apps, several Colorado lawmakers have introduced a bill to regulate dating apps and protect users from assaults, harassment and exploitation stemming from the use of the popular apps, according to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Faith Winter, a Democrat representing Adams County.
"Something clearly has to be done," said Winter, who said part of the impetus for her bill was the case of Denver cardiologist Dr. Stephen Matthews, who is facing 38 felony charges for allegedly drugging 11 women he met on dating apps between 2020 and 2023, then allegedly sexually assaulting nine of them. Matthews is scheduled to stand trial in March. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
"We want to prevent the same kinds of things from happening," said Winter.
Her bill will face its first public hearing on Feb. 12, two days before Valentine's Day, which Winter said is not a coincidence.
The proposed measure would require dating apps to:
- Have a posted safety policy on their sites
- Guidelines for reporting misconduct committed by a member
- Posting a notice that engaging in sex with another person without consent violates the safety policy and criminal laws
- Apps would have to file annual reports with the Colorado Attorney General's Office about reports of misconduct by their members and actions taken by the app
- Dating apps would have to reveal the number of members barred each year due to misconduct
Winter said the goal is to "protect the users of these apps."
She said the Matthews case and other cases prompted her to push for regulation of the dating apps.
CBS News Colorado previously reported that Matthews, who had dating profiles on Hinge and Tinder, was reported to Hinge in 2020 as having allegedly raped a woman he met on the site. But despite assurances from Hinge that Matthews was banned from the platform, three years after the first documented accusation, Matthews still had a profile on Hinge and was able to meet and date numerous other women. At least one says Matthews sexually assaulted her long after he had been reported to Hinge. Many of the women who encountered Matthews through dating apps have now retained attorneys and are planning to sue.
A spokesperson for the Match Group, the parent company of Hinge and Tinder, said they were aware of the new Colorado legislation. She said the company would not agree to an on-camera interview but provided a written statement, saying they are "continuously investing in ways to enhance the safety and security tools offered to users across Match Group's portfolio. We believe this is a societal effort," wrote the company, "and are in active discussions with Colorado lawmakers and regularly work with law enforcement."
The Colorado move to install guardrails on dating apps closely mirrors a new law in Connecticut that went into effect in January. The Connecticut law is also intended to boost safety for dating app users according to one news report, "and hold dating companies accountable for certain aspects of their business." Much like the Colorado legislation, the Connecticut law requires companies to provide reporting procedures for unwanted behaviors, record complaints and offer safety advice.
Winter said she believes the Colorado measure will get traction and become law. "There's going to be amendments but I am optimistic that it is going to become law and we are going to be able to protect the users of these apps."
for more features.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-lawmakers-seek-regulate-dating-apps-following-cardiologist-case/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:45Z
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Police chiefs have been ordered to prioritise solving more crimes this year in an effort to restore public confidence after the collapse in charging rates.
The demand was made by James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, as he chaired his first meeting of the National Policing Board, and Chris Philp, the policing minister, who said the rates for solving crimes were “far too low” and inconsistent between forces.
“Solving more crimes has to be a focus this year,” said Mr Philp. Charging rates have fallen from 15.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent since 2016.
Mr Cleverly told police chiefs the public felt more visible crimes such as shoplifting and theft were being missed. He made clear that police must respond to this issue.
“Restoring confidence in “core policing” and the police response to crime was made clear as a priority,” said a Home Office source.
“The Home Secretary recognised that how police investigate crimes is often how people’s perceptions of police are defined.”
Police using evidence from road users
It came as Home Office figures revealed on Wednesday that citizen detectives with dashboard cameras have fueled record numbers of fixed penalties being issued to motorists for speeding, careless or dangerous driving.
Police are increasingly using video footage and evidence supplied by other road users to prosecute motorists for bad driving, according to the AA.
It has contributed to a 25 per cent rise in fixed penalty notices or prosecutions of motorists in the past two years from 2.37 million to 2.95 million in 2022, the last year for which figures are available.
The biggest increase was in the number of motorists caught speeding, which rose from just over two million to 2.5 million offences in two years.
Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy, said: “With the rise of dashcams and riders wearing cameras, drivers behaving badly should beware that someone is always watching. Police forces are utilising the footage to hold drivers to account and using the film as evidence to prosecute offenders.
“Police owned and private cameras are a useful tool in catching bad driving in the act, but we do not want to see an overreliance on technology. The best way to deter illegal driving behaviours is to increase the number of traffic officers and visible presence on our roads.”
Drivers turned into DIY law enforcers
There was a 30 per cent increase last year in the number of videos of dangerous driving submitted to the police by the public to 33,500 via the national dash cam safety portal. About 70 per cent of the submissions lead to police action, ranging from warning letters to penalty points and prosecutions
Most of the footage comes from dashcams, with many cyclists also uploading helmet cam footage, and appears to be increasing public awareness of the risks from offences such as speeding or using a mobile phone at the wheel.
The portal for uploading videos was launched in 2018 by the dashcam firm Nextbase, helping turn drivers into DIY law enforcers. Also known widely as Operation Snap, the system is used by most police forces in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland are considering implementing the system but are yet to do so.
Meanwhile, tougher laws on using a handheld mobile phone behind the wheel saw the number of drivers prosecuted for doing so rise by 93 per cent between 2021 and 2022 from 19,600 to 37,900.
Changes in the Highway Code in January 2022 that introduced a hierarchy of road users and better protections for pedestrians caused offences for neglecting pedestrian rights and traffic signs to increase by a third compared with 2021.
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/31/police-must-restore-public-confidence-by-solving-more-crime/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:45Z
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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.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:50:45Z
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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.kob.com/news/business-money/biden-accepts-mayors-invitation-to-visit-east-palestine-ohio-a-year-after-train-derailment/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:45Z
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TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2024 /CNW/ - The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke, joined Robert Peterman, Chief Commercial Officer, Toronto Stock Exchange, to close the market and celebrate the Kahnawà:ke Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) is the organization that provides governmental, administrative, and operational services to the community of Kahnawà:ke. The Kahnawà:ke Sovereign Wealth Fund was created to build substantial wealth for future generations.
CNW sponsored announcement. To learn more visit www.newswire.ca.
SOURCE Toronto Stock Exchange
For further information: MEDIA CONTACT: Justus Polson-Lahache, [email protected], 514-606-9654
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https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/the-mohawk-council-of-kahnawa-ke-closes-the-market-829115185.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:49Z
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Traffic dispute in suburban Chicago erupts into gunfire, with 4 shot
DOLTON, Ill. (AP) — A traffic dispute in suburban Chicago erupted into gunfire Wednesday, with four people taken to hospitals after being shot, authorities said.
Saul Mazon told the Chicago Tribune said he was headed to a store when he saw several cars traveling quickly down a street, one car hit another, and the vehicles pulled into a parking lot where people got out and were yelling and arguing before he heard several shots.
Dolton Village Trustee Kiana Belcher said she was in the drive-thru lane at a Dunkin Donuts when people in two vehicles started shooting at each other.
“The people involved were taken to the hospital,” Belcher said.
Four patients, all adults suffering gunshot wounds, were taken to several hospitals, Dolton Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeremy Cole said.
The shooting happened around 10 a.m.
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://kstp.com/associated-press/ap-us-international/traffic-dispute-in-suburban-chicago-erupts-into-gunfire-with-4-shot/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:50Z
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Are messaging apps the new browsers?
A new kind of internet is emerging, according to Beerud Sheth, CEO of Gupshup.
· 4 min read
Chatting on the internet sure has come a long way. Remember the good ole days in the ’90s and 2000s, when users would log in to AIM and overuse basic emojis, lyrics to sad songs, and lots of BRBs? With the ascendance of AI, the internet is now shifting into a new era, which some have dubbed the “conversational internet.” Champions of this newer way of being online say it’s intended to be more intelligent, interactive, and convenient. And Gupshup CEO Beerud Sheth is betting it’s soon going to “take care of everything [you] need.”
Sheth co-founded Gupshup in 2004. The AI-powered platform allows companies to create and deploy chatbots via its chatbot studio, managing over 10 billion messages each month and powering six out of 10 B2C chats globally, according to its website. IT Brew recently caught up with Sheth to learn more about the platform and find out why he thinks messaging apps are the new browsers.
On the changing landscape of the internet
“So, firstly, our vision is that unlike the US tech ecosystem, which is heavily focused on the traditional internet, as you know it—web pages, browsers, and things like that—the other half of the world is growing in the tech ecosystem; is evolving in a very different way,” Sheth told IT Brew. “It’s all mobile first. Every user is using messaging apps on those mobile devices. And there’s a whole different kind of internet emerging, let’s call it the conversational internet.”
On how this will affect IT professionals
As conversational interfaces and messaging platforms become the primary digital mediums, existing IT structures will need to adapt, according to Sheth. “As companies adopt chatbots, IT teams will be responsible for the underlying messaging infrastructure and integration complexities,” Sheth wrote in a follow-up email.
“There will be increased demand for IT skills around conversational AI, natural language processing (NLP), and generative machine learning models,” Sheth added. “Building, deploying, and maintaining intelligent chatbots requires data pipelines, DevOps orchestration, and continuous learning—all ripe areas for IT specialization.”
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
On Gupshup’s services
Gupshup’s hefty client list includes Netflix, Sony, Unilever, Hyatt, Abbott, Citibank, and Khan Academy, with industry verticals spanning real estate, banking, e-commerce, advertising, media, and healthcare.
“The way it works is to think of it as like three layers of the stack: The basic layer is just basic APIs to send and receive messages. But then the intelligence layer on top provides all the workflows, the journeys, the AI—we’ve leveraged LLM, and so on. We’ve launched some of our own capabilities as well, so that when a user sends a message, you can reply to it. So, that entire intelligence layer is unique and key. And then the third layer is—we specialize by industry verticals.”
Gupshup, Sheth explained, is powered by a variety of LLMs, like Meta’s Llama 2, OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 Turbo, Flan T-5, and more. While Gupshup’s ACE LLM uses some of these foundation models, it’s also “meticulously adapted for specific industries and functions.” The company’s domain-specific models, he says, are designed to keep industry and function-use cases in mind.
“It’s the next level up. We customize it by industry, we fine-tune it, and we train them, let’s say for banking, for commerce, for retail, and so on,” he said.
On the evolution of messaging apps
“Because everybody’s using messaging—there are two options: either you kind of force them to use the old-style browser and web, which wasn’t designed for this thing, or you use the app that actually is popular on the small devices, on small screens—and that’s the messaging app.”
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
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https://www.itbrew.com/stories/2024/01/31/are-messaging-apps-the-new-browsers
| 2024-01-31T23:50:51Z
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EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Will King Charles reschedule a meeting with President Biden so he can attend Royal Ascot?
The King awaits a reply to his invitation to President Biden last April for a state visit to London in 2024.
With time running out before November's presidential election, my source whispers it's hoped the visit could form part of Biden's trip to Europe in June to attend the G7 summit in Italy.
But there is a snag. The Palace wants the visit to take place pre-G7 and not afterwards. Why?
Because it clashes with Royal Ascot, where the King seems determined to match his late mother's high attendance record.
Don't tell Sleepy Joe!
The King awaits a reply to his invitation to President Biden last April for a state visit to London in 2024
With time running out before November's presidential election, my source whispers it's hoped the visit could form part of Biden's trip to Europe in June to attend the G7 summit in Italy
Might Rishi Sunak's weekly 36-hour fast interest the King?
His Majesty rarely eats lunch, preferring a daily mini-fast lasting from after breakfast until his four o'clock boiled egg and soldiers.
And a source says that with Lent just a fortnight away, he will be preparing to be even more abstemious.
Apparently he forgoes the afternoon egg for 40 days, which is said to be a big test of his willpower.
Rishi Sunak fasts for 36 hours every week, consuming only water, tea or black coffee from 5pm on a Sunday to 5am on Tuesday
His Majesty rarely eats lunch, preferring a daily mini-fast lasting from after breakfast until his four o'clock boiled egg and soldiers
Has Lord Sugar's pal Claude Littner been given the elbow from The Apprentice?
A stalwart of the BBC show, which resumes tonight, Claude featured in only one episode last year due to illness.
Now, hale and hearty Claude tweets: 'Sadly I won't be back. It's not my call.'
Claude Littner (right), 74, previously appeared on The Apprentice with Baroness Karren Brady (left), Lord Sugar (centre)
Sienna Miller, 42, admits to brooding over the 14-year age gap between her and boyfriend Oli Green.
'I don't think you can legislate on matters of the heart. I certainly have never been able to,' she tells Vogue.
Shouldn't Sienna, pictured, invoke Joan Collins's mantra?
When Joan, 90, was asked about the 32-year gap between her and hubby Percy, 58, she replied: 'If he dies, he dies.'
Oli Green, 27, and Sienna Miller, 42, recently welcomed the birth of a baby girl together
Percy Gibson and Joan Collins attend the 2024 Netflix Primetime Emmys after party on January 15, 2024, in Los Angeles
Radio 3 Essential Classics presenter Georgia Mann had to wade barefoot from Eel Pie Island to her parked car after a Thames flash flood blocked the path.
Requests for a turntable spin of Handel's Water Music will be given short shrift.
Reflecting on the passage of time, Stephen Fry, 66, once described as an idiot's notion of a cleverclogs, announces: 'Personally, I'm not interested in longevity for myself... I'm not someone who wants to live longer than the rest of my friends.'
Has Fry mentioned this to husband Elliott Spencer – 30 years his junior?
Stephen Fry and Elliot Spencer at a Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2017
Priscilla director Sofia Coppola once showed her then boyfriend Quentin Tarantino a storybook picture from her 2006 movie Marie Antoinette, featuring doughnuts with a pink glaze.
Tarantino recalled how she liked 'the shade of pink and I want Marie Antoinette's sofa to have that quality'.
'And when I saw the film, sure enough, I wanted to eat the goddam furniture,' he said.
Director Quentin Tarantino poses with director Sofia Coppola in 2003
Biographer Roger Lewis has been dining out on his tale of Welsh actor Richard Burton's retort when a fan asked if he was Celtic – pronouncing it 'seltic'.
He replied: 'It's pronounced keltic, you sunt.'
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13030739/EPHRAIM-HARDCASTLE-King-Charles-miss-meeting-President-Biden-attend-Royal-Ascot.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:50:51Z
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SportNRLTeen's brutal try racks up 100m viewsA TikTok video of a Parramatta Junior's brutal length-of-the-field try has racked up over 100 million views, and prompted calls for him to be scouted by NFL teams.February 1, 2024 — 7.38amSaveLog in, register or subscribe to save articles for later.Save videos for laterAdd videos to your saved list and come back to them any time.Got itLoadingReplayReplay videoPlay videoPlay video
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https://www.watoday.com.au/sport/nrl/teens-brutal-try-racks-up-100m-views-20240201-p5f1lt.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_sport_nrl
| 2024-01-31T23:50:51Z
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Columbine High School's Andy Lowry named National Coach of the Year
The National Football League has named Columbine's Andy Lowry as one of the 2 Don Shula High School Coach of the Year Award winners.
Lowry was nominated by the Denver Broncos after winning his 3rd state title at Columbine High School. The Rebels finished the season at 14-0 and defeated Cherry Creek High School in the state championship game.
"The Don Shula Coach of the Year award is a huge honor," said Lowry. "I am very humbled by this opportunity."
Lowry just completed his 30th season as head coach at Columbine and earned his 300th career victory last season.
Lowry will be a guest of the NFL at the 2024 Pro Bowl in Orlando and he will attend Super Bowl LVIII and will be recognized at NFL honors.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/columbine-high-schools-andy-lowry-national-coach-year/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:51Z
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NPR National Correspondent Debbie Elliott can be heard telling stories from her native South. She covers the latest news and politics, and is attuned to the region's rich culture and history.
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https://www.kvcrnews.org/2024-01-31/a-look-from-maui-six-months-after-devastating-wildfires
| 2024-01-31T23:50:51Z
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Jeremy Hunt has publicly warned that the tax cuts set to be unveiled in the Spring Budget will not be as large as the ones announced in November.
Speaking on ITV’s Peston program, the Chancellor said: “It doesn’t look like I’ll have the kind of room that I had for those very big tax cuts in the autumn.”
The remark came after the Treasury was handed the first round of estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility [OBR] ahead of the Budget on March 6.
While the figures are kept private, it is understood the OBR said currently the so-called “fiscal headroom” - money that the Chancellor has to spend while reducing government debt - would be around £14bn a year.
That is far below the £35bn that had been available to Mr Hunt ahead of the Autumn Statement in November, which had swelled as inflation pushed up tax receipts.
The message from Mr Hunt was significant as it appeared to be an attempt to downplay expectations among Tory MPs clamouring for vast tax cuts to boost their electoral chances.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister who quit the Cabinet before Christmas over the Rwanda Bill, on Wednesday urged Mr Sunak to reduce stamp duty to boost the property market.
‘Countries with lower taxes grow faster’
Cuts to income tax and national insurance are seen as the leading options for the Budget by Downing Street insiders, but changing economic forecasts could limit their ability to act.
Mr Hunt confirmed that he had delivered the same message about the difficulty of cutting tax as much as in the Autumn Statement at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
In that package of measures Mr Hunt reduced National Insurance and also delivered a major business tax cut by making so-called “full expensing” permanent.
His new public message was the same one delivered by Mr Hunt to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers on Wednesday night.
But in the ITV interview the Chancellor also talked up the need for low taxes: “We look around the world and we notice that countries with lower taxes, predominantly in Asia and North America, tend to be growing faster than countries with higher taxes, which are mainly in Europe.
“So we do think if we’re going to have a dynamic economy that pays tax revenues, that gives the NHS the funding it needs, the care system, the armed forces, our schools and so on, we do need to move in the direction of being lower taxed.”
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Jenrick had challenged Mr Sunak to slash stamp duty.
Mr Jenrick said: “A first responsibility for Government is to fix the housing crisis that young people didn’t cause.”
He said the Conservative Party had “dragged housebuilding” to the “highest levels since 1987” and said Labour “left it at its lowest level since the 1920s”.
But he added: “Housebuilding is weakening. We need to do more. Will (the Prime Minister) consider using the budget to do as he and I did together during the pandemic and cut stamp duty to boost housing starts, to reignite the economy and to support thousands of businesses across our country?”
Mr Sunak responded: “Since 2010 we have delivered two and a half million additional homes, on track to deliver a million just in this Parliament and help over 850,000 families into homeownership through schemes such as help-to-buy and right-to-buy.
‘‘Obviously, tax decisions are a matter for the Chancellor. But I would point out that our existing stamp duty relief for first-time buyers ensures the vast majority of first-time buyers in our country pay absolutely no stamp duty.”
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/31/tax-cuts-spring-budget-smaller-jeremy-hunt-chancellor-itv/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:51Z
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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.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/expected-to-be-a-big-deal-alzheimers-drug-is-pulled-after-disappointing-sales
| 2024-01-31T23:50:52Z
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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.kob.com/news/business-money/californians-dont-have-to-pass-a-background-check-every-time-they-buy-bullets-federal-judge-rules/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:52Z
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Two new hot pot restaurants are heading for the Las Vegas Valley. One, located on Spring Mountain Road, is open now and serving thin ribbons of wagyu beef ready for dipping in boiling-hot brother. Another is in the works for the Las Vegas Strip, opening this summer with a specialty bone marrow broth in a fine dining setting.
Mikiya Wagyu House
The group behind hot pot restaurants, the X Pot at the Venetian Resort and Chubby Cattle in Chinatown has opened a new restaurant for all-you-can-eat hot pot. Mikiya Wagyu House, an all-you-can-eat wagyu shabu, is now open at 3930 Spring Mountain Road, in the space formerly occupied by Xtra Sweet. It offers three options for all-you-can-eat proteins, set at $45, $55, and $78, which includes cuts like wagyu, Australian wagyu, and Japanese Wagyu. Each tier also has selections available like sweet sashimi shrimp, Jidori chicken, and seasonal vegetables. A late-night men, offered from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, offers fried snacks and hot pot combinations starting at $19.99. The restaurant has locations in cities like Houston, New York City, and LA, and offers $28 memberships that offer some benefits like discounts with each visit.
Copper Sun
A new hot pot restaurant is heading to the Las Vegas Strip, opening this summer at Resorts World Las Vegas. Copper Sun, the first fine dining concept from the Happy Lamb Hot Pot chain of restaurants, will serve a signature bone marrow broth and a selection of lamb and meats exclusive to the Las Vegas location. Additionally, the restaurant will debut a cocktail menu inspired by the Asian ingredients found in its herbal soup. Copper Sun will be a fine dining take on hot pot, with striking black-and-white furnishings and decorative details.
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https://vegas.eater.com/2024/1/31/24057398/two-new-hot-pot-restaurants-open-las-vegas
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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Four people in Washington state have tested positive this month for a rare fungal infection that can be deadly.
It's the state's first known outbreak of the fungus, called Candida auris, according to Seattle and King County health officials, though one locally acquired case was detected there in July.
The cluster comes as Candida auris continues to spread in the U.S.: Case numbers have risen every year since 2016.
The pathogen is resistant to some common antifungal medications, and it tends to infect people with weakened immune systems. It's often detected among hospital patients who use catheters, breathing tubes or feeding tubes.
All four people in Washington who tested positive were patients at Kindred Hospital Seattle First Hill, a long-term acute care hospital. None have died, the public health department for Seattle and King County told NBC News.
The department announced Tuesday that it was notified of the first case on Jan. 10. The patient had recently been admitted to Kindred Hospital and was tested for Candida auris through a routine screening program that aims to identify infections before symptoms develop.
Two more cases were identified on Jan. 22, followed by a fourth on Friday, the department said. Those three patients had tested negative for Candida auris when they were admitted, suggesting they contracted the fungus at the hospital.
The Seattle and King County health department said one patient developed an infection, which means the fungus entered a part of the body where it would most likely cause symptoms (such as the bloodstream, the ears or an open wound).
The others were colonized with Candida auris — a term used for situations in which people carry the fungus on their bodies and could spread it to others but don’t necessarily get sick from it. People colonized with Candida auris are still at risk of developing infections.
Candida auris was first identified in Japan in 2009. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested in 2016 that U.S. laboratories report it, and a review of records subsequently identified cases dating to 2013.
Since reporting began, the sharpest increase came from 2020 to 2021, when the number of Candida auris cases rose 94%.
As of December 2022, the fungus had been detected in 36 states. In total, the CDC recorded more than 5,600 Candida auris infections from 2013 to 2022, while more than 13,000 others identified through screenings didn’t have signs of infection.
The CDC attributes Candida auris' rise to increased screening and poor infection control and prevention practices in health care facilities — a challenge most likely made worse by staffing shortages and lengthy patient stays during the Covid pandemic.
“It will reach into every corner of the country for sure,” said Dr. Peter Pappas, a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “The question is going to be how well can we control it?”
Around 90% of Candida auris strains in the U.S. are resistant to the medication most commonly used to treat other fungal infections. Most strains of Candida auris can be treated with drugs from one of the three main classes of antifungal medicines, but some are resistant to all three.
According to the Seattle and King County health department, Washington's first case was in a Pierce County resident who had been admitted to a hospital there, then transferred to Kindred Hospital Seattle First Hill.
ScionHealth, which owns Kindred Hospital, didn’t provide comment in time for publication.
Kindred is the only facility in Washington that screens all new admitted patients for Candida auris — part of a state-led program launched in 2022. The tests involve swabbing the armpits and the groin, which are oily parts of skin that the fungus likes to colonize.
"This is the first time we’ve been able to identify multiple cases in one setting thanks to the screening program. But it’s difficult to say to what extent C. auris is circulating," said Sharon Bogan, a spokesperson for the Seattle and King County health department.
Pappas said the four cases could be a sign that C. auris is spreading more widely in the Seattle area.
“By the time it shows up in a hospital, you know it’s been in the community for quite some time,” he said. “It’s just unclear how long that would be.”
Pappas added that most of the time, it's easy to distinguish an infection from colonization, though "there are gray areas."
"Those with invasive infections have infections that just have to be treated. Otherwise, the consequences could be pretty, pretty dramatic," he said.
The mortality rate of a severe Candida auris infection in the U.S. is 30% to 60%, but healthy people usually don’t get infected.
Dr. Arturo Casadevall, the chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said people should actually be reassured when they hear of new cases picked up by active surveillance in their states.
“In a way, it’s disheartening to know that it’s there. But can you imagine if you didn’t have surveillance?” he said.
He added that “most people shouldn’t have to worry about getting it just because it’s in the community.”
People can get Candida auris through direct contact with a person carrying the fungus or by touching surfaces or objects that have been contaminated with it. Studies have shown that the fungus can live on surfaces for at least two weeks.
“Once this stuff gets into a hospital, it’s kind of hard to get it out,” Casadevall said.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/washington-outbreak-candida-auris-fungal-infection-rcna136556
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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Two men are facing arson charges over a burger shop fire in Melbourne which led to a violent clash between supporters of Israel and Palestine.
The Caulfield shop of the Burgertory chain was destroyed by fire on November 10.
At the time, the owner said it was linked to his involvement in a pro-Palestine rally and labelled it a hate crime but police now say although the fire was deliberately lit there's no evidence it was racially or politically motivated.
Hours after the owner made the claim, two groups of about 200 people clashed near a synagogue and the Burgertory store.
One man was pepper-sprayed by police and another reported receiving minor injuries after being hit by a rock.
Police arrested two men on Wednesday before charging a 25-year-old man with arson, robbery, car theft and other offences on Thursday.
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Find out moreThe man also faces charges over the alleged arson of a tobacco store fire in Bendigo on Monday which resulted in more than $4 million worth of damage.
The tobacco store fire is not related to the ongoing battle over illicit tobacco that has seen more than 30 shops firebombed.
He will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Police have also charged a second 27-year-old St Albans man with arson and car theft.
He was released on bail pending his case at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Victoria Police Inspector Scott Dwyer said the Caulfield incident was not a hate crime.
"It wasn't motivated by prejudice or politics," he said in a statement.
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https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/crime/two-men-charged-with-arson-over-burger-store-fire-c-13427313
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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One dead in I-95 crash: police
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. - One person is confirmed dead in a fatal crash on I-95 in Prince William County Wednesday afternoon
Around 4:22 p.m., Virginia State Police responded to a crash in the northbound lanes of I-95 near Exit 158.
Traffic video in the area show delays and police presence.
The Virginia State Police Fairfax Division Crash Reconstruction team responded to the scene Wednesday to assist.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 5 DC for updates.
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https://www.fox5dc.com/news/one-dead-in-i-95-crash
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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Step back in time several decades, and you might have seen a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster trudging through the snow with two people inside, headed for a lovely weekend at the slopes. Being a two-seater with a folding fabric roof, carrying skis meant using a nifty trunk-mounted rack designed specifically for the sports car.
Flash forward to 2024, and 300SL Roadster owners can once again venture out for a posh wintertime ski trip in the mountains. Mercedes-Benz has brought back the retro ski racks, taking to Instagram with the news and announcing a public debut at Retromobile 2024 in Paris. The classic car show kicked off today, and going by the Mercedes-Benz Museum account, the chrome rack looks just as good today as it did in the late 1950s.
Of course, some things have changed since then. While one certainly could drive a 60-plus-year-old Merc through the snow, we have doubts about anyone actually doing it with their car. The delectable Roadster is a million-dollar machine these days, with some brushing up against the two-million mark. But that doesn't mean one can't enjoy the nostalgia of it all. Heck, bolt it up in July, toss some skis on there, and cruise the French Riviera. We'd do it, smiling the whole way.
Aside from the aforementioned Instagram post, we've not had any luck digging up information on the rack other than it's available for purchase through Mercedes-Benz Classic Centers. We didn't find any listings through the US or European website, but we've contacted Mercedes directly and are waiting to hear back on pricing. We'll jump in with details when they become available. Considering the targeted buyers for these racks already have considerable investments in their cars, we suspect the price doesn't really matter.
Source: Mercedes-Benz Museum / Instagram
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https://www.motor1.com/news/706887/mercedes-reissues-ski-rack-300sl-roadster/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN) today reported its financial and operating results for the three and twelve-month periods ended December 31, 2023.
Management Comments
“We accomplished or exceeded many of our 2023 business plan objectives including our same store results and rental rate mark-to-markets,” stated Jerry Sweeney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brandywine Realty Trust. “In addition to our operating metrics, we were able to contain our capital costs resulting in lower capital costs as a percentage of new lease revenue and better than forecasted cash flow. Our liquidity position is in excellent shape with no borrowings on our $600 million unsecured line of credit and 96% of our wholly-owned debt is fixed. Other than our October 2024 bond maturity, we have no other bond maturities until 2027. Looking forward, we are introducing our 2024 FFO guidance range of $0.90 to $1.00 per diluted share which is impacted by higher anticipated refinancing interest costs and costs related to our multi-family development projects entering their lease-up phase.”
Fourth Quarter Highlights
Financial Results
- Net loss available to common shareholders: $(157.4) million, or $(0.91) per share. These results include a $(152.6) million, or $(0.89) per share, non-cash impairment charge related to four wholly-owned operating properties located in the metropolitan D.C. area and our unconsolidated joint ventures.
- Funds from Operations (FFO) available to common shareholders: $47.2 million, or $0.27 per diluted share.
Portfolio Results
- Operating Portfolio: 88.0% occupied and 89.6% leased.
- New and Renewal Leases Signed: 240,000 square feet in the fourth quarter and 1,517,000 square feet for the full year 2023 in our wholly-owned portfolio and including our joint ventures totaled 552,000 square feet in the fourth quarter and 2,746,000 square feet for the full year 2023.
- Rental Rate Growth: 13.4% on an accrual basis and 7.5% on a cash basis.
- Tenant Retention Ratio: 45% in fourth quarter and 49% for 2023.
- Same Store Results: Increased 1.2% on an accrual basis and 8.3% on a cash basis.
Transaction Activity
Disposition Activity
- On October 31, 2023, we sold a retail property, located at 200 North Radnor Chester Road in Radnor, Pennsylvania for a gross sales price of $14.2 million or $794 per square foot. We received net cash proceeds of $13.8 million and recorded a gain of $7.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2023.
- On December 1, 2023, we sold an office property, located at 8521 Leesburg Pike in Vienna, Virginia for a gross sales price of $11.0 million or $73 per square foot. We received net cash proceeds of $10.2 million. Prior to the sale, we recognized an impairment loss of $12.3 million on the property based upon the executed purchase and sale agreement during the fourth quarter of 2023.
- We owned an option to purchase 50 acres of land located at 15000 Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During December 2023, we sold that option for a gross sales price of $9.6 million and received net cash proceeds of $8.7 million and recorded income of $4.0 million during the fourth quarter of 2023.
Finance Activity
- During December 2023, we repurchased $10.0 million of our outstanding unsecured notes due 2024 at a price of $98.6 and paid accrued interest of $0.1 million. As a result of the repurchase, we recorded a gain from the early extinguishment of debt of $0.1 million.
- We had no outstanding balance on our $600.0 million unsecured revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2023.
- We had $58.3 million of cash and cash equivalents on-hand as of December 31, 2023.
Results for the Three and Twelve-Month Periods Ended December 31, 2023
Net loss available to common shareholders totaled $(157.4) million or $(0.91) per share in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to a net income of $29.5 million or $0.17 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2022. Our 2023 results include a $(152.6) million or $(0.89) per share, non-cash impairment charge related to four wholly-owned operating properties and unconsolidated joint ventures.
FFO available to common shareholders and units in the fourth quarter of 2023 totaled $47.2 million or $0.27 per diluted share versus $55.7 million or $0.32 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2022. Our fourth quarter 2023 FFO payout ratio ($0.15 common share distribution / $0.27 FFO per diluted share) was 55.6%.
Net loss totaled $(197.4) million or $(1.15) per share for the twelve months of 2023 compared to net income of $53.4 million allocated to common shares or $0.31 per diluted share in the twelve months of 2022. Our 2023 results include non-cash impairment charges totaling $(168.7) million or $(0.98) per share, related to our wholly-owned operating properties and unconsolidated joint ventures.
FFO available to common shareholders and units for the year ended 2023 totaled $198.3 million, or $1.15 per diluted share compared to $238.2 million, or $1.38 per diluted share for the year ended 2022. Our 2023 FFO payout ratio ($0.72 common share distribution / $1.15 FFO per diluted share) was 62.6%.
Operating and Leasing Activity
In the fourth quarter of 2023, our Net Operating Income (NOI), excluding termination fees, bad debt expense and other income items increased 1.2% on an accrual basis and increased 8.3% on a cash basis for our 68 same store properties, which were 88.0% and 90.3% occupied on December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
We leased approximately 240,000 square feet and we commenced occupancy on 209,000 square feet during the fourth quarter of 2023. The fourth quarter occupancy activity includes 86,000 square feet of renewals, 88,000 square feet of new leases and 35,000 square feet of tenant expansions. We have an additional 195,000 square feet of executed new leases scheduled to commence subsequent to December 31, 2023.
We experienced 45% tenant retention ratio in our core portfolio with net negative absorption of (63,000) square feet during the fourth quarter of 2023. Fourth quarter rental rate growth increased 13.4% as our renewal rental rates increased 5.9% and our new lease/expansion rental rates increased 24.6%, all on an accrual basis.
For the year, our 2023 leasing activity totaled approximately 1,517,000 square feet and commenced occupancy on 767,000 square feet. Our 2023 occupancy activity includes 424,000 of renewals, 242,000 of new leases and 101,000 square feet of tenant expansions.
At December 31, 2023, our operating portfolio of 69 properties comprising 12.7 million square feet was 88.0% occupied and we are now 89.6% leased (reflecting executed leases commencing after December 31, 2023).
Distributions
On December 5, 2023, our Board of Trustees declared a quarterly dividend distribution of $0.15 per common share that was paid on January 18, 2024 to shareholders of record as of January 4, 2024.
2024 Earnings and FFO Guidance
Based on current plans and assumptions and subject to the risks and uncertainties more fully described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, we are providing our 2024 loss per share guidance of $(0.36) - $(0.26) per share and 2024 FFO guidance of $0.90 - $1.00 per diluted share. This guidance is provided for informational purposes and is subject to change. The following is a reconciliation of the calculation of 2024 FFO and earnings per diluted share:
Our 2024 FFO key assumptions include:
- Year-end Core Occupancy Range: 87-88%;
- Year-end Core Leased Range: 88-89%;
- Rental Rate Growth (accrual): 11-13%;
- Rental Rate Growth (cash): 0-2%;
- Same Store (accrual) NOI Growth Range: (1)-1%;
- Same Store (cash) NOI Growth Range: 1-3%;
- Speculative Revenue Target: $24.0 - $25.0 million, $19.3 million achieved;
- Tenant Retention Rate Range: 51-53%;
- Property Acquisition Activity: None;
- Property Sales Activity (excluding land): $80 - $100 million;
- Joint Venture Activity: None;
- Development Starts: None;
- Financing Activity: Refinance our unsecured bonds due October 2024 ($340 million outstanding);
- Share Buyback Activity: None; and
- Annual earnings and FFO per diluted share based on 174.0 million fully diluted weighted average common shares.
About Brandywine Realty Trust
Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) is one of the largest, publicly traded, full-service, integrated real estate companies in the United States with a core focus in the Philadelphia and Austin markets. Organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT), we own, develop, lease and manage an urban, town center and transit-oriented portfolio comprising 158 properties and 22.4 million square feet as of December 31, 2023 which excludes assets held for sale. Our purpose is to shape, connect and inspire the world around us through our expertise, the relationships we foster, the communities in which we live and work, and the history we build together. For more information, please visit www.brandywinerealty.com.
Conference Call and Audio Webcast
We will release our fourth quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday January 31, 2024, and will hold our fourth quarter conference call on Thursday February 1, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To access the conference call by phone, please visit this link here, and you will be provided with dial in details. A live webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Investor Relations page of our website at www.brandywinerealty.com.
Looking Ahead – First Quarter 2024 Conference Call
We anticipate we will release our first quarter 2024 earnings on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, after the market close and will host our first quarter 2024 conference call on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We expect to issue a press release in advance of these events to reconfirm the dates and times and provide all related information.
Press Release
Our Complete press release and related financial statements and schedules are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at www.brandywinerealty.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain 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. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as “will,” “strategy,” “expects,” “seeks,” “believes,” “potential,” or other similar words. Because such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, including our 2024 guidance and the progress of our projects under development, are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and not within our control. Such risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, among others: risks related to the impact of COVID-19 and other potential future outbreaks of infectious diseases on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and those of our tenants as well as on the economy and real estate and financial markets; reduced demand for office space and pricing pressures, including from competitors, that could limit our ability to lease space or set rents at expected levels or that could lead to declines in rent; uncertainty and volatility in capital and credit markets, including changes that reduce availability, and increase costs, of capital or that delay receipt of our planned debt financings and refinancings; the effect of inflation and interest rate fluctuations, including on the costs of our planned debt financings and refinancings; the potential loss or bankruptcy of tenants or the inability of tenants to meet their rent and other lease obligations; risks of acquisitions and dispositions, including unexpected liabilities and integration costs; delays in completing, and cost overruns incurred in connection with, our developments and redevelopments; disagreements with joint venture partners; unanticipated operating and capital costs; uninsured casualty losses and our ability to obtain adequate insurance, including coverage for terrorist acts; additional asset impairments; our dependence upon certain geographic markets; changes in governmental regulations, tax laws and rates and similar matters; unexpected costs of REIT qualification compliance; and costs and disruptions as the result of a cybersecurity incident or other technology disruption. The declaration and payment of future dividends (both timing and amount) is subject to the determination of our Board of Trustees, in its sole discretion, after considering various factors, including our financial condition, historical and forecast operating results, and available cash flow, as well as any applicable laws and contractual covenants and any other relevant factors. Our Board’s practice regarding declaration of dividends may be modified at any time and from time to time. Additional information on factors which could impact us and the forward-looking statements contained herein are included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events except as required by law.
Non-GAAP Supplemental Financial Measures
We compute our financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Although FFO and NOI are non-GAAP financial measures, we believe that FFO and NOI calculations are helpful to shareholders and potential investors and are widely recognized measures of real estate investment trust performance. At the end of this press release, we have provided a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure.
Funds from Operations (FFO)
We compute FFO in accordance with standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), which may not be comparable to FFO reported by other REITs that do not compute FFO in accordance with the NAREIT definition, or that interpret the NAREIT definition differently than us. NAREIT defines FFO as net income (loss) before non-controlling interests and excluding gains (losses) on sales of depreciable operating property, impairment losses on depreciable consolidated real estate, impairment losses on investments in unconsolidated real estate ventures and extraordinary items (computed in accordance with GAAP); plus real estate related depreciation and amortization (excluding amortization of deferred financing costs), and after similar adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures. Net income, the GAAP measure that we believe to be most directly comparable to FFO, includes depreciation and amortization expenses, gains or losses on property sales, extraordinary items and non-controlling interests. To facilitate a clear understanding of our historical operating results, FFO should be examined in conjunction with net income (determined in accordance with GAAP) as presented in the financial statements included elsewhere in this release. FFO does not represent cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP) and should not be considered to be an alternative to net income (loss) (determined in accordance with GAAP) as an indication of our financial performance or to be an alternative to cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of our liquidity, nor is it indicative of funds available for our cash needs, including our ability to make cash distributions to shareholders. We generally consider FFO and FFO per share to be useful measures for understanding and comparing our operating results because, by excluding gains and losses related to sales of previously depreciated operating real estate assets, impairment losses and real estate asset depreciation and amortization (which can differ across owners of similar assets in similar condition based on historical cost accounting and useful life estimates), FFO and FFO per share can help investors compare the operating performance of a company’s real estate across reporting periods and to the operating performance of other companies.
Net Operating Income (NOI)
NOI (accrual basis) is a financial measure equal to net income available to common shareholders, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, plus corporate general and administrative expense, depreciation and amortization, interest expense, non-controlling interest in the Operating Partnership and losses from early extinguishment of debt, less interest income, development and management income, gains from property dispositions, gains on sale from discontinued operations, gains on early extinguishment of debt, income from discontinued operations, income from unconsolidated joint ventures and non-controlling interest in property partnerships. In some cases we also present NOI on a cash basis, which is NOI after eliminating the effects of straight-lining of rent and deferred market intangible amortization. NOI presented by us may not be comparable to NOI reported by other REITs that define NOI differently. NOI should not be considered an alternative to net income as an indication of our performance or to cash flows as a measure of the Company's liquidity or its ability to make distributions. We believe NOI is a useful measure for evaluating the operating performance of our properties, as it excludes certain components from net income available to common shareholders in order to provide results that are more closely related to a property's results of operations. We use NOI internally to evaluate the performance of our operating segments and to make decisions about resource allocations. We concluded that NOI provides useful information to investors regarding our financial condition and results of operations, as it reflects only the income and expense items incurred at the property level, as well as the impact on operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates, operating costs and acquisition and development activity on an unlevered basis.
Same Store Properties
In our analysis of NOI, particularly to make comparisons of NOI between periods meaningful, it is important to provide information for properties that were in-service and owned by us throughout each period presented. We refer to properties acquired or placed in-service prior to the beginning of the earliest period presented and owned by us through the end of the latest period presented as Same Store Properties. Same Store Properties exclude properties placed in-service, acquired, repositioned, held for sale or in development or redevelopment after the beginning of the earliest period presented or disposed of prior to the end of the latest period presented. Accordingly, it takes at least one year and one quarter after a property is acquired for that property to be included in Same Store Properties.
Core Portfolio
Our core portfolio is comprised of our wholly-owned properties, excluding any properties currently in development, re-development, re-entitlement or recently completed and not stabilized.
Company / Investor Contact:
Tom Wirth
EVP & CFO
610-832-7434
tom.wirth@bdnreit.com
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https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/31/2821617/0/en/Brandywine-Realty-Trust-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-Full-Year-2023-Results-and-Initiates-2024-Guidance.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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It's the first of February tomorrow, and some may want to ring in the new month with a complete home reset.
Starting with the kitchen, experts have revealed some top tips for keeping the heart of your home spotless for days on end, without breaking the bank.
Below are some fantastic tips to clean your kitchen in half the time you normally would.
READ MORE: People told to add unlikely leftover item to their bins as it prevents odours
Clean Your Oven with a Dishwasher Tablet
That's right, you can use your dishwasher tablets for much more than just your dishwasher. It turns out that they are incredible at removing pesky and built up stains in your oven.
Use a dishwasher tablet dipped in warm water to scrub down the glass and the door of your oven with ease, but make sure you rinse off the residue when you're done.
Funnily enough, you can also clean your toilet with a dishwasher tablet as well! So multi purposeful!
Use Vinegar to Unclog Your Drain
Using vinegar to unclog your blocked drain is another absolute game changer. It doesn't matter if it's clogged with frozen water or left over food, vinegar will cut through it in an instant.
Pour some vinegar into the drain, depending on how clogged it is, and just let the water run- it'll unblock in no time.
Also, you can use this trick outside the kitchen too, cause it work's on shower and bathroom sink drains too.
Polish a Stainless Steel Sink with Flour
Now, this one is wild, but it definitely works, trust us.
Wash and dry your sink as you normally would, then cover it with flour. Any generic flour will do, so this hack is as cost effective as it is quick!
Make sure your sink is covered in flour, then buff away at it. The sink will come out sparkling in no time, you won't believe it!
Get Rid of Coffee Stains with Baking Soda
We all know how hard it is to get rid of pesky coffee stains at the end of our mug, especially if it's a well used and much loved mug!
Well, using baking soda may be just the trick to get those coffee stains out of your life forever!
Pour a little bit of baking soda into the coffee stained mug, and then add just enough water to make a paste.
Once the paste forms, start scrubbing away at those coffee stains. They'll lift in minutes.
After you're done, just clean the mug as you normally would and watch those stains disappear before your very eyes!
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https://www.rsvplive.ie/life/flour-key-keeping-your-kitchen-32016209
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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HAIG GOURDIKIAN
Born on October 10, 1930, Beirut, Lebanon
Haig Gourdikian, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin and relative, passed away on Tuesday January 23, 2024.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 10, at 12 p.m. at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic church, located at 500 S. Central Ave., Glendale CA 91204. Interment will follow at Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn, located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90068.
He is survived by his:
Wife, Azniv Gourdikian
Brother, Ardashes Gourdikian
Son, Raffi and Tahlene Gourdikian
Daughter, Maral and Robert Pigeon
Daughter, Hourig Gourdikian and Patil Arakelian
Granddaughter, Nora and Haig Zaher and children, Arev, Araz and Vana
Grandson, Nareg and Alique Gourdikian
Granddaughters, Nanor and Naira Gourdikian
Grandsons, Armand and Padric Pigeon
And all Gourdikian, Pigeon, Andikian, Tashjian, Kojayan, Kitabjian, Der Torossian, Balian, Sarkissian, Meneshian, Yaghjian, Ghazarian, Zaher and Berberian families, relatives, and friends.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Armenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation (ALCF, P.O. Box 846, Los Alamitos 90720).
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https://asbarez.com/death-notice-haig-gourdikian/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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r/Sino is a subreddit for news, information, and discussion on anything China and Chinese related. Read the rules before posting. Some submissions may need manual approval.
Building a brighter education future at the World Digital Education Conference 2024 in Shanghai, where more than 800 guests from over 70 countries are discussing how to use technology to make teaching and learning more accessible.
Be the first to comment
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Add your thoughts and get the conversation going.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Sino/comments/1afpo7x/building_a_brighter_education_future_at_the_world/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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NEW DELHI:
Growth in country's key infrastructure sector slowed to a 14-month low in Dec, led by slowdown in six out of the eight sectors, posing concerns for overall industrial output data for the month.
Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Wednesday showed the eight core sectors, spanning coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity, rose 3.8% in Dec, slower than the 7.9% in Nov and lower than the 8.3% recorded in Dec last year.
Six out of the eight sectors witnessed moderation, while the crude oil segment contracted. The coal sector recorded a double digit growth during the month while the fertiliser sector grew 5.8% in Dec, higher than the 3.4% in Nov. The steel sector slowed to 5.9% in Dec from 9.4% in Nov. The cement sector grew 1.3% during Dec after contracting 4% in Nov.
"As expected, the core sector growth slowed to a 14-month low of 3.8% in Dec weighed by base normalisation. While seven out of eight sectors witnessed a year-on-year increase in output, growth was seen moderating in most sectors," said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at ratings agency CareEdge.
Separate data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Wednesday showed the fiscal deficit at the end of Dec was at Rs 9.8 lakh crore or 55% of the full year target of Rs 17.9 lakh crore. The deficit for the corresponding period last year was at nearly 60%.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/core-sector-growth-slows-to-14-month-low/articleshow/107303798.cms
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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New legislation proposed in Washington State that would ban the sale of fur statewide is getting some outsized attention from a niche community in the outdoor world: anglers and fly tyers who use fur and other natural fibers to create handmade flies and fishing lures. A few of these advocates spoke up during a public hearing in Olympia on Thursday, when a substituted version of Senate Bill 6294 was heard by the Senate Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade Community. They asked lawmakers for more clarity around the bill, which they say would cripple the Evergreen State’s fly-tying industry if passed as-is.
“The way this bill reads would condemn our business to no longer exist,” said Josh Phillips during the hearing. Phillips co-owns Spawn Fly Fish, a local fly shop in Ilwaco that makes most of its money selling fur, feathers, and other fly-tying materials. “It’s important that we work together to understand the impact that this bill will have on small businesses like ourselves.”
Supporters of the bill who spoke during last week’s hearing were primarily animal-rights advocates. Most of these supporters focused their ire on the retailers and fashion industries that import fur from farms. In other words, they seemed more concerned about fur coats than fishing lures.
Why the Sportsmen’s Community Is Pushing Back
S.B. 6294 has already been widely opposed by the Northwest’s hunting, fishing, and trapping community, which has seen similar bills floated in Oregon and California in recent years. (The Oregon bill failed, while California’s fur ban went into effect in January 2023.) Trappers in particular view the legislation as an attack on their traditions and livelihoods, as it would make it harder for them to bring furs to market. Now, the fly-tying and fishing community is calling more attention to the bill.
Senator Derek Stanford, the bill’s primary sponsor, spoke during Thursdays’ hearing about the responses he’s received from anglers in the time since the bill was first introduced. Before taking public comment, Stanford clarified that the substituted version of S.B. 6294 makes an exception for flies and fishing lures, along with other “products containing animal hair, fleece, or fur fibers that are not attached to skin.” He also made it clear that the bill’s primary intent is to ban the sale of furs produced unethically in foreign countries (especially China) or in fur farms that use cruel practices.
“I have received a lot of feedback from some groups that are concerned that this bill gets out of that realm too much,” Sen. Stanford said. “I’ve tried to make it extra clear that fur fibers which are commonly used for fishing lures are not intended to be captured within this bill.”
But the folks who rely on these natural materials say the substituted version of S.B 6294 doesn’t go far enough. Backcountry Hunters and Anglers development coordinator Josh Mills spoke to this during the public hearing, and he pointed out that the bill’s updated language exemplifies the general lack of understanding around how furs are used in fly tying.
“The industry of trapping, and activities of hunting and fly tying — and the industries associated with it — are in the crosshairs of this bill,” Mills said. “You cannot buy loose deer, elk, and many other fly-tying supplies without the hide attached. It’s like asking someone to make coffee without the beans.”
Mills also asked for more clarification around how the bill would affect the farms and wholesalers that provide these natural materials. This would directly affect small business owners like Josh Phillips. Along with most other fly shops across the country, Phillips purchases his tying materials from wholesale dealers who are permitted and closely regulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These sellers claim to only deal with natural materials that are harvested sustainably and ethically.
“Everything we deal with is a byproduct of mass human consumption. For example, we get a lot of our rabbit fur from Europe, where they raise them for food,” says one dealer who Phillips buys from, and who asked to remain anonymous because of the negative perceptions around fur trading. “If we’re not buying the fur, it’s going to get tossed in the landfill or left to waste, and nobody wants that.”
Flies Without Fur?
Phillips, whose fly shop started out as an online retail site for all things fly-tying related, says the bill was revised after he and other groups, including the American Sport Fishing Association, reached out to state representatives. But he agrees with Mills that the provisions still don’t go far enough in protecting Washington’s fishing industry. He explains that for fly tyers, it’s critical to have the fibers still attached to the skin when working with materials like rabbit fur, elk hair, and bucktails. The same goes for lure makers who use natural materials to make jigs and other artificials. Keeping the hide attached allows them to better control the material and create lifelike imitations of bugs, baitfish, and other prey items.
“If you use a rabbit strip, that hide is going to protrude off the back of the hook, and that’s where the movement is going to come, creating that lifelike movement in the tail,” Phillips tells Outdoor Life. “Deer [and elk] hair is also very important because you’re looking for a certain size range, and the hairs have to be facing a certain direction for the fly to perform. So, if those fibers were shaved off and put into a bag, they would be nearly impossible to work with.”
The native Washingtonian also explains what many anglers have long known: there really is no substitute for natural materials. There are plenty of synthetic alternatives available, such as craft fur, and while these might be cheaper and easier to work with, they don’t “breathe” the same way in the water. Many of these materials are also made from polymeric fibers, which are essentially plastic, and today’s eco-conscious anglers are trying to cut back on the amount of plastic they buy. (Admittedly, this is a tall order, seeing as nearly every modern fly line is coated in PVC.)
At the risk of romanticizing the art form, Phillips also says there’s something intangible about lashing fur and feathers onto a hook. Performance aside, these materials are part of the sport’s heritage. And if part of the goal of fly fishing is to get closer with nature — if the whole point was to catch fish, we’d be using bait — understanding and utilizing natural materials is an important piece of that connection.
“If you look at a rabbit, the mask, the body fur, and the feet fur all react differently underwater. It’s like that for other animals as well,” Phillips says. “So, if you think about the thousands of years that these animals have evolved and their ability to shed water, that’s what we’re utilizing.”
Read Next: The 12 Best Bass Flies for Catching Largemouth and Smallmouth
Phillips says he and other like-minded groups will continue to push back against the proposed bill. He also hopes that state lawmakers can gain a better understanding of how important fur is to Washington’s anglers before they move forward with any legislation that would affect its sale statewide. To help with this, he’s invited many of them to visit his shop for an introduction to fly tying.
“Our plea to these guys is that we be involved in the conversation, and that’s why I’ve invited them to the shop,” he says. “Like, this is some deer belly hair, this is your spinning hair, and this is an elk mane. Some of these things where there was a lack of understanding around what we do as fly tyers and fly shops.”
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https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/washington-proposed-fur-ban-cripple-fishing-industry/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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THU 02/01
Ax, Kavakos & Yo-Yo Ma Trio in Recital: Beethoven for Three
Tonight at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall, Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma unite to perform an evening of Beethoven works originally conceived for a piano trio.
11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.
Fashion, Food, & Ferraris
There will be light Italian bites available for purchase from Murray Hill Market and Pasta Tivo food truck as well as Italian wine, beer and cocktails available for purchase at this special event that celebrates the Ferrari exhibit at the Crawford Auto Museum. Dr. Paola Basile, a professor of Italian Studies at Lake Erie College and a native of Rome, will give a short presentation on the Emiglia-Romana region of Italy, where Ferrari was born, and on the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy. The event takes place from 4 to 8 p.m.
10825 East Blvd., 216-721-5722, wrhs.org/crawford/.
Mark Gamsjager & the Lustre Kings
Mark Gamsjager and Co. have played alongside the likes of rockabilly heroes such as Wanda Jackson, Bill Kirchen and Robert Gordon, and tonight at 8, they bring their musical expertise to the Beachland Tavern to play a special set that pays tribute to Elvis Presley.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.
Hair of the Grog Boss Dog Brewing & Grog Shop Beer Release Party
A new beer courtesy of Boss Dog, Hair of the Grog was born from a brainstorm between Boss Dog's Josh and Jason Sweet and Grog Shop owner Kathy Blackman. In an effort to keep it, local and support live music, the beer will only be available in the Heights. Tonight at 7, the Grog Shop will celebrate its debut with a tasting and can-release launch party. HIRAM-MAXIM, Lemon Swans, Millions of Mighty Horses, and Guy Snowdon and the Citizens will perform.
2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.
Mamma Mia!
This smash-hit musical features ABBA's greatest hits, including classics like "Dancing Queen," "S.O.S," "Super Trooper," "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Winner Takes It All," along with "an enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship." The musical even spawned a commercially successful film. Tonight's performance takes place at 7:30 at Connor Palace, where shows continue through Feb. 4.
1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
Meet Me @ The Altar
Following summer tour dates as direct support for 5 Seconds of Summer, this indie group released a deluxe version of its debut album, Past // Present // Future, which featured new singles “Strangers" and “Give It Up" in addition to ta cover of “Take Me Away” from the iconic 2000s movie Freaky Friday. Songs such as the jittery "Say It (To My Face)" come off as punkier No Doubt and will easily inspire sing-alongs with fans. The band plays tonight at Mahall's 20 Lanes in Lakewood.
13200 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-3280, mahalls20lanes.com.
FRI 02/02
Airplane!
All That ZAZ: The Zany Comedies of Zucker, Abrahams & Zucker, a program running this month at the Cleveland Institute of Cinematheque, consists of the three original comedies written and directed by a trio of hugely successful writers, directors and producers who grew up in Shorewood, WI and attended Shorewood High School and the University of Wisconsin (Madison) together. After writing the 1977 sketch comedy film Kentucky Fried Movie (directed by John Landis), brothers David and Jerry Zucker and their longtime friend Jim Abrahams made movie history by writing and directing the landmark 1980 comedy Airplane! The Cinematheque screens the film at 7 tonight and at 9:20 tomorrow night.
11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.
BKLYN — The Musical: An Urban Fairytale
BKLYN the Musical, a play within a play, centers on a group of performers who aim to "create an inclusive space for anyone who is searching for a family or for a home." Two aspiring singers engage in a sing-off, and the tension culminates in a Battle of the Divas at Madison Square Garden. Tonight's performance takes place at 7:30, and the play runs through Feb. 18 at Near West Theatre.
6702 Detroit Rd., 216-961-6391, nearwesttheatre.org.
Bumpin Uglies
The popular jam band arrives at the Beachland Ballroom tonight for the first of two shows in a two-night stand. The current tour supports Underdog: The Acoustic Sessions, a 16-track album that features seven new songs and nine "fan favorites." Tracks such as "Locust Ave" features Sublime-like cadences as the group embraces a reggae sensibility even when playing unplugged. Tonight's concert begins at 8. The Grilled Lincolns and Higher Education open the show. TobyRaps and C-Level open tomorrow night's show, which also commences at 8.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.
Flanagan's Wake
No one knows grief and mourning like a Catholic, let alone an Irish Catholic. Now in its eighth year in Cleveland, Flanagan's Wake transports the audience to an Irish wake where villagers tell tales and sing songs for their dearly departed Flanagan. Finding the humor in life and death, the wake acts as a dark backdrop to an otherwise hilarious show in which alcohol fuels the humorous reminiscing. Tonight's show starts at 8 and repeats tomorrow night at 8 at Kennedy's Theatre. Performances continue weekends through April 27.
Kennedy's Cabaret, 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
Glamgore: Couples Counseling
GlamGore is one of few premier and highly acclaimed alternative drag shows in Ohio. Produced, marketed, and hosted by Anhedonia Delight, GlamGore has established itself as a presence in the Cleveland drag scene and beyond. GlamGore attracts audiences for their love and appreciation of drag and performers for their interest in showcasing their drag skills as an art form. It's one of few all-inclusive alternative drag events that incorporates curated themes to elevate artists and audiences alike. Femme Fatale of Filth Anhedonia Delight aims to push the boundaries of drag and give opportunities to people to share their art in a safe and supportive space. Tonight's performance takes place at 9 at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights.
2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.
The Great Big Home + Garden Show
The 10-day Great Big Home + Garden Show is back at the I-X Center through Feb. 11. It features a whopping 600 exhibits centering on how to "renew, refresh and restore" your home and garden. There will also be fine dining in the I-X Bistro, a full-service, white tablecloth restaurant, and landscaping experts will present daily gardening seminars. Check the show's website for hours and a complete schedule of happenings.
One I-X Center Drive, 216-676-6000, ixcenter.com.
Is It Because I’m
The second annual Black History Month exhibition organized by CIA's Black Scholars and Artists students, this exhibit examines themes related to Black identity, voice and presence. Is It Because I’m
11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7461, cia.edu.
TK Kirkland
When rapper 50 Cent needed a comic for the video release of his hit record "Window Shopper," he called upon TK Kirkland, a guy who's known as the "gangsta of comedy." Kirkland has worked as a host on BET's Mad Sports and appeared numerous times on Comicview. Given the breadth of his work, Kirkland is clearly comfortable on stage and has a natural ability to sustain a conversation. He performs tonight at 7:30 and 10 at the Cleveland Funny Bone, where he has shows scheduled through Sunday.
1148 Main Ave., 216-696-4677, cleveland.funnybone.com.
Machine Head and Fear Factory
These two veteran hard rock bands bring their co-headlining tour to MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage. Formed in 1991 by singer-guitarist Robb Flynn, who remains the only original member of the band, Machine Head returned with new material in 2022 when it released Of Kingdom and Crown, an album of ominous sounding tunes such as album opener "Slaughter the Martyr," a Tool-like track that begins with hushed vocals. Formed in 1989, Fear Factory still counts guitarist Dino Cazares as an original member. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark.mgmresorts.com/en.html.
MIX
Each month, the Cleveland Museum of Art hosts a new, themed installment of its MIX special event series. Although the theme changes each month, the events typically feature live music, art demonstrations, activities and dancing, with special drinks and food available. Tonight, the museum invites guests to celebrate all things Barbie. Rachel Hunt (WRUW) will be spin tunes all night and Wave & Rowanne will perform in between DJ sets.
11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.
Monsters vs. Chicago Wolves
At 7 p.m. today and at 1 p.m., the Monsters take on the Chicago Wolves at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Tonight's game will feature the season-long 3-2-1 Friday promotion, and there will be $1 sodas, $2 hot dogs and $3 select beers.
1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
Ms. Pat: Ya Girl Done Made It
Comedian, author, radio host, podcaster and actress Patricia Williams brings her standup tour to the Ohio Theatre tonight at 7. Thanks to an Emmy-nominated series that's based on her life, Williams might be more popular now than ever before.
1511 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
SAT 02/03
2024 High School Rock-Off
The annual High School Rock Off returns to the Rock Hall tonight at 6. Ten bands will compete to face off at the Final Exam that takes place at 6 p.m. on March 2.
1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com.
Eric Johanson
Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Eric Johanson plays everything from progressive Americana to blues-based roots rock and New Orleans funk. His four most recent solo releases — Live at DBA: New Orleans Bootleg, Covered Tracks: Vol. 1, Covered Tracks: Vol. 2, and Below Sea Level — all reached Top 10 positions on the Billboard blues charts. He comes to the Treelawn Social tonight in support of The Deep & the Dirty, an album was produced by outlaw country artist Jesse Dayton.
15335 Waterloo Rd, 216-677-8733, thetreelawn.com.
A Tribute to the Beatles
Tonight at 8 at Mandel Concert Hall, Cleveland Pops and Classical Mystery Tour, four musicians who sound and look just like the Beatles, will play hits from the Fab Four.
11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.
Vintage Clothing Pop-Up
From noon to 3 p.m. today, Table for 2 and Odessa Girl, two vintage lovers, will be present at this pop-up to guide you through a fashion journey. They'll share their expertise, offer styling tips and help you find that perfect vintage clothing or home goods item. There'll be champagne, sparkling water and snacks.
4740 Lorain Ave., 216-202-5015, eventbrite.com/e/vintage-clothing-pop-up-from-our-hearts-table-for-2-odessa-girl-tickets-800092537317?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Weekly Live Music Showcase
Edwins Too hosts this weekly showcase featuring local musicians. The shows take place every Saturday from 7 to 8:45 p.m. at the restaurant's Shaker Square location. A full bar and restaurant dinner menu are available during the show, and tickets cost $10.
13220 Shaker Square, 216-400-6091, edwinsrestaurant.org.
SUN 02/04
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Famous for '80 hits such as "Tuff Enuff" and "Wrap It Up," the Fabulous Thunderbirds, a band that brought Texas blues to the masses, continues to persevere even as the blues isn't as hot as it once way. Led by co-founder Kim Wilson, the group performs tonight at the Kent Stage. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
175 E. Main St., Kent, 330-677-5005, kentstage.org.
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https://www.clevescene.com/arts/15-things-to-do-in-cleveland-this-weekend-feb-1-4-43542947
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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Budget 2024 Live Updates: A day after the commencement of the Budget Session of Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget 2024-25 at the Parliament on Thursday, February 1. The interim budget will include estimates of the government’s expenditure, revenue, fiscal deficit, financial performance and projections for a few months. The full budget will be presented after the Lok Sabha elections by the newly elected government. Despite some speculations of the interim budget being a vote on account, many experts are suggesting crucial announcements for income taxpayers and salaried individuals. There are expectations of measures to make the new income tax regime more lucrative. Many people are anticipating some big announcements for the EV, real estate, cryptocurrency, and renewable energy sectors. Industry stalwarts from other sectors like EV, real estate, healthcare, education, energy, auto, agriculture, FMCG, IT, defence, etc are keenly waiting for the interim budget. As the final countdown begins, stay updated with all Budget 2024 announcements with Livemint.
Budget 2024 Live: Date, time, and Where to watch
Interim Budget 2024-2025 is scheduled to be tabled on February 1 by FM Nirmala Sitharaman and is expected to commence at 11 am.
You can watch FM Sitharaman's Budget speech live on the official channel of Parliament Sansad TV and Doordarshan. The live Budget 2023 telecast will also be available on their respective YouTube channels. Besides these, PIB India will also broadcast the Budget speech on their YouTube channel and on Twitter,
You can access the Budget 2024 documents in a "paperless form" through the Union Budget Mobile App. All essential Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants, and the Finance Bill as mandated by the Constitution, will be accessible on the app.
Budget 2024 Live: Expectations - Harinder Sahu, a Sebi-registered Research Analyst at King Research Academy
"During the budget, a critical analysis of pre-rally trends becomes imperative, serving as a reliable indicator for potential market movements. While there are inherent uncertainties, there is also a 70 percent likelihood of positive outcomes, underscoring the need for vigilance and strategic decision-making on budget day."
Budget 2024 Live: Expectations - Suman Bannerjee, CIO, Hedonova
"We anticipate that the Interim Budget 2024 might not bring significant shifts in the stock market or investor portfolios, but it's crucial to closely analyze any key announcements for their market impact. This year, market dynamics are expected to be shaped by political and economic factors, with a clear focus on capital expenditure rather than short-term populist measures. This continuation of last year's strategy, emphasizing long-term infrastructural investment, reflects a commitment to sustainable economic growth. Understanding this government approach is vital for investors as they navigate the financial markets in the upcoming year."
Budget 2024 Live: Expectations - Radhika Rao, Senior Economist, DBS Group Research
"The Budget will emphasise an inclusive and prosperous policy push in the context of incremental progressive steps in the roadmap over the next 20-plus years toward India@100 (a century since independence). In an election year, the government usually tables the vote-on-account or the Interim Budget. A vote-on-account seeks approvals for essential expenditure outlays until the polls, while the interim Budget broadly includes an assessment of the current state of the economy, current/capex expenditures, and receipts, as well as revised estimates of the current financial year and estimates for the year ahead. Taking a leaf off the pre-election 2019 Budget, we expect this interim edition to propose modest pro-demand steps to address near-term risks."
Budget 2024 Live: Expectations - Bank of Baroda
A research note from the Bank of Baroda said that with the 2024-25 Budget being an interim one, the government will focus on maintaining continuity of policies while committing itself to the path of fiscal consolidation. "In the wake of weak monsoon, and subdued Rabi sowing, the Budget will focus on steering rural growth. For this, enhanced spending on MGNREGA, PM KISAN, and PMAY can be expected. Driving investment growth will be another focus area for the government. We thus expect ₹1.5-2 lakh crore incremental increase in capex for the next year."
Budget 2024 Live: Expectations - Suman Chowdhury, chief economist and head of research, at Acuite Ratings & Research
"Given the priority that is likely to be given for fiscal consolidation in the upcoming Budget, we don't expect any significant fiscal stimulus in it. However, the government may continue to earmark a significant quantum for capital expenditure with a growth of 15 percent in its budgetary allocation; the latter will continue to be a primary driver of the domestic economy over the medium term. The government may also enhance the subsidy allocation for some segments like farmers, women, informal sector workers and unemployed youth to strengthen domestic private consumption, which is estimated to show a weak growth of 4.4 percent in FY24. Given the need to sustain public investments and also support certain social segments through subsidies or budgetary relief, the targeted reduction of fiscal deficit from 5.9 percent to 5.3 percent will pose a material challenge for the finance ministry, necessitating a significant step-up in non-tax revenues like PSU disinvestments."
Budget 2024 Live: Measures for the economy, select segments to feature in Nirmala Sitharaman's 6th straight budget
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to unveil the last Budget of the Modi 2.0 government before the upcoming general elections on Thursday. The budget is anticipated to include a combination of economic measures, particularly targeting key voter segments such as farmers and women. In her sixth consecutive budget, Sitharaman is expected to highlight the achievements of the Modi government over the past decade and outline future plans for the country without veering from fiscal responsibility.
With recent electoral victories in three states reducing the pressure for populist measures, the focus is likely to be on prudent fiscal policies. Special attention is expected to be given to sectors like agriculture and the overall economy, aiming to generate employment and stimulate consumption.
While an interim budget traditionally avoids major policy announcements due to the impending Model Code of Conduct, past instances, like the 2019 interim budget's announcement of cash assistance for farmers, suggest that governments may still make significant announcements during this period.
Budget 2024 Live: Youth, women power, farmers, poor to be govt's main focus, says President Murmu
On the first day of the budget session, President Draupadi Murmu outlined that the priorities of the government would rest on four key pillers-youth, power, women power, farmers and poor. These pillars will be the key focus of the government in the interim Budget to be presented today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
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https://www.livemint.com/budget/news/budget-2024-live-updates-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-speech-1-feb-2024-income-tax-railway-fmcg-ev-healthcare-hra-defence-auto-11706689827986.html
| 2024-01-31T23:50:55Z
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Wisconsin election officials urge state Supreme Court to reject Phillips’ effort to get on ballot
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips sued too late after being left off of Wisconsin’s primary ballot and the state Supreme Court should reject his lawsuit, the state elections commission and a special bipartisan panel said Wednesday.
Phillips last week asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to order that his name be added to the primary ballot in the battleground state after he was excluded by the state’s top Democrats who only put President Joe Biden’s name on the April 2 primary ballot.
The bipartisan presidential selection committee that didn’t forward his name in time, as well as the Wisconsin Elections Commission, told the Supreme Court in a joint response on Wednesday that Phillips waited too long.
“Phillips did nothing until the eleventh hour,” they said in their response filed with the court.
Since Jan. 2, Phillips know that his name had not been included as a candidate, but he didn’t start a petition drive to get on the ballot as the law allows or file a lawsuit until Jan. 26, the filing noted.
The elections commission and presidential selection committee said that ballots must be mailed to military and overseas voters no later than Feb. 15 and to meet that deadline, county clerks need to begin drafting and distributing ballots “as soon as possible.”
They asked the court to reject Phillips’ lawsuit by Friday because after that “it will become increasingly difficult each day for the clerks to feasibly get the ballots ready, delivered, and mailed on time.”
The joint group said that Phillips’ arguments should be dismissed because he had a recourse to gather 8,000 signatures to get on the ballot but didn’t. They also argued that Phillips has no standing to bring the challenge because the presidential selection committee has the sole discretion to decide who gets on the ballot.
They further argued that because of that sole discretion given to the committee, the court has no role to play in deciding who it should have placed on the ballot.
Phillips, who represents neighboring Minnesota in Congress, is running a longshot bid to defeat Biden. He is the only Democrat in elected office who is challenging Biden.
In Phillips’ lawsuit, he argues that his request to be put on the ballot was illegally ignored by the Wisconsin Presidential Preference Selection Committee, which is comprised of Republican and Democratic leaders who bring forward names for the ballot, and the Wisconsin Election Commission.
Phillips argued that he met the test in Wisconsin law for gaining ballot access that says a candidate must be “generally advocated or recognized in the national news media.”
The committee put Biden, former President Donald Trump and five other Republican challengers, including four who have since ceased campaigning, on the ballot.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission traditionally just accepts the recommendations from party leaders that come forward through the presidential selection committee.
Phillips had no comment Wednesday on the response to his lawsuit.
“As we fight Trump’s attacks on democracy we must also be vigilant against efforts by people in our own Party to do the same,” Phillips said in a statement Monday. “Voters should choose the nominee of our Party without insiders trying to rig the process for Joe Biden.”
Biden easily won last week’s New Hampshire primary as a write-in candidate, with Phillips getting about 20% of the vote. Phillips has been certified to appear on the primary ballot in other states.
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://kstp.com/associated-press/ap-us-international/wisconsin-election-officials-urge-state-supreme-court-to-reject-phillips-effort-to-get-on-ballot/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:56Z
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FBI warns of tech-support scammers that use couriers
Hacking is getting more personalized.
· 3 min read
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
Add “courier” to the list of professionals that hackers are impersonating for their own gains.
In a public service announcement Monday, the FBI revealed scammers—and in-person scammer couriers—are taking money and assets from unsuspecting victims. The announcement of the fraud spike is another recent example of cybercriminals taking a more personal, less technical tactic.
“Scammers sometimes use a multi-layered approach, posing, in succession, as a technology company, a financial institution, and a US government official,” the agency said in its advisory.
According to the alert, step one of the scheme involves the posers informing victims, “many of whom are senior citizens,” that their financial accounts have been hacked and they need to protect their funds by liquidating assets into cash or precious metals like gold or silver. Step two is the pickup, when a courier retrieves the cash at the victim’s home or a public location.
“From May to December 2023, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) saw an uptick in this activity with aggregated losses of over $55 million,” the FBI noted in its bulletin.
Malicious hacking lately has involved a level of nontechnical, convincing impersonation.
- Cybersecurity company Arctic Wolf noted instances of ransomware threat actors posing as ransomware researchers, who then offered to delete the hacked data for a fee.
- Ransomware group Scattered Spider, considered “experts in social engineering” by CISA, has posed as IT or help-desk officials. The impersonators, reportedly behind 2023 casino hacks and other compromises, have been known to wear down IT pros into giving up passwords.
- In December, email-protection provider Abnormal Security revealed a phishing attack involving Google Forms, phony invoices, and an over-the-phone “customer support” representative ready to pry for personal info and convince callers to download malware on their device. (The FBI noted an uptick in “callback phishing” in November.)
“Social engineering and behavioral manipulation is really the core to most cyber attacks that we see today,” Crane Hassold, former director of threat intelligence at Abnormal Security, told IT Brew in February 2023.
A year later, the trend continues. Chester Wisniewski, director and global field CTO at cybersecurity company Sophos, agreed that today’s ransomware perpetrators rely more “on the social side of these negotiations and less on technical needs.”
“The difference is going to be the social pressure, the psychiatry, the psychology that goes into crafting the pressure that you’re putting on those victims to make a fast, ill-informed decision to pay you,” Wisniewski told IT Brew in December.
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
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https://www.itbrew.com/stories/2024/01/31/fbi-warns-of-tech-support-scammers-that-use-couriers
| 2024-01-31T23:50:57Z
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Denver International Airport sets passenger traffic record in 2023
Last year, Denver International Airport set an all-time passenger traffic record, a 12.3% increase over the 69,286,461 passengers served in 2022. That year also set a passenger traffic record.
This past year, 2023, was the first year in history that DIA served more than 70 million annual passengers.
"2023 was a year of extraordinary growth for DEN and I am proud of the airport team for the ways that we have adjusted our strategies, invested in new technologies and worked to meet the moment while also continuing to prepare for the future," said DEN CEO Phil Washington in a statement. "It is incumbent upon us to ensure the airport's infrastructure can continue to accommodate the growth we expect and that's why our Vision 100 strategic plan is focused on preparing the airport to serve 100 million annual passengers and serves as a blueprint to align DEN's decision-making and accountability."
Additional Information from DIA:
In addition to 2023 ranking as DEN's busiest year ever, the airport's passenger traffic notched several notable milestones during the year. Every single month set an all-time record in terms of passenger traffic volume. In addition, DEN recorded its five busiest months in history during the year:
- July 2023 was DEN's first-ever month with over seven million passengers and now ranks as DEN's busiest month ever;
- October 2023 and August 2023 rank as DEN's second- and third-busiest months ever, respectively, and both also recorded over seven million monthly passengers; and
- September 2023 and June 2023 round out the top five busiest months ever.
2023 marked the first year in history for DEN to exceed four million annual international passengers: a total of 4,036,545 international passengers used the airport in 2023, an increase of 21.5% as compared to 2022. Each month was a new record, and July 2023 was the first month ever to record more than 400,000 international passengers. In total, international passengers accounted for 5.2% of DEN's traffic in 2023, up from the pre-pandemic level of 4.6% in 2019.
DEN's two largest carriers, United and Southwest, set all-time passenger records in 2023. United served more than 36 million passengers during the year and captured 46.8% of total DEN market share. Southwest captured 30.9% of total DEN market share on annual volume exceeding 24 million passengers. DEN's third-largest carrier, Frontier, served more than 7.5 million passengers during the year, accounting for 9.6% of total market share and the carrier's highest volume since 2019.
Although 2023 now also ranks as DEN's busiest year ever in terms of origination and destination (O&D) traffic, the growth was just 0.1% over 2019, the previous busiest year for O&D passengers. Connecting passengers propelled DEN's extraordinary growth in 2023 on an increase of 35.7% as compared to 2019.
Total cargo volume at DEN in 2023 surpassed 680 million tons, a 5.9% decrease as compared to 2022 but a 1.4% increase as compared to 2019. In 2023, cargo volume on passenger carriers exceeded 2022 volume by 8.1% while volume on all-cargo carriers declined by 10%.
Worldwide passenger traffic statistics from Airports Council International (ACI) are available through October 2023. Through the first 10 months of the year, DEN ranked as the third-busiest airport in the U.S. and the fifth-busiest airport in the world. Preliminary full-year data from ACI will be available this spring.
for more features.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/denver-international-airport-passenger-traffic-record-2023/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:57Z
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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.kvcrnews.org/2024-01-31/a-tennessee-lawmaker-helped-pass-a-strict-abortion-law-hes-now-trying-to-loosen-it
| 2024-01-31T23:50:57Z
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Issa Rae says Black stories are 'less of a priority' for TV bosses after two of her shows are axed - despite studios pledging to increase diversity in the wake of Black Lives Matter
- The LA-based mogul said she is 'pessimistic' about the state of the industry
- READ MORE: 'I never think I've made it there's always more to do': Skepta discusses branching out as he makes his directorial debut and jokes he only gets starstruck 'when he looks in the mirror'
Issa Rae has slammed TV bosses for not doing enough to tell Black stories despite studio pledges to increase diversity on screens.
The Barbie and Insecure actress, originally from Maryland but now living in LA, spoke out after two shows she worked on were axed.
The 39-year-old, who is an actress, writer and producer, burst onto the scene in 2010 with YouTube series The Mis-Adventures of an Awkward Black Girl' and her star has continued to rise ever since.
However, two of the shows on which she has been a producer have been cancelled by TV bosses in recent weeks; Rap S***, which had a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and A Black Lady Sketch Show.
After both programs were axed, the talent hit out at networks and said she's 'pessimistic' for the future of Black stories being told on big and small screens.
Actress, producer, and writer Issa Rae (pictured) has slammed the film and television industry for its lack of diverse outputs
'You're seeing very clearly now that our stories are less of a priority,' Issa told Net-A-Porter.
Issa, the daughter of a Senegalese and American teacher, has demonstrated her commitment to sharing Black stories from a young age.
During her student years at Stanford University, she founded a theatre company to bring such stories to the stage.
And since founding her production company Hoorae Media, Issa has dedicated resources to making stories that represent the Black community.
However, she told the outlet she is concerned about the number of Black TV shows that are not being renewed for new seasons.
'You're seeing so many Black shows get cancelled, you're seeing so many executives – especially on the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] side – get canned,' she said.
Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement which followed, TV studios pledged to reconsider their employment practices to increase diversity.
However, a 2023 study from the University of Southern California found that many of these pledges never materialized as studios were still failing to produce films from people of colour.
Her criticism follows HBO's decision to axe Rap S*** (a scene from the show is picture), which she created and executively produced. The show follows two estranged high school friends from outside Miami reunite to form an all-female rap group, hoping to make it in the music industry
The study found that, in 2022, the number of films featuring lead characters from ethnic minority backgrounds had fallen from 2021, at just 31 compared to 37 the previous year.
'I am pessimistic, because there's no one holding anybody accountable,' Issa said on the lack of progress.
She continued: 'And I can, sure, but also at what cost? I can't force you to make my stuff.'
Issa's Rap S*** came to an end following its second season which concluded on December 21 when Max (formerly HBO Max) didn't renew the show.
The series was Rae's follow-up to her popular HBO series Insecure, which she starred in for five seasons on the cable network until 2021.
Although Rae — whose Barbie film recently scored multiple SAG nominations — didn't act in the series, she created and executive produced it, with Syreeta Singleton also executive producing and working as its showrunner.
Rae created and executive produced the series, along with Syreeta Singleton, who was also the showrunner; Rae pictured in July 2022 in LA
Rap S*** was Rae's scripted follow-up to her acclaimed HBO series Insecure (pictured). She can currently be seen in Barbie and American Fiction
'I’m so proud of and grateful for Syreeta, our cast, writers and crew that made this show possible,' Rae said in a statement to Variety. 'Thanks to Sarah Aubrey and Suzanna Makkos for championing the show, and much love to the fans that tuned in weekly to root for our girls.'
Rap S*** followed the journey of two former high school friends, Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion), as they revive their friendship in Miami years later.
The reunited pals start their own rap duo with aspirations of making it big in the music industry.
Rae's Insecure character also had aspirations of being a rapper early in that show's run, though subsequent seasons mostly jettisoned that storyline in favor of focusing on her drama-inducing romantic relationships.
'I love this show and I am so proud of the work we’ve done,' Singleton said in her own statement. 'We created something fun, raw, and original and we did it our way! I will forever be grateful to Issa, our incredible cast, the amazing writers and crew that made this show possible. And so grateful to Max for giving us the chance to bring Rap S*** to the screen.'
The Barbie star (Issa is pictured in the hit film) said that diversity and inclusion boards rarely come into fruition
A statement from Max thanked Rae 'for creating Rap S***, a one-of-a-kind comedy with compelling social commentary that reached viewers in a way only Issa’s talents can accomplish.'
'A huge thank you to Issa, showrunner Syreeta Singleton and the teams at Hoorae and 3 Arts Entertainment for introducing us to Shawna and Mia, a duo whose journey fans have been invested in and who they have continued to root for through everything,' added a spokesperson for the streamer. 'We’ll never get Seduce and Scheme out of our heads and we wouldn’t have it any other way.'
Although it didn't win any major awards, it scored nominations from the Gotham Awards for Breakthrough Series and a nomination for Best Lead Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards for KaMillion.
The NAACP Image Awards nominated Rap S*** for Outstanding Comedy Series, while Singleton was nominated for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television).
Rap S*** was intended to begin its second season on Max on August 10 of last year, but the long-running actors strike put the show on hold until November 9.
The series was a hit with critics from the beginning, with both seasons receiving astounding 100 percent fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
Following her turn on screen in the massively successful Barbie, Rae is back on screen in the critically acclaimed film satire American Fiction, which stars Jeffrey Wright and is an adaptation of Percival Everett's acclaimed 2001 novel Erasure.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13028361/Issa-Rae-says-Black-stories-priority-TV-bosses-two-shows-axed-despite-studios-pledging-increase-diversity-wake-Black-Lives-Matter.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:50:57Z
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A Tory minister has announced he will step back from frontline politics at the next election over death threats and intimidation because of his pro-Israel views.
Justice Minister Mike Freer said he was “lucky to be alive” after narrowly escaping a meeting in 2021 with Ali Harbi Ali, who later murdered fellow MP Sir David Amess.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the 63-year-old said he had been subject to a decade of intimidation, culminating in a suspected arson attack on his constituency office in December.
His family were so concerned by the incident that Mr Freer decided over Christmas to step down, he said.
His husband Angelo had become “incredibly jittery” over his safety, and he was advised by police to wear a stab vest during events in his constituency, he told the Mail.
“Obviously your husband or your family’s views have to carry a lot of weight. And when someone worries that, are you going to come home at night? - you have to take that seriously,” he said.
Mr Freer’s move comes amid rising concern over threats towards MPs.
Sir David Amess was stabbed to death at his constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021 by Ali Harbi Ali, who was later sentenced to life in prison.
It came five years after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in Birstall, West Yorkshire, where she had been set to hold a constituency surgery.
Mr Freer is not Jewish but has voiced strong support for the Jewish community, and his constituency of Finchley and Golders Green has a large Jewish population.
“I’m a strong supporter of the two-state solution,” he told the Mail.
“I’m not completely Israel, come hell or high water. But yes I do support the Israeli government on the eradication of Hamas, very firmly and very robustly.”
Mr Freer said many of his constituents have faced anti-Semitism after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
“I know of no other schools that need security other than Jewish schools,” he said.
“I don’t know places of worship that need security. I don’t know shops – shops might have security for shoplifting, but not to stop their shoppers being attacked.”
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/31/tory-mp-mike-freer-quit-politics-death-threats-israel-gaza/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:57Z
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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.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/for-chicagos-new-migrants-informal-support-groups-help-ease-the-pain-and-trauma
| 2024-01-31T23:50:58Z
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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.kob.com/news/business-money/deadly-school-bus-crash-in-ohio-yields-new-safety-features-and-training-but-no-seat-belt-mandate/
| 2024-01-31T23:50:58Z
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A civil rights group alleged Tuesday that North Carolina’s public schools are “systematically marginalizing” LGBTQ youth while new state laws in part are barring certain sex-related instruction in early grades and limiting athletic participation by transgender students.
The Campaign for Southern Equality filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice against the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction, alleging violations of federal law. The complaint also alleges that the board and the department have failed to provide guidance to districts on how to enforce the laws without violating Title IX, which forbids discrimination based on sex in education.
“This discrimination has created a hostile educational environment that harms LGBTQ students on a daily basis,” the complaint from the group’s lawyers said while seeking a federal investigation and remedial action. “And it has placed educators in the impossible position of choosing between following the dictates of their state leaders or following federal and state law, as well as best practices for safeguarding all of their students.”
The Asheville-based group is fighting laws it opposes that were approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in 2023 over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes.
One law, called the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” prohibits instruction about gender identity and sexuality in the curriculum for K-4 classrooms and directs that procedures be created whereby schools alert parents before a student goes by a different name or pronoun. The athletics measure bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams from middle and high school through college.
The group said it quoted two dozen students, parents, administrators and other individuals — their names redacted in the complaint — to build evidence of harm. These people and others said the laws are contributing to school policies and practices in which LGBTQ students are being outed to classmates and parents and in which books with LGBTQ characters are being removed from schools. There are also now new barriers for these students to seek health support and find sympathetic educators, the complaint says.
The group’s lawyers want the federal government to declare the two laws in violation of Title IX, direct the education board and DPI to train school districts and charter schools on the legal protections for LGBTQ students and ensure compliance.
Superintendent Catherine Truitt, the elected head of the Department of Public Instruction, said Tuesday after the complaint was made public that the Parents’ Bill of Rights “provides transparency for parents — plain and simple” and “ensures that parents remain aware of major health-related matters impacting their child’s growth and development.”
Local school boards have approved policies in recent weeks and months to comply with the law. It includes other directives designed to give parents a greater role in their child’s K-12 education, such as a process to review and object to textbooks and to get grievances addressed. But earlier this month the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools voted for policies that left out the LGBTQ-related provisions related to classroom instruction and pronouns.
Supporters of the transgender athlete restrictions argue they are needed to protect the safety and well-being of young female athletes and to preserve scholarship opportunities for them. But Tuesday’s complaint contends the law is barring transgender women and girls from participating in athletics. The group wants a return to the previous process in which it says the North Carolina High School Athletic Association laid out a path for students to participate in sports in line with their gender identities.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/civil-rights-group-says-nc-public-schools-are-harming-lgbtq-students-v-rcna136597
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bocana Resources Corp. (TSXV: BOCA) (Frankfurt: VC1) ("Bocana" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from diamond drill holes HRC2303-HRC2305 on the Escala area concession in southwest Bolivia. Assay results confirmed high grade gold/silver and base metals associated with late stage hydrothermal breccias.
The Company's inaugural drilling was completed on October 24, 2023, and tested both the Cerro Galapagos and Cerro Blancos areas as well the Laura Zone. The Cerro Galapagos target area hosts a large, multi-phased, felsic intrusive complex with extensive alteration and up to 4 phases of sulphide mineralization observed. HRC2303 and HRC2304 tested the Cerro Galapagos area, HRC2305 was completed in the Cerro Blanco area.
Highlights of assay results for holes HRC2303-HRC2305 are as follows in Table # 1:
Table # 1 – Selected Assay Results
*Core length is not true width. True width is unknown.
Discussion of Results
Cerro Galapagos
Cerro Galapagos contains a large approximately, 2.0 X 2.0-kilometre, circular, induced polarization (IP) chargeability high and moderate to high resistivity anomalies. Diamond drill holes (HRC2303-2304) were completed at Cerro Galapagos where a large, felsic porphyry complex containing multiple phases and extensive argillic and phyllic alteration zones occur.
HRC2303 is located approximately 200 metres north of the central core of the IP chargeability anomaly. The core depth was extended by more than 200 metres due to the extent of and the increasing concentrations of sulfides being observed with depth. Several intrusive phases were encountered, most of which were mineralized again by pyrite and minor arsenopyrite-pyrite phases. Starting at 277.0 metres for 1.8 metres of core length hydrothermal breccia with observed chalcopyrite was noted.
HRC2304 was added to the program after the visual sulfides concentration in HRC2303 and is located 100 metres southwest from the HRC2303 collar location. The hole contains several intrusive phases including intrusive and intrusion breccia and a significant increase in hydrothermal breccias. HRC2304 hosted at least 4 phases of mineralization with base metal mineralization occurring in the apparently youngest, hydrothermal breccias. Again, most of the rock types encountered were mineralized with pyrite and minor arsenopyrite mineralization as disseminations and fracture fillings. Three significant intervals of hydrothermal breccia were noted in Table # 1 and contained visible chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite mineralization.
Figure # 1 is a surface plan view of the three areas drill tested with drill hole surface projections. Table # 1 lists all the details on the drill holes completed on the program.
Figure # 1 Drill Plan Map
Cerro Blanco
HRC2305-HRC2306 were completed for a total of 331.2 metres testing IP, chargeability, and resistivity highs. Both holes encountered approximately 5-10 metres of sediments before encountering a single phase of a quartz eye porphyry. Minor pyrite and chalcopyrite mineralization occurs at the sediment/intrusive contact in both holes and approximately 30 metres of crackle fractured intrusive in hole HRC2306 healed by finer grained pyrite with traces of chalcopyrite. As indicated in Table # 1 Hole HRC2305 encountered high grade copper and associated gold mineralization over a 0.18m interval.
Table # 2 below provides collar data for those holes discussed today.
Conclusions
The 2023 drilling program did locate an extensive, highly altered felsic porphyry system, with the continuity of gold throughout the potential bulk tonnage system remained generally low, under >0.10 g/t gold. However, significant concentrations of silver and gold also occurred in select areas. Several phases of mineralization occurred within the porphyry system, the apparent last phase was hydrothermal breccias with observed chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite mineralization. The hydrothermal breccias encountered are probably associated with structures and might be in the form of “pipes”.
It was recommended to Bocana that additional surveys be completed to determine the orientation and extent of these hydrothermal “pipes”. Additionally, detailed geological mapping within the Cerro Galapagos porphyry system, adding these core results with the historical diamond drilling results, is recommended prior to any additional drill testing, as part of the Phase 1 diamond drilling program recommendations found in the 43-101 Technical Report.
Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance:
All drill core samples have been collected under the supervision of Company employees. Drill cores were transported from the drill platform to the camp’s logging facility where it was geotechnically and geologically logged, photographed, and split by diamond saw prior to being sampled. Samples were then bagged, sealed, and numbered in order to maintain a chain-of-custody. Company employees also inserted blank, duplicate and a certified standard sample in each batch of twenty samples prior to transportation from the Escala area camp to the independent laboratory site of ALS Bolivia Ltda. in Oruro, Bolivia. ALS will provide Bocana with sample preparation and analysis services at its ISO/IEC 17025 accredited facilities. The ALS unit in Oruro is ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 17025:2005 accredited and ALS is the only laboratory in South America that has a high number of analytical methods accredited by ISO IEC 17025 and has the sample preparation stage included in this accreditation.
Qualified Person
Bocana’s disclosure of metallurgical, scientific, and technical information included in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Lorne Warner, P.Geo., geological consultant to the Company and a Qualified Person under the definition of NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Bocana Resources Corp.
Bocana is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in South America. Bocana, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Huiracocha International Service SRL, holds a 100% working interest in the mineral properties known as the Escala area concessions located at the Department of Potosi, Sud Lipez Province, Bolivia as awarded by Comibol.
Contact Information
For more information on Bocana, visit: https://bocanaresources.com.
For more information or interview requests, please contact:
Timothy J. Turner – Chief Executive Officer
info@bocanaresources.com
Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information can be identified by words such as: "intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", “approximately”, “planning”, “projected”, “anticipate” and similar references to future periods. Although Bocana believes that, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Bocana can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Bocana, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities including Phase 1; risks associated with operation in foreign jurisdictions; ability to successfully integrate purchased properties or mining rights awarded; foreign operations risks; and other risks inherent in the mining industry. Although Bocana has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Additional risks include those disclosed in the Information Circular, which are incorporate herein by reference and are available through SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.
This news release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities described in this news release have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended) absent registration or an exemption from registration. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which where such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/05606367-6247-404b-bf43-573d94edf02d
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https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/31/2821618/0/en/Bocana-Resources-Corp-Announces-Diamond-Drill-Assay-Results-from-the-Escala-Gold-Silver-Base-Metal-Project-in-Bolivia.html
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday reported a 33% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,207 crore for the third quarter ended Dec 31 on higher sales.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,406 crore for the year-ago period, it said in a regulatory filing. Total revenue from operations was up 15% at Rs 33,513 crore as compared with Rs 29,251 crore.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/maruti-q3-profit-up-33-at-rs-3207-crore/articleshow/107305164.cms
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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Many of the deer hunting strategies we rely on aren’t scientifically proven. For the most part, we go with the gear and tactics that have worked in the field, not necessarily in research studies. The most controversial example of this is probably scent control. Numerous products claim to minimize human scent, and some of them are gimmicks. In this world of scent-control, the most technologically-advanced strategy — as well as one of the most dubious — is to use ozone.
Ozonics is the company that first used ozone to minimize hunter’s scent in 2007. In the decades to follow, the company has sold hundreds of thousands of units, says Ozonics president Buddy Piland. The current topline Ozonics unit costs $456 (on sale), which is serious cash for most deer hunters. Piland admits that marketing Ozonics so it’s perceived as a legitimate product (and not a gimmick) has been a challenge over the years.
“I’m selling you an invisible molecule,” he says. “I’m saying ‘Hey, there’s something coming out of this box that will keep deer from smelling you.’”
So is the price of Ozonics worth it? Do these units actually work as advertised?
You can search around on the internet and find testimonials from a variety of deer hunting personalities promising that Ozonics is a “game changer.” But you can also find testimonials from hunting personalities and influencers promising that almost any gear item out there works, no matter how frivolous it might be.
Cynical deer hunters don’t believe the hype, and they might not even believe the anecdotes of outdoor writers and editors. As hard as we searched, we couldn’t find any scientific, peer-reviewed research on the effectiveness of using ozone to kill human scent in the field.
So we devised a totally anecdotal, but also totally unbiased, experiment of our own. We gave new Ozonics units to five diehard deer hunters who have no sponsorships, TV shows, or big social media followings, and had them test the units throughout their 2023 deer season.
They are all experienced and skilled hunters who have killed big bucks over the years, but they’re also regular dudes. Most of them work blue-collar jobs when they’re not hunting. They have no problem calling out bullshit. Most importantly, they spend a lot of time in the woods. Altogether, they had more than 400 deer encounters while running Ozonics units.
We sent each hunter a survey at the end of their season. We did not pay them for participating in the survey (and neither did Ozonics).
How Ozonics Is Supposed to Work
But before we can decide if Ozonics works, or doesn’t work, we need to understand ozone. As Piland puts it, ozone is a molecule made of three connected oxygen atoms (O3), which is unstable and wants to revert to its natural state. Ozone attaches to bacteria or scent molecules and oxidizes them. Ozone is used in a variety of industries (you can read all about it here) but the takeaway for deer hunters is that the ozone being created by an Ozonics unit is supposed to attach to our scent molecules and neutralize them, thus preventing deer from smelling us.
There are a variety of ozone-producing devices on the market that can be used to treat clothing (usually in a bag), but Ozonics is the only company that produces a device suitable for use in the field.
Explained very plainly, an Ozonics unit creates ozone by sending high-voltage electricity through a coil and then blowing air across that coil. Over the years, the company has experimented with different levels of ozone generation and modern units now have selectable levels of ozone to match a variety of field conditions.
Piland says the best way to visualize how ozone and scent work is to imagine a stream with rocks and eddies that disrupt and change the flow of water. That’s a lot like how wind works as it moves across the landscape. Now imagine pouring red dye (your scent) into the stream. It won’t flow consistently downstream. In some places it will move faster, in others it will stop and pool. Lastly, imagine dropping purple dye (the ozone) into the stream on top of the red dye. In some places the purple will completely blanket over the red (effectively destroying your scent). In others, the red and purple will blend to make a slightly different color (altering your scent).
“[With ozone] sometimes you’ll see deer and they’ll definitely smell something, but they don’t panic and run away,” Piland says. “It’s more like, ‘Oh, I’ve never smelled that before.’”
And finally, in some places the red dye and the purple dye will never overlap. The same thing can happen with your scent in the wind. The faster the flow of the stream and the more eddies it has, the more purple dye you’ll need in order to obscure or change the red. In the field, this means more wind and more unstable wind means you need more ozone to neutralize your scent.
“So what you need to do [while hunting in higher winds] is figure out how to best dump your ozone … by adjusting the angle of the unit and the distance it is from you,” Piland says.
What the Unbiased Hunters Say
All our hunters reported that Ozonics either had a “very noticeable positive impact” on their hunt or “some noticeable positive impact” on their hunting. All of them said that they would continue to use Ozonics in the future.
Combined, they had approximately 435 deer encounters and were clearly busted by deer a total of 24 times. That’s a rate of only 5.5 percent, with many of the encounters occurring downwind. Some hunters had zero deer bust them throughout the entire season. Their anecdotes from the field provide examples of how the units performed.
Justin Cearlock, Illinois
“A good example of the Ozonics helping was an evening hunt in late October. Four doe and fawns came in upwind. A mature buck followed them in about 15 minutes later and started pushing them a little. Three of the does eventually got downwind of me. They definitely noticed a smell they didn’t like, but never were able to get enough scent to spook. They spent 10 to 15 minutes walking around with their noses in the air trying to smell me. Meanwhile the buck spent close to 10 minutes within 20 yards of me making a scrape and just watching the does. I decided not to shoot the buck, because he had a smaller rack, but there is no doubt in my mind that I don’t get that opportunity without the Ozonics.”
Brent Cearlock, Illinois
“Yes, even when trying to play the wind, deer still often manage to get downwind at times. I have noticed that with the unit on, their reaction is much less of an issue when they do get downwind. My experience has been that deer either walk right through my scent cone or if they do stop and try to wind me, they are unsure of what they are smelling and eventually continue past without snorting or blowing. The unit is not foolproof but it certainly helps, based on my experiences.”
Cole Fabro, Minnesota
“We had a questionable to flat-out-wrong wind a few times this season while sitting over food plots. Normally I would hunt something else or stay home in this situation, but I was curious about how well the system would work in this scenario. In one hunt, the deer entered the field, and they fed into my downwind side. The younger deer had zero idea that we were there. An older doe picked up enough to know that something was off, but she couldn’t seem to pinpoint our location or gather enough scent to sound the alarms. She moved about 15 yards, slightly alerted, but was calm and feeding again within a minute.
I was very skeptical before using the system. It’s impossible to completely fool a deer’s nose. However, hunting from the ground and having deer downwind of me on multiple occasions, and not having them blow out of the field in most cases was a bit mind boggling to me. The deer that would detect something seemed to be confused about what, or where, I was. And that definitely bought me more time to make a shot. I killed a nice buck in the bluffs of Minnesota where my wind was swirling fairly bad. He came to 20 yards and didn’t have a clue I was there. I’m fairly certain that scent was pushing up into the ravine at the time he came in, as I could feel the wind shift onto my neck blowing into his direction. Judging from my encounters with hundreds of deer and countless ‘scent destroying’ products, Ozonics was the only one that I believe to work as they advertise, in most cases.”
Kyle Hildreth, Minnesota
“I had many encounters with deer coming in downwind, with zero instances resulting in any deer blowing. I did, however, definitely have some encounters where I do believe the deer smelled something — whether it was the ozone or a hint of me.”
Hunter Dahl, Missouri
“I had deer walk to 10 yards downwind. They knew something was up but never busted.”
Read Next: Best Cellular Trail Cameras
Final Thoughts on Ozonics
The hunters in our survey had a clear-eyed perspective on Ozonics. They all felt that it worked, but no one said that it was a silver bullet for fooling deer. They also agreed it was not a perfect unit — most agreed that it would be better if the unit was quieter. It didn’t spook deer, but it made it harder to hear deer approaching. It’s a bit of a hassle to set up. Plus, there are minor health concerns involved with using ozone. You should make sure to educate yourself on those issues if you’re considering springing for a unit.
But the numbers don’t lie. The hunters in our survey encountered a ton of deer and spooked very few. They all attributed at least some of that success to the Ozonics units working effectively. That might not count as scientific data, but in the mysterious world of scent control, it’s as good of a field test as you’re going to find.
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https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/does-ozonics-work/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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Turning the page into February — here are some classical music events that are worth leaving the cabin to enjoy.
- The highly-regarded 1955 Rudolph von Beckerath organ in Ohio City’s Trinity Lutheran Church is played alternately every Wednesday noon of the year by Robert Myers or Florence Mustric, and occasionally by other organists, like Linda Kempke, who will be featured this week. At the other end of this week’s calendar, Daniel Colaner will give a recital on the Holtkamp organ in St. Paul’s Episcopal in Cleveland Hts.. on Sunday at 4.
- The Cleveland Orchestra is off to Miami for its mid-winter residency, but the CIM Orchestra offers a menu of George Lewis’ Weathering (2023), Alberto Ginastera’s Harp Concerto & Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 on Wednesday evening at 7:30. Kazem Abdullah guest conducts, and Rebekah Hou pulls the harp strings.
- University Circle’s McGaffin Carillon will ring in Black History Month with a special program played by Sheryl Modlin on Friday at 12:15, and the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library will host the Theron Brown Trio on Saturday at 3 pm.
- On Saturday at 7 pm the string quartet Wit's Folly will play a program titled Passing the Baton: Joseph Haydn and his Musical Successors at the Bath Church, repeated on Saturday at 2 pm at The Brownhoist in Cleveland and on the Sunday at 2 pm at Hudson Library and Historical Society.
- Ready for something strange — like snake handling? On Friday at 8 pm, Baldwin Wallace Opera, stages Taking Up Serpents, with an eclectic score by Kamala Sankaram and an original story inspired by Jerre Dye's roots in the Deep South. Performances continue on Saturday at 3 & 8 pm and Sunday at 3, all at the Kleist Center for Arts & Drama.
- And on Saturday at 8 at Severance Music Center, Cleveland Pops Orchestra and Classical Mystery Tour present A Tribute to the Beatles featuring music from the early days through the solo years. Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.
Tickets available online.
Click here to visit the
ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings page for more information.
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https://www.clevescene.com/arts/cleveland-pops-orchestra-presents-a-tribute-to-the-beatles-and-the-rest-of-the-classical-music-to-catch-this-week-43620662
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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Lucas Herbert wouldn’t reveal the size of his sign-on fee for LIV Golf, willing only to say he’d been “looked after well” having been convinced the Saudi-backed league had become a different beast after Jon Rahm joined.
One of the worst-kept secrets in golf was confirmed on Thursday when the 28-year-old Victorian was locked-in as the fourth and final member of Cameron Smith’s all-Australian Ripper GC team a couple of days out from the season-opening event in Mexico.
He’s among additions that include Masters champ Rahm, on a deal worth in excess of $500m, and Englishman Tyrrell Hatton for more than $60m.
Those are head-swirling figures, and while Herbert, despite being a four-time winner around the world, including on the PGA Tour, was not in that category, he revealed he didn’t even think he was “on their radar” before being approached by LIV last December.
There would have been seven figures involved in his offer, and he’ll also be playing for $30m, the prize money on offer at each LIV event, 14 times in 2024, including in Adelaide, with no cuts, guaranteeing a payday at every event.
Herbert, who has been ranked as high as 40 in the world, could make upwards of $2.5m in 2024 even if he comes last 14 times, which is unlikely.
That certainty, as well as playing against Rahm, Smith, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson every week, and the certainty that comes with a locked-in schedule, with Herbert having reduced status on the PGA Tour in 2024 and nothing guaranteed in 2025 and no direct access to the majors, combined to sway him, as well as conversations with Smith, to make the huge career switch.
“I had a guarantee I was going to play against some really, really good players at every event. I wasn’t going to play against the stronger fields on the PGA Tour. That was a big thing for me,” Herbert said from Mexico on Thursday morning.
“I had one year left on a winner’s exemption and I wasn’t in the signature events.
“The money I got offered was very, very nice. It helped with a bit of security given it’s likely I am going to get suspended from the PGA Tour, so I needed a little bit of a safety net and these guys were generous enough to do that.
“And $30m events every week, it should allow me to set myself up for the rest of my life playing out here. We wanted to make sure I was looked after well enough.
“But the biggest deciding factor was how I was going to get my game as good as it could possibly be … that’s what mattered the most.”
Herbert knows the flow-on effect will be a sliding world ranking, given LIV events don’t attract points, meaning he’ll have to try to qualify for the only two majors that allow LIV players, the British and US Opens.
But with a lot of moving parts in the golf world, including ongoing talks with LIV’s Saudi backers about a merger, that could also change.
It’s not the situation now, however, and after a challenging year off the course in 2023, which included taking a month off after missing the cut at the British Open, Herbert also said the team environment, surrounded by fellow Australians, even in limited time in Mexico this week, had set a “vibe” he felt would help him produce his best golf.
“It’s a very cool vibe I’ve walked into,” he said, joining Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones in the outfit.
“You may as well call it team Australia. The boys are telling me they become rock stars for a week in Adelaide.
“We’ve been to dinners so far together and there will be a bunch of other stuff we do to hang out, and what we’ve all enjoyed on the road is having an Australian spin on everything.
“Wherever you might travel in the world, being able to put an Aussie spin on it, you really feel at home, and getting onto a team of Australians, you are going to get a lot of that.”
Herbert and 2022 Australian Open champ Adrian Meronk were confirmed as the final additions to LIV’s roster for the season, which begins at Mayakoba from Friday.
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https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/lucas-herbert-says-he-joined-liv-golf-for-playing-and-financial-security-c-13427138
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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r/Sino is a subreddit for news, information, and discussion on anything China and Chinese related. Read the rules before posting. Some submissions may need manual approval.
One Thing I learn When Debating Westerners
Westerns love to quickly point out Uyghurs which has been proven false but they get their news from CNN and Fox News so what do you expect? Anyway, they love to quickly point this out while they're literally committing genocíde in the middle east for the last 30 years.
Yes, almost every major power has committed some genocíde in some ways or another but not nearly even close to the extend of European powers. Westerners love using this logic of "but everyone does it, so it's okay" and it's not even close to the truth.
For OTHERS to be comparable to the west, we have to do a number of things. Plunder the wealth of the entire world to enrich your own. Kill billions of people around the world. Set up plantations and force Africans in work those plantation. Create colonial system where you impose Western values and Western ways of life and create a hierarchy in which White people are at the top and everyone else is at the bottom. This racist culture that continues to inform the present world and every now and then, white people would bomb these societies because they have governments that disagree with them. To this day, that has not ended.
Palestine - Israel war - the death of 26,637+ Palestinians (99% of which is civilians) and counting.
the Iraq War and the Ukraine War. Before that, Vietnam war and Korean war. All of these are recent wars that continue in some form or another.
It's "okay", until Asians do it.
You know, like Freedom.
The minute Asians protest at Pelosi's house, it's "go back to China"!
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Sino/comments/1afvv7w/one_thing_i_learn_when_debating_westerners/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:01Z
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Budget 2024 Live Updates: A day after the commencement of the Budget Session of Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget 2024-25 at the Parliament on Thursday, February 1. The interim budget will include estimates of the government’s expenditure, revenue, fiscal deficit, financial performance and projections for a few months. The full budget will be presented after the Lok Sabha elections by the newly elected government. Despite some speculations of the interim budget being a vote on account, many experts are suggesting crucial announcements for income taxpayers and salaried individuals. There are expectations of measures to make the new income tax regime more lucrative. Many people are anticipating some big announcements for the EV, real estate, cryptocurrency, and renewable energy sectors. Industry stalwarts from other sectors like EV, real estate, healthcare, education, energy, auto, agriculture, FMCG, IT, defence, etc are keenly waiting for the interim budget. As the final countdown begins, stay updated with all Budget 2024 announcements with Livemint.
Interim Budget 2024-2025 is scheduled to be tabled on February 1 by FM Nirmala Sitharaman and is expected to commence at 11 am.
You can watch FM Sitharaman's Budget speech live on the official channel of Parliament Sansad TV and Doordarshan. The live Budget 2023 telecast will also be available on their respective YouTube channels. Besides these, PIB India will also broadcast the Budget speech on their YouTube channel and on Twitter,
You can access the Budget 2024 documents in a "paperless form" through the Union Budget Mobile App. All essential Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants, and the Finance Bill as mandated by the Constitution, will be accessible on the app.
"During the budget, a critical analysis of pre-rally trends becomes imperative, serving as a reliable indicator for potential market movements. While there are inherent uncertainties, there is also a 70 percent likelihood of positive outcomes, underscoring the need for vigilance and strategic decision-making on budget day."
"We anticipate that the Interim Budget 2024 might not bring significant shifts in the stock market or investor portfolios, but it's crucial to closely analyze any key announcements for their market impact. This year, market dynamics are expected to be shaped by political and economic factors, with a clear focus on capital expenditure rather than short-term populist measures. This continuation of last year's strategy, emphasizing long-term infrastructural investment, reflects a commitment to sustainable economic growth. Understanding this government approach is vital for investors as they navigate the financial markets in the upcoming year."
"The Budget will emphasise an inclusive and prosperous policy push in the context of incremental progressive steps in the roadmap over the next 20-plus years toward India@100 (a century since independence). In an election year, the government usually tables the vote-on-account or the Interim Budget. A vote-on-account seeks approvals for essential expenditure outlays until the polls, while the interim Budget broadly includes an assessment of the current state of the economy, current/capex expenditures, and receipts, as well as revised estimates of the current financial year and estimates for the year ahead. Taking a leaf off the pre-election 2019 Budget, we expect this interim edition to propose modest pro-demand steps to address near-term risks."
A research note from the Bank of Baroda said that with the 2024-25 Budget being an interim one, the government will focus on maintaining continuity of policies while committing itself to the path of fiscal consolidation. "In the wake of weak monsoon, and subdued Rabi sowing, the Budget will focus on steering rural growth. For this, enhanced spending on MGNREGA, PM KISAN, and PMAY can be expected. Driving investment growth will be another focus area for the government. We thus expect ₹1.5-2 lakh crore incremental increase in capex for the next year."
"Given the priority that is likely to be given for fiscal consolidation in the upcoming Budget, we don't expect any significant fiscal stimulus in it. However, the government may continue to earmark a significant quantum for capital expenditure with a growth of 15 percent in its budgetary allocation; the latter will continue to be a primary driver of the domestic economy over the medium term. The government may also enhance the subsidy allocation for some segments like farmers, women, informal sector workers and unemployed youth to strengthen domestic private consumption, which is estimated to show a weak growth of 4.4 percent in FY24. Given the need to sustain public investments and also support certain social segments through subsidies or budgetary relief, the targeted reduction of fiscal deficit from 5.9 percent to 5.3 percent will pose a material challenge for the finance ministry, necessitating a significant step-up in non-tax revenues like PSU disinvestments."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to unveil the last Budget of the Modi 2.0 government before the upcoming general elections on Thursday. The budget is anticipated to include a combination of economic measures, particularly targeting key voter segments such as farmers and women. In her sixth consecutive budget, Sitharaman is expected to highlight the achievements of the Modi government over the past decade and outline future plans for the country without veering from fiscal responsibility.
With recent electoral victories in three states reducing the pressure for populist measures, the focus is likely to be on prudent fiscal policies. Special attention is expected to be given to sectors like agriculture and the overall economy, aiming to generate employment and stimulate consumption.
While an interim budget traditionally avoids major policy announcements due to the impending Model Code of Conduct, past instances, like the 2019 interim budget's announcement of cash assistance for farmers, suggest that governments may still make significant announcements during this period.
On the first day of the budget session, President Draupadi Murmu outlined that the priorities of the government would rest on four key pillers-youth, power, women power, farmers and poor. These pillars will be the key focus of the government in the interim Budget to be presented today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Download the App to get 14 days of unlimited access to Mint Premium absolutely free!
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https://www.livemint.com/budget/news/budget-2024-live-updates-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-speech-1-feb-2024-income-tax-railway-fmcg-ev-healthcare-hra-defence-auto/amp-11706689827986.html
| 2024-01-31T23:51:02Z
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A beheading video was on YouTube for hours, raising questions about why it wasn’t taken down sooner
NEW YORK (AP) — A graphic video from a Pennsylvania man accused of beheading his father that circulated for hours on YouTube has put a spotlight yet again on gaps in social media companies’ ability to prevent horrific postings from spreading across the web.
Police said Wednesday that they charged Justin Mohn, 32, with first-degree murder and abusing a corpse after he beheaded his father, Michael, in their Bucks County home and publicized it in a 14-minute YouTube video that anyone, anywhere could see.
News of the incident — which drew comparisons to the beheading videos posted online by the Islamic State militants at the height of their prominence nearly a decade ago — came as the CEOs of Meta, TikTok and other social media companies were testifying in front of federal lawmakers frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress on child safety online. YouTube, which is owned by Google, did not attend the hearing despite its status as one of the most popular platforms among teens.
The disturbing video from Pennsylvania follows other horrific clips that have been broadcast on social media in recent years, including domestic mass shootings livestreamed from Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and Buffalo, New York — as well as carnages filmed abroad in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the German city of Halle.
Middletown Township Police Capt. Pete Feeney said the video in Pennsylvania was posted at about 10 p.m. Tuesday and online for about five hours, a time lag that raises questions about whether social media platforms are delivering on moderation practices that might be needed more than ever amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and an extremely contentious presidential election in the U.S.
“It’s another example of the blatant failure of these companies to protect us,” said Alix Fraser, director of the Council for Responsible Social Media at the nonprofit advocacy organization Issue One. “We can’t trust them to grade their own homework.”
A spokesperson for YouTube said the company removed the video, deleted Mohn’s channel and was tracking and removing any re-uploads that might pop up. The video-sharing site says it uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human moderators to monitor its platform, but did not respond to questions about how the video was caught or why it wasn’t done sooner.
Major social media companies moderate content with the help of powerful automated systems, which can often catch prohibited content before a human can. But that technology can sometimes fall short when a video is violent and graphic in a way that is new or unusual, as it was in this case, said Brian Fishman, co-founder of the trust and safety technology startup Cinder.
That’s when human moderators are “really, really critical,” he said. “AI is improving, but it’s not there yet.”
Roughly 40 minutes after midnight Eastern time on Wednesday, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, a group set up by tech companies to prevent these types of videos from spreading online, said it alerted its members about the video. GIFCT allows the platform with the original footage to submit a “hash” — a digital fingerprint corresponding to a video — and notifies nearly two dozen other member companies so they can restrict it from their platforms.
But by Wednesday morning, the video had already spread to X, where a graphic clip of Mohn holding his father’s head remained on the platform for at least seven hours and received 20,000 views. The company, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.
Experts in radicalization say that social media and the internet have lowered the barrier to entry for people to explore extremist groups and ideologies, allowing any person who may be predisposed to violence to find a community that reinforces those ideas.
In the video posted after the killing, Mohn described his father as a 20-year federal employee, espoused a variety of conspiracy theories and ranted against the government.
Most social platforms have policies to remove violent and extremist content. But they can’t catch everything, and the emergence of many newer, less closely moderated sites has allowed more hateful ideas to fester unchecked, said Michael Jensen, senior researcher at the University of Maryland-based Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.
Despite the obstacles, social media companies need to be more vigilant about regulating violent content, said Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“The reality is that social media has become a front line in extremism and terrorism,” Ware said. “That’s going to require more serious and committed efforts to push back.”
Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the media advocacy group Free Press, said among the tech reforms she would like to see are more transparency about what kinds of employees are being impacted by layoffs, and more investment in trust and safety workers.
Google, which owns YouTube, this month laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams. Last year, the company said it cut 12,000 workers “across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions,” without offering additional detail.
___
AP journalists Beatrice Dupuy and Mike Balsamo in New York, and Mike Catalini in Levittown, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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://kstp.com/kstp-news/business-news/a-beheading-video-was-on-youtube-for-hours-raising-questions-about-why-it-wasnt-taken-down-sooner/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:02Z
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Denver police officer charged with harassment, accused of hitting in-custody minor
A Denver police officer has been charged with misdemeanor harassment after allegedly striking a minor who was already in custody at the time.
Officer Dat Truong, 32, is accused of striking the person, who was not identified due to their age, during a Nov. 3, 2023 incident near Interstate 225 and Colfax Avenue outside Denver city limits. The person was arrested at the time, although officials with the police department and the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office didn't provide any other details about that incident or arrest.
Truong joined the department in 2014 and worked in the Special Operations Division, according to the department, which includes the department's aviation unit, bomb squad, gang unit and SWAT team. Truong was transferred to a non-patrol assignment on Nov. 6, 2023, when an investigation into the alleged striking began and will remain in that role as the case proceeds, the department says.
His next court appearance is March 5 in Adams County.
for more features.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/denver-police-officer-dat-truong-charged-harassment-accused-hitting-minor/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:03Z
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How to protect the original IoT device: The printer
IT pros share a checklist for securing the company printers.
· 4 min read
Printers aren’t just jam-prone machines that frustrate IT pros and employees alike. These days, many are effectively giant computers, complete with hard drives and internet connectivity. The increasingly sophisticated nature of the printer calls for a checklist of security safeguards. The defenses—including firmware updates, network segmentation, and configuration policies—are especially important when the smashable, but not unhackable, printers end up on the bottom of the IT pro’s to-do list.
IT organizations today are focused on digital transformation and keeping pace with competition, Bryan Willett, CISO at the imaging and printing product provider Lexmark International, said.
“When you talk about printers, it’s not top of mind for them. It’s not what drives probably the majority of their meetings every day,” Willett told IT Brew.
Testing, testing. Penetration testers and security researchers frequently point out printer-related attack possibilities. In January, the cybersecurity company Trustwave said it found a vulnerability in the Kyocera printer’s web application that “allows attackers to coerce authentication attempts to their own resources.”
Companies like HP have had to release firmware updates after a reported vulnerability, like one from Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative team in early 2022. The ZDI team found HP Print products potentially vulnerable to remote code execution and buffer overflow, which corrupts an application by sending it large amounts of data.
Print IoT out. The web-connected printer is a classic example of an Internet of Things (IoT).
“And it’s probably one of the more powerful ones that you have, because they have a lot of memory and processor on them, unlike a lot of smart devices,” Chester Wisniewski, director and global field CTO at the cybersecurity company Sophos, told IT Brew.
And IoT malware is on the rise, according to a report from the cloud-security company Zscaler, which discovered 300,000 blocked attacks from known IoT threat actors and a “400% increase in IoT malware,” when comparing the first half of 2023 with the same time period in 2022. An April 2023 report from Bitdefender found that the average US household has 46 internet-connected devices and experiences an average of eight attacks daily.
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
IoT devices—from smart cameras to aquarium thermometers—have been an entrypoint for malicious hackers. A printer could be a starting point, too, according to Wisniewski.
“Once somebody’s on there, there’s an operating system; they can hide on that thing and use it as a jumping-off point to attack other devices in the network,” Wisniewski said.
And the on-network compromise can happen just as easily on-prem.
An IoT device “just sits there,” Robert Clyde, past board chair at the global IT association ISACA and chairman and board director at the IoT security company Crypto Quantique, told IT Brew, meaning that, theoretically, an insider could walk up to it, add a USB, and install new firmware.
“The danger of IoT devices versus our phones, notebooks, and tablets is that those are almost always in our possession,” Clyde said.
So, what to do?
- Install new firmware…but the vendor-approved kind. “If the device is running older firmware, that means that these hackers have access to known vulnerabilities,” Shivaun Albright, chief technologist of printing security at HP, said.
- Set a complex admin password, Willett suggested.
- Eliminate any unnecessary services like “file transfer protocol” (FTP) and Telnet, a remote communication protocol. FTP could lead to an extraction of hard-drive data and Telnet may lead to operating-system access, Clyde said.
- Segmentation: Make sure firewall rules only allow specific systems to access the printer. “If I managed to compromise that printer in finance, maybe I can attack the seven workstations in finance, but I can’t use that as a launching pad to then attack the entire server infrastructure of the company,” Wisniewski told IT Brew.
Conducting the above protections sounds easy enough, but IT pros’ history of frustrations with printers may hinder attempts to protect them.
“The frustration can lead to complacency and, ‘I just don’t want to worry about it. I’m just going to ignore it.’ That, I think, is the biggest problem,” Clyde said.
Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
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https://www.itbrew.com/stories/2024/01/31/how-to-protect-the-original-iot-device-the-printer
| 2024-01-31T23:51:03Z
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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.kvcrnews.org/2024-01-31/as-israel-resumes-bombing-in-the-north-thousands-of-gazans-face-desperate-conditions
| 2024-01-31T23:51:03Z
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I had a toothache - it turned out to be cancer and I was told I had 6 years to live
- Wayne Reimer, from Canada, has revealed his experience with oral cancer
- The airport manager said he needed to have half of his jaw removed
- READ MORE: Warning signs of mouth cancer revealed in DailyMail.com graphic
A father-of-three needed to have half of his jaw removed and was told he had six years to live after he was diagnosed with a cancer that kills up to three in 10 patients.
Wayne Reimer, of Alberta, Canada, said the first warning signs of the disease appeared as a typical toothache in May 2006 — which he treated by repeatedly taking aspirin.
The airport manager's pain disappeared for weeks, but it eventually returned much worse than before during a business trip to the United States — prompting him to make a dentist appointment when he returned to Canada.
The dentist extracted the tooth causing the pain from the left side of Mr Reimer's mouth — which had previously had root canal work — but, after becoming concerned, referred him to a cancer specialist.
A biopsy two days later — where flesh is removed to test for cancer — revealed the disease.
Mr Reimer then went through a 17-hour operation, where half of his jaw was removed to rid his body of the disease. The jaw was then reconstructed using bone and tissue from his left arm and leg.
After the operation, he underwent several months of radiation therapy — which caused severe burns to the inside of his mouth, leaving him needing to learn to eat and drink again. An accident during surgery also left his left foot severely burned, leaving him struggling to walk for months.
Wayne Reimer, from Alberta, Canada, pictured before his oral cancer was diagnosed. He is shown above just before 2006
And shown afterward in a more recent photo. To treat the disease, doctors had to remove half of his jaw and rebuild it using bone from his left leg and flesh from his left arm
Writing in Newsweek on Tuesday, he said: 'Cancer took a great deal from me and from my family.
'[But] we gained much more. I learned how strong and resilient my wife and children truly were. Being beaten by cancer was never in consideration.
'I beat the odds. I was able to see retirement. I've seen all three children meet and marry their spouses. I've experienced the incredible joy of seeing four grandchildren born, and delight in being called "papa" by them.'
Oral cancer in the US is behind about 58,000 cancer diagnoses a year. In Canada, there are about 5,400 new cases diagnosed every year.
For patients whose cancer is caught in its early stages, the five-year survival rate is 86 percent.
But when the disease is not caught until later stages where it has spread to other areas of the body, this drops to 69 percent.
Adults in their 60s are most likely to be diagnosed with the cancer, although one in five cases are detected in people under the age of 55 years.
Early warning signs include pain in the mouth and ear, loosening teeth and a lump appearing inside the throat — although some of these symptoms can be missed.
But in later stages, the cancer can cause problems with opening the mouth, chewing and create a feeling that something is lodged in the throat.
Risk factors for the disease include smoking and heavy alcohol use, as well as infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV).
Mr Reimer said he initially ignored the pain in his mouth because he had a busy workday during his business trip to the US and did not want to spend 'half a day' going to the dentist.
He said: 'After a few weeks, the toothache stopped. 'Even better, I thought. "No dentist needed."'
The pain was stemming from one tooth on the left side of his mouth where he had previously had a root canal, a procedure that involves drilling the tooth open and removing infected tissue before inserting a filler into the tooth.
Mr Reimer said as soon as the tooth was removed — his dentist's face changed and he was immediately referred to a cancer expert.
He had a biopsy two days later to test the tissue beneath the removed tooth for cancer, with results returning a few days later revealing he had the cancer.
Mouth ulcers that don't heal, a hoarse voice and unexplained lumps in the mouth are all warning signs of the disease, says Neil Sikka, a dentist at Bupa Dental Care
The next month — June 2006 — doctors sent him for what was supposed to be a three hour surgery to remove the cancer from his mouth — but ended up being 17 hours after the cancer was found to have reached his lymph nodes.
These form another part of the circulatory system in the body and are used to transport fluid throughout it. Once a cancer spreads to these, it can also spread to other organs in the body — making it harder to treat.
During the procedure, half of his mandible — the lower jaw bone — was removed and then rebuilt using bone from his left leg and flesh from his left forearm.
An accident that occurred during surgery also led to his left foot being severely burned, leaving him struggling to walk for months afterward.
Immediately after his procedure, he suffered from respiratory arrest and a heart attack because of the extreme swelling to his face and neck.
Doctors gave him a tracheostomy to help him get oxygen to his lungs via a hole in his throat. He also had a feeding tube put in place to get nutrients.
They then put him on a ventilator and into a medically-induced coma for nearly two weeks to recover.
Mr Reimer hoped the surgery would be the end of his ordeal, but then he was told he needed to go through months of radiation therapy.
This involves shooting radiation beams at the area where the cancer is present in order to kill any cells that remain. This can successfully kill the cells, but also causes severe damage to other healthy cells in the surrounding area.
'Radiotherapy for oral cancer is a double-edged sword,' he said.
'Because the location of the disease is close to the surface, radiation is highly effective. It's also very hard on the tissues of the face and neck.'
Mr Reimer had the therapy for about six months and described it as being 'terrible', and leading to severe burns inside his mouth, nose and ears.
This made it difficult for him to eat, with his family feeding him liquid meals to keep him consuming food. During this period, he lost 25 percent of his body weight.
But over the next year, and with the cancer seemingly gone, he then gradually began to recover starting to gain weight and — six months later — said he felt more like himself.
He now works part time in search and rescue operations and has made it to retirement.
During his cancer journey, Mr Reimer said he was encouraged at how strong his family was, saying on the first anniversary of his 'cancer free' status he wanted to have a 'family photo' taken.
Giving advice to others, he said: 'I hope every single person reading this asks their dentist about oral cancer screening during their next visit.
'It will save lives, and unmeasurable, needless suffering.'
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13030305/Toothache-turned-cancer-told-6-years-live.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:51:03Z
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“It’s not a play, it is a happening,” Yul Brynner told a newspaper in 1979, ahead of his 2,500th performance as Mongkut, King of Siam, in The King and I and before returning to London in the role that made his name in 1951 for a Palladium run that lasted an impressive 15 months.
Nowadays, perhaps we should be grateful that The King and I shows its face at all, even for more limited durations. This production by Bartlett Sher, which had its first Tony-winning incarnation at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2015, is stopping off at the Dominion for six weeks following a tour – with Call the Midwife’s Helen George and Broadway stalwart Darren Lee in the leads this time. That’s barely long enough for people to raise a protest placard or organise a shouty demo.
As I pointed out when I saw it at the Palladium in 2018, it’s not a total over-reaction to find Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “problematic”. Based on Margaret Landon’s novel telling the story of Anna Leonowens, the British teacher who became a fixture at the court of Siam in the 1860s, it’s an ambitious depiction of cultural encounter – with burgeoning romance the dramatic crux-point. And yet, despite striving to give us both perspectives, it still inclines to Orientalism.
Aside from the touristic element to its opulence, the widowed Anna – rather like Maria (von Trapp) or even Mary Poppins – is a transformative female figure who runs rings around stubborn, stuffy patriarchy, holding her nerve (and demanding her own house). Even more than in 2018, with the drumbeat of decolonisation louder and antipathy to white-saviour narratives more vocal, the ground on which the large cast shuffles, squats, bows and dances shakes with the vibrations of the culture wars.
For that reason, though, it feels all the more valuable to catch it while you can. Yes, it’s a flawed, at times cursory-feeling piece, but it has a gentleness and innocent charm that’s as much a saving grace as a sign of its post-war origins.
“Getting to know you”, trills George’s self-possessed, sweet-voiced Anna as she takes in Mongkut’s adorable, polygamous brood. The mood evokes a time of curiosity between peoples and in Lee’s King – all legs astride, hands on hips authority, stern but also subtly amused – there’s an emblem of appreciation for Western know-how that stops short of easy deference. For all the grating simplification of his speech, his situation is satisfyingly complex.
The palatially designed production – with due choreographic attention to ceremonial splendour – combines the old-fashioned escapism offered by some of the best songs in the R&H canon (Hello, Young Lovers, Shall We Dance?) with a judicious sense of speaking to today’s concerns about the legacy of empire and the nature of civilisation. At almost three hours, yes, it’s a pretty long, rather too stately night, and George and Lee lack the chemistry that Brynner and Deborah Kerr displayed on screen. But were our own King looking for a theatre outing, post-hospital, he could do a lot worse.
Until March 2. Tickets: kingandImusical.co.uk
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/the-king-and-i-dominion-theatre-review/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:04Z
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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 4:39 PM CST 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.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/from-the-occupied-west-bank-an-emergency-hotline-assists-rescue-efforts-in-gaza
| 2024-01-31T23:51:04Z
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Head lice can be the bane of a parents’ existence.
If one thing is guaranteed in life, it’s that every child will get nits at least once in their life, and if it’s in their school, there’s normally no escaping it.
Thankfully, there is some good news for parents looking to stop head lice in their tracks.
Read more: Shoppers say that discounted Hot Air Styler is ‘better than a hairdryer’
Some studies have shown that adding tea tree oil to a person’s hair regularly can act as a preventive barrier to head lice.
If you look closely at any lice repellent products, you will find that nearly all of them have tea tree oil listed as an ingredient.
The strong fragrance is known to repel certain insects and bugs, such as spiders and flies.
A study reported in the International Journal of Dermatology compared botanical and synthetic substances for preventing lice in primary school-age kids, Headline reported.
It compared tea tree oil, lavender oil, peppermint, and DEET. It was found that tea tree oil was the most effective treatment.
The study also found that tea tree oil and lavender prevent some feeding by lice on treated skin.
A good practice for parents looking to stop their children getting head lice is using tea tree oil in their hair regularly. They can also use products that are scented with tea tree oil, such as shampoo and conditioner.
One popular tea tree oil product that is affordable, but popular is the Tea Tree Therapy from iHerb. It can be found here for €10.10.
It has over 1,000 reviews on the site and has a rating of 4.6.
One shopper said: “It has so many benefits that it wouldn't fit in a comment, I recommend it to everyone, I use it in different ways and I always get a perfect result, it can be used on skin, especially oily skin, for scalp care it's perfect, I like the smell, excellent quality of the oil.”
A second person wrote: Scent is nice. Always repeat purchase. Use for itching skin, even for hair during seasonal change.”
A third reviewer added: “This scent just smells AMAZING! Great quality. This bottle of essential oil works even for sensitive skin.”
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https://www.rsvplive.ie/life/health/parents-use-10-product-prevent-32003298
| 2024-01-31T23:51:05Z
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House tees up vote to enhance child tax credit, revive tax breaks for businesses
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House looked to accomplish something unusual Wednesday in passing with broad, bipartisan support a roughly $79 billion tax cut package that would enhance the child tax credit and boost three tax breaks for business, a combination that gives lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle coveted policy wins.
Prospects for the measure becoming law are uncertain with the Senate still having to take it up, but for a House that has struggled to get bills of consequence over the finish line, the tax legislation could represent a rare breakthrough. Debate and a final vote on the measure are scheduled for the evening.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., threw his support behind the bill on Wednesday morning. He spent part of the previous day meeting with GOP lawmakers who were concerned about particular features of the bill, namely the expanded child tax credit. Some were also unhappy that it fails to address the $10,000 cap on the total amount of property taxes or state or local taxes that consumers can deduct on their federal returns. Raising the cap is a top priority of lawmakers from members of the New York congressional delegation.
Johnson committed to moving a bill that addresses the cap, but there is no bill text yet and legislation would have to move through the House Rules Committee, which leaves the timing very much in flux. Athina Lawson, a spokeswoman for Johnson, said the speaker and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., agreed to work with members to “find a path forward.”
Johnson called the tax cut bill on the House floor important, bipartisan legislation that would revive “conservative pro-growth tax reform.” He also said that it would bring an early end to a “wasteful COVID-era program” that has been plagued with fraud. Moving up the deadline for claiming the employee retention tax credit is expected to largely offset the cost of the tax cuts in the legislation.
Johnson also emphasized the importance of the bill moving through the House Ways and Means Committee before coming to the full House for a vote, saying it was a good example of how Congress is supposed to work.
House Republicans were anxious to restore full, immediate deductions that businesses can take for the purchase of new equipment and machinery, and for domestic research and development expenses. They argue such investments grow the economy and incentivize American companies to keep their manufacturing facilities and operations in the United States. The bill also provides businesses more flexibility in determining how much borrowing can be deducted.
“Each of these policies will help American businesses grow, create jobs and sharpen their competitive advantage against China,” Smith said as debate began on the House floor.
Democrats focused on boosting the child tax credit. The tax credit is $2,000 per child, but not all of that is refundable. The bill would incrementally raise the amount of the credit available as a refund, increasing it to $1,800 for 2023 tax returns, $1,900 for the following year and $2,000 for 2025 tax returns. The bill also adjusts the topline credit amount to temporarily grow at the rate of inflation.
Households benefitting as a result of the changes in the child tax credit would see an average tax cut of $680 in the first year, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Democrats pushed to restore the more generous tax credit they passed in 2021 in President Joe Biden’s first year in office with payments occurring on a monthly basis. The credit was $3,600 annually for children under age 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17. But most lawmakers were willing to take what gains they could get through the compromise bill.
“You know I’ve been told that a half a loaf is better than none,” said Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill. “This isn’t even half a loaf, but I’m going to vote for it because our families and businesses need help.”
“What’s in front of us tonight is pretty simple,” said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass. “Sixteen million children will benefit from the improvement to the child tax credit. That’s a fact.”
But for some Democrats, it wasn’t enough.
“This bill provides billions of dollars in tax relief for the wealthy, pennies for the poor,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. “Big corporations are richer than ever. There is no even split.”
And for some Republicans, it was too much. The chief critics of the expanded child tax credit likened it to “welfare.”
“What is a refundable tax credit. It’s welfare by a different name. We’re going to give cash payments, checks, to people who don’t even pay taxes,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga., chafed at that characterization, saying “we all believe on this side of the aisle that you should work in order to receive federal benefits. That is something that this bill does.”
The bill keeps a threshold of a household having $2,500 in income to be eligible for refundable child tax credit payments.
The bill also would enhance a tax credit for the construction or rehabilitation of rental housing targeted to lower-income households, adding an estimated 200,000 housing units around the country. And it would ensure victims of certain natural disasters and the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment don’t get hit with a big tax bill for payments they received as compensation for their losses.
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.kob.com/news/business-money/house-tees-up-vote-to-enhance-child-tax-credit-revive-tax-breaks-for-businesses/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:05Z
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A study published Tuesday in South Korea found that people who ate moderate amounts of kimchi daily are at a lower risk for developing obesity, with different types of kimchi being associated with staving off different forms of obesity.
The report — titled “Association between kimchi consumption and obesity based on BMI and abdominal obesity in Korean adults” and published in the medical journal BMJ Open — surveyed over 115,000 Korean adults ages 40 to 69 and found that Korean men who consumed one to three servings of kimchi a day were less likely to develop obesity than those who ate less than a serving per day.
Kimchi, which originated in what is now South Korea, is a popular fermented vegetable dish prepared with salt, chili paste and various seasonings, such as onion, garlic and fish sauce.
The researchers from Chung Ang University, Korea’s National Cancer Center and the World Institute of Kimchi found that Korean men who consumed the most cabbage kimchi in particular had a 10% reduced chance of developing both obesity and abdominal obesity. Both men and women who ate more radish kimchi than average had 8% and 11% reduced risk of abdominal obesity, respectively.
Numerous studies have shown that a diet high in fermented foods, such as kimchi, has proven health benefits, such as increasing microbiome diversity and reducing inflammation. Another study, published in April in the Journal of Ethnic Foods, found that kimchi can be an effective treatment aid for obesity.
Michelle Jaelin, a registered dietitian practicing in Ontario, said she was not at all surprised by the conclusion of the study, noting that the fiber content of kimchi is beneficial to health.
“Fiber helps to keep you full longer, and it also contributes to your daily vegetable intake. The other thing is, because it is a fermented food, it’s got certain pre- and pro-biotics that can help with gut health,” Jaelin said.
However, the gender disparity in the health benefits could be due to stereotypical differences in consumption habits and attitudes toward diets, Jaelin said.
She added that how kimchi is served may be a major contributing factor in its health benefits. Equally important to kimchi is what you are eating with it. Kimchi is often served as a side dish alongside other healthful vegetables and proteins.
Researchers noted in the study that consuming more than three servings of kimchi a day could have the opposite benefit. Participants who ate more than five servings of kimchi per day were more likely to be at a risk for obesity. That is because kimchi contains a high level of sodium, Jaelin said.
“If you’re eating three meals a day — maybe you’re having kimchi on the side — that’s great. It is increasing your intake of vegetables, which is important,” she said, “but then more than that I’d watch a little bit, because it also is higher in sodium.”
Though the study was conducted in South Korea and included only Korean adults, Jaelin said eating a moderate amount of kimchi could benefit anyone. “I definitely do see health benefits for a variety of other populations, but it has to be something that you enjoy, that you like to eat,” she said.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/kimchi-lower-obesity-risk-midriff-bulge-korean-classic-rcna136445
| 2024-01-31T23:51:07Z
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DENVER, Jan. 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ONEflight International, a leading provider of private jet solutions, is thrilled to announce the release of its upgraded BAJit app, designed to deliver an unparalleled and user-friendly experience for private jet travelers.
The BAJit app has undergone a comprehensive overhaul, incorporating cutting-edge technology and user-centric features to streamline the private jet booking process. With an emphasis on simplicity and efficiency, the new and improved app reflects ONEflight International's commitment to providing an exceptional travel experience for its clients.
Key features of the enhanced BAJit app include:
Intuitive User Interface: The app boasts a sleek and intuitive interface, ensuring a seamless navigation experience for Clients. The redesigned layout simplifies the booking process, making it more accessible for both seasoned and first-time private jet travelers.
Enhanced Booking Capabilities: Users can now enjoy an optimized booking process, allowing for quicker and more efficient reservations. The app's advanced search and filtering options provide users with a wide array of private jet choices tailored to their specific preferences.
Real-time Flight Tracking: Stay informed every step of the way with real-time flight tracking capabilities. Users can track their private jet's location, estimated arrival time, and other relevant details, providing peace of mind and transparency throughout the journey.
Instant Communication: Users can easily communicate with ONEflight International's dedicated support team through the app, ensuring prompt assistance and personalized service whenever required.
"We are excited to introduce the enhanced BAJit app, which represents a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to revolutionizing private jet travel," said Ferren Rajput, CEO at ONEflight International. "Our goal is to provide an effortless and enjoyable experience for our members, and the new features of the BAJit app underscore our dedication to exceeding their expectations."
The upgraded BAJit app is now available for download on App Store/Google Play, offering clients a sophisticated and
user-friendly platform to elevate their private jet travel experience.
ONEflight firmly believes you don’t need to OWN, you just need to FLY.
Visit ONEflight.net for more information.
For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Dave Rajyagor, VP of Strategic Initiatives
DaveRajyagor@oneflight.net
720-575-4303
About ONEflight International: ONEflight International is a global private aviation company revolutionizing the luxury private jet travel industry since the company’s founding in 2010. It is the fastest growing market leader developing and implementing technological solutions for non-commercial air travel through BAJit, its proprietary online Book a Jet platform. With over 700 world-class selected aircraft charter operator partnerships and a network of 7,000 private jets worldwide, ONEflight empowers members to seamlessly search, select and book a private flight with a fleet of aircraft at their disposal and excellent customer service from booking to disembarking. ONEflight firmly believes you don’t need to OWN, you just need to FLY.
Visit oneflight.net for more information.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4a2002a9-7131-4d85-bccb-12e35f1878fc
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https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/31/2821619/0/en/ONEflight-International-Elevates-Private-Jet-Travel-Experience-with-the-Launch-of-Enhanced-BAJit-Web-and-Mobile-App.html
| 2024-01-31T23:51:07Z
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NEW DELHI: Mobile prices may come down as the government slashed import duty on certain key spare parts ahead of the Budget to make domestic manufacturing more competitive and give a boost to exports. The move is expected to help a variety of companies, such as, Apple, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Samsung.
Import duty on parts like battery covers, main camera lenses, back covers, other mechanical items of plastic and metal, GSM antenna, and other parts, has been reduced to 10%, the finance ministry said in a notification.
Import duty on inputs used to manufacture these components has been cut to zero,.
Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a post on X said duty rationalisation would strengthen mobile phone manufacturing ecosystem.
GTRI co-founder Ajay Srivastava said duty cut will have no impact on improving export competitiveness of mobile phones made in India as all inputs, parts, and components used in phones for exports can already be imported at zero duty under various schemes like SEZ, advance authorisation.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/mobile-prices-may-dip-after-import-duty-cut-on-parts/articleshow/107304948.cms
| 2024-01-31T23:51:07Z
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An elk hunter in Wyoming encountered a strangely aggressive coyote over the weekend while hunting along the Wind River. Using his phone, David Mossburg caught the whole encounter on video and uploaded the footage to YouTube. On Monday, he spoke with Cowboy State Daily about the stand-off, and he explained that he almost shot the coyote during the minutes-long standoff.
“In the video, you see him take two steps forward, and I was thinking he was coming for me,” Mossburg said.
Mossburg, who lives in Riverton according to his Facebook profile, told CSD that he was hunting with his son on his brother-in-law’s property along the Wind River that day. The two had split up to increase their odds of seeing an elk. Carrying a shotgun loaded with slugs, he was set up in a brushy gully near the river when he saw two coyotes trotting his way.
The coyotes didn’t notice Mossburg until they got within 40 yards, at which point one ran away while the other coyote stood its ground. By that point, Mossburg had already started recording a video through the brush.
“Yeah, what are you gonna do? Huh?”he says to the coyote at the start of the video. “I have a 12-gauge with a deer slug. Do you want me to shoot you? Why don’t you go with your buddy and live another day.”
Read Next: How Often Do Coyotes Attack Humans?
The lone coyote then barks repeatedly at Mossburg, who reminds the critter that he could easily kill it right then and there. Coyotes – along with jackrabbits, raccoons, red foxes, porcupines, and skunks — are classified as non-game species in Wyoming, which means there are no bag limits, and they can be taken year-round without a license.
“If I drop this phone that means I’m shooting,” Mossburg narrates, and over the next couple minutes he tries to scare the coyote off by yelling at it. This just makes the coyote bark even louder, and it postures aggressively while keeping its eyes fixed on Mossburg.
Finally, around the video’s three-minute mark, the coyote turns tail and slinks into the brush. A relieved Mossburg says, “whew, that was weird,” and turns off his camera.
Mossburg explained to CSD that the main reason he didn’t shoot the coyote was because he didn’t know exactly where his own son was. This ended up being the right call, he said, because he later learned that his son was only 100 yards away from him at the time.
“He told me that there was so much barking, he thought maybe a pack of coyotes had surrounded me, because it seemed like a lot of noise for just one coyote,” Mossburg said.
As for why the coyote was acting so aggressively towards him, Mossburg’s best guess was that the two canines were a mating pair, and that the male was standing its ground to protect the fleeing female. This theory would make sense, as coyote breeding season runs from December through March and peaks in January and February. This holds true across the species’ range in North America.
Read Next: Best Coyote Calls of 2023
“Because females go into estrous during late winter, both genders are super-active at that time in order to be certain of either being bred or doing the breeding,” John Olson, a furbearer biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, told Outdoor Life in 2021. “Males can become very aggressive [around then]. Part of that aggression is to defend their territories from other males, part of it is to attract females.”
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https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/video-wyoming-hunter-faces-off-aggressive-coyote/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:07Z
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Let's face it, for some people the music of the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA is a drug and—similar to the SNL skit about cowbell—there is no cure except for more massive doses of ABBA. Indeed, fans of ABBA tend to gush because their songs bristle with driving percussion and soaring melodies, merging to create a cacophony of joy that sends you into a spiral of happiness which...oh, sorry about that.
Yeah, I kinda like ABBA. And if you do too, you should get on the stick and try to see the current version of Mamma Mia! that is here for a brief visit at Playhouse Square. MM is a jukebox musical based on more than 20 songs written by ABBA composers and lyricists Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus—the two "Bs" in ABBA (the "As" are singers Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad).
But let's make one thing perfectly clear. Don't think if you've seen the movie Mamma Mia! you've seen enough. This lively, sleek production directed by Phyllida Lloyd and choreographed by Anthony Van Last is a smooth, fast-paced and engineered to get you dancing in your seat.
While the story crafted by book writer Catherine Johnson is more than a bit contrived, it's only there to provide a structure on which to hang the songs. And it does that by placing all the action on a sunny Greek island where a young woman Sophie (Alisa Melendez) is about to marry her fiancé Sky (Grant Reynolds) She wants her father to accompany her down the aisle, but she doesn't know who he is since her mom Donna (Christine Sherrill) got busy with a few guys (okay, more than a few) back in the day.
While stealing a look at her mom's diary, she narrows it down to three dudes whom she invites to the wedding so she can suss out who's her real daddy. Of course Sam, Bill and Harry all show up (unbeknownst to Donna), each is handsome, and the romantic intrigue, such as it is, begins to simmer. This stew is accented by the presence of Tanya and Rosie, Donna's gal pals from the days when they comprised the girl group "Donna and the Dynamos."
Much of the humor comes from the fact that the Dynamos are older now and their performance dynamite has gotten damp due to gimpy joints and fading endurance. But they've brought their old costumes (which they fit into...ha!) and are ready to revisit the glories of their past.
All of that clears the deck for the songs, and the cast delivers them with vocal dexterity and some surprisingly touching moments. As the somewhat interchangeable former boyfriends, Rob Marnell, Jim Newman and Victor Wallace have excellent voices and handle their guy chores with panache. And Jalynn Steele as Tanya adds plenty of sass in "Honey, Honey" while Carly Sakolove as the comical Rosie gets her share of laughs on her way to her own romantic connection.
Many of ABBA's killer songs are here, including "S.O.S.," "Super Trouper," "The Name of the Game," and "Knowing Me, Knowing You." But the showstopper is "The Winner Takes It All," and it's nailed by Sherrill, who is fine throughout but manages to turn the rather lame lyrics ("So the winner takes it all/And the loser has to fall") into a soaring emotional high point.
For those who don't know ABBA and don't care to sample their wares, go buy a cowbell and knock yourselves out. For the rest of us, this ABBA-stuffed Mamma Mia! feels like a belated holiday gift.
Mamma Mia!
Through February 4 at Playhouse Square, Connor Palace Theater, 1615 Euclid Ave., playhousesquare.org, 216-241-6000.
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https://www.clevescene.com/arts/review-mamma-mia-at-playhouse-square-will-have-you-dancing-in-your-seat-43619907
| 2024-01-31T23:51:08Z
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Canada’s Apartment Rental Market Was Tightest on Record in 2023
Canada’s affordable housing crisis worsened in 2023 as the vacancy rate for rental apartments dropped to an all-time low and rent increases climbed to a record high.
(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s affordable housing crisis worsened in 2023 as the vacancy rate for rental apartments dropped to an all-time low and rent increases climbed to a record high.
The national vacancy rate at apartment buildings fell to a new low of 1.5% by October of last year, less than half its level from just two years before, representing the tightest market on record, according to a report released Wednesday by Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit surged a record 8%, to C$1,359 ($1,016), the report said.
Canada’s rental housing market has emerged as the epicenter of a national cost of living crisis, increasingly linked to immigration, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is struggling to address as polling numbers sink.
Decades of underinvestment in affordable housing have been exacerbated by high levels of immigration in major cities. Although policymakers have taken steps to ease housing demand by capping the number of foreign students allowed into the country, and boosting supply by lowering taxes for new rental construction, the impact of both measures will take time to be felt.
The report showed a 1.7% increase in rental supply in 2023, not nearly enough to keep up with demand, including from 1.2 million new arrivals to Canada last year. The resulting growth in prices outpaced that of wages, increasing the financial burden on those renting.
That burden was particularly high for new tenants moving into “turnover units," when rent control rules in place in some cities allow rates to catch up to market conditions. Nationally, rents in units being taken over by a new tenant were 13% higher than in non-turnover units, and 31% higher in Toronto, Canada’s largest city. Vancouver remains Canada’s most expensive rental market with the average price of a two-bedroom rental apartment C$2,181.
The number of rental units considered affordable to people with the lowest incomes is now statistically zero in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto, as the proportion of renters falling behind on their rent in that last city rose to nearly 20%, the report said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
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https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/canadas-apartment-rental-market-was-tightest-on-record-in-2023-11706725939601.html
| 2024-01-31T23:51:08Z
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A tight-knit coastal community is rallying behind a devastated family following the loss of their young son in a harrowing accident.
Two-year-old Oliver Koch was crushed and killed by a rugby scrum machine on a sporting field in Old Bar on NSW’s mid-coast region on January 28.
A rugby scrum machine is a weighted piece of equipment used to improve the strength and skills of their players..
His father called for help and bystanders performed CPR on the little boy, but he died on scene from his injuries a short time later, NSW Police confirmed.
Now the small town, about three hours north of Sydney, is rallying around with a GoFundMe fundraiser nearly hitting its target just hours after it was established.
Kerrie Johnson, the organiser of the fundraiser, set a target of $30,000 on Wednesday and as of Thursday morning, the call for help had already hit nearly $25,000.
“The Koch family are well loved in our community and our hearts are shattered for them after the devastating loss of their sweet boy, Oliver,” she said.
“Please help support the Koch family if you can. They would be forever grateful for the relief of financial pressure during this time.”
Comments from the fundraiser reveal an outpouring of love and sorrow following the tragedy.
“Our love, thoughts and prayers are with you all,” Belinda Blissett writes along with a $200 donation.
“Sending our love from Ireland. Claire and Tom,” Tom Lowry writes.
One anonymous donor gifted $1000 to the family, the largest donation so far.
Some community members across the region have taken to social media to express their heartbreak.
“Words can’t express the sadness I have felt since Sunday,” an instructor with Taree’s Get Swim School posted on Wednesday.
“An absolute tragedy for such a beautiful family, one I’ve had the privilege to teach. RIP Ollie. I’m so, so sorry.”
The police are not treating the incident as suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
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https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/shattered-tragedy-as-toddler-crushed-on-sports-field-c-13427014
| 2024-01-31T23:51:08Z
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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://kstp.com/kstp-news/business-news/a-court-rejected-elon-musks-55-8b-pay-package-what-is-he-worth-to-tesla/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:08Z
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U.S. Forest Service wants your input on a Via Ferrata close to Colorado's Front Range
You might or might not be familiar with the current Via Ferrata at Arapahoe Basin for hikers and climbers to take on in the summer months. Now there's a proposed second trail that could be coming as soon as this year.
The U.S. Forest Service is looking for input on what the public thinks of letting A-Basin set up another course along the eastern wall inside their resort boundaries. Since it's public land, it has to pass a public comments round, which some people have already submitted their opinions online but you can still do so here.
The proposed second route would be a much shorter, more beginner-centric version of the first one, only taking around an hour to complete the climb compared to the three to five-and-a-half hours it can take on the current route.
By the way, a Via Ferrata, if you didn't know by now, is a climbing route where a climber is strapped into a harness and has anchor points and holds built in along the way.
"Although it is Forest Service land, we manage it on behalf of the American people, so they get a say in the comment period to present clearly what the proposal is, this will extend until Feb 15," Sarah Strehle, Mountain Sports Program Administrator with U.S. Forest Service said.
for more features.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/u-s-forest-service-input-via-ferrata-colorados-front-range/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:09Z
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Boeing released its 2023 earnings Wednesday, but the company's CEO spent most of a call with investors talking about safety and quality.
Boeing is facing big questions about quality control after a door plug panel blew off one of its 737 Max 9 jets in midair earlier this month.
"We are not issuing financial outlook for 2024 today. Now is not the time for that," chief executive Dave Calhoun said during an earnings call.
Instead, Calhoun focused much of the call seeking to reassure analysts — and the flying public — that the plane maker is taking the incident seriously.
"We will simply focus on every next airplane, and ensuring we meet all the standards that we have, all the standards that our regulator has and that our customers demand," he said.
Calhoun did not offer any information about the cause of the incident on January 5th, which is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. No one was seriously injured, but the incident touched off another crisis for Boeing. The troubled plane maker was still working to rebuild public trust after 346 people died in two 737 Max 8 jets that crashed in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing said Wednesday it lost $30 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. That's a better performance than the final quarter of 2022, when the company lost more than $600 million. Overall, Boeing lost $2.2 billion last year — its best result in 5 years.
But any improvement in the company's financials has been overshadowed by the latest safety incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to fly again after an inspection and maintenance. Calhoun said airlines have now returned 129 Max 9 planes to service, out of a total of 171 that were grounded by the FAA.
Earlier this week, Boeing formally withdrew its request for an exemption from federal safety rules in order to speed up certification of its new Boeing Max 7 jet to start flying. The company had been hoping to begin delivering those smaller planes to airlines this year, despite a design flaw with the Max's engine de-icing system that could be potentially catastrophic.
Boeing wanted to use the same workaround that's already in use on its Max 8 and Max 9 jets. Now the company says it will focus on a permanent engineering fix instead.
Calhoun told analysts on Wednesday that process is expected to take about nine months, likely pushing certification of the Max 7 back into 2025.
The FAA has also taken the unusual step of ordering production caps at Boeing's factories. Calhoun said the company will continue producing 737s at the rate of 38 per month until the FAA agrees to lift that limit. And Calhoun told analysts that slowing down production at the behest of regulators would help the company fix problems in its factory and supply chain.
"I'm sort of glad they called out a pause. That's an excuse to take our time, and do it right," Calhoun said. "This is what we do, and how we get better."
But some longtime observers are skeptical that Boeing management is ready to confront the true scale of the problem.
"I'm sure they're hoping for a quick fix," said Peter Lemme, a former Boeing engineer who's now an aviation consultant. "But this is like a cancer in the system. And how far has it infiltrated, and what are you gonna do to eradicate it? I think it's going to take years for Boeing to really get back to where they should be on quality and manufacturing."
The NTSB is expected to release preliminary findings from its investigations of the Alaska Airlines incident in the coming days.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.kvcrnews.org/2024-01-31/boeing-declines-to-give-a-financial-outlook-as-it-focuses-on-quality-and-safety
| 2024-01-31T23:51:09Z
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Japan's EPL stars chasing Asian Cup glory
Japan's English Premier League stars have their clubs firmly back of mind as they attempt to ensure a stuttering tilt at a fifth Asian Cup gets back on course.
Captain and Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo clocked a fourth-consecutive 90-minute appearance in Japan's round-of-16 win over Bahrain, while Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu made his second start after arriving in Qatar under an injury cloud.
That duo, plus Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma - who returned from injury against Bahrain - will miss at least one more league game due to Japan's quarter-final against Iran, and potentially two if they make the final.
When Endo does return to Anfield, it will be in the wake of manager Jurgen Klopp announcing his departure at season's end.
"Of course, it was big news," Endo said through a translator.
"I was a bit sad. But to be honest, it doesn't really affect me, performance-wise.
"All I have to do now is concentrate on my performances with the national team and try to win the trophy and bring back the winners' trophy to Liverpool."
The hard-working 30-year-old was adamant he could keep racking up the kilometres in midfield.
"My condition is actually getting better and better," he said.
"I am the captain of the team and I need to set an example. I need to be the leader of the team."
Chasing a first Asian Cup since 2011, the Samurai Blue appear to be hitting their straps at the right time after finishing runners-up to Iraq in their group.
Goals from Ritsu Doan, Takefusa Kubo and Ayase Ueda ensured a comfortable 3-1 win over Bahrain on Wednesday, and with it passage to the round of 16.
Tomiyasu, though, wants more.
"I was injured but I'm fit now. I missed the first game but ... my condition is getting better and better," he said.
"We are not in the best form now. We could have done better (against Bahrain). We should have done better, especially in the second half.
"We needed to kill the game after going 2-0 up, we gave them hope because they scored. We needed to manage the game better and close the game well.
"As a defender, I want a clean sheet every time I'm on the pitch. Today, we couldn't manage that. I'm not happy about it. But I'll try to keep a clean sheet in the next game."
Iran will pose a sterner test for Japan, who have conceded every game this tournament.
"Every opponent will come up against us, analysing us to try to find our weak points before the games. And they will try to expose us," Endo said.
"But I know that we have to make this right, we have to play with 100 per cent concentration for the 90 minutes."
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-13030641/Japans-EPL-stars-chasing-Asian-Cup-glory.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:51:09Z
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Senate Republicans demanded that President Biden's national security funding package for Ukraine be tied to policy changes to address the crisis at the southwest border. But now that negotiators say they are ready to release details of a bipartisan plan to reduce the surge of migrants at the border, Republican divisions could scuttle the plan.
Months of negotiations between the Republicans, Democrats and the Biden administration officials are now threatened by politics. Former President Trump, the GOP's likely 2024 presidential nominee, has been publicly slamming the deal and urging lawmakers to oppose it.
Negotiators started the week promising to release a bill in the coming days. But by Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to signal he's ready to move on, and focus on getting money to two key U.S. allies at war.
"It's time for us to move something, hopefully including the border agreement, but we need to get help to Israel and Ukraine, quickly," McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.
McConnell has consistently argued that divided government is the moment to extract demands on border policy from Democrats.
Pressed about what voters would think of GOP lawmakers who sink a bill because Trump directed them to, McConnell sidestepped the question. "I still favor trying to make law when you can" and said what the bipartisan group is working on is better than current immigration law, adding, "you're asking me, a question I can't answer right now, which is the fate of it."
Senators already know key details
The top Democratic negotiator working on a border plan, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has signaled for days that the deal is basically done, but getting sign off from the GOP to move ahead is the hold up.
"We have a bipartisan agreement to help address the crisis at the border. Republicans have been desperate for that. Why would they walk away from it?"
Senate Republicans huddled at their weekly lunch on Wednesday to discuss next steps, but the consensus coming out of the meeting was that lawmakers want to see the details.
But after weeks of negotiations, the key provisions have already been explained to lawmakers from both parties.
The bill includes several tools to address the border, including: giving the president the ability to shutdown the border if the numbers of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. climbs above a certain threshold, adjusting the rules for who qualifies for asylum and allowing migrants authorization to work while awaiting adjudication of their asylum claim.
Extended negotiations opened space for critics
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort is "an uphill climb" because as the talks have continued, some members have impressions about what the proposal will do and "there are certain people who will never change their mind."
Tillis has said a border plan needs to get the majority of Senate Republicans in order to move ahead. But Trump injecting himself into the process has caused many lawmakers to refrain from backing the framework, making it tougher to meet that test.
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Jim Lankford is crafting the plan along with Murphy and Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Lankford spent time on Sunday talk shows swatting down leaks about the plan that conservative media outlets are painting as a green light for 5,000 additional migrants a day.
Texas Republican Sen, John Cornyn, who was an early advocate of linking money for Ukraine to changes to the Biden administration's policies, said people need time to see an official piece of legislation.
"People are talking about what they think is in it, and what they've heard is in it, what's not in it,' Cornyn told reporters. "I think the first thing we need to do is see where the conference is based on the text rather than just based on rumors and hearsay."
Tillis called Wednesday's meeting "a good discussion." But added, "I would ask those same members who are calling for time to read it, but not judge something they haven't read."
Others who came out against the bill already are already dismissing the proposals.
"I think this is a bad bill," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., told reporters. "And the simplest reason is it doesn't solve the problem."
Cruz blamed Senate Democrats for crafting a bill that "allows Joe Biden to continue the open borders," despite the months of bipartisan negotiations that have taken place. President Biden endorsed the proposal and said last week if Congress passes it he would immediately shutdown the border.
Some optimisim remains
Murphy remained optimistic on Wednesday that the deal would survive and come to the floor for a vote, possibly as soon as this week.
He said a "sizable, important group of Republican senators" are making a good faith effort to get something done on the border, and suggested that others are making disingenuous arguments about needing to see the full text.
"This is not a detailed study of the issue. This is a question as to whether they are going to put Trump before solving the problem," Murphy said.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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https://www.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/senate-gop-split-threatens-bipartisan-border-deal-as-trump-looms-large
| 2024-01-31T23:51:10Z
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Powell: Federal Reserve is on track to cut rates, though not likely for months
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rate cuts are coming. Just not yet.
The Federal Reserve delivered that message Wednesday, first in a policy statement and then in a news conference at which Chair Jerome Powell reinforced it.
The Fed did signal that it’s nearing a long-awaited shift toward cutting rates, evidence that its officials have grown confident that they’re close to fully taming inflation. No longer does its policy statement say it’s still considering further rate hikes.
Yet the officials made clear that the first rate cut is likely months away. Their statement said they don’t think it would be time to cut rates “until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably” to their 2% target.
Investors and some economists had been holding out the possibility that the Fed might cut as early as its next meeting in March. That now appears off the table.
“I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting” to start cutting rates, Powell said at his news conference.
The central bank kept its key rate unchanged at about 5.4%, a 22-year high. But the changes to its statement — compared with its last meeting in December — show that it has moved toward considering rate reductions while still maintaining flexibility.
“There is nothing in Powell’s remarks or the statement that leads us to worry about the basic story of ‘good news’ cuts starting soon enough,” Krishna Guha, an economics analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI, said in a note to clients.
In December, the Fed’s policymakers had indicated that they expected to carry out three quarter-point rate cuts in 2024. Yet they have since said little about when those cuts might begin, and some senior officials stressed that the Fed will proceed cautiously.
On Wednesday, Powell said the Fed doesn’t need to see significant changes in the inflation data for it to cut rates. It just needs to see the inflation slowdown continue. Prices have increased at just a 2% annual rate in the past six months, according to the Fed’s preferred measure.
“It’s not that we’re looking for better data — it’s just that we’re looking for a continuation of the good data that we’ve been getting,” he said. “We just need to see more.”
The central bank’s message Wednesday — that it’s edging closer to cutting rates but not planning to do so anytime soon — disappointed traders on Wall Street. Losses in the stock market accelerated after Powell’s news conference began.
The change in the Fed’s stance comes as the economy is showing surprising durability after a series of 11 rate hikes helped drastically slow inflation, which had hit a four-decade high 18 months ago. Growth remains healthy: In the final three months of last year, the economy expanded at a 3.3% annual rate, the government said last week.
The Fed is assessing inflation and the economy at a time when the intensifying presidential campaign is pivoting in no small part on voters’ perceptions of President Joe Biden’s economic stewardship. Republicans in Congress have attacked Biden over the high inflation that gripped the nation beginning in 2021 as the economy emerged from recession. But the latest economic data — ranging from steady consumer spending to solid job growth to the slowdown in inflation — has been bolstering consumer confidence.
At his news conference, Powell said the Fed welcomes signs of economic strength.
“We want to see strong growth and a strong labor market,” the Fed chair said. “We’re looking for inflation to come down, as it has been coming down for the last six months.”
Most economists have said they expect the Fed to start cutting its benchmark rate in May or June. Rate cuts would eventually lead to lower borrowing costs for America’s consumers and businesses, including for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards.
A year ago, many analysts were predicting that widespread layoffs and sharply higher unemployment would be needed to cool the economy and curb inflation. Yet job growth has been steady. The unemployment rate, at 3.7%, isn’t far above a half-century low.
Labor costs are easing, too. On Wednesday, the government reported that pay and benefits for America’s workers, which accelerated in 2022, grew in the final three months of 2023 at the slowest pace in 2 1/2 years. That slowdown reduces pressure on companies to raise prices to cover higher labor costs.
The Fed appears on the verge of achieving a rare “soft landing,” in which it manages to conquer high inflation without causing a recession. Should the pace of economic growth strengthen, though, it could complicate the challenge for the Fed.
Powell said that faster growth could potentially cause inflation to stall at a rate above 2%, which could complicate the Fed’s timetable for rate cuts. For now, with the economy performing well, he said, the Fed doesn’t need to rush to reduce borrowing costs.
“If we saw an unexpected weakening in the labor market, that would certainly weigh on cutting sooner,” Powell said.
Asked whether he thought the Fed has already achieved a soft landing, Powell suggested it would be premature to say so.
“We have a ways to go,” he said. “Core inflation is still well above target on a 12-month basis. Certainly, I’m encouraged and we’re encouraged by the progress, but we’re not declaring victory at this point. We think we have a ways to go.”
Some cracks in the job market have begun to emerge and, if they worsen, could spur the Fed to cut rates quickly. For several months, most of the nation’s job growth has occurred in just a few sectors — health care, government and hotels, restaurants and entertainment. Any weakening in those areas of the economy could threaten hiring and the overall expansion.
A report Tuesday showed that the number of workers who quit in December reached its lowest level in three years. That suggested that fewer Americans are being recruited for new, higher-paying jobs or are willing to search for and take new positions. Though quits remain at a level consistent with a solid job market, they have fallen about one-third from their peak in mid-2022.
Still, the U.S. economy is outdoing its counterparts overseas. During the October-December quarter, the 20 countries that share the euro currency barely avoided a recession, posting essentially no growth.
Still, as in the United States, unemployment is very low in the euro area, and inflation has slowed to a 2.9% annual rate. Though the European Central Bank could cut rates as soon as April, many economists think that might not happen until June.
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.kob.com/news/business-money/powell-federal-reserve-is-on-track-to-cut-rates-though-not-likely-for-months/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:12Z
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LIMA, Peru — The streets, hotels and restaurants around the ruins of Machu Picchu — Peru’s most famous tourist attraction — remained almost deserted Wednesday, with train service to the area canceled amid a week-long protest over the outsourcing of entry ticket sales to a private company.
Small businesses and workers in the tourism sector fear the new ticketing system imposed by Peru’s government 10 days ago will hurt them while benefiting big companies, and their protests have slowed visitor arrivals to a trickle.
“This seems like the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, you hardly see any people,” said Roger Monzón, an employee at the Inkas Land hotel in the Machu Picchu district, an 18-room building currently housing only two tourists from Portugal.
Train service to the area was suspended late Friday until further notice, so the few tourists who persist in going, most of them young, leave the Andean city of Cusco in cars that take them 210 kilometers (130 miles) to a hydroelectric plant. From there they walk two hours to reach the Machu Picchu district, where they rest. Then they have to walk to the stone citadel for 2 1/2 hours.
The protests, which began Jan. 24, are in response to the government’s decision to outsource the sale of tickets for entering the Machu Picchu site to Joinnus, a virtual ticket sales platform owned by one of the wealthiest economic groups in Peru.
Previously, tickets to Machu Picchu were handled by an online portal of a state entity that operates out of Cuzco.
The government says the use of the private platform seeks a transparent sale of tickets. It says a market for the sale of unregistered tickets was detected in 2023 that had caused a loss of $1.8 million for tickets not reported by state offices.
Tourism workers and small tourist operators say they do not trust the new system, claiming it will favor big tourist operators in detriment of free competition and small business owners.
They say there is no legal way to guarantee confidentiality for personal data that the Joinnus platform obtains from tourists — telephone numbers, emails and date of visit to the citadel. They worry the information could be transferred to big tourism companies that would then be able to offer accommodations, food and transfer services to tourists in advance, giving them an advantage over smaller operators.
Protesters want the new system canceled and are also demanding the resignation of Minister of Culture Leslie Urteaga, who authorized the ticketing change.
Four countries — the United States, Germany, France and Brazil — have advised their citizens to be cautious if they are planning to visit Machu Picchu, a World Heritage Site since 1983, citing the potential lack of water and other essentials resulting from transport disruptions.
Tourism is the main economic activity in Cusco, with more than 200,000 people having direct jobs in the sector. In times before the protests, up to 4,500 visitors entered Machu Picchu every day.
There are no official figures on potential losses during the first week of protests, but some tourism unions estimate the damage at about $4.7 million.
“The losses include all sectors that are directly linked to tourism such as tourist agencies, hotels, restaurants, tour guides, but also markets, taxi drivers and peasant communities,” said Elena González, president of the Association of Cusco Tourism Agencies.
For more from NBC Latino, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/machu-picchu-tourism-suffering-protests-ticketing-system-rcna136633
| 2024-01-31T23:51:13Z
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MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: For nearly two years,RBI has engaged with the Paytm Payments Bank management over what it believed were transgressions by one of the most familiar names in the digital payments space.
After months of engagement and Paytm's inability to take remedial action, in March 2022, the regulator took a hard call by barring the payment bank from onboarding new customers.
Among regulated entities, there is a rush to comply after any RBI action. But in this case, there was allegedly no serious attempt to rectify the errors, which ranged from non-compliance with KYC guidelines to other RBI regulations.
"The Comprehensive System Audit report and subsequent compliance validation report of the external auditors revealed persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank, warranting further supervisory action," RBI said.
In the case of payment banks, regulation is more light-touch because these entities are not allowed to lend, and they deal in small-value transactions. However, RBI is against combining funds of depositors, wallet-holders and shareholders.
What was the trigger to act on the eve of the interim Budget is unclear, but market players are likening it to a series of strict disciplinary measures taken by RBI in recent years. In 2020, it imposed restrictions on HDFC Bank to get new credit card customers or launch digital business-generating activities.
Last year, Bank of Baroda was barred from onboarding new customers on its mobile app. And Bajaj Finance was disallowed from sanctioning and disbursing loans under two of its lending products.
"It is not as if RBI takes this action when someone sneezes. It is done after detailed discussions with the entity, which is given an opportunity to correct the problem," said a source familiar with recent actions.
Over the last few years, the regulator has also sharpened its supervision over entities, arming itself with many more tools that keep tabs on the volume of business by banks and finance companies and even businesses they lend to. Whenever it spots a sharp rise in growth or exposure, RBI officials have not shied away from discussing the issue, which in most cases has been a sure-shot nudge to go slow or take remedial action.
But whenever the response has been slow, including at the systemic level, RBI resorted to using the regulatory hammer - a case in point being the recent increase in risk weights for unsecured loans.
"The idea seems to be securing systemic stability. Strict action has only been taken where material violation is involved. Every action has been preceded by months of engagement and nudging them bilaterally to act. But if the entities are indifferent to the issues, RBI has to act," said a source.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/paytms-inability-to-take-action-forced-rbis-hand/articleshow/107303704.cms
| 2024-01-31T23:51:13Z
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"'Mom, what is this? A microphone?' I really had no idea what it was," Klum's daughter Leni said of the incident, as they both appeared on Call Her Daddy
Heidi Klum is the latest guest to grace the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper.
There was nothing under wraps from the former supermodel, telling Coopers listeners everything from her type to the weirdest places she has had sex and even telling a story about her daughter finding her sex closet. Okay, Christian Grey!
Klum's 19-year-old daughter, Leni phoned in during the show to share the story.
"I did when I was younger and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was going through it with my friends. And I was like, 'Mom, what is this? A microphone?' I really had no idea what it was. My mom got so mad at me after, like, You can’t go in my stuff.'"
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Leni revealed that she was "showing it off" to her friends when they were over at their house.
"'Look at how cool this is. My mom has a whole cupboard, she has a whole drawer.' And I snuck them into my mom's room and opened the drawer, and we were all taking videos," Leni shared.
And this is only the beginning of what she shared to Cooper.
When asked how she would describe her sex life in three words, the America's Got Talent judge said, "Endless, hot, wild." She even revealed the "wildest" places she has ever done the deed, listing an airplane and in the water. Noting that “salt water is better” and that she was in a private plane when she joined the mile high club. Sounds a lot more comfortable then 55A.
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Klum has been married three times and shares Lou, 13, Johan, 16 and Henry, 18 with her ex-husband Seal and Leni with her ex-husband Seal who she was married to from 2005 to 2014. Leni's biological father is Klum's ex Flavio Briatore, but Seal later adopted Leni.
The 50-year-old is now married to Tom Kaulitz who is 34-years-old. Klum revealed that she wonders "why people care" about the 16 year age gap.
"What is it to you who I’m with? I understand also because he has band and he’s known in a lot of places in the world and people also find him very hot. He didn’t pick you, get over it!”
The pair seem to have no issue with their age gap --- which are the only two opinions that matter on the subject --- and Klum says they are intimate for "hours" at a time revealing her biggest turn on is him.
"I just need to look at my husband, [I've] had many different sausages [in my life]. But I ended up with a German one. The German sausages, what can I say!?"
It wasn't all R-rated content though, Klum shared her celebrity crush with listeners and the awkward encounter she had when she met him.
"I'm obsessed with Joaquin. I love my husband but Joaquin Phoenix, close second. I met him and I couldn’t get a word out." Klum never saw the actor again after her first impression. "I couldn't find the tongue. It was going everywhere, and he was just standing there."
Listen to Wednesday, January 31, episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast with Heidi Klum.
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https://toofab.com/2024/01/31/heidi-klum-reveals-daughter-found-her-sex-closet/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:13Z
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ECHL Transactions - January 31
January 31, 2024 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release
Following are the ECHL transactions for Wednesday, January 31, 2024:
CONTRACTED PLAYERS RELEASED (eligible for waivers/waiver claims):
Cincinnati:
Jack Jeffers, F
Rapid City:
Nick Parody, D
OTHER TRANSACTIONS:
Adirondack:
Add Dominiks Marcinkevics, F signed contract, added to active roster
Delete Yushiroh Hirano, F recalled by Utica
Cincinnati:
Add Spencer Taylor, G added as EBUG
Add Jalen Smereck, D activated from reserve
Delete Nicholas Favaro, D placed on reserve
Delete Talyn Boyko, G placed on Injured Reserve (effective 1/29)
Florida:
Add Mark Senden, F assigned by Charlotte
Delete Zachary Tsekos, F placed on Injured Reserve (effective 1/28)
Greenville:
Add Cole Donhauser, F added to active roster (traded from Idaho)
Delete Nick Prkusic, F placed on reserve
Idaho:
Add Jade Miller, F activated from reserve
Delete Cooper Jones, D placed on reserve
Iowa:
Add Gavin Hain, F returned from loan to Iowa (AHL)
Delete Nick Campoli, F placed on reserve
Delete Robbie Stucker, D placed on Injured Reserve (effective 1/21)
Newfoundland:
Add Grant Cruikshank, F assigned by Toronto (AHL)
Delete Nolan Dillingham, D placed on Injured Reserve (effective 1/27)
Norfolk:
Delete Mark Liwiski, F recalled by Manitoba
Trois-Rivières:
Add Parker Saretsky, F activated from reserve
Delete Nolan Yaremko, F placed on reserve
Utah:
Delete Alex Beaucage, F recalled to Colorado (AHL) by Colorado (NHL)
Worcester:
Add Ashton Calder, F assigned by Bridgeport
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from January 31, 2024
- ECHL Transactions - January 31 - ECHL
- Forward Mark Liwiski Recalled to Manitoba - Norfolk Admirals
- ECHL Announces Fine, Suspension - ECHL
- Thunder Add Forward Dominiks Marcinkevics - Adirondack Thunder
- Game Day Preview: Americans at Idaho, 8:10 PM CST - Allen Americans
- Bridgeport Islanders Loan Forward Ashton Calder to Railers - Worcester Railers HC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/echl-transactions--january-31/n-6053383
| 2024-01-31T23:51:13Z
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Sheng Long Yu has walked me through a handful of soon-to-open restaurants since launching his hospitality career, from Dagu Rice Noodle in Asiatown to Hell’s Fried Chicken in University Circle. But I’ve never seen him as excited as the day we toured Lao Sze Chuan at Pinecrest. After six months of work, his “restaurant in a box” was nearly complete, having made its way from China in a million pieces only to be assembled on this side of the world.
As he did with Dagu Rice Noodle, Yu sought out a respected international brand and endeavored to bring it to Cleveland. Just prior to opening, he would be hosting Tony Hu, the man who founded the original Lao Sze Chuan in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood more than a quarter century ago. It was Hu that Yu needed to convince that he was the right man to help guide the famed Szechuan restaurant into its next phase of expansion.
In terms of looking for an excuse to visit a new Chinese restaurant, it doesn’t get much better than the Lunar New Year, which arrives on February 10. It’s a time when families gather to celebrate and eat foods designed to usher in a year of good health, luck and prosperity. One of the most celebratory items on the holiday table is Peking duck, a dish that typically requires advance notice at most restaurants. Not at Lao Sze Chuan, where it’s available at the drop of a chopstick.
Like most dishes here, the duck arrives via stainless steel cart that’s wheeled up to the table. First come the crispy-skin snacks, jewel-like shards arranged on a bed of granulated sugar. The main event consists of a platter of expertly carved duck breast, a steamer basket of paper-thin pancakes, julienned cucumbers and scallions, duck sauce and hoisin sauce. The thinly sliced meat is tender, sweet and lean, ringed by a layer of fat and capped with glossy chestnut-brown skin. A half order ($48) is enough for two but groups any larger will want to order the “full set” ($88). For an extra $20, a chef will carve it tableside.
At Lao Sze Chuan, presentation matters. The chopsticks are tipped with gold, family-size soups are served in a deep tureen, and whole boiled fish arrives in an elevated platter warmed from below. Pork and crab soup dumplings ($15.95), served by the half dozen in a bamboo box, are insanely rich, soupy and satisfying. A spray of bright green lettuce leaves is artfully arranged around a portion of stir-fried shredded duck ($23.95), a dish so packed with flavor, texture and depth that it rivals the Peking duck. In contrast, the irresistible cucumber salad ($9.95) is bright, crunchy, refreshing and tangy.
Upscale Chinese restaurants are still a rarity around here, which makes Lao Sze Chuan more of a destination place than your typical pepper steak palace. The posh setting combined with the brand’s highly regarded reputation attracts Asian (and non-Asian) diners from far afield. Sure, many of these dishes are available – just as good and slightly less expensive– in Asiatown, but sometimes a different cup of tea is worth seeking out.
Seated in this gilded dining room, dishes like dry chili chicken ($21.95) and Xinjiang-style cumin lamb ($27.95) seem a skosh crisper, a wee bit spicier and, oh dear, look at all that steamed rice. Both of those dishes contain enough Szechuan peppercorns to numb a pre-op dental patient. We especially loved the spicy cumin-perfumed lamb but couldn’t stop nibbling on both.
Starters and sides like pan-fried dumplings ($9.95), crispy spring rolls ($6.95) and Szechuan green beans ($18.95) are as good here as anywhere. The one dish that fell flat for us was the dandan noodles ($9.95), owing to washed-out flavors and very soft noodles.
Despite the elegant surroundings and the suburban zip code, prices are surprisingly in line with the competition. Other than a handful of special dishes – and those green beans! – there’s no reason to bat an eye. Japanese beers like Hitachino Nest White Ale are $9, martinis just $12, and a decent chardonnay clocks in at $11.
Over the course of two visits, we barely scratched the surface of the multi-page menu. While I do love my Asiatown favorites, there are dozens of reasons to schedule a return visit to Lao Sze Chuan. One of them is dim sum, which is served from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Another might be the special menu that the restaurant will be rolling out to ring in the Year of the Dragon. Available a la carte or as a tasting menu, it’s bound to bring good luck.
Lao Sze Chuan
10 Park Ave. Ste. 106, Orange Village
216-331-4642
laoszechuanohio.com
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https://www.clevescene.com/food-drink/review-reasons-abound-to-visit-acclaimed-szechuan-import-lao-sze-chuan-at-pinecrest-43619596
| 2024-01-31T23:51:14Z
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(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s affordable housing crisis worsened in 2023 as the vacancy rate for rental apartments dropped to an all-time low and rent increases climbed to a record high.
The national vacancy rate at apartment buildings fell to a new low of 1.5% by October of last year, less than half its level from just two years before, representing the tightest market on record, according to a report released Wednesday by Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit surged a record 8%, to C$1,359 ($1,016), the report said.
Canada’s rental housing market has emerged as the epicenter of a national cost of living crisis, increasingly linked to immigration, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is struggling to address as polling numbers sink.
Decades of underinvestment in affordable housing have been exacerbated by high levels of immigration in major cities. Although policymakers have taken steps to ease housing demand by capping the number of foreign students allowed into the country, and boosting supply by lowering taxes for new rental construction, the impact of both measures will take time to be felt.
The report showed a 1.7% increase in rental supply in 2023, not nearly enough to keep up with demand, including from 1.2 million new arrivals to Canada last year. The resulting growth in prices outpaced that of wages, increasing the financial burden on those renting.
That burden was particularly high for new tenants moving into “turnover units," when rent control rules in place in some cities allow rates to catch up to market conditions. Nationally, rents in units being taken over by a new tenant were 13% higher than in non-turnover units, and 31% higher in Toronto, Canada’s largest city. Vancouver remains Canada’s most expensive rental market with the average price of a two-bedroom rental apartment C$2,181.
The number of rental units considered affordable to people with the lowest incomes is now statistically zero in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto, as the proportion of renters falling behind on their rent in that last city rose to nearly 20%, the report said.
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https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/canadas-apartment-rental-market-was-tightest-on-record-in-2023/amp-11706725939601.html
| 2024-01-31T23:51:14Z
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Famine in Amhara and Tigray: Malnutrition in Ethiopia
Kanako Mita and Noriko Watanabe
Modern Tokyo Times
Levels of malnutrition among children in Afar, Amhara, and Oromia vary between 15% and 47% in Ethiopia. These statistics were expressed by the Ethiopian Nutrition Cluster (co-ordinated by the Federal Government and the U.N. Children’s Fund).
In Tigray, where several hundred people died from starvation in the town of Edaga Arbi, malnutrition among internally displaced children is 26.5%.
In November, deaths from starvation occurred in Yechila (Tigray) and Wag Hemra (Amhara).
The Ethiopia Observer reports, “Due to the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region, the team of experts was unable to conduct in-person assessments. However, data collected via phone indicates that more than 1.8 million people are at risk due to drought in the region.”
AP News reports, “The U.N. and the U.S. paused food aid to Tigray in March last year after discovering a ‘large-scale’ scheme to steal humanitarian grain. The suspension was rolled out to the rest of Ethiopia in June.”
Reuters says, “Regional and federal government officials as well as Eritrean soldiers were involved in the theft of food aid in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region…”
The World Food Program and USAID have resumed aid but at a reduced level.
Regional grievances and tensions in Amhara, Tigray, and other parts of Ethiopia need to be addressed by the central government rather than the military option – and pitting ethnic groups against each other. However, it appears that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia is focused on power concentration -backed by the armed forces and other areas of the state apparatus.
ABC News says, “Nearly 400 people have died of starvation in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in recent months, the country’s ombudsman said Tuesday, a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal body.”
The federal government stipulated many times that starvation deaths were not happening and that political opponents of Abiy were seeking political capital by overplaying the crisis. Hence, the real death toll is likely higher – given the number of internally displaced people in Amhara and Tigray.
The BBC reports, “What is particularly disturbing is that this crisis is unfolding so early in the season. The main harvest in Tigray and neighboring Amhara is in November, and this is the time of year when food should be most plentiful.”
Regional authorities in Tigray said that 3.5 million need humanitarian assistance. This figure is for people who will need support throughout the year.
Lee Jay Walker says, “Despite famine in parts of Amhara and Tigray, the armed forces of Ethiopia continue to use drone strikes and other military means against Fano and Amhara militias. This is worsening the crisis on the ground and putting enormous strains on people trying to survive from food shortages – and suffering from other consequences of displacement.”
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https://moderntokyotimes.com/famine-in-amhara-and-tigray-malnutrition-in-ethiopia/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:14Z
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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://kstp.com/kstp-news/business-news/biden-accepts-mayors-invitation-to-visit-east-palestine-ohio-a-year-after-train-derailment/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:14Z
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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.kvcrnews.org/2024-01-31/broadway-legend-hinton-battle-who-originally-played-scarecrow-in-the-wiz-has-died
| 2024-01-31T23:51:15Z
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Graphic image of shark victim's wound shared online
Graphic emergency-room images of a Sydney Harbour shark attack victim have been shared online, sparking an urgent investigation.
Lauren O'Neill was badly wounded when a shark bit her on the leg while she was swimming near a jetty at Elizabeth Bay, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, on Monday evening.
Neighbours helped pull the 29-year-old to safety and stemmed the bleeding before she underwent major surgery in St Vincent's Hospital.
Images emerged on Thursday of Ms O'Neill's bloodied leg while she was in the emergency department.
"St Vincent's takes patient privacy obligations extremely seriously and is investigating this issue as a matter of priority," a spokesman for the hospital said.
"We have engaged with the patient and we have sincerely apologised for any part St Vincent's played in the photos being taken."
Health staff regularly take images of patients' conditions for clinical care, staff education and forensic purposes.
But the taking of such images requires the prior consent of a patient, except when essential for clinical care, and staff are required to maintain the security of sensitive information.
Ms O'Neill on Wednesday asked for privacy after thanking medical staff and all who had come to her aid.
"(Lauren) wishes to thank her heroic and very kind neighbours for the critical assistance they provided her," a statement issued on her behalf said.
"She would also like to thank the public for their outpouring of support and kindness and, as she turns to focusing on her recovery, asks that her privacy and that of her family be respected."
The avid kayaker and swimmer remains in recovery at St Vincent's Hospital, where she was rushed for surgery following the attack.
The incident was the first serious attack inside the harbour since 2009, when navy diver Paul de Gelder lost his right leg and hand to a bull shark.
It has prompted debate about the need for more anti-shark measures, including extra netted harbour pools, in order to protect swimmers.
But more shark nets in and around Sydney Harbour will not end shark attacks, NSW Premier Chris Minns has said.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-13030721/Graphic-image-shark-victims-wound-shared-online.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
| 2024-01-31T23:51:16Z
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Donald Trump has yet to officially clinch the Republican presidential nomination, but he's already begun to tease about a running mate. The NPR Politics Podcast dives into who might be on his list.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Donald Trump has yet to officially clinch the Republican presidential nomination, but he's already begun to tease about a running mate. The NPR Politics Podcast dives into who might be on his list.
Copyright 2024 NPR
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https://www.wrkf.org/2024-01-31/trump-says-vp-pick-wont-impact-the-race-so-whats-he-looking-for-in-a-running-mate
| 2024-01-31T23:51:17Z
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A conservative news website reported Tuesday on a complaint that accuses Harvard’s chief diversity and inclusion officer of plagiarism, in a campaign similar to the one that led to Claudine Gay’s ouster.
The Washington Free Beacon published the complaint filed Monday by an unnamed source accusing Sherri Charleston of 40 instances of plagiarism in her 2009 Ph.D. dissertation and in a 2014 peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Negro Education. Much of the scrutinized language in the 343-page dissertation appears to be background information, including basic facts like names, dates, numbers and descriptions, including historical events.
The unnamed accuser alleges that Charleston failed to give “proper attribution” to several authors, and the Free Beacon alleges that Charleston took credit for her husband’s work in the 2014 study. Her husband, LaVar Charleston, co-authored the 2014 study and his previous research is cited throughout.
When asked why the Free Beacon also decided to analyze Charleston’s work, and whether the report was part of a broader attack on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, reporter Aaron Sibarium told NBC News in an email, “We stand by our reporting.”
A Harvard spokesperson, Jason Newton, would neither confirm nor deny any investigation into the claims of plagiarism, but appeared to support Charleston in an emailed statement to NBC News.
“Harvard is a community that embraces diversity in backgrounds, experiences and perspectives,” the statement reads. “Through her leadership as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Sherri Ann Charleston has advanced our belief that everyone who comes to Harvard belongs at Harvard and, whether a student, faculty, staff member or researcher, should have the opportunity to succeed.”
Charleston and her husband did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The people behind these attacks have no interest in plagiarism,” said Erica Foldy, a professor at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service who focuses on race and racism in organizations. Foldy added that conservative activists and groups attacking DEI efforts “have a political agenda.”
“It’s, sadly, kind of predictable. When there is progress toward equity and justice, then there are reactions against that. There’s always going to be a backlash, and that’s what we’re seeing.”
The report comes just weeks after Gay resigned from her position as Harvard president following backlash for her testimony at a December congressional hearing about antisemitism as well as compounding allegations of plagiarism. Conservative activists Christopher Rufo and billionaire investor Bill Ackman, along with the Free Beacon, led the campaign against Gay, and used both the situation and plagiarism allegations to attack diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, also recently had to request the retraction of six studies and seek corrections for 31 others after a biologist and blogger unearthed several instances of research misconduct.
Rufo shared the Free Beacon’s report on X, and wrote in a subsequent post: “Havard’s president was a plagiarist. Harvard’s chief diversity officer is a plagiarist. We will keep exposing them, one by one, until the university restores truth, rather than racialist ideology, as its mission.”
Gay has acknowledged attribution issues in her past work and said that she has requested corrections for the articles. She wrote in a New York Times op-ed after her resignation that she never imagined she’d have to “defend decades-old and broadly respected research.” She added that those who campaigned for her ouster “recycled tired racial stereotypes about Black talent and temperament. They pushed a false narrative of indifference and incompetence.”
Right-wing media outlets, politicians, lawyers and social media influencers have spent months waging war on DEI efforts in everything from higher education to airlines. In the months since conservative activist Ed Blum successfully led the charge to convince the Supreme Court to restrict race-conscious college admissions, similar groups have filed complaints and lawsuits against minority-owned businesses with equity initiatives. States like Florida, Texas and Utah are among the handful whose legislatures have instituted sweeping bans on DEI efforts in higher education. These attacks are bolstering the importance of culture war issues ahead of the 2024 election.
Foldy said it’s important that institutions like Harvard continue to support DEI efforts amid the heightened scrutiny.
“People understand that there’s a pattern and this pattern is only going to continue. Unless there’s a concerted response, these attacks will continue unchecked,” Foldy said. “Being the leader of DEI within an institution, whether it’s at a university or corporation, it’s really challenging work for a variety of reasons. It makes a very difficult job even harder.”
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/harvard-diversity-sherri-charleston-plagiarism-accusation-claudine-gay-rcna136561
| 2024-01-31T23:51:19Z
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Stock market today: Wall Street falls as Big Tech slumps and hope for a March rate cut fades
NEW YORK (AP) — Big Tech stocks burned by the downside of high expectations triggered a sharp slide for Wall Street Wednesday. The market’s losses worsened after the Federal Reserve indicated it likely won’t cut interest rates in March, as many traders had hoped.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% for its worst day since September. It veered between more modest and sharper losses through a shaky afternoon as traders delayed bets for when the Fed would begin easing its main interest rate from its highest level since 2001.
The slide for Big Tech stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite to a market-leading loss of 2.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, fell a more modest 0.8%, or 317 points.
Alphabet was one of the heaviest weights on the market, and it fell 7.5% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Underneath the surface, analysts pointed to some concerning trends in how much Google’s parent company is earning from advertising.
The bigger challenge, though, may have been the high expectations the company faces after how much its stock soared last year. Other Big Tech stocks that also accounted for a disproportionate chunk of the S&P 500’s rally to a record likewise struggled Wednesday in the face of high expectations.
Microsoft fell 2.7% even though it delivered stronger profit and revenue than expected. One analyst, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, even called its quarterly report “a masterpiece that should be hung in the Louvre.”
Tesla, another member of the group of stocks nicknamed the “Magnificent Seven,” fell 2.2%. A judge in Delaware ruled a day earlier that its CEO, Elon Musk, is not entitled to the landmark compensation package earlier awarded to him.
The Magnificent Seven were responsible for the majority of the S&P 500’s return last year, and three more members are scheduled to report their latest quarter results on Thursday: Amazon, Apple and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Expectations are high for them, too.
Besides the Magnificent Seven, stocks have rallied to records because of hopes that a cooldown in inflation will convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year. Such cuts would relax the pressure on the economy and encourage investors to pay higher prices for stocks.
But the Fed on Wednesday left its main interest rate steady and made clear it “does not expect it will be appropriate” to cut rates “until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward” its goal of 2%.
“We’re not declaring victory at all,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said. He said it’s unlikely the Fed will get to that level of comfort by its next meeting in March.
“It’s probably not the most likely case,” he said, which sent stocks skidding late in trading.
But Powell also said Fed officials already have some confidence that day will arrive. They just need to see more months of data confirming that inflation is heading sustainably lower. “We have confidence,” he said. “It has been increasing, but we want to get greater confidence.”
Powell acknowledged the difficult position the Fed is in, with dangers arising from both acting too quickly and too late, even though “overall it’s a good picture” for the economy at the moment. Cutting rates too soon could ignite inflationary pressures, while acting too late would mean unnecessary pain for the economy and job market.
“Given how strong the economy has been, the Fed probably figures it can err on the side of cutting later and slower than what the market is pricing,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.
Treasury yields in the bond market swung up and down following the Fed’s announcement. They had been lower earlier following a couple softer-than-expected reports on the economy.
One report said that growth in pay and benefits for U.S. workers was slower in the final three months of 2023 than economists expected. While all workers would like bigger raises, the cooler-than-expected data could further calm what was one of the Fed’s big fears: that too-big pay gains would trigger a vicious cycle that ends up keeping inflation high.
A separate report from the ADP Research Institute also suggested hiring by non-government employers was softer in January than economists expected. The Fed and Wall Street are hoping that the job market cools by just the right amount, enough to keep a lid on inflation but not so much that it causes a recession. A more comprehensive jobs report from the U.S. government will arrive Friday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.92% from 4.04% late Tuesday. In October, it was above 5% and at its highest level since 2007.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 79.32 points to 4,845.65. The Dow dropped 317.07 to 38,150.30, and the Nasdaq slumped 345.89 to 15,164.01.
In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped sharply again in China amid continued worries about a weak economic recovery and troubles for the country’s heavily indebted property developers.
Stocks were mixed elsewhere in Asia and down modestly in Europe.
___
AP Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.
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.kob.com/news/business-money/stock-market-today-wall-street-falls-as-big-tech-slumps-and-hope-for-a-march-rate-cut-fades/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:18Z
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MUMBAI: In one of its most far-reaching regulatory actions in recent years, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting money in any customer account, including wallets and other prepaid instruments such as FASTags, NCMC (national common mobility cards used in Metro and other transport), or any other instrument from March 1.
RBI has also asked the bank to stop operating unit services under Bharat Bill Pay or fund transfers under any name after February 29. However, the order will not impact Paytm’s functionality as a third-party app, enabling bank account-to-account payments through UPI.
RBI attributed its action to persistent non-compliance and continued material supervisory concerns warranting further supervisory action. The regulator, in a press release, said that after it barred Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding new customers in March 2022, it continued to be non-compliant.
RBI has ordered the nodal accounts of One97 Communications and Paytm Payments Services to be terminated as soon as possible and not operate after February 29, 2024. “Settlement of all pipeline transactions and nodal accounts (in respect of all transactions initiated on or before February 29, 2024) shall be completed by March 15, 2024 and no further transactions shall be permitted thereafter,” RBI said. However, any interest, cashback or refunds may be credited to customers anytime.
One97 Communications owns the Paytm brand and the app. It holds a 49% stake in Paytm Payments Bank, which operates the wallet and bank accounts. Paytm has so far not commented on the regulatory action.
Given Paytm’s disproportionate share of the digital payments market, many expect a scramble for new service providers after February 29. Paytm has 16% share of FASTag transactions. Hundreds of companies use Paytm food wallet for voucher payments. Paytm has also deployed over 3.5 crore QR stickers with vendors and in shops nationwide.
“There is a physical challenge and a digital one. Replacing FASTags and QR stickers present a physical challenge while several new digital prepaid accounts may need to be created,” said a bank official.
An industry person described RBI’s action as nuclear, covering almost all aspects of business that a payments bank is permitted to undertake. RBI’s measures ensure that no funds will flow through Paytm Payments Bank for transactions from March.
Another banker pointed out that RBI’s statement did not provide a way out or mention that the measures would remain in force until the regulator is satisfied.
“Unlike commercial banks, in the case of payments banks, there is no fear of a run as these entities do not lock their funds in loans, and all their money is in government securities and bank deposits,” said a banker. The RBI statement said outflows from any accounts would not be hampered.
RBI’s action comes days after an arm of the National Highways Authority of India barred Paytm Payments Bank from issuing fresh FASTags for non-compliance of its rules. Before NHAI’s ban, RBI had penalised Paytm Payments Bank Rs 5.4 crore for inadequate customer due diligence.
Paytm had seen explosive growth among customers and merchants after demonetisation in 2016 when regulators relaxed norms to enable faster onboarding by digital service providers. There was, however, wariness in some quarters because of the strategic stake by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s ANT Financial.
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/rbi-slaps-severe-curbs-on-paytm-payments-bank-operations-from-march/articleshow/107304501.cms
| 2024-01-31T23:51:19Z
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click to enlarge Credit: LA Rodgers
Meet Me @ the Altar returns to Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood. See: Thursday, Feb. 1.
WED 01/31
Sam Hooper Group
Local blues guitarist Sam Hooper has opened for Coco Montoya and Walter Trout when they played the Beachland, but this is his first full headlining show in the Tavern in several years. Hooper and Co. plan to play a few songs they've never played before as well as a new original song or two. The show starts at 8 p.m.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124,
beachlandballroom.com.
Umphrey's McGee
This jam band formed in late 1997 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN and began gigging around the area in the early part of 1998. The group regularly comes to House of Blues and returns to the club tonight at 7.
308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583,
houseofblues.com.
THU 02/01
Mark Gamsjager & the Lustre Kings
Mark Gamsjager and Co. have played alongside the likes of rockabilly heroes such as Wanda Jackson, Bill Kirchen and Robert Gordon, and tonight at 8, they bring their musical expertise to the Beachland Tavern to play a special set that pays tribute to Elvis Presley.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124,
beachlandballroom.com.
Meet Me @ The Altar
Following summer tour dates as direct support for 5 Seconds of Summer, this indie group released a deluxe version of its debut album, Past // Present // Future, which featured new singles “Strangers" and “Give It Up" in addition to ta cover of “Take Me Away” from the iconic 2000s movie Freaky Friday. Songs such as the jittery "Say It (To My Face)" come off as punkier No Doubt and will easily inspire sing-alongs with fans. The band plays tonight at Mahall's 20 Lanes in Lakewood.
13200 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-3280,
mahalls20lanes.com.
FRI 02/02
Bumpin Uglies
The popular jam band arrives at the Beachland Ballroom tonight for the first of two shows in a two-night stand. The current tour supports
Underdog: The Acoustic Sessions, a 16-track album that features seven new songs and nine "fan favorites." Tracks such as "Locust Ave" features Sublime-like cadences as the group embraces a reggae sensibility even when playing unplugged. Tonight's concert begins at 8. The Grilled Lincolns and Higher Education open the show. TobyRaps and C-Level open tomorrow night's show, which also commences at 8.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124,
beachlandballroom.com.
Machine Head and Fear Factory
These two veteran hard rock bands bring their co-headlining tour to MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage. Formed in 1991 by singer-guitarist Robb Flynn, who remains the only original member of the band, Machine Head returned with new material in 2022 when it released
Of Kingdom and Crown, an album of ominous sounding tunes such as album opener "Slaughter the Martyr," a Tool-like track that begins with hushed vocals. Formed in 1989, Fear Factory still counts guitarist Dino Cazares as an original member. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793,
mgmnorthfieldpark.mgmresorts.com/en.html.
SAT 02/03
Eric Johanson
Guitarist, singer and songwriter Eric Johanson plays everything from progressive Americana to blues-based roots rock and New Orleans funk. His four most recent solo releases —
Live at DBA: New Orleans Bootleg,
Covered Tracks: Vol. 1,
Covered Tracks: Vol. 2 and
Below Sea Level — all reached Top 10 positions on the Billboard blues charts. He comes to the Treelawn Social tonight in support of
The Deep & the Dirty, an album produced by outlaw country artist Jesse Dayton.
15335 Waterloo Rd, 216-677-8733,
thetreelawn.com.
SUN 02/04
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Famous for '80 hits such as "Tuff Enuff" and "Wrap It Up," the Fabulous Thunderbirds, a band that brought Texas blues to the masses, continues to persevere even as the blues isn't as hot as it once way. Led by co-founder Kim Wilson, the group performs tonight at the Kent Stage. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
175 E. Main St., Kent, 330-677-5005,
kentstage.org.
WED 02/07
Another Dead Rockstar
Another Dead Rockstar — singer Ivo Matic, bassist Rob Parsh and guitarist Tom Curry — counts Alice in Chains, Matthew Good Band, Soundgarden, Rush, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Tool, Lynyrd Skynyrd and "a bunch of '70s, '80s, and '90s rock to the present that's too long to list" as its influences. The local group formed from the ashes of another local Cleveland band, toeHead. During the mid-'90s, toeHead played around the local area quite a bit before disbanding in 1996. Another Dead Rockstar originally formed in 2010, playing a few shows while working on writing songs. The group has just released a new 7-song album, and tonight's show at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights serves as a release party. The concert begins at 8. Altered Generation and Craig Martini open.
2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588,
grogshop.gs.
THU 02/08
Madonna — The Celebration Tour
When Madonna performed at Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) just about a decade ago, she was accompanied by a live band and a huge ensemble of dancers. Expect the same level of production when the Material Girl brings her world tour to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight at 8:30 (or whatever time the diva decides to take the stage).
1 Center Court, 216-420-2000,
rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
FRI 02/09
Badfish
The thing about Badfish is that they perfectly encapsulate the vision set forth by Sublime's Bradley Nowell back in the day. While putting their own twist on certain songs, the band members keep the energetic spirit of Sublime alive, all while offering the music to younger generations and new fans alike. They formed in 2001 at the University of Rhode Island and it's been a wild ride ever since. Each time they come around to the region, they seem to be bolder and more invigorated. In addition, Badfish is releasing some original music, one song at a time, starting with "I Wanna Get High with You," which was released last year. They perform tonight at 6:30 at House of Blues.
308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583,
houseofblues.com.
Keller Williams
Since 1994, singer-songwriter Keller Williams has been releasing eclectic albums, showcasing his versatility as a musician. He combines reggae, bluegrass, and rock into his songs that even include a bit of beat boxing and whistling. The guy does just about everything, and his best songs (think “Freaker by the Speaker” and “Doobie in My Pocket”). He performs tonight at 8 at the Beachland Ballroom.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124,
beachlandballroom.com.
SAT 02/10
Johnny Mathis
Now 88 years old, John Royce "Johnny" Mathis remains one of the last original crooners. Mathis, who sings popular standards and jazz, has put up some remarkable numbers over the course of his remarkable career. He’s sold something like 350 million albums worldwide and defies genres as he plays Brazilian music, Spanish music, soul music, rhythm and blues, soft rock, Broadway theatre, Tin Pan Alley standards and even disco. He performs tonight at 8 at MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage.
10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793,
mgmnorthfieldpark.mgmresorts.com/en.html.
Tamia and Joe
These two Grammy-nominated singers team up for this special concert that comes to the State Theatre tonight at 8. Tamia's career dates back to the early '90s. After participating in various singing and dancing competitions as a youth, she released her debut album in 1998 and inked a deal with Elektra. Her vast catalog includes R&B, gospel and soul tunes. A singer, songwriter and producer, Joe also began releasing albums in the early '90s. He had a very successful run on Jive Records and also possesses a vast catalog of tunes. The show should make for a great double bill.
1519 Euclid Avenue, 216-241-6000,
playhousesquare.org.
TUE 02/13
Deap Vally
This show is part of the indie band's farewell tour, and the band will play its acclaimed debut album,
SISTRIONIX, in its entirety. The concert begins at 8 p.m. at the Beachland Ballroom.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124,
beachlandballroom.com.
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https://www.clevescene.com/music/livewire-13-of-the-best-concerts-in-cleveland-through-valentines-day-43619862
| 2024-01-31T23:51:20Z
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Rate Cuts to Start in July, Former Bank of Canada Official Says
An ex-member of the Bank of Canada’s governing body says he believes the central bank will start cutting interest rates in about six months if inflation pressures ease as expected.
(Bloomberg) -- An ex-member of the Bank of Canada’s governing body says he believes the central bank will start cutting interest rates in about six months if inflation pressures ease as expected.
Policymakers will wait until they see underlying price pressures cool, even if the economy has entered a period of excess supply, former Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry said.
“I wouldn’t see the potential of rate cuts until probably the July decision," Beaudry said in an interview with Avery Shenfeld, the chief economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The bank is scheduled to release a decision on July 24.
Last week, policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem kept the benchmark overnight rate at 5%, but said their focus has turned to how long they’ll need to keep borrowing costs need this high. Markets and economists see the Bank of Canada starting rate cuts at the June 5 meeting.
In the interview, Beaudry reiterated his belief that the neutral rate — the level of interest rates that neither stimulate nor restrict the economy — may be higher now than before the pandemic. The neutral rate is impossible to calculate precisely, but the Bank of Canada creates its own estimate for it.
If the neutral rate is higher, it suggests central banks may be more cautious about how deeply and swiftly they cut rates.
The most difficult scenario for the Bank of Canada would be one in which inflation expectations are stuck at an elevated level — for example, if Canadians become accustomed to 3% inflation and bank officials feel the need to “attack it," Beaudry said. “We haven’t ruled it out in the case of Canada."
The central bank’s long-run target is 2% inflation.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
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https://www.livemint.com/news/rate-cuts-to-start-in-july-former-bank-of-canada-official-says-11706726306677.html
| 2024-01-31T23:51:20Z
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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 requiring a background check, which cost either $1 or $19 depending on eligibility, every time people 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.
California’s law is meant to help police find people who have guns illegally — like convicted felons, people with mental illnesses and those with some domestic violence convictions. Sometimes they order kits online and assemble guns in their home. The guns don’t have serial numbers and are difficult for law enforcement to track, but the people who own them show up in background checks when they try to buy bullets.
Benitez said California’s law violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because if people can’t buy bullets, 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 had argued advances in technology — including buying ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers, on the internet — require a new approach to enforcing gun laws. Benitez rejected the argument, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a new standard for interpreting gun laws. The decision says gun laws must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Benitez ruled there is no history of background checks for ammunition purchases.
“States could have addressed the problem of dangerous armed citizens in this way, but they did not,” Benitez wrote. “When states addressed the concern at all, they addressed it by later seizing firearms from the individual rather than preventing ahead of time the acquisition of ammunition by all individuals.”
Bonta said Benitez’s ruling puts public safety at risk.
“These laws were put in place as a safeguard and a way of protecting the people of California — and they work,” Bonta said. ”We will move quickly to correct this dangerous mistake.”
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 the new standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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 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://kstp.com/kstp-news/business-news/californians-dont-have-to-pass-a-background-check-every-time-they-buy-bullets-federal-judge-rules/
| 2024-01-31T23:51:20Z
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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.kvcrnews.org/2024-01-31/constitutional-scholar-says-gop-charges-against-mayorkas-dont-meet-impeachment-bar
| 2024-01-31T23:51:22Z
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