Middle East latest: Blast rocks Beirut moments after Biden announces Israel-Hezbollah ceasefireISRO Marks Major Milestone for Gaganyaan Mission with Key Achievements
5 Tech Gifts This Mom Influencer Says Are on Her List — and Should Be on Yours TooMaximus contract with CMS for Medicare services cancelled; shares dropRachel Reeves urged business chiefs to judge her on her ability to deliver economic growth as she faced claims she was treating firms as a “cash cow” by hiking taxes. The Chancellor acknowledged she had received a lot of “feedback” over the Budget , which included £40 billion of tax increases, but insisted no-one had presented a “credible alternative” to her plan. In an attempt to reassure firms she would not repeat the tax raid, Ms Reeves told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference the Budget had “wiped the slate clean” and public services would now have to live within their means. Her appearance at the conference in central London followed public criticism by the CBI’s chief executive Rain Newton-Smith and chairman Rupert Soames over the increase in hiring costs caused by rising minimum wage rates and a £25 billion annual increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) announced in the October 30 Budget. The Chancellor said: “I’m not immune to the challenges that businesses face, including the challenges from higher taxes. But the alternative was instability hanging over us for another year.” Ms Reeves told bosses at the conference: “I’ve had lots of feedback on the Budget, but what I haven’t heard is any credible alternative to what I did to put our public finances on a firm footing.” But she insisted that “businesses can now be certain that we’re never going to have to do a budget like that again” and “public services now need to live within the means that we’ve set”. The Chancellor insisted that stabilising the public finances and increasing investment would create the conditions for growth, along with measures such as the Government ’s promised planning reforms. “I want you to judge this Government on our number one mission, which is to bring growth back to the UK economy,” Ms Reeves said. “We can’t do that overnight. If I promised that during the election campaign, if I promised that in my first couple of months in the job, you’d say that’s unrealistic. “But over this Parliament we’re going to return investment, we’re going to return growth to the economy, because in the end that’s the only way to ensure that Britain is competitive and to ensure that we punch our weight in the world and to improve living standards for working people and to properly fund the public services that I want to see improved as well.” But business leaders sounded the alarm over the damage the increase in NICs would do to jobs, growth and investment. Ms Newton-Smith said: “The rise in national insurance, the stark lowering of the threshold, caught us all off guard. “Along with the expansion and the rise of the National Living Wage – which everyone wants to accommodate – and the potential cost of the Employment Rights Bill, they put a heavy burden on business.” A CBI survey of 266 firms found 62.4% were likely to reduce the number of new hires as a result of the NICs increase, while almost half – 48.1% – said they would reduce their current headcount. Mr Soames said: “There is no doubt here that in this Budget business has been milked as the cash cow.” He added: “At the moment, there are doubts that the dots of Government policy join up. “This week, the Department for Work and Pensions is going to produce a paper setting out actions to help get a meaningful number of the nine million (jobless people) back into work. “But at the same time, we have a Budget which makes employing people, particularly the young, part-time and low paid, much more expensive. “And we have an Employment Rights Bill which makes employing people much more risky and an adventure playground for lawyers.” Meanwhile, the boss of Hobnob biscuit maker McVitie’s parent company Pladis said it is getting “harder to understand” the case for investing in the UK amid too much Government focus on new industries at the expense of existing ones. Salman Amin said: “What strikes me is that in the race to grow, we seem to be turning our backs on the industries which have built Britain for decades.” Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: “Labour’s national insurance jobs tax will punish businesses across the country – making it harder for them to create jobs, driving down wages and discouraging investment. “Thanks to Labour’s choices, independent forecasts are predicting growth slowing, inflation rising and borrowing soaring. “It is clear all Rachel Reeves has delivered so far is a litany of broken promises.”
Five-star center Chris Cenac Jr. commits to HoustonThe UK, Italy and Japan on Friday launched a joint venture to develop a supersonic next-generation fighter jet by 2035, replacing the Eurofighter Typhoon. Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co Ltd (JAIEC) will each hold a 33.3 percent share in the new venture, "marking a pivotal moment for the international aerospace and defence industry," they announced in a press release. JAIEC is a firm jointly funded by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. "Today's agreement is a culmination of many months working together with our industry partners and is testament to the hard work of everyone involved in this strategically important programme," said Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Chief Executive. The venture will "bring together the significant strengths and expertise of the companies involved to create an innovative organisation that will lead the way in developing a next generation combat air system, creating long-term, high value and skilled jobs across the partner nations for decades to come," he added. The three partners have agreed to form a new company under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a multinational initiative established by the UK, Japan and Italy in 2022 to develop a sixth-generation stealthfighter to replace the Typhoon and Japanese F-2. The joint venture is expected to be established by the middle of 2025 and will undertake the design and development of the GCAP aircraft. It will subcontract the manufacturing and final assembly of the aircraft to BAE Systems, Leonardo, MHI and the wider supply chain. The aircraft is due to enter service in 2035, ahead of the competing European project FCAS -- led by Paris, Berlin and Madrid -- and is expected to be in service until 2070. The new company will be headquartered in the UK and its first CEO, whose name has not been announced, will be Italian. "The way might not always be simple and straightforward. However, I believe that through continuing the strong spirit of trilateral cooperation and collaboration... we will not only deliver the GCAP on time but also at a level that exceeds all of our expectations," said JAIEC president Kimito Nakae. The Italian defence ministry has already allocated 8.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion) to the program, Roberto Cingolani, the CEO of Leonardo, said in November, although the total budget of the project has yet to be revealed. Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto hailed the announcement as an "important step" and "a remarkable example of the strong international cooperation between our nations". GCAP aims to counter the threats posed by Russia and China and will merge two different aircraft program -- the UK and Italy's "Tempest" and Japan's "F-X". The objective is to develop a twin-engine stealth aircraft that could be operated with or without a crew, would boast features such as laser-directed weapons and a virtual cockpit and would be much harder to detect using radar and infrared. New technologies being explored for Tempest include the integration of AI and augmented reality and the ability to conduct missions alongside drones. Visiting the Farnborough Air Show in July, where a model of the aircraft was unveiled, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed "just how important a program this is" for the country. But Mike Schoellhorn, the CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, said in July that the competition between GCAP and FCAS was "not logical". Cingolani has not ruled out a possible rapprochement. "I'm not saying merging, maybe this is too much, but for sure some collaboration. It's too early to say, we're just at the beginning," he told AFP. jwp/jkb/The former New York mayor and lawyer to Donald Trump, , erupted in court on Tuesday, telling a judge: “I can’t pay my bills!” Sketches by court room artists, who for the media to use when cameras are not allowed in court, such as federal courts, showed a furious Giuliani, 80, pointing at the judge in his case, Lewis Liman. The hearing in federal court in Manhattan concerned a near-$150m judgment won by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia elections workers while advancing Trump’s lie that in 2020 cost him victory . Liman said Giuliani had not been complying with . Giuliani said on Tuesday: “The implications you are making against me are wrong. I have no car, no credit card, no cash, everything I have is tied up, they have put stop orders on my business accounts, and I can’t pay my bills!” Giuliani’s fall has been spectacular. After making his name as a hard-charging prosecutor who took on organized crime, he was mayor for two terms, in office on and widely praised for his leadership after the terrorist attacks on the US. His 2008 presidential run flopped but Giuliani enjoyed a successful consulting and speaking career before allying himself with Trump when the property magnate entered Republican politics in 2015. Giuliani missed out on a cabinet appointment but became Trump’s personal attorney – work that fueled Trump’s , in 2019 for blackmailing Ukraine for political dirt. Giuliani then became a prime driver of Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election – work which produced criminal charges, to which he , the huge defamation judgment, and disbarments in and . In New York on Tuesday, Giuliani’s lawyer told the judge his client had turned over assets including a Mercedes Benz sports car once owned by the film star Lauren Bacall. An attorney for Freeman and Moss said Giuliani had turned over the car but not the title to it. Attorneys for the two women have also said they have to Giuliani’s $5m Upper East Side apartment in Manhattan, but have not secured “the keys, stock, or proprietary lease”. In court, the judge told Giuliani’s lawyer: “A car without a title is meaningless ... your client is a competent person. He was the US attorney in the district. The notion that he can’t apply for a title certificate –” Giuliani cut him off, saying: “I did apply for it! What am I supposed to do, make it up myself? Your implication that I have not been diligent about it is totally incorrect.” He then launched his outburst about financial problems. Giuliani’s lawyer asked Liman to extend deadlines, given he had only just started on the case after previous attorneys withdrew. Liman denied the request, saying: “You can’t restart the clock by firing one counsel and hiring another. He has already received multiple extensions, and missed multiple deadlines.” Trial is set for 16 January regarding whether Giuliani must also give Moss and Freeman his Florida home and four New York Yankees World Series commemoration rings. On Tuesday, Giuliani’s lawyer asked if the trial could be pushed back, so his client could attend inaugural events for Trump, who will be sworn in as president in Washington DC on 20 January. Liman said no. Outside court, Giuliani told reporters Liman was “going to rule against me. If you were sitting in the courtroom and couldn’t figure it out, you’re stupid.” He also said the judge’s “background is serious leftwing Democrat ... about as leftwing as you get” – even while acknowledging Liman was by Trump. Giuliani said he did not regret defaming Freeman and Moss. “I regret the persecution I have been put through,” he said.
PS Plus Extra and Premium December 2024 games reveal TIME, date, leaks and predictions - ExpressGeneral Motors, after pouring billions of dollars into its Cruise robotaxi unit over the past eight years, said it’s ending the subsidiary’s stand-alone efforts and will combine it with in-house efforts to develop autonomous driving technologies for personal vehicles. The Detroit-based automaker said it will no longer fund Cruise’s robotaxi work as it will take too long and cost too much to scale the business to compete with competitors it didn’t identify. Presumably, its biggest challenge is catching up with Waymo, which is carrying hundreds of thousands of riders in its robotaxis every week and is about to expand the service to Miami, Austin and Atlanta. “This is the latest in a series of decisions that GM has announced that underscore our focus on having the right technology for the future of our company and the industry,” Mary Barra, GM’s chair and CEO, said on a conference call. “GM made this decision to refocus our strategy because we believe in the importance of driver assistance and autonomous driving technology in our vehicles.” “Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy, and the deeper integration of our teams, paired with GM’s strong brands, scale, and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation.” Cruise, acquired by GM in 2016, was among the best-funded robotaxi companies, raising more than $8 billion, including investments from SoftBank and Honda. For years it was locked in a tight competition with Alphabet’s Waymo to be a dominant player in the emerging autonomous vehicle space. However the company struggled to regain its footing after an October 2023 accident when one of its robotaxis struck and dragged a woman in San Francisco, shortly after the company had opened up the robotic ride service to the public. Cruise recently announced plans to work with Uber and was focused on rebuilding trust in the brand, but those efforts were not seen as sufficient by GM’s management. The move is reminiscent of a 2022 decision by Ford and Volkswagen to shut down Argo AI , their joint-venture autonomous driving unit, which like Cruise had also raised billions from the automakers. Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time also said funding a robotaxi startup was too costly and would take too much time. Uber, which now partners with Waymo in some cities, shut down its efforts to develop robotaxis in 2020, months after a fatal accident in which one of its test vehicles killed a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix. Barra made no mention of the Cruise accident, instead focusing on the need for GM to use its funds more efficiently. “Given the considerable time and expense required to scale a robotaxi business in an increasingly competitive market, combining forces would be more efficient and therefore consistent with our capital allocation priorities,” she said. Though Tesla’s Elon Musk has set a goal for his company to be a leader in robotaxi technology, it hasn’t yet demonstrated the ability to achieve that , at least not in the near term. Instead, Waymo appears to be in a unique position of being the only large-scale player in the robotaxi space. The company last month said it’s carrying more than 150,000 paying customers in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, a number that will likely jump dramatically next year as it enters new cities and expands its vehicle fleet. So far, it’s also managed to avoid any serious accidents that could slow its growth plans. Amazon’s Zoox unit, which is preparing to launch a robotaxi service in Las Vegas, for now appears to be one of Waymo’s few U.S. competitors though its scale is much smaller. GM owns about 90% of Cruise and will acquire the remaining shares in it from other investors after receiving approval from the Cruise board. It expects to save more than $1 billion a year after completing the restructuring plan next year. Barra didn’t say exactly how many Cruise employees would be moved over to GM during the conference call. More From Forbes
Zeta Global Holdings Corp. Shareholder Notice: Robbins LLP Reminds Investors of the ZETA Class ...Automatic Partners with MeridianLink to Revolutionize Lender-Dealership Connectivity(Bloomberg) — Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bavaria’s prime minister, Markus Soeder, said they’re open to reforming the country’s strict borrowing limits, signaling a departure from the traditional stance of the conservative Christian Democrats, who are leading in polls ahead of an election in February. Merkel said there’s a case for limited relaxation, arguing that Germany needs to increase defense spending and invest in areas where it lags behind to maintain social peace. “What is important is a reform that only allows debt for investments and not for further social spending,” she said in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. Sepatarely, Soeder told Stern magazine in an interview published Tuesday that he’s in favor of reforming debt rules as long as federal and state spending rules are aligned. The remarks add to a growing debate about the so-called debt brake, long championed by conservative politicians. Two weeks ago, Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democrat candidate for chancellor, signaled openness to reform to give the government more wiggle room. The rules, established in 2009 following the global financial crisis, limit net new borrowing to no more than 0.35% of GDP to help keep the budget deficit in check. Exceptions are allowed during national emergencies or recessions. Debate around loosening the framework has intensified as the country heads toward February’s snap election, with even Merz, who is leading in opinion polls, acknowledging the need for more flexibility to help in areas such as infrastructure, energy and defense.
Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti was named the Home Depot National Coach of the Year on Thursday night during the College Football Awards Show broadcast on ESPN. Cignetti has led Indiana to the nation's biggest turnaround in his first year with the Hoosiers. At 11-1, the Hoosiers have improved by eight games from the 2023 season, and the Hoosiers have reached the College Football Playoff for the first time. Indiana's 11 victories are a school record and mark the first double-digit win season in Hoosier history. The Hoosiers went 8-1 in Big Ten play, which is the most Big Ten wins by an IU team since joining the conference in 1900. Indiana will take on Notre Dame in the playoff's opening game on Friday, Dec. 20, inside Notre Dame Stadium at 8 p.m. The game will air on ABC/ESPN with a special Friday night College GameDay on site in South Bend starting at 3:30 p.m. and leading up to kickoff. Cignetti is also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year and a part of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list. Earlier this month, he was named the Hayes-Schembechler Big Ten Coach of the Year from the conference coaches and the Dave McClain Coach of the Year from the media that covers the Big Ten.Mountain America Partners With Idaho State Athletics to Donate $14,600 to Operation Warm
Surveillance tech advances by Biden could aid in Trump's promised crackdown on immigrationShareholder Notice: Robbins LLP Informs Stockholders of the Class Action Against Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
Elton John unsure if he can return to work after ‘severe’ infection caused loss of vision in right eye
Mercedes-Benz has always been at the sharp end of technological innovation and design evolution which is reflected in their concept cars of the past, present, and the ones proposed for the future. The Vision EQS, , , and are good examples of the brand’s future ambitions. This gives independent automotive concept designers the creative opportunity to expand that vision even further with striking mock creations. Mercedes Chronos concept is one of them, impressing with the hyper futuristic design aesthetics that are fit for a dystopian future that’ll be radically different from today’s world. Designer: This Mercedes concept is a stunning exercise in pushing the boundaries of automotive design drawing inspiration from the brand’s rich heritage and exploring the possibilities in unknown times that demand a vehicle tailored for all-terrain commute. Crafted as a luxury, high-performance electric vehicle, the Chronos is a fusion of elegance, cutting-edge technology, and aerodynamic precision, capturing the essence of what a Mercedes-Benz of tomorrow could be. The design concept is sleek yet dynamic, with a low-slung, elongated body that exudes a sense of speed even at a standstill. The sharp, fluid lines are inspired by the natural flow of wind, optimized to reduce drag and improve efficiency. The aggressive front end reminiscent of a serpent’s hood features a seamless amalgam of the grille and headlights. Loaded with advanced LED headlight technology, the compact panel creates an illuminated signature that’s both visually striking and highly functional. This one-seater hotrod has a large unibody spoiler at the rear and a curvaceous lower end contrasted by the flashy taillights. The side panels are brought to life with a translucent honeycomb-patterned body panel backlit by warm lighting. In the nighttime, this feature comes to life, turning this sci-fi Mercedes concept into an object of desire. For me, this concept is a pure representation of what the thought process of our descendants would be. Flamboyant, fearless, and magnetic!VANCOUVER - A family of killer whales has made a rare trip into waters off downtown Vancouver for what an expert says was likely a “grocery shopping” hunt for harbour seals. Video shared on social media by False Creek Ferries shows the whales cruising past highrise towers at the entrance to False Creek on Sunday. Andrew Trites, director of the University of British Columbia’s marine mammal research unit, has identified the whales as a family group of transient orcas consisting of a mother and her three offspring. He says it’s the first time the 26-year-old mother, known as T35A, has shown up in downtown Vancouver with her children aged six, 11 and 14. Trites says the well documented family has previously been seen by marine researchers from Alaska to the Strait of Juan de Fuca south of Vancouver Island. He attributes the pod’s surprising downtown appearance to seals also changing their habits as they hide from orcas, forcing killer whales to hunt in backwater areas like False Creek. Trites says the video shows the whales moving quietly like “ghosts” to avoid alerting their prey. Killer whales have previously been spotted in False Creek, including in 2019, and in 2010 a grey whale swam all the way to the end of the inlet, near Science World. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2024.Biden says Trump economic plan will be 'disaster'
Five-star center Chris Cenac Jr. commits to HoustonUpstart Holdings Stock Surges After Needham Upgrade: Retail Sentiment Soars