
A SUPERMARKET giant is selling Terry's Chocolate Orange for just £1 just in time for Christmas. Co-op has slashed the price from £1.50 to just a quid for certain shoppers. But you have to be signed up to the chain's loyalty scheme to bag the bargain. News of the discount was posted to the deal-finding site HotUKDeals. The shopper said: "Terry's Chocolate Oranges £1 members price at the Co-op, seen in Dronfield but this is likely to be a National deal." Users were quick to respond in the comments hailing the low price. Read more on chocolate One said: "Yes....the proper price!!" Another commented: "The price they should be." The post also received a 749% heat rating which means fellow shoppers agree it's a bargain price. According to the comments the deal only appears to be available to Orange member cards, not Blue. Most read in Money Co-op membership also gives you access to discounts across all its brands, including insurance , funeral care, and legal services. You can either join online , via the Co-op app, or in-store. If you're not currently a member, signing up is easy and costs just £1. This gives you access to all their lower prices in stores for members as well as personalised offers. It's worth calling ahead to your local store to check if they are offering the deal before you head out. You can use websites like Trolley, Price Spy and Price Runner which let you compare prices on thousands of products. A quick search with the Google Shopping/Product tab can bring up what some retailers are selling items for too. It's worth going direct to discounters' websites like B&M and Home Bargains too as they often have cheap chocs on sale. Plus the closer we get to Christmas it's likely even more offers will pop up too. But these deals do seem to come and go quickly so it's worth stocking up while you have the chance. This appears to be the lowest price available on Terry's Chocolate Oranges currently according to Trolley. Tesco and Aldi are selling the treats for £1.49, while Asda, Morrisons and Iceland have priced them at £1.50. Sainsbury's Nectar card customers can also bag them for £1.50. While Morrisons and Ocado are the most expensive at £2. READ MORE SUN STORIES We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar. Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs... Go own brand - if you're not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you'll save by going for the supermarket's own brand bars. Shop around - if you've spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it's cheaper elsewhere. Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you're getting the best deal. Look out for yellow stickers - supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they've been reduced. They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged. Buy bigger bars - most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar. So if you've got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger. Elsewhere, Morrisons has slashed the price of Cadbury selection boxes to just £1. Plus, Co-op has reduced the price of Celebrations from £5.50 to just £4.50 for most of December. Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk . Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and storiesShipping containers at Nanjing Port in Nanjing, China, are pictured on Oct. 17.Photo: AFP ‘UNITED FRONT’:Some Taiwanese industry leaders had not initially planned to attend, but later agreed to do so after Beijing threatened them, a source said By Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer 請繼續往下閱讀... China hopes to rebuild its supply chain by wooing Taiwanese businesses at this year’s Cross-Strait CEO Summit (CSCS) to be held today in the Chinese city of Xiamen, a source said yesterday. This year’s summit would focus on “building a cross-strait industrial chain in the new era and promoting cross-strait economic integration and development,” promotional materials for the event said. The aim is to encourage Taiwanese businesspeople who have exited the Chinese market to return and invest there as a means of countering various technology export controls that China has been encountering, the source said. 請繼續往下閱讀... Former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and former Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong (郭金龍), the summit’s co-chairs, are expected to deliver speeches at the event’s opening ceremony. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning (王滬寧) attended the event last year, during which he read a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and delivered a speech. However, it has not been determined whether he would attend this year, the source said. Other Taiwanese attendees include former vice-premier Woody Duh (杜紫軍) and former minister of economic affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘), both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members, as well as former KMT vice chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢). However, Third Wednesday Club (三三會) chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐), who is known to be close to Beijing, pulled out of the event at the last minute saying he had “something else” to take care of, sending the organization’s secretary-general in his place. Some Taiwanese industry leaders had not initially planned to attend, but later agreed to do so after Beijing threatened that they should “carefully consider the consequences of non-attendance,” the source said. “They were worried that investments and company offices in China might be put under pressure, and in the end, they had no choice but to attend the summit in a low-key manner,” the source said. Beijing has also recently used “soft and hard tactics” to pressure Taiwanese businesspeople not to withdraw from China, the source said. “At the same time, Taiwanese businesspeople are being invited, through contacts in China and Taiwan, to participate in investment events in Xinjiang Province, Tibet and other places,” they said. Citing an example, the source said that a former Mainland Affairs Council official who is a member of the KMT had been scheduled to lead a delegation of Taiwanese investors to Xinjiang in September, but the plan was canceled after it was exposed by the media in Taiwan. The government has warned Taiwanese technology investors who enter the Chinese market that doing so could impact their future prospects. This is particularly the case for investors who are found to be an accomplice of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which China has been found to be supporting through trade, the source said. 新聞來源: TAIPEI TIMES 不用抽 不用搶 現在用APP看新聞 保證天天中獎 點我下載APP 按我看活動辦法
SpaceX mulls tender offer at $350B valuation - TechCrunch
CFP leaves angry programs in wake of Sunday’s bracket announcementNoneBritain, Germany, France, Italy and several other European countries said Monday they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, a day after the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad. While Berlin and other governments said they were watching the fast-moving developments in the war-ravaged nation, Austria signalled it would soon deport refugees back to Syria. Far-right politicians elsewhere made similar demands, including in Germany -- home to Europe's largest Syrian community -- at a time when immigration has become a hot-button issue across the continent. Alice Weidel, of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, reacted with disdain to Sunday's mass rallies by jubilant Syrians celebrating Assad's downfall. "Anyone in Germany who celebrates 'free Syria' evidently no longer has any reason to flee," she wrote on X. "They should return to Syria immediately." World leaders and Syrians abroad watched in disbelief at the weekend as Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus, ending Assad's brutal rule while also sparking new uncertainty. A German foreign ministry spokesman pointed out that "the fact that the Assad regime has been ended is unfortunately no guarantee of peaceful developments" in the future. Germany has taken in almost one million Syrians, with most arriving in 2015-16 under ex-chancellor Angela Merkel. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said many Syrian refugees "now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland" but cautioned that "the situation in Syria is currently very unclear". The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions for ongoing asylum procedures "until the situation is clearer". She added that "concrete possibilities of return cannot yet be predicted and it would be unprofessional to speculate in such a volatile situation". Rights group Amnesty International slammed Germany's freeze on asylum decisions, stressing that for now "the human rights situation in the country is completely unclear". The head of the UN refugee agency also cautioned that "patience and vigilance" were needed on the issue of refugee returns. In Austria, where about 100,000 Syrians live, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed the interior ministry "to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants". Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added he had "instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria". "The political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days," the ministry said, adding it is "currently monitoring and analysing the new situation". The French interior ministry said it too would put asylum requests from Syrians on hold, with authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway announcing similar moves. Britain's interior ministry said it was taking the same measure "whilst we assess the current situation". The Italian government said late Monday after a cabinet meeting that it too was suspending asylum request "in line with other European partners." The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, a coalition partner in the government, said residence permits for Syrian refugees should now be "reviewed". "Destructive Islamist forces are behind the change of power" in Syria, wrote their leader Jimmie Akesson on X. "I see that groups are happy about this development here in Sweden. You should see it as a good opportunity to go home." In Greece, a government spokesman voiced hope that Assad's fall will eventually allow "the safe return of Syrian refugees" to their country, but without announcing concrete measures. In Germany, the debate gained momentum as the country heads towards February elections. Achim Brotel, president of a grouping of German communes, called for border controls to stop fleeing Assad loyalists reaching Germany. The centre-right opposition CDU suggested that rejected Syrian asylum-seekers should now lose so-called subsidiary protection. "If the reason for protection no longer applies, then refugees will have to return to their home country," CDU legislator Thorsten Frei told Welt TV. CDU MP Jens Spahn suggested that Berlin charter flights to Syria and offer 1,000 euros ($1,057) to "anyone who wants to return". A member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats criticised the debate as "populist and irresponsible". Greens party deputy Anton Hofreiter also said "it is completely unclear what will happen next in Syria" and deportation talk was "completely out of place". Many Syrians in Germany have watched the events in their home country with great joy but prefer to wait and see before deciding whether to return. "We want to go back to Syria," said Mahmoud Zaml, 25, who works in an Arabic pastry shop in Berlin, adding that he hopes to help "rebuild" his country. "But we have to wait a bit now," he told AFP. "We have to see what happens and if it is really 100 percent safe, then we will go back to Syria." burs-fz/rlp/phz/gv/giv
By JILL COLVIN and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, walk out of a meeting with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, departs the chamber at the Capitol in Washington, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, center speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, right, speaks with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, before testifying at a hearing, March 9, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a classified briefing on China, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill, Sept. 12, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE – Sen. JD Vance R-Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a Republican senator from Ohio, walks from a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It’s a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. Related Articles On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time “with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar.” In another sign of Vance’s influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump’s first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships,” he said. “But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he’s not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.Montana Technologies Co. ( NASDAQ:AIRJ – Get Free Report )’s stock price rose 3.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $9.02 and last traded at $9.02. Approximately 36,443 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 78,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.70. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, HC Wainwright began coverage on Montana Technologies in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on AIRJ Montana Technologies Stock Performance Institutional Trading of Montana Technologies A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in Montana Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $81,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Montana Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $342,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Montana Technologies by 14.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 69,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 8,714 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Montana Technologies during the third quarter worth about $508,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Montana Technologies by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 187,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. 63.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Montana Technologies ( Get Free Report ) Montana Technologies Corporation operates as an atmospheric renewable energy and water harvesting technology company. It provides energy and dehumidification, evaporative cooling, and atmospheric water generation through its AirJoule technology. The company is headquartered in Ronan, Montana. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Montana Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Montana Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .