In conclusion, Zuo's unique blend of creativity, talent, and self-assurance truly sets him apart as a trendsetter in the world of social media. His 800 facial expressions and his signature "Monkey Zuo" hairstyle serve as a testament to his fearless approach to self-expression and his unwavering commitment to authenticity. As we bid farewell to Zuo, we are left inspired and uplifted by his infectious energy and passion for creativity. It's clear that the world has not seen the last of Zuo and his iconic "Monkey Zuo" hairstyle - we eagerly anticipate what he has in store next.
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement pension varies because of factors such as length of contributions, age at which you start payments, and average earnings throughout your working life. The government website says the maximum CPP amount for 2025 if you claim at age 65 is $1,346.60. However, most CPP users receive only an average of $815 monthly (as of July 2024). The reason? You qualify for the maximum monthly pension if you have contributed at least 39 years between 18 and 65, and the contributions are the maximum amount. The maximum annual pensionable earning for 2025 is $71,300, an increase of $2,800 from the $68,500 threshold in 2024. This threshold refers to the income or earnings required to qualify for the maximum CPP payout. If you have not earned the maximum pensionable earnings for most of your working years, kiss your chances goodbye. CPP users won’t get much pension increase for the enhancements in 2019. Many current contributors to the fund will likely fall short, too. The remedy is to augment the average CPP pension with investment income. If you have money saved, consider buying . Note that the average pension of $815 is 60.5% of the maximum CPP pension. The difference is $531.60. Generous dividend payers like ( ) and ( ) can help you earn the amount. However, it takes time and patience to reach the goal. Given the average 6.62% dividend yield, you must invest or accumulate $48,200 worth of shares ($24,100 in each) to make half or $265.90. If you add the Old Age Security (OAS) of $713.34 (2024 max at 65), you’d have a total of $1,794.24. CIBC is a solid choice because it’s the top-performing big bank stock year to date (+48.29%). Besides the hefty 5.5% dividend yield, the dividend track record is 156 years and counting. The current share price is $91.11. As of this writing, the market cap is $61.61 billion. Canada’s fifth-largest bank did not disappoint investors in its recent quarterly performance. In the third quarter (Q3) fiscal 2024 (three months ending July 31, 2024), revenue and net income rose 13% and 25% year over year to $6.6 billion and $1.8 billion. Its president and chief executive officer (CEO), Victor Dodig, credits the disciplined client-focused strategy and diversified North American platform for the strong results. TC Energy is fresh from the spinoff of its liquids pipeline business. The $71.4 billion company is now a pure-play natural gas, natural gas storage, power and energy solutions provider. At $70.14 per share, current investors enjoy a 56.54% year-to-date gain on top of the 7.74% dividend yield. Management expects demand for natural gas to soar and is confident that TC Energy can meet the surge in demand. Four key growth projects worth an estimated $1.5 billion in gross capital expenditures will drive long-term growth. The reality for future retirees is that only a handful receive the maximum CPP pension. Fortunately, it’s not the not of the road. There are other ways to boost retirement income, like generating pension-like income from top dividend stocks.
Professor Guo Tiancai, a renowned agricultural expert in the country, has recently made headlines for his response to being affectionately called "Guo Xiaomai" by his farmer friends. The nickname, which loosely translates to "Guo Wheat," has gained popularity among the rural community, with many expressing their utmost approval of Professor Guo.None
In conclusion, the signing ceremony for the China Barter Trading Service Platform was a momentous occasion that heralded a new era of economic exchange and collaboration. With its innovative approach to barter trading, the platform is set to play a vital role in driving economic growth and fostering greater connectivity among businesses in China and beyond.
The volunteer, whose identity remains anonymous, immediately sprang into action upon hearing the student's request. Armed with nothing but a pen, notebook, and a compassionate spirit, the volunteer sat down with the student and began the daunting task of unraveling the tangled threads of her past.In the early morning following Election Day in 2020, Claire Woodall, then Milwaukee’s elections chief, mistakenly left behind a USB stick carrying vote totals at the city’s central absentee ballot counting facility. Election conspiracy theorists quickly seized on the mistake, accusing Woodall of rigging the election. Their claims were baseless, but the mistake increased scrutiny on the city’s election staff and led Woodall to create a checklist to make sure workers at central count didn’t overlook any critical steps in the future. This year, despite the checklist, Milwaukee election staff at central count made another procedural mistake — and once again left the door open to conspiracy theorists. Somebody — city officials haven’t said who — overlooked the second step outlined on the checklist and failed to lock and seal the hatch covers on the facility’s 13 tabulators before workers began tabulating ballots. For hours, while counting proceeded, the machines’ on-off switches and USB ports were left exposed. After election officials discovered the lapse, city officials decided to count 31,000 absentee ballots all over again , a choice that led to delays in reporting results. Results from the large and heavily Democratic city ultimately came in at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, only a few hours later than expected, but a time that conspiracy theorists implied was a suspicious hour for vote totals to change . Their posts echoed claims from 2020 that used sensationalized language like “late-night ballot dumps” to describe the reality that in big cities, absentee ballots take time — yes, sometimes late into the night — to collect, deliver, verify and count accurately. In fact, the results in Milwaukee couldn’t have arrived much sooner. Under state law, election officials can’t start processing the hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots until the morning of Election Day. This year, they got a late start because of delays in getting workers settled , but were still expecting to be done around 2 or 3 a.m. Then it became clear the midday decision to redo the count would add more time to the process. But those explanations have done little to curb the false conspiracy theories that have been proliferating on the right, including from losing U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde. Election officials have for years known that the slightest mistakes, or even perceived errors, can trigger false claims. In this instance, the failure to follow a critical security step occurred in the state’s most scrutinized election facility, despite new procedures meant to reduce such errors. For people with a conspiratorial mindset, such an oversight can’t be explained away as just a mistake, said Mert Bayar, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public. The errors can provide conspiracy theorists a feeling of validation because those errors make a “conspiracy theory more realistic ... more believable.” For those people, he said, election errors are instead perceived as “part of a plot to steal an election.” Instead of considering the 2024 Milwaukee mistake a simple oversight, Bayar said, conspiracy theorists may think that the tabulator doors “cannot be left unlocked unless they’re trying something tricky, something stealth.” Genya Coulter, senior director of stakeholder relations at the Open Source Election Technology Institute, said Milwaukee can still fine-tune its processes and checklists. “I don't think anybody needs to be demonized,” she said, “but I do think that there needs to be some retraining. That would be helpful.” Milwaukee error initially drew complaints, but not suspicion It was an election observer who first noticed the open tabulator doors and alerted election officials. Around 2 p.m., Milwaukee’s current election chief, Paulina Gutiérrez, went from tabulator to tabulator, monitored by Democratic and Republican representatives, to lock all of the doors. Two hours later, she made the call to rerun all ballots through the tabulators. The tabulators had been in full view of partisan observers and the media, but behind a barrier that only election officials and some designated observers, like representatives for both political parties who accompany election officials during some election processes, can enter. Any tampering would have been evident, Gutiérrez said, and there was no sign of that. For that reason, some Republicans at central count opposed recounting all the ballots and risking a delay. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who went to central count on Election Day to learn more about the error, said he didn’t think anything nefarious happened , though he said the election operation there was “grossly incompetent.” Coulter said the decision to start the counting over again was “the right call for transparency's sake.” Hovde, who lost his Senate race in a state that Donald Trump carried, invoked conspiratorial language to describe what happened. “The results from election night were disappointing, particularly in light of the last minute absentee ballots that were dropped in Milwaukee at 4 a.m. flipping the outcome,” he said Monday in his concession speech. “There are many troubling issues around these absentee ballots.” In an earlier video , Hovde criticized Milwaukee’s election operation and spread false claims about the proportion of votes that his opponent, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, received from absentee ballots. That led to a skyrocketing number of posts baselessly alleging election fraud in Wisconsin. One prominent conservative social media account questioned whether the tabulator doors being left open was a case of sabotage. In a statement, the Milwaukee Election Commission said it “unequivocally refutes Eric Hovde’s baseless claims regarding the integrity of our election process.” Why Milwaukee’s results were late There’s no proof of fraud or malfeasance in Milwaukee or anywhere else in Wisconsin on Election Day. But a few key factors combined to delay Milwaukee’s results until 4 a.m. First, Milwaukee central count workers started processing and tabulating ballots around 9 a.m., long after the 7 a.m. start time allowed under state law. The delay was a matter of getting dozens of central count workers organized and at the right station in the large facility. The more high-profile one was the failure to close the tabulators, which prompted the decision to count 31,000 absentee ballots all over again. But both of those slowdowns could have been less consequential had Wisconsin election officials been able to process absentee ballots on the Monday before Election Day, as some other states allow. Such a change could have allowed election officials to review absentee ballot envelopes, verify and check in absentee voters but not count votes. An effort to allow election officials to do so stalled in the state Senate this year . Checklist change could ‘improve transparency’ Milwaukee election officials may have avoided the situation entirely — and could avoid similar situations in the future — by modifying their central count checklist, said Coulter, from the Open Source Election Technology Institute. Currently, the checklist states that at the start of Election Day, the tabulator doors should be locked and sealed. It’s not clear why that step was skipped. Gutiérrez didn’t respond to questions for comment about who was in charge of the process or whether that person faced disciplinary action. But the step likely wouldn’t have been overlooked, Coulter said, if the checklist required the official in charge of locking the tabulators to be accompanied by a representative from each major political party. “That's a relatively painless change that ... I think it would improve transparency,” Coulter said. “There needs to be an emphasis on having two people from different political affiliations performing all duties that involve the tabulator,” she said. Another pre-processing step on the checklist calls for people working at the tabulators to make sure the numbered seals pasted over the tabulator doors are intact. It doesn’t call for checking that the tabulator doors are locked. To avoid a repeat situation, Coulter said, “they should also check to make sure that the door to the power button is properly locked, and what to do if it isn't.” Election officials recognize the scrutiny they face over errors, Coulter said, and they sometimes focus more on avoiding mistakes than running election operations. “It's like a racecar driver ... If you focus on the wall, you're going to wind up hitting that wall,” she said. “You have to train your mind to think about the curve and not the wall, but unfortunately, it's really hard for election officials to do that, especially in high-pressure jurisdictions.” Alexander Shur is a reporter for Votebeat based in Wisconsin. Contact Shur at ashur@votebeat.org . Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Wisconsin’s free newsletter here . This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Even with access to blockbuster obesity drugs, some people don't lose weightWade Taylor IV scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists and C.J. Wilcher added 14 points as No. 13 Texas A&M throttled Abilene Christian 92-54 on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas. The Aggies (11-2) were in charge from the jump, forging a 19-point lead at halftime and never looking back. Texas A&M scored the first points of the second half, was up by 28 with 13:23 to play and cruised to the finish line while winning its seventh straight game. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. As property values continue to outpace inflation, property taxes are taking a bigger bite out of homeowners’ wallets. A new analysis from Construction Coverage breaks down property tax rates by state, county, and city to reveal where homeowners have the greatest burden. Click for more. Where Are U.S. Property Taxes Highest and Lowest? A State, County, and City AnalysisOne of the key highlights of the YU7 is its smart connectivity features, which are seamlessly integrated into the vehicle to enhance the driving experience. From intelligent voice control to advanced navigation systems, the YU7 offers a host of innovative features that make it stand out in a competitive market.
Upon receiving reports of the fire, emergency services were dispatched to the scene to contain the blaze and ensure the safety of personnel working at the data center. Alibaba's technical team also immediately began assessing the extent of the damage and implementing contingency plans to minimize the impact on their services and customers.
In addition to the personal and professional growth that young players can achieve through their experiences in European football, there are also tangible benefits for Chinese football as a whole. By exposing young talents to the best practices, coaching methods, and football philosophies prevalent in Europe, China can accelerate the development of its own football infrastructure and raise the overall standard of the sport in the country. The knowledge and skills that young players acquire during their time in Europe can be brought back to China and shared with their peers, contributing to the growth and improvement of Chinese football at all levels.
Choosing between any two of the top five banks in Canada can be a task that’s more difficult than it may seem. For one, these large lenders are highly correlated, meaning that it doesn’t really matter which bank stock one picks; they’re most likely going to move in the same direction. From a and growth perspective, it’s also true that yields and growth rates are likely to be about roughly the same. So, why not simply buy a sector-weighted exchange-traded fund (ETF) and call it a day? There are some differences between Canada’s largest banks that are worth pointing out. These differences could lead to relative outperformance over a medium-term time frame. Here’s a breakdown of two of Canada’s largest banks and which is the stock I’d call the likely prospective winner over the next five years or so. Toronto-Dominion Bank ( ) offers retail and corporate banking services, wealth management and related financial solutions. The services list includes accounts, cards, certificates of deposits, life and non-life insurance, mortgage and borrowings, international banking, merchant solutions, investment, cash management, and wealth advisory services. Toronto-Dominion Bank can produce a good level of financial performance despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. In the third quarter of its fiscal year 2024, which ended in July, TD posted a 3% year-over-year increase in its adjusted earnings to $2.05 per share. It also managed to post a solid 8.9% year-over-year rise in its revenue to $14.2 billion, thanks to continued strength in its core banking operations, particularly in the Canadian market. In fact, despite the AML investigation and the not-so-easy macroeconomic environment, Toronto-Dominion Bank has shown it can still grow revenue and protect its earnings. Its Canadian personal and commercial banking operations touched record during the July 2024 quarter. Its revenue segment rose about 9% year over year to about $5 billion. Apart from this, the segment’s net profit also rose by about 13%, reflecting the strength of its customer base and leading market position. Royal Bank of Canada ( ) offers personal, institutional, and business banking products and wealth and asset management services. It operates through a network of branch offices, ATMs, and online portals and serves individual, business, SMEs, institutional, and high and ultra-high net worth individual clients. Royal Bank of Canada is supporting its steady dividend with a reliable history over the last 10 years, supported by a low payout ratio of just 49%, which is sustainable. However, its yield at 3.42% is a little below the average of the major Canadian dividend players but sits at a discount to the estimated fair value. Recent fixed-income offerings are said to be strategic financial maneuvers to bring support to growth and stability. The company might better position itself for greater financial oversight and strategic direction in pursuing efforts at constant growth by appointing its new chief financial officer. The bank has sound financial health with high earnings, good quality of credits, and excellent customer satisfaction, which comes well for the bank. However, the rise of noninterest expenses, gross impaired loans, and a high price-to-earnings ratio compared to peers indicate various issues. The growth opportunities include achieving expense synergies and enhancement of trade finance offerings. However, it will balance these factors against the economic uncertainty and additional regulatory hurdles surrounding the bank. The verdict Overall, taking into account valuation, dividend potential, and growth potential, Toronto-Dominion Bank is better than Royal Bank. It has more upside if it can beat the money-laundering allegations or even if it just pays out a moderate amount of fines and settlements. Royal Bank is pretty well-valued by banking standards, and at 13 times earnings with little growth, it is not cheap. However, it is a pretty conservative bank, so you are unlikely to lose your shirt on it.SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks rode their dominant defense to a big win over a division rival to vault into first place in the NFC West. No, it isn’t 2013. These are the 2024 Seahawks, who, after struggling mightily against the run earlier this season, held the visiting Arizona Cardinals to 49 rushing yards in Sunday's 16-6 victory . Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get the latest sports news delivered right to your inbox six days a week.In addition to its advanced imaging capabilities, the Mini 3D Lidar boasts a compact and lightweight design that is ideally suited for integration into a wide range of robotic platforms. With its diminutive form factor and low power consumption, this mini lidar sensor offers unparalleled flexibility in terms of installation and deployment, making it an ideal choice for robotics developers looking to streamline their design process and optimize performance.
B.C. artist backs Victoria Hand Project clinic in UkraineOfficial Response to the Fire at Alibaba Cloud Computing Data Center: Fire Extinguished, No Casualties Reported
Adding to the excitement is the announcement of multiple new skins that are set to be released alongside the new legend. These new skins promise to present Sun Ce in a fresh and exciting way, offering fans a glimpse of the hero in different settings and scenarios. From sleek, modern designs to traditional, historical interpretations, the new skins are sure to captivate audiences and reignite interest in Sun Ce's character.Despite the mixed reactions, there is no denying that the powder blue skin stands out among the usual array of darker and more muted skins in the game. The contrast of the bright blue against the backdrop of the game's landscapes and architecture is undeniably eye-catching and adds a sense of novelty and uniqueness to the player's character. The pink accents further enhance the visual impact of the skin, creating a bold and distinctive look that sets it apart from the rest.
SLB Capturi Completes Construction of the World’s First Industrial-Scale Carbon Capture Plant at a Cement Facility