49 jili

49 jili

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed at more records after Donald Trump’s latest talk about tariffs created only some ripples on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to reach another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3% to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.6% as Big Tech stocks helped lead the way. Stock markets abroad saw mostly modest losses, after President-elect Trump said he plans to impose sweeping tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office. U.S. automakers and other companies that could be hurt particularly by such tariffs fell. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising toward records Tuesday after Donald Trump’s latest talk about tariffs created only some ripples on Wall Street, even if they could roil the global economy were they to take effect. People are also reading... The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and was on track to top its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81 points, or 0.2%, to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher, with less than an hour remaining in trading. Stock markets abroad were down, but mostly only modestly, after President-elect Trump said he plans to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office. Stock indexes were down 0.1% in Shanghai and nearly flat in Hong Kong, while Canada's main index edged down by just 0.1%. Trump has often praised the use of tariffs , but investors are weighing whether his latest threat will actually become policy or is just an opening point for negotiations. For now, the market seems to be taking it more as the latter. Unless the United States can prepare alternatives for the autos, energy products and other goods that come from Mexico, Canada and China, such tariffs would raise the price of imported items all at once and make households poorer, according to Carl Weinberg and Rubeela Farooqi, economists at High Frequency Economics. They would also hurt profit margins for U.S. companies, while raising the threat of retaliatory tariffs by other countries. General Motors sank 8.2%, and Ford Motor fell 2.6% because both import automobiles from Mexico. Constellation Brands, which sells Modelo and other Mexican beer brands in the United States, dropped 3.9%. Beyond the pain such tariffs would cause U.S. households and businesses, they could also push the Federal Reserve to slow or even halt its cuts to interest rates. The Fed had just begun easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high a couple months ago to offer support to the job market . While lower interest rates can boost the overall economy and prices for investments, they can also offer more fuel for inflation. “Many” officials at the Fed's last meeting earlier this month said they should lower rates gradually, according to minutes of the meeting released Tuesday afternoon. Unlike tariffs in Trump's first term, his proposal from Monday night would affect products across the board. Trump’s tariff talk came almost immediately after U.S. stocks rose Monday amid excitement about his pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. The hope was the hedge-fund manager could steer Trump away from policies that balloon the U.S. government deficit, which is how much more it spends than it takes in through taxes and other revenue. The talk about tariffs overshadowed another set of mixed profit reports from U.S. retailers that answered few questions about how much more shoppers can keep spending. They’ll need to stay resilient after helping the economy avoid a recession, despite the high interest rates instituted by the Fed to get inflation under control. Kohl’s tumbled 17.6% after its results for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Tom Kingsbury said sales remain soft for apparel and footwear. A day earlier, Kingsbury said he plans to step down as CEO in January. Ashley Buchanan, CEO of Michaels and a retail veteran, will replace him. Best Buy fell 4.7% after likewise falling short of analysts’ expectations. Dick’s Sporting Goods topped forecasts for the latest quarter thanks to a strong back-to-school season, but its stock lost an early gain to fall 1.4%. A report on Tuesday from the Conference Board said confidence among U.S. consumers improved in November, but not by as much as economists expected. J.M. Smucker jumped 5.4% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after topping analysts' expectations for the latest quarter. CEO Mark Smucker credited strength for its Uncrustables, Meow Mix, Café Bustelo and Jif brands. Big Tech stocks also helped prop up U.S. indexes. Gains of 2.8% for Amazon and 2% for Microsoft were the two strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. In the bond market, Treasury yields rose following their big drop from a day before driven by relief following Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.30% from 4.28% late Monday, but it’s still well below the 4.41% level where it ended last week. In the crypto market, bitcoin continued to pull back after topping $99,000 for the first time late last week. It's since dipped back toward $91,600, according to CoinDesk. It’s a sharp turnaround from the bonanza that initially took over the crypto market following Trump’s election. That boom had also appeared to have spilled into some corners of the stock market. Strategists at Barclays Capital pointed to stocks of unprofitable companies, along with other areas that can be caught up in bursts of optimism by smaller-pocketed “retail” investors. AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.

The FA is investigating an allegation that referee David Coote discussed giving a yellow card before a match. The Sun newspaper claims Coote booked then-Leeds player Ezgjan Alioski in a match against West Brom in October 2019, then messaged a friend saying: "I hope you backed as discussed." The Sun is reporting that Coote denies any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for PGMOL told Sky Sports News : "The facts need to be established in light of these very serious allegations. "We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our integrity code of conduct, which is signed by all match officials on an annual basis. PGMOL board is committed to taking the appropriate action should any breach of that code be proven. "David Coote remains suspended and subject to an ongoing disciplinary process by PGMOL, separate to the investigation into this matter, which will be carried out independently by the FA. "We will be making no further comment at this stage." A spokesperson for the FA told Sky Sports News : "These are very serious allegations and we are investigating as a matter of urgency." Leeds are aware of the latest allegations but do not wish to comment at this time.

Conor McGregor axed from 'Hitman' game after being found guilty in civil rape case

RxBenefits, Inc. Appoints Robert Gamble Chief Executive OfficerNigeria, a nation often hailed as the “Giant of Africa,” is rich in natural resources, human capital, and potential. Yet, the country finds itself at a pivotal moment, where it must reimagine how to address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment. While temporary relief efforts, such as palliative distributions, may bring short-term solace to vulnerable populations, they do not tackle the root causes of poverty or unlock the nation’s immense potential. Now is the time to shift the narrative—from reliance on handouts to a focus on sustainable, community-driven empowerment. The tragedies of December 2024, which saw lives lost during charity distributions, underscore the need for a different approach. These heartbreaking events serve as a call to action, urging all stakeholders—government, private sector, and communities—to work together to create systemic solutions that restore dignity and offer lasting opportunities. Learning from Global Success Stories Across the globe, countries have transformed their economies by identifying and leveraging regional strengths. Shenzhen, once a small fishing village in China, is now a global hub for electronics manufacturing, producing devices that shape modern life. In São Paulo, Brazil, industries focused on automotive components, machinery, and biofuels have fueled sustainable economic growth. Bandung, Indonesia, has become a leader in textile production, catering to global markets, while Stuttgart, Germany, is synonymous with engineering excellence in the automotive and machinery sectors. These success stories share a common thread: industrial specialization supported by reliable infrastructure, forward-thinking policies, and collaborative efforts between governments and local stakeholders. Nigeria, with its diverse regions and abundant resources, has the potential to achieve similar success. Building on Regional Strengths Every region in Nigeria has unique assets that can serve as the foundation for economic growth: The North: With its vast arable land, the region is well-suited for large-scale agriculture and agro-processing industries. The South: As the oil-rich hub of the country, this region can expand its energy production and petrochemical industries. The East: Renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit, the East can lead in manufacturing and skilled trades. The West: Home to thriving commercial hubs, the West can become a leader in trade, finance, and technology. By identifying and harnessing these comparative advantages, Nigeria can create industrial and commercial zones tailored to each region’s strengths. This approach will foster balanced economic growth, reduce inequalities, and drive nationwide development. The Foundation for Success To make these zones viable, certain foundational elements are essential: The Ripple Effects of Sustainable Development The benefits of this approach extend far beyond economic metrics. Developing specialized industrial zones will: Create Jobs: Employment opportunities will reduce poverty, empower individuals, and curb urban migration. Boost Productivity: Regional specialization will enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness in global markets. Promote Community Investment: Income generated from thriving industries will fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure, creating a virtuous cycle of development. A Shared Responsibility Nigeria’s transformation depends on collective effort. The government, private investors, and communities must unite in their commitment to building a self-reliant economy. Sustainable development is not just about creating industries; it is about creating opportunities that preserve dignity, foster innovation, and inspire hope for a brighter future. The time to act is now. With its youthful population, vast natural resources, and untapped potential, Nigeria stands on the brink of a new era. By prioritizing sustainable empowerment over temporary fixes, the nation can unlock its promise and ensure that every community thrives. Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient Nigeria—one where dignity, opportunity, and prosperity are accessible to all. Dr. Femi Akinkuebi is the MD of Ore Industrial Park (OIP)

On perhaps the worst travel day in the U.S., American Airlines grounded its flights on Christmas Eve . Customers were left frustrated in the early morning hours on December 24, 2024, and of course, many want answers now. In a statement obtained by CNN , AA explained what was happening. “It’s all hands on deck as our team is working diligently to get customers where they need to go as quickly as possible,” the airline said in its statement. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.” A spokesperson for the airline also commented on the situation, telling CNN that customers should “expect some delays throughout the day, but [we’re] working to mitigate those and avoid cancels. We have a smaller schedule today and have the staffing to support the quick recovery.” Find out what caused American Airlines to ground its flights on Christmas Eve. BREAKING: American Airlines has grounded all flights due to a technical issue. The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop at the start of Christmas Eve pic.twitter.com/jY3Xstnw8M — Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) December 24, 2024 Why Were American Airlines Flights Grounded? According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notice, American Airlines requested a full ground stop for its flights at around 7 a.m. ET. The FAA did not respond to inquiries about the halt. According to NBC Chicago , a “technical issue” caused the widespread ground stop to all AA flights. “A technical issue is affecting American flights this morning. Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the airline explained. American Airlines Flights Status We have resolved a vendor technology issue that briefly affected flights this morning. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and have issued a travel alert to allow for additional flexibility. https://t.co/lAp094H8cx — americanair (@AmericanAir) December 24, 2024 At about 10:30 a.m. ET, AA issued a statement on social media with a status update. “We have resolved a vendor technology issue that briefly affected flights this morning,” the airline’s official account tweeted. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and have issued a travel alert to allow for additional flexibility.” According to multiple outlets, most flights resumed by around 8 a.m. ET. What Happened to American Airlines Boarding Passes? Countless social media users complained online that their boarding passes for certain AA flights were not scanning properly around the time that the airline issued a ground stop.

Zirconia Crowns Market 2024: A Decade of Phenomenal Growth Ahead

CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost ’s love story is one for the books. The Golden Globe nominee and the Saturday Night Live star were first spotted together in May 2017 at an afterparty celebrating the NBC variety show’s season 42 finale. One year later, he called Johansson his “girlfriend” during a “Weekend Update” segment on SNL . By February 2019, Us Weekly broke the news that the couple had moved in together. Johansson and Jost revealed their engagement in May 2019 after two years of dating. By October 2020, it was announced that the twosome had quietly tied the knot while surrounded by immediate family and loved ones. You have successfully subscribed. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us Weekly Check our latest news in Google News Check our latest news in Apple News The couple welcomed their first child , son Cosmo, in summer 2021. (Johansson is also the mother of daughter Rose, whom she shares with ex-husband Romain Dauriac .) Scroll down to see a timeline of ScarJost’s relationship: Credit: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost: A Timeline of Their Relationship Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost ’s love story is one for the books.The Golden Globe nominee and the Saturday Night Live star were first spotted together in May 2017 at an afterparty celebrating the NBC variety show’s season 42 finale. One year later, he called Johansson his “girlfriend” during a “Weekend Update” segment on SNL .By February 2019, Us Weekly broke the news that the couple had moved in together. Johansson and Jost revealed their engagement in May 2019 after two years of dating. By October 2020, it was announced that the twosome had quietly tied the knot while surrounded by immediate family and loved ones.The couple welcomed their first child , son Cosmo, in summer 2021. (Johansson is also the mother of daughter Rose, whom she shares with ex-husband Romain Dauriac .)Scroll down to see a timeline of ScarJost’s relationship: Credit: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images May 2017 The pair sparked dating rumors after they were spotted making out at a NYC bar. Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images July 2017 Johansson and Jost spent the July 4 weekend in Montauk, New York, with his brother, Casey, and Casey’s wife, Lisa Kleinman. “[They were] making out” on Ditch Plains Beach, an eyewitness told Us . Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) October 2017 The lovebirds returned to Long Island for a romantic date night at Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett. “They were holding hands as they sat across the table from each other when the server approached them,” an onlooker told Us . “They sat at a bar table close to the window and were smiling and talking to each other.” Credit: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images December 2017 Johansson and Jost posed together at the American Museum of Natural History Gala, where she wore a red dress and he looked sharp in a black tuxedo. Credit: YouTube December 2017 The couple showed some PDA on the ice rink during the closing credits of SNL . Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic April 2018 Hours after telling Ellen DeGeneres that she is “a Colin fan,” the actress brought her boyfriend to the Avengers: Infinity War premiere. “Their eyes lit up when they looked at each other [on the red carpet],” an eyewitness told Us . Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic May 2018 When Leslie Jones joked on “Weekend Update” that she could never date Jost “because he’s gay,” he fired back, “I’m not gay! I told you, I have a girlfriend!” Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG18/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue May 2018 The duo stayed close to each other on the red carpet at their first Met Gala as a couple. Credit: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images September 2018 The Lost in Translation star and the Staten Island native were all smiles at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, which he cohosted with his “Weekend Update” coanchor, Michael Che . Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney May 2019 Johansson’s publicist confirmed to the Associated Press that the couple were engaged. Credit: Nina Westervelt/WWD/Shutterstock July 2019 Jost admitted during a stand-up set in East Hampton, New York, that he was “so scared of marriage for so long.” Credit: Michael Rozman/Warner Bros. October 2019 Johansson finally shared some details of her fiancé’s proposal, saying on The Ellen DeGeneres Show , “He did, like, a whole James Bond situation. He’s got a lot behind that news desk. He’s very charming and very thoughtful and romantic. I was surprised. Even if you kind of imagine what that moment is going to be like it’s still a beautiful moment.” Credit: MediaPunch/Shutterstock November 2019 “Colin is a great father figure for Rose,” a source told Us exclusively. “He loves playing with her and she is obsessed with him.” Credit: Rosalind O'Connor/NBC December 2019 The Marriage Story star called Jost the “love of my life” during her SNL monologue. Credit: Shutterstock February 2020 The A Very Punchable Face author supported Johansson at the Academy Awards, where she was nominated for her movies Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit . Credit: Christopher Polk/Shutterstock April 2020 The actress revealed in an interview with Parade that baseball is a “sore subject” for the couple because she is a diehard New York Yankees fan and he loves the Mets. “He just told me that he’d rather see the [Boston] Red Sox win than the Yankees win. Like, what?!” she told the magazine. “I said I was just going to ignore that.” Credit: RCF / MEGA April 2020 In her interview with Parade , Johansson revealed what attracted her to Jost. “What you see is what you get with him,” she told the magazine. “He’s very optimistic, easygoing, funny, nice, and those are the qualities that really drew me to him.” Credit: Shutterstock April 2020 The Oscar nominee opened up about how her relationship with Jost went from platonic to romantic. “It’s so funny to have a long-term shared experience with someone and then the relationship changes,” she told Parade . Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock October 2020 The couple secretly tied the knot more than a year after announcing their engagement. The news of their nuptials was announced by the Meals on Wheels Instagram account. “We’re thrilled to break the news that Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost were married over the weekend in an intimate ceremony with their immediate family and love ones, following COVID-19 safety precautions as directed by the CDC,” the statement read. “Their wedding wish is to help make a difference for vulnerable older adults during this difficult time by supporting @mealsonwheelsamerica. Please consider donating to celebrate the happy couple.” Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock November 2020 Days after Jost debuted his wedding band on Saturday Night Live, Johansson stepped out wearing a gold band on her left ring ringer. Credit: MTV May 2021 The comedian decided to join in the fun by pulling a prank on the actress as she was being honored with a Generation Award at the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards. Jost poured slime on Johansson as she was finishing her speech at the May 2021 event. "What the f--k?" the Black Widow star asked her husband. "MTV! You got slimed!" he responded, shortly before being informed that slime was used during Nickelodeon award shows. Jost did help clean up the accident by offering his wife a towel. Credit: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock August 2021 During a stand-up set in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the Coming 2 America star revealed that his wife was expecting the couple's first child. “We’re having a baby," he said from the stage. "It’s exciting.” The news came just months after Johansson first sparked pregnancy rumors when she was absent from all in-person press events for Black Widow ahead of the film's July 2021 release. Fans noted that her virtual interviews were all shot as close-ups, hiding everything below her shoulders. Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock August 2021 Johansson’s rep confirmed on August 18 that she recently gave birth to their first child together. The same month, Deadline’ s Mike Fleming Jr. revealed that she went into labor in late July amid her lawsuit with Disney over the streaming release of Black Widow. Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock November 2021 The couple walked their first red carpet together since the birth of their son Cosmo four months prior. “It’s been wonderful,” Johansson said when asked about parenthood at the 35th Annual American Cinematheque Awards. “I’m in a ‘baby bliss bubble.’” Credit: Kevin Wolf/AP/Shutterstock December 2021 The couple enjoyed a date night at the 44th Kennedy Center Honors on December 5. Credit: Amazon/YouTube February 2022 The parents starred as themselves in an Amazon Alexa commercial, set to air during Super Bowl LVI. In the clip, Jost and Johansson say it's almost like the smart assistant can read minds, and then they imagine scenarios where Alexa reacts to their thoughts. The blender turns on as Jost bores his wife with details of his tanning plans, and Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies" plays after Johansson assures her husband that love scenes are "the worst." After Alexa outs them as terrible dinner party hosts, they realize it's best that the automated system hasn't achieved telepathy yet. Credit: Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP/Shutterstock March 2022 While reflecting on the beginning of her relationship with the comedian, Johansson revealed that they met multiple times before she took a romantic interest in him. "He’s a very — I think — a cute guy, but the other times that I was [at SNL ], I was in a relationship and I was not [looking]," she recalled during an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show . "This time, it was the timing was right. ... I think you have to recognize when it’s not the right person, but sometimes it’s a good person but the timing is off, and it’s important to be open to that too." It's also a good thing that the pair began dating when they did, as Johansson also joked that she wouldn't have dated her now-husband when they were in high school. "Personally, my brother had that same haircut, both of my brothers, and I just can’t [do that]," the Oscar nominee said after looking at a picture of Jost as a teenager. There’s no way. I mean, who decided on that cut as a stylish thing?" Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock September 2022 Johansson revealed during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show how she and Jost came up with the idea for their son’s moniker. “We just threw a bunch of letters together,” she quipped, referring to the unconventional name. “I just really thought it was charming and our friends liked it.” While the actress and the comedian were fans of Cosmo, Johansson confessed that her mother-in-law wasn’t big on the name when he was first born. “Colin’s mom had a little bit of a harder time with it,” the Sing 2 star said. “She kept suggesting other versions of it for a while. I was like, ‘He’s already here. He’s out. Like, it’s past that time.'” The Robot Chicken alum also noted that there is a connection between Cosmo and her daughter Rose’s name: they both have floral roots. “Cosmo is a really sweet little flower that comes in different shades of orange and yellow and stuff like that,” Johansson explained. “That's why my daughter liked it too.” Credit: MediaPunch/Shutterstock April 2023 The Her actress opened up about finally finding the traits she needed in a partner with Jost. "I didn't know what I wanted or needed from somebody else," she said, recalling her past relationships during an appearance on Gwyneth Paltrow' s "Goop" podcast. “I never realized, 'Oh, it's really important for me, I need to be with a compassionate person. That's a fundamental characteristic that has to be there.' ... I think identifying those things was a game-changer for me.” Johansson added that with the comedian she was "finally able to step back and actually respect myself enough to know what those [fundamental] things were and be OK with it, you know? That was a life lesson." Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock May 2023 The pair made a rare red carpet appearance at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of her movie Asteroid City . Credit: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for Prada) June 2023 Johansson revealed the secret to her and Jost’s marriage during an appearance on CBS Mornings . “I will say, we have such a — we laugh a lot and we communicate with one another and check in,” Johansson said in June 2023. “I’m married to a writer, he’s a comedy writer. He can get, like, very in his head sometimes, he’s sort of introverted. I’m extroverted, and so I think the key for us is just always checking in, just asking at the end of the day, ‘How was your day?'” Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for the American Museum of Natural History December 2023 The couple hit the red carpet in color coordinated style at the American Museum of Natural History Gala. Johansson wore a white floor-length coat on top of a black slip dress with a bustier bodice while Jost sported a black tuxedo with a white dress shirt. Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images April 2024 Jost gave several sweet shout-outs to Johansson while he hosted the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. “ Doug [Emhoff] , as you can tell by all the comments about my wife, I’m also used to being the Second Gentleman,” he joked, referring to the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris . He also praised Johansson for “enduring lots of jokes,” and “agreeing to individually meet every person in this room after the ceremony.” Credit: Will Heath/NBC May 2024 During the May 2024 season finale of SNL , Jost and his “Weekend Update” co-anchor Michael Che read each other’s jokes without previewing them — which led Jost to reluctantly make a crack at Johansson. “Oh, God,” Jost quipped. “ChatGPT has released a new voice assistant feature inspired by Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in Her . I’ve never bothered to watch because without that body, what’s the point of listening?” Jost quickly buried his face into his hands. Credit: The Hapa Blonde/GC Images November 2024 “He’s a good guy ... He is a very, very, very great guy. I’m extremely lucky,” Johansson gushed about her spouse during an appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark . “He’s a kind person and he’s hilarious and thoughtful and loving and he’s a great dad and I love him. I feel very, very lucky.” The actress teased, “But he’s also, he’s got his naughty side. He keeps it interesting.” After cohost Mark Consuelos asked, “How’s the boat?” referring to the Staten Island Ferry that Jost and Pete Davidson bought in 2022, Johansson used it as example of her husband’s sneaky side. “That’s the naughty part I was talking about,” Johansson replied. “He bought the Staten Island Ferry. A Decommissioned Staten Island Ferry. And it is, yep, still decommissioned.” She noted that Jost rented out the ferry for the Tommy Hilfiger fashion show earlier that year, since they still own it. In order to view the gallery, please allow Manage Cookies For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will miss Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers with a sore throwing shoulder. Purdy injured his right shoulder in last Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks . Purdy underwent an MRI that showed no structural damage but the shoulder didn't improve during the week and Purdy was ruled out for the game. Coach Kyle Shanahan said star defensive end Nick Bosa also will miss the game with injuries to his left hip and oblique. Left tackle Trent Williams is questionable with an ankle injury and will be a game-time decision. This will be the first time Purdy has missed a start because of an injury since taking over as the 49ers’ quarterback in December 2022. Brandon Allen will start in his place. The Niners (5-5) are currently in a three-way tie for second in the NFC West, a game behind first-place Arizona, and have little margin for error if they want to get back to the playoffs after making it to the Super Bowl last season. Purdy has completed 66% of his passes this season for 2,613 yards, 13 TDs, eight interceptions and a 95.9 passer rating that is down significantly from his league-leading mark of 113 in 2023. Allen has been mostly a backup since being drafted by Jacksonville in 2016. Allen last started a game in Week 18 of the 2021 season for Cincinnati and has thrown just three passes the last three seasons — including none since joining San Francisco in 2023. Joshua Dobbs will be the backup on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Gabriel mocks Gyokeres goal celebration as revenge for Xhaka moment – but gets it wrong

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight season, the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to SoFi Stadium with a lengthy winning streak and a team that looks like one of the best in the NFC. The Los Angeles Rams (5-5) couldn't do much to slow them down last season, but they'll try again Sunday night with a young team that hopes to get where the Eagles (8-2) are already standing — atop their division with a six-game winning streak. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.President IlhamAliyev signed a law on amendments to the law "On Customs Tariff", reports. According to the information, the amendment stipulates that, onthe basis of an identity document of an authority (institution)determined by the relevant executive authority, the import oftechnological equipment and installations by individualentrepreneurs and legal entities that produce electricitygeneration projects with a public procurement obligation not lowerthan the amount established by the authority (institution)determined by the relevant executive authority, exempt from customsduties for a period of, defined by an electricity purchase and saleagreement concluded in accordance with the law "On the Use ofRenewable Energy Sources in Electricity Generation", but not formore than 30 years (including the construction period). At the same time, import of machinery, technological equipmentand installations, as well as raw materials and materials byindividual entrepreneurs and legal entities that are privatepartners in the framework of public-private partnership projectsshall be exempt from customs duties, but for a period not exceeding30 years (including the construction period) on the basis of asupporting document of the state partner, determined in accordancewith the law “On Public-Private Partnership”, carried out for theperiod established by the contract of public-privatepartnership. Under the law, in order to assess the impact of benefits andexemptions from customs duties on state budget revenues, benefitsand exemptions from customs duties will be classified according tothe procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers. The law comes into force on January 1, 2025. ============================================================= БАКУ /Trend/ - Президент Ильхам Алиев подписал закон о внесенииизменений в закон "О таможенном тарифе". Как сообщает ,изменением предусмотрено, что на основании документа,удостоверяющего личность органа (учреждения), определяемогосоответствующим органом исполнительной власти, импорттехнологического оборудования и установок индивидуальнымипредпринимателями и юридическими лицами, являющимисяпроизводителями по проектам производства электроэнергии собязательством государственного закупа не ниже суммы, установленнойорганом (учреждением), определенным соответствующим органомисполнительной власти, освобожден от таможенных пошлин на срок,определенный договором купли-продажи электроэнергии, заключенным всоответствии с законом "Об использовании возобновляемых источниковэнергии в производстве электроэнергии", но не более чем на 30 лет(включая период строительства). Вместе с тем импорт техники, технологического оборудования иустановок, а также сырья и материалов индивидуальнымипредпринимателями и юридическими лицами, являющимися частнымипартнерами в рамках проектов государственно-частного партнерства,освобождается от таможенных пошлин, но на срок не более 30 лет(включая период строительства) на основании подтверждающегодокумента государственного партнера, определенного в соответствии сзаконом "О государственно-частном партнерстве", осуществляемого насрок, установленный договором государственно-частного партнерства,заключенным в соответствии с законом Азербайджанской Республики "Огосударственно-частном партнерстве". Согласно закону, в целях проведения оценки влияния льгот иосвобождений по таможенным пошлинам на доходы государственногобюджета льготы и освобождения от таможенных пошлин будутклассифицироваться в порядке, установленном Кабинетомминистров. Закон вступает в силу с 1 января 2025 года. Глава государства подписал об исполнении соответствующего закона.None

Gaetz's withdrawal highlights how incoming presidents often lose Cabinet nominees MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) — Losing a Cabinet nominee to the confirmation process isn’t unheard of for incoming presidents — including for Donald Trump when he was elected the first time. Matt Gaetz’s decision to pull his name Thursday from consideration for attorney general — amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation — represents the first indication of resistance that the president-elect could face from his own party to picks facing allegations of sexual misconduct or other questions. Other Trump picks have drawn negative attention as well, including Pete Hegseth for defense secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. Vance takes on a more visible transition role as he works to boost Trump's most controversial picks WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role. He's been helping Donald Trump’s most contentious Cabinet picks try to win confirmation in the Senate, where he has served for the last two years. Vance spent part of Wednesday at the Capitol with Rep. Matt Gaetz sitting in on meetings with Trump’s controversial choice for attorney general. On Thursday, Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings over the coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump’s picks. Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad Donald Trump’s lock on the white evangelical vote is legendary, but he didn't focus exclusively on large religious voter blocs. He and his allies also wooed smaller religious groups, away from the mainstream. He posted a tribute to Coptic church members on social media and met with members of Assyrians for Trump — two smaller Christian communities with Middle Eastern roots. He visited the grave of the revered late leader of an Orthodox Jewish movement. His allies sought votes from the separatist Amish community. While Trump won decisively, the outreaches reflected aggressive campaigning in what was expected to be a tight race. NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russia's attack with new hypersonic missile KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with a hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. Ukraine's parliament canceled a session Friday over the security threat. In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech Thursday that the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Putin said Russia is launching production of the Oreshnik, saying it's so powerful that several of them fitted with conventional warheads could be as devastating as a strike with strategic — or nuclear — weapons. Texas education board approves optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ education board has voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools. The approval Friday follows other Republican-led states that have pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education is optional for schools to adopt, but they’ll receive additional funding if they do so. Parents and teachers who opposed the curriculum say the lessons will alienate students of other faith backgrounds. Supporters argue the Bible is a core feature of American history and that teaching it will enrich learning. 2 men convicted of charges related to human smuggling after scheme led to an Indian family’s death FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) — A prosecution spokesperson says a jury has convicted two men of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border during a 2022 blizzard. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand each faced four charges related to human smuggling before being convicted Friday. Patel is an Indian national. Shand is an American from Florida. They were arrested after the family froze while trying to cross the desolate border during a 2022 blizzard. Northern California gets record rain and heavy snow. Many have been in the dark for days in Seattle FORESTVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A major storm with heavy snow and record rain that's moving through Northern California has toppled trees, closed roads and prompted evacuations in some areas after knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people in Washington and Oregon. Forecasters warn that the risk of flash flooding and rockslides will continue through Friday. The National Weather Service has extended a flood watch for areas north of San Francisco as a plume of moisture known as an atmospheric river inundates Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Up to 16 inches of rain is forecast in Northern California and southwestern Oregon. The storm system unleashed winds earlier this week that left two people dead and hundreds of thousands without power in Washington. Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old canals used to fish by predecessors of ancient Maya WASHINGTON (AP) — Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The research published Friday in Science Advances shows that long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatan peninsula. The ancient fish canals were used to channel and catch freshwater species such as catfish. These structures were used for around 1,000 years — including during the “formative” period when the Maya began to settle in permanent farming villages and a distinctive culture started to emerge. California case is the first confirmed bird flu infection in a US child Health officials are confirming bird flu in a California child — the first reported case in a U.S. minor. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced confirmatory test results on Friday. Officials say the child had mild symptoms, was treated with antiviral medication and is recovering. The child’s infection brings the reported number of U.S. bird flu cases this year to 55, including 29 in California. State officials have said the child lives in Alameda County, which includes Oakland, and attends day care, but released no other details. Giants release quarterback Daniel Jones just days after benching him EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Daniel Jones era in New York is over. The Giants quarterback was granted his release by the team just days after the franchise said it was benching him in favor of third-stringer Tommy DeVito. New York president John Mara said Jones approached the team about releasing him and the club obliged. Mara added he was “disappointed” at the quick dissolution of a once-promising relationship between Jones and the team. Giants coach Brian Daboll benched Jones in favor of DeVito following a loss to the Panthers in Germany that dropped New York's record to 2-8.CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Meat supply resumed to French supermarket chain stores in Brazil after apologyCarbon Revolution Public Limited Co CREV shares are soaring Tuesday after the company announced $25 million in financing to support the ongoing liquidity of its business . What Happened: Carbon Revolution, a global manufacturer of carbon fiber wheels, said it reached an agreement with Orion Infrastructure Capital for a further $25 million in financing to be released in five $5 million tranches. Existing noteholders have also agreed to release up to $2 million of existing loan reserves in five equal tranches. In connection with the release of each of the five tranches, Carbon Revolution will issue to Orion Infrastructure Capital and the lenders penny warrants to purchase 5% of the company’s outstanding shares. Carbon Revolution previously drew $70 million of its $110 million funding agreement with Orion Infrastructure Capital. The new $25 million agreement will be drawn from the remaining $40 million under the agreement. “OIC continues to be a great funding partner for Carbon Revolution, sharing our vision for our world-leading technology,” said Jake Dingle , CEO of Carbon Revolution. “This capital supports the ongoing liquidity of the business and underpins the continued delivery of our production capacity increase and the near-term launch of a number of new OEM programs.” See Also: American Airlines Lifts Christmas Eve Grounding, Shares Bounce Back Carbon Revolution also noted that it continues to work to file its annual report “as promptly as practical” in order to regain compliance with Nasdaq listing rules. It’s worth noting that Carbon Revolution is considered a low-float stock with just 1.81 million shares available for public trading, according to Benzinga Pro . The company also had a market cap of less than $7.5 million as of Monday's close. Low-float, micro-cap stocks can be extremely volatile, which may help explain some of Tuesday's outsized move. CREV Price Action: Carbon Revolution shares were up 158.9% at $10.12 at the time of publication Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro . Photo: Shutterstock. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Amanda Hernández | (TNS) Stateline.org CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a report last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. Related Articles National News | NORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids National News | Heavy travel day off to a rough start after American Airlines briefly grounds all flights National News | Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case against Alec Baldwin in fatal movie set shooting National News | Bill Clinton is hospitalized with a fever but in good spirits, spokesperson says National News | Why Finland is vaccinating farmers against bird flu — but California isn't The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans still say crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest report attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It retracted a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom signed an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan bill making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar bill during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is notoriously difficult , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. Stateline staff writer Robbie Sequeira contributed to this report. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s personnel choices for his new Cabinet and White House reflect his signature positions on immigration and trade but also a range of viewpoints and backgrounds that raise questions about what ideological anchors might guide his Oval Office encore. With a rapid assembly of his second administration — faster than his effort eight years ago — the former and incoming president has combined television personalities , former Democrats, a wrestling executive and traditional elected Republicans into a mix that makes clear his intentions to impose tariffs on imported goods and crack down on illegal immigration but leaves open a range of possibilities on other policy pursuits. “The president has his two big priorities and doesn’t feel as strongly about anything else — so it’s going to be a real jump ball and zigzag,” predicted Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s 2017-21 term. “In the first administration, he surrounded himself with more conservative thinkers, and the results showed we were mostly rowing in the same direction. This is more eclectic.” Indeed, Secretary of State-designee Marco Rubio , the Florida senator who has pilloried authoritarian regimes around the world, is in line to serve as top diplomat to a president who praises autocratic leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon has been tapped to sit at the Cabinet table as a pro-union labor secretary alongside multiple billionaires, former governors and others who oppose making it easier for workers to organize themselves. The prospective treasury secretary, Scott Bessent , wants to cut deficits for a president who promised more tax cuts, better veterans services and no rollbacks of the largest federal outlays: Social Security, Medicare and national defense. Abortion-rights supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Trump's choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department, which Trump’s conservative Christian base has long targeted as an agency where the anti-abortion movement must wield more influence. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich allowed that members of Trump’s slate will not always agree with the president and certainly not with one another. But he minimized the potential for irreconcilable differences: “A strong Cabinet, by definition, means you’re going to have people with different opinions and different skills.” That kind of unpredictability is at the core of Trump’s political identity. He is the erstwhile reality TV star who already upended Washington once and is returning to power with sweeping, sometimes contradictory promises that convinced voters, especially those in the working class, that he will do it all again. “What Donald Trump has done is reorient political leadership and activism to a more entrepreneurial spirit,” Gingrich said. There's also plenty of room for conflict, given the breadth of Trump's 2024 campaign promises and his pattern of cycling through Cabinet members and national security personnel during his first term. This time, Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on foreign goods, end illegal immigration and launch a mass deportation force, goose U.S. energy production and exact retribution on people who opposed — and prosecuted — him. He's added promises to cut taxes, raise wages, end wars in Israel and Ukraine , streamline government, protect Social Security and Medicare, help veterans and squelch cultural progressivism. Trump alluded to some of those promises in recent weeks as he completed his proposed roster of federal department heads and named top White House staff members. But his announcements skimmed over any policy paradoxes or potential complications. Bessent has crusaded as a deficit hawk, warning that the ballooning national debt , paired with higher interest rates, drives consumer inflation. But he also supports extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts that added to the overall debt and annual debt service payments to investors who buy Treasury notes. A hedge-fund billionaire, Bessent built his wealth in world markets. Yet, generally speaking, he’s endorsed Trump's tariffs. He rejects the idea that they feed inflation and instead frames tariffs as one-time price adjustments and leverage to achieve U.S. foreign policy and domestic economic aims. Trump, for his part, declared that Bessent would “help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States.” Chavez-DeRemer, Trump promised, “will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.” Trump did not address the Oregon congresswoman’s staunch support for the PRO-Act, a Democratic-backed measure that would make it easier for workers to unionize, among other provisions. That proposal passed the House when Democrats held a majority. But it’s never had measurable Republican support in either chamber on Capitol Hill, and Trump has never made it part of his agenda. When Trump named Kennedy as his pick for health secretary, he did not mention the former Democrat’s support for abortion rights. Instead, Trump put the focus on Kennedy’s intention to take on the U.S. agriculture, food processing and drug manufacturing sectors. The vagaries of Trump’s foreign policy stand out, as well. Trump's choice for national security adviser , Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, offered mixed messages Sunday when discussing the Russia-Ukraine war, which Trump claims never would have started had he been president, because he would have prevailed on Putin not to invade his neighboring country. Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Waltz repeated Trump’s concerns over recent escalations, which include President Joe Biden approving sending antipersonnel mines to Ukrainian forces. “We need to restore deterrence, restore peace and get ahead of this escalation ladder, rather than responding to it,” Waltz said. But in the same interview, Waltz declared the mines necessary to help Ukraine “stop Russian gains” and said he’s working “hand in glove” with Biden’s team during the transition. Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence , the top intelligence post in government, is an outspoken defender of Putin and Syrian President Bashar al Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran. Perhaps the biggest wildcards of Trump’s governing constellation are budget-and-spending advisers Russell Vought, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Vought led Trump’s Office of Management and Budget in his first term and is in line for the same post again. Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, and Ramaswamy, a mega-millionaire venture capitalist, are leading an outside advisory panel known as the “Department of Government Efficiency.” The latter effort is a quasi-official exercise to identify waste. It carries no statutory authority, but Trump can route Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s recommendations to official government pathways, including via Vought. A leading author of Project 2025 , the conservative movement’s blueprint for a hard-right turn in U.S. government and society, Vought envisions OMB not just as an influential office to shape Trump’s budget proposals for Congress but a power center of the executive branch, “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” As for how Trump might navigate differences across his administration, Gingrich pointed to Chavez-DeRemer. “He might not agree with her on union issues, but he might not stop her from pushing it herself,” Gingrich said of the PRO-Act. “And he will listen to anybody. If you convince him, he absolutely will spend presidential capital.” Short said other factors are more likely to influence Trump: personalities and, of course, loyalty . Vought “brought him potential spending cuts” in the first administration, Short said, “that Trump wouldn’t go along with.” This time, Short continued, “maybe Elon and Vivek provide backup,” giving Vought the imprimatur of two wealthy businessmen. “He will always calculate who has been good to him,” Short said. “You already see that: The unions got the labor secretary they wanted, and Putin and Assad got the DNI (intelligence chief) they wanted. ... This is not so much a team-of-rivals situation. I think it’s going to look a lot like a reality TV show.” Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball switched a pair of series involving the Tampa Bay Rays to the first two months of the season in an attempt to avoid summer rain at open-air Steinbrenner Field, their temporary home following damage to Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 19 of its first 22 games at home and 37 of 54 through May 28, then play 64 of its last 108 games on the road. The Rays are home for eight games each in July and August. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekFA investigating allegation Coote discussed giving yellow before match