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NoneFrom Hope To Frustration: The Urgent Need For Reform In JKPSC Civil Services Examination Need to address inefficiencies and accountability issues to empower candidates and strengthen public administration in Jammu and Kashmir The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a beacon of hope for thousands of aspirants seeking to contribute to public administration. However, its disorganized functioning and lack of accountability have plunged countless candidates into despair, costing them valuable time, opportunities, and a fair shot at realizing their dreams. Compared to the disciplined and transparent framework of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), JKPSC’s inefficiencies and repeated failures to meet expectations highlight a pressing need for systemic reforms. A Stark Contrast: UPSC vs. JKPSC The UPSC, the benchmark in competitive examinations in India, maintains a defined model by publishing the calendar for the year in advance and following a strict schedule. Such predictability enables candidates to be specific with respect to the timelines of their preparation phases, thereby ensuring they are able to coordinate the demands of both prelims and mains effectively. Conversely, the inconsistent timetable of the JKPSC has been a major source of agony for prospective students. For instance, the JKPSC CSE Prelims 2023, which took place on October 23, overlapped with the critical mains preparation phase for UPSC candidates. Those preparing for UPSC CSE in May or June lost precious time, forced to divert their focus to JKPSC’s prelims. This disarray did not end there. The JKPSC mains, which ran from March to April 2024, left aspirants exhausted and provided minimal time to prepare for the UPSC CSE Prelims 2024—an undeniably competitive exam. Give Preference to JKPSC over UPSC or Vice Versa Many candidates have been left disheartened, with some missing the UPSC prelims entirely or failing to qualify due to inadequate preparation time. The lack of synchronization and foresight in JKPSC’s scheduling has effectively cost aspirants not just a year but also a precious attempt in a career-defining examination. An Alarming Trend in Question Setting The second glaring issue lies in the quality and relevance of questions asked in JKPSC’s CSE. Prelims questions are often nonspecific and irrelevant, providing little value to candidates who have studied the static portions of the syllabus for months. Although this problem is not unique to JKPSC, it is particularly evident here, highlighting a lack of consistency in formulating examination papers. A Closer Look at JKPSC Mains 2023 The weightage of subjects across General Studies papers displayed a troubling lack of balance and coherence: – GS 1: Despite society being a critical part of the syllabus, no questions were asked from this section, undermining its importance and the preparation efforts of candidates. – GS 2: A disproportionate 120 marks out of 250 were allocated to International Relations, heavily favouring students with Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) backgrounds, while polity and governance—core sections with a vast syllabus—were limited to just 100 marks. – GS 3: Internal Security, a vital and expansive topic, received scant attention, despite its significance in the context of Jammu and Kashmir’s unique geopolitical challenges. These discrepancies indicate a lack of responsibility and a fragmented approach to paper-setting. Not only does this reflect bias, but it also damages aspirants’ confidence in the examination process and the system it represents. The Cost of Negligence The ripple effects of JKPSC’s inefficiencies are profound. Candidates devote years of their personal and professional time to preparing for competitive exams. However, the commission’s failure to adhere to schedules and design fair, impartial question papers has created cynicism among aspirants. The uncertainty leaves candidates in a constant state of flux, making it extremely difficult to plan strategically. Furthermore, the commission’s inability to hold exams on schedule disrupts recruitment cycles, depriving the administration of much-needed personnel. In a region like Jammu and Kashmir, where efficient governance is critical, such ineptitude exacerbates existing challenges. The Way Forward To rebuild credibility and establish a fair, meritocratic system, the JKPSC should pursue progressive reforms: – Strict Adherence to Timelines: JKPSC should not only issue an annual calendar well in advance but also strictly follow it. This will allow aspirants to plan their preparation effectively. – Transparent and Balanced Question Papers: Paper-setters should ensure that questions pertain to the prescribed syllabus and that all sections have equitable weighting. Independent review committees could help achieve this. – Aspirant-Centric Approach: The commission should actively interact with aspirants, considering their feedback and experiences. Regular revisions, open dialogue, and workshops with subject-matter experts can bridge the gap between the commission and candidates. – Capacity Building: Investing in better technology, training for officials, and an overhaul of administrative processes can enhance JKPSC’s efficiency and transparency. – Broader Consultative Role: The advisory role of UPSC should be expanded to include governance and administrative reforms related to JKPSC. Conclusion The JKPSC CSE is not just another test; it is a gateway for young talent to contribute to the development and administration of the region. Unfortunately, the commission’s current approach has eroded its credibility and squandered its potential over the past five years. It is high time for JKPSC to rise to the occasion, prioritize accountability, and align its processes with national standards. Aspirants deserve a system that respects their time, effort, and aspirations—not one that repeatedly lets them down. The future of Jammu and Kashmir depends on the talent and dedication of its youth. The onus lies on JKPSC to ensure that this talent is nurtured, not wasted. The time for reform is now. The writer is a graduate of Aligarh Muslim University and is currently preparing for Civil Services examinations By Aamir Altaf [email protected]By KENYA HUNTER, Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — As she checked into a recent flight to Mexico for vacation, Teja Smith chuckled at the idea of joining another Women’s March on Washington . As a Black woman, she just couldn’t see herself helping to replicate the largest act of resistance against then-President Donald Trump’s first term in January 2017. Even in an election this year where Trump questioned his opponent’s race , held rallies featuring racist insults and falsely claimed Black migrants in Ohio were eating residents’ pets , he didn’t just win a second term. He became the first Republican in two decades to clinch the popular vote, although by a small margin. “It’s like the people have spoken and this is what America looks like,” said Smith, the Los Angeles-based founder of the advocacy social media agency, Get Social. “And there’s not too much more fighting that you’re going to be able to do without losing your own sanity.” After Trump was declared the winner over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris , many politically engaged Black women said they were so dismayed by the outcome that they were reassessing — but not completely abandoning — their enthusiasm for electoral politics and movement organizing. Black women often carry much of the work of getting out the vote in their communities. They had vigorously supported the historic candidacy of Harris, who would have been the first woman of Black and South Asian descent to win the presidency. Harris’ loss spurred a wave of Black women across social media resolving to prioritize themselves, before giving so much to a country that over and over has shown its indifference to their concerns. AP VoteCast , a survey of more than 120,000 voters, found that 6 in 10 Black women said the future of democracy in the United States was the single most important factor for their vote this year, a higher share than for other demographic groups. But now, with Trump set to return to office in two months, some Black women are renewing calls to emphasize rest, focus on mental health and become more selective about what fight they lend their organizing power to. “America is going to have to save herself,” said LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of the national voting rights group Black Voters Matter. She compared Black women’s presence in social justice movements as “core strategists and core organizers” to the North Star, known as the most consistent and dependable star in the galaxy because of its seemingly fixed position in the sky. People can rely on Black women to lead change, Brown said, but the next four years will look different. “That’s not a herculean task that’s for us. We don’t want that title. ... I have no goals to be a martyr for a nation that cares nothing about me,” she said. AP VoteCast paints a clear picture of Black women’s concerns. Black female voters were most likely to say that democracy was the single most important factor for their vote, compared to other motivators such as high prices or abortion. More than 7 in 10 Black female voters said they were “very concerned” that electing Trump would lead the nation toward authoritarianism, while only about 2 in 10 said this about Harris. About 9 in 10 Black female voters supported Harris in 2024, according to AP VoteCast, similar to the share that backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Trump received support from more than half of white voters, who made up the vast majority of his coalition in both years. Like voters overall, Black women were most likely to say the economy and jobs were the most important issues facing the country, with about one-third saying that. But they were more likely than many other groups to say that abortion and racism were the top issues, and much less likely than other groups to say immigration was the top issue. Despite those concerns, which were well-voiced by Black women throughout the campaign, increased support from young men of color and white women helped expand Trump’s lead and secured his victory. Politically engaged Black women said they don’t plan to continue positioning themselves in the vertebrae of the “backbone” of America’s democracy. The growing movement prompting Black women to withdraw is a shift from history, where they are often present and at the forefront of political and social change. One of the earliest examples is the women’s suffrage movement that led to ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution , which gave women the right to vote. Black women, however, were prevented from voting for decades afterward because of Jim Crow-era literacy tests, poll taxes and laws that blocked the grandchildren of slaves from voting. Most Black women couldn’t vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Black women were among the organizers and counted among the marchers brutalized on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, during the historic march in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery that preceded federal legislation. Decades later, Black women were prominent organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police and vigilantes. In his 2024 campaign, Trump called for leveraging federal money to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government programs and discussions of race, gender or sexual orientation in schools. His rhetoric on immigration, including false claims that Black Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs, drove support for his plan to deport millions of people . Tenita Taylor, a Black resident of Atlanta who supported Trump this year, said she was initially excited about Harris’ candidacy. But after thinking about how high her grocery bills have been, she feels that voting for Trump in hopes of finally getting lower prices was a form of self-prioritization. “People say, ‘Well, that’s selfish, it was gonna be better for the greater good,”’ she said. “I’m a mother of five kids. ... The things that (Democrats) do either affect the rich or the poor.” Some of Trump’s plans affect people in Olivia Gordon’s immediate community, which is why she struggled to get behind the “Black women rest” wave. Gordon, a New York-based lawyer who supported the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s presidential nominee, Claudia de la Cruz, worries about who may be left behind if the 92% of Black women voters who backed Harris simply stopped advocating. “We’re talking millions of Black women here. If millions of Black women take a step back, it absolutely leaves holes, but for other Black women,” she said. “I think we sometimes are in the bubble of if it’s not in your immediate circle, maybe it doesn’t apply to you. And I truly implore people to understand that it does.” Nicole Lewis, an Alabama-based therapist who specializes in treating Black women’s stress, said she’s aware that Black women withdrawing from social impact movements could have a fallout. But she also hopes that it forces a reckoning for the nation to understand the consequences of not standing in solidarity with Black women. “It could impact things negatively because there isn’t that voice from the most empathetic group,” she said. “I also think it’s going to give other groups an opportunity to step up. ... My hope is that they do show up for themselves and everyone else.” Brown said a reckoning might be exactly what the country needs, but it’s a reckoning for everyone else. Black women, she said, did their job when they supported Harris in droves in hopes they could thwart the massive changes expected under Trump. “This ain’t our reckoning,” she said. “I don’t feel no guilt.” AP polling editor Amelia Thomson DeVeaux and Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Zimmer Biomet Receives FDA Approval for Oxford® Cementless Partial Knee, Only Cementless Partial Knee Replacement Implant in the U.S.
Donald L HansonLewandowski joins Ronaldo and Messi in Champions League 100-goal club. Haaland nets 2 but City drawsBy ERIC OLSON With more than half of the 16 teams still mathematically alive to make the conference championship game, the Big 12 will command a lot of attention in the final week of the regular season. No. 14 Arizona State and No. 17 Iowa State would play for the Big 12 title and College Football Playoff spot on Dec. 7 if they both win Nov. 30 and there’s a four-way tie for first place. There are seven other teams that begin this week with hopes, slim in most cases, of getting into the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Last week it was No. 19 BYU and No. 23 Colorado that had the inside track to the championship game. Arizona State beat the Cougars and Kansas knocked off the Buffaloes, and here we are. “Everybody counted us out, I think, two weeks ago,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said after his team beat Utah, 31-28. “We didn’t flinch. We didn’t waver. And we just keep fighting.” The Cyclones were national darlings the first half of the season as they won seven straight games to match the best start in program history. Back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Kansas followed. Now they’ve won two straight heading into “Farmageddon,” their rivalry game against Kansas State at home. “Right now they’ve got the pen and they continue to write the story,” Campbell said of his players, “and I hope they will continue to write it the way they’ve got the ability to write it. Unwavering. Tough, mentally tough, physically tough. This group has stood for it every step of the way.” Arizona State has been an even better story than the Cyclones. The Sun Devils have six more wins than they did last season, when they went 3-9. They were picked to finish last in their first year in the Big 12. They’ll go for their fifth straight victory when they play at Arizona on Saturday. “These guys came off no momentum and everybody doubting them, and everybody is still doubting them. That’s what makes this special,” second-year coach Kenny Dillingham said. “Hopefully the expectations become higher. I don’t know if there’s a way we can exceed expectations more than we’re exceeding them right now.” Checking in on five of the Top 25: No. 1 Oregon >> The Ducks were idle after clinching a spot in the Big Ten championship game with their win at Wisconsin on Nov. 16. Oregon can go 12-0 in the regular season for the first time since 2010 if it beats Washington at home this week. Oregon’s only two losses last season came against the Huskies, both decided by three points. The first was a top-10 matchup in the regular season and the second was a top-five matchup in the Pac-12 championship game. The Ducks are 19 1/2-point favorites this time, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. No. 2 Ohio State >> The Buckeyes’ showdown with upstart Indiana combined with Michigan’s dropoff after winning the national championship have lowered the volume on this week’s meeting with the Wolverines at the Horseshoe. If Michigan beats Ohio State a fourth straight time and it keeps the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten championship game and playoff ... well, there’ll be lots of noise in Columbus then. No. 3 Texas >> The Lone Star Showdown returns to the gridiron for the first time since 2011, when Texas and Texas A&M were in the Big 12. The Longhorns head to No. 20 Texas A&M on a four-game win streak. The Aggies have lost two of three after their four-overtime loss at Auburn on Nov. 23. The winner advances to the Southeastern Conference championship game against Georgia. No. 11 Boise State >> The Broncos are tied with Notre Dame for the second-longest active win streak, at nine games, and they seem to have adopted a survive-and-advance mantra. They trailed 23-point underdog Wyoming in the fourth quarter before winning 17-13 and clinching a spot in the Mountain West championship game. They won their previous game 42-21 against San Jose State but didn’t pull away until the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago they beat a three-win Nevada team 28-21. No. 22 Illinois >> Just when you think Illinois is about to cash in for the season, they do what they did against Rutgers. The Illini were down 31-30 when they lined up for a 58-yard field goal with 14 seconds left. Ethan Moczulski missed. But wait. Rutgers called timeout before the snap, and Bret Bielema thought better of trying another kick and sent his offense back on the field. Luke Altmyer passed to Pat Bryant for the winning 40-yard touchdown. The Illini won’t play for the Big Ten title, but they have a chance for nine wins and a nice bowl. Ohio State played in three of the five regular-season top-five matchups and won two of them. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon and beat Penn State and Indiana. ... Kansas’ 37-21 win over Colorado made the Jayhawks the first FBS team with a losing record to beat three straight Top 25 opponents. The Jayhawks, who were 2-6 a month ago, will be bowl eligible if they win at Baylor. ... Nebraska ended the longest power conference bowl drought with its 44-25 win over Wisconsin. The Cornhuskers haven’t played in a bowl since 2016.
US to require passenger vehicles to sound alarms if rear passengers don't fasten their seat belts
( MENAFN - Jordan Times) Algorithms and data analytics are increasingly being used to influence public opinion and create informational bubbles. This growing trend raises significant legal and ethical questions, highlighting the urgent need for mechanisms to protect communities from such harmful practices. One of the main legal concerns is absence of clear legislation. The rapid pace of technological advancements often leaves legal frameworks outdated, creating a regulatory vacuum that is exploited for manipulating public opinion. Another concern is challenges in assigning liability. Determining legal responsibility becomes increasingly complex when multiple entities are involved in data misuse and public opinion manipulation. Thirdly is conflict of interests. Balancing freedom of expression with the need to protect societies from misinformation remains a contentious issue in many jurisdictions. In the same token, these informational bubbles cause ethical implications such as privacy violations. The unauthorised collection and analysis of personal data represent a blatant breach of privacy. Misinformation and deception is another ethical implication. The dissemination of false information and rumours with the intent to sway public opinion constitutes a profound ethical breach. Also, erosion of social cohesion is another is another ethical impact where manipulating public opinion exacerbates social divisions and undermines trust in institutions. A report by the World Economic Forum highlights that misinformation fuelled by advanced technologies tops the list of global threats for 2024. As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning continue to evolve, many scenarios are becoming increasingly plausible such as Advanced Deepfake Technologies. The creation of fake videos and images will reach unprecedented levels of sophistication, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic content from manipulated material. Another scenario is Precision Targeting. Algorithms will enhance their ability to target individuals based on their personal data and behavioural patterns, significantly increasing the effectiveness of disinformation campaigns. As these challenges intensify, there is a pressing need for robust legislative frameworks. To keep pace with technological developments and close existing regulatory gaps. Also, it is important to enhance public awareness: Educating individuals about the risks of misinformation and their role in combating its spread. Collaboration among stakeholders is another action should be taken. Governments, tech companies and civil society must work together to develop ethical standards and enforce accountability. Addressing these challenges is essential to preserve societal trust, protect individual rights and promote a more informed and resilient public discourse. Furthermore, the use of to generate fake content, such as news articles or videos, poses a challenge in tracking the origins of such materials. Biometric data, which includes reading individuals' emotions and sentiments, can also be weaponised to manipulate opinions. Algorithms can create“information bubbles” by delivering tailored content that reinforces users' existing beliefs. This personalisation hinders constructive dialogue and consensus-building across differing perspectives. Furthermore, this can lead to erosion of trust in institutions. Public manipulation, coupled with the prevalence of misinformation, exacerbates the ongoing trust deficit in governmental and media institutions, many of which are already grappling with credibility crises. Data utilisation cause many challenges and risks such as privacy concerns. The aggregation and analysis of personal data remain fraught with privacy implications, demanding robust safeguards. Also, this could cause cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Data troves serve as prime targets for cyberattacks, jeopardising the integrity of critical systems. Governmental actions required to mitigate risks. Hence, to address these pressing issues, governments must undertake the following measures. Firstly, enact comprehensive laws that define responsibilities and establish clear data governance rules. Current data protection laws, such as Jordan's Personal Data Protection Law, require substantial enhancements to meet modern demands. Secondly, introduce mandates for greater corporate transparency regarding data collection, storage and usage practices. Also, to mitigate risks it required to launch nationwide awareness campaigns to educate citizens on identifying fake news and critically evaluating information. Too, develop educational programs to foster a tech-savvy populace capable of navigating the digital landscape responsibly. Strengthen individuals' rights to access is another measure should be taken to, delete, or modify their personal data, thereby promoting user autonomy. Investing in tools to detect disinformation, enhancing society's resilience to fake news and malicious content is important steps to avoid the risk of disinformation. This led to foster dialogue among governments, private sector entities, civil society organisations and technical experts to devise long-term, sustainable solutions to counter misinformation. The exploitation of data for public opinion manipulation represents a formidable challenge for modern societies. Addressing this issue necessitates a multifaceted approach involving legal reforms, ethical guidelines, public awareness and technological advancements. MENAFN02122024000028011005ID1108949041 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Brett Vance, Test Pilot and Host of 'Jet Jockeys,' Takes on Current Leadership Challenges and Lessons From the FieldRivalry Closes Non-Brokered Private Placement Of Approximately $2.0 Million
WARSAW, Ind. , Nov. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE and SIX: ZBH), a global medical technology leader, today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Premarket Approval Application (PMA) Supplement approval for the Oxford ® Cementless Partial Knee. The approval is based on safety and effectiveness data from an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study and non-clinical testing for cementless partial knee replacement (PKR). 1 The Oxford Cementless Partial Knee allows surgeons to perform a PKR with improved fixation, 2 better long-term implant survival rate 2,3 and improved efficiency in the operating room 4 (OR) compared to the Oxford Cemented Partial Knee procedure. Following more than 20 years of clinical experience and over 300,000 procedures across Canada , Europe , Middle East , Africa , and Asia , 5 the Oxford Cementless Partial Knee is now the only FDA-approved cementless partial knee implant in the U.S. "Cementless knee replacement procedures are increasingly preferred by surgeons seeking to improve surgical efficiency. The Oxford Cementless Partial Knee is coming into the U.S. with a proven track record of retaining more healthy anatomy with a less invasive approach and improved outcomes 6 as compared to a total knee replacement," said Joe Urban , President, Knees at Zimmer Biomet. "We are excited to address the unmet U.S. demand for a cementless partial knee with a new offering which has 20 years of clinical experience in more than 50 countries. 5 " Compared to traditional partial knee replacements that use bone cement to secure the implant in place, a cementless approach allows patients' natural bone growth to secure the implant for better long-term fixation. 2 The Oxford Cementless Partial Knee features a mobile bearing that can move with the femoral component throughout the entire range of motion to mimic natural knee movement. This design provides better range of motion, a more natural feel and a more stable implant-to-bone fixation for improved long-term implant survival. 2,3 The system's tibial and femoral components have a titanium and hydroxyapatite coating to promote bone growth into the implant 7 . The UK national joint registry has more than 33,000 patients treated with Oxford Cementless Partial Knees recorded with a 94.1% rate of implant survival at 10 years after surgery, 3 which is higher than the average 10-year survivorship for all other partial knees (89.9%). 3 Enthusiasm and usage of partial knee replacement continues to grow around the world as published research continues to demonstrate that PKR in appropriate cases provides improved patient outcomes compared to TKR. 6 "For younger and more active patients, the Oxford Cementless Partial Knee amplifies the benefits of a traditional partial knee replacement by offering knee flexion that resembles natural knee movement, and stronger adhesion of the implant to the bone for better long-term durability," said Adolph V. Lombardi Jr. , MD, FACS, President of JIS Orthopedics in New Albany, Ohio . "In my own practice, a cementless approach has increased OR efficiency by shortening my surgery time and reducing costs associated with cement preparation." Since its initial launch in England in 2004, the Oxford Cementless Partial Knee has become the preferred partial knee implant for Zimmer Biomet's European customers. 5 As part of the U.S. nationwide launch in Q1 2025, Zimmer Biomet will provide FDA-required training, focusing on the cementless surgical technique and proper patient selection. For patients in the U.S., the Oxford Partial Knee is the only implant with a lifetime limited warranty that covers the cost of Zimmer Biomet replacement implants.* Important Safety Information: The Cementless Oxford Partial Knee System is intended for use in unilateral knee procedures with osteoarthritis or avascular necrosis limited to the medial compartment of the knee. It is intended to be implanted without the application of cement for patients whose clinical condition would benefit from a shorter surgical time compared to the cemented implant. The Oxford Partial Knee is not indicated for use in the lateral compartment or for patients with ligament deficiency, or for use in simultaneous bilateral surgery or planned staged bilateral procedures. Potential risks include, but are not limited to, loosening, dislocation, fracture, wear and infection, any of which can require additional surgery. For a full list of product indications, contraindications and warnings, as well as further information on product IDE data, please see the associated product Information for Use (IFU) and Surgical Technique available at https://labeling.zimmerbiomet.com/ For more information about the Oxford Cementless Partial Knee, visit www.zimmerbiomet.com/oxfordcementless . About Zimmer Biomet Zimmer Biomet is a global medical technology leader with a comprehensive portfolio designed to maximize mobility and improve health. We seamlessly transform the patient experience through our innovative products and suite of integrated digital and robotic technologies that leverage data, data analytics and artificial intelligence. With 90+ years of trusted leadership and proven expertise, Zimmer Biomet is positioned to deliver the highest quality solutions to patients and providers. Our legacy continues to come to life today through our progressive culture of evolution and innovation. For more information about our product portfolio, our operations in 25+ countries and sales in 100+ countries or about joining our team, visit www.zimmerbiomet.com or follow on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/zimmerbiomet or X / Twitter at www.twitter.com/zimmerbiomet . Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning Zimmer Biomet's expectations, plans, prospects, and product and service offerings, including new product launches and potential clinical successes. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of management and are subject to significant risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. For a list and description of some of such risks and uncertainties, see Zimmer Biomet's periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in Zimmer Biomet's filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Zimmer Biomet disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers of this news release are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements, since there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this news release. *Subject to terms and conditions set forth within the written warranty References: Media Heather Zoumas-Lubeski 445-248-0577 heather.zoumaslubeski@zimmerbiomet.com Kirsten Fallon 781-779-5561 kirsten.fallon@zimmerbiomet.com Investors David DeMartino 646-531-6115 david.demartino@zimmerbiomet.com Zach Weiner 908-591-6955 Zach.weiner@zimmerbiomet.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zimmer-biomet-receives-fda-approval-for-oxford-cementless-partial-knee-only-cementless-partial-knee-replacement-implant-in-the-us-302315755.html SOURCE Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel unleashed its largest wave of airstrikes across Lebanon since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week, killing at least 11 people on Monday after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were Israeli truce violations . The projectiles were apparently the first time that Hezbollah took aim at Israeli forces after the 60-day ceasefire went into effect last Wednesday. The increasingly fragile truce aimed to end more than a year of war between Hezbollah and Israel — part of a wider regional conflict sparked by the devastating Israel-Hamas war in Gaza . In the United States, President-elect Donald Trump demanded the immediate release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza, saying on social media that if they are not freed before he takes office in January there would be “HELL TO PAY.” It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. The U.S. has given Israel crucial military and diplomatic support throughout the nearly 15-month conflict. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Haris killed five people and wounded two while another airstrike on the village of Tallousa killed four and also wounded two. Israel's military carried out a string of airstrikes late Monday against what it said were Hezbollah fighters, infrastructure and rocket launchers across Lebanon, in response to Hezbollah firing two projectiles toward Mount Dov — a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet. Israel said the projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported. Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired on an Israeli military position in the area as a “defensive and warning response” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal by Israel. It said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “were futile in stopping these violations.” Before the Hezbollah projectiles, Israeli carried out at least four airstrikes and an artillery barrage in southern Lebanon, including a drone strike that killed a person on a motorcycle, according to Lebanese state media. Another strike killed a corporal in the Lebanese security services. Israel has said its strikes are in response to unspecified Hezbollah violations, and that under the ceasefire deal it reserves the right to retaliate. Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days by launching airstrikes, demolishing homes near the border and violating Lebanon's airspace. Officials in the U.S. — which along with France helped broker the truce and heads a commission meant to monitor adherence to the deal — played down the significance of Israeli strikes. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, “Largely speaking, the ceasefire is holding.” “We’ve gone from dozens of strikes down to one a day maybe two a day,” Kirby told reporters, referring to Israeli strikes. “We’re going to keep trying and see what we can do to get it down to zero.” Under the deal, Iran-backed Hezbollah has 60 days to withdraw its fighters and infrastructure from southern Lebanon. During that time, Israeli troops are also to withdraw to their side of the border. In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump called for Palestinian militants to free all of the roughly 100 Israeli hostages still held inside Gaza , around two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive. If not, Trump said, “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” Hours earlier, the Israeli government confirmed the death of Omer Neutra, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, whose body is still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the Israeli government. The Biden administration is mounting a last-ditch effort to try to restart talks between Israel and Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on Trump's post though President Isaac Herzog welcomed it. In Gaza, meanwhile, alarm is mounting over increasing hunger. The amount of food allowed in by Israel has plunged over the past two months, compounded by a decision Sunday by the United Nations to halt aid deliveries from the main crossing into the territory because of the threat of armed gangs looting convoys. Experts have already warned of famine in the northernmost part of Gaza , which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October, saying they're fighting regrouped Hamas militants there. Displaced families have set up tents surrounded by piles of garbage on the streets of Gaza City. Bilal Marouf, 55, said he and 11 family members fled the Israeli offensive “barefoot and naked.” “We had nothing. Hunger and thirst killed us, and we did not have a single shekel, nor clothes, nor a mattress, nor a blanket,” he said, speaking near his tent. Israel’s campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, has driven almost the entire population of the territory from their homes. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now live in squalid tent camps, relying on international aid. The Israeli military said it allowed 40 trucks carrying 600 tons of flour for the World Food Program to enter the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday night, as well as 16 other food trucks. Israel has said it is working to increase the flow of aid. November saw an increase in the average number of humanitarian trucks it let into Gaza, up to 77 daily from 57 the month before, according to official Israeli figures. But the levels are still nearly the lowest of the entire 15-month war. And the U.N. says less than half of that actually reaches Palestinians because Israeli military restrictions, fighting and robberies make it too dangerous to deliver the aid. The World Food Program was able to only deliver aid to some 300,000 Palestinians in November across the Gaza Strip due to ongoing Israeli military offensives and the looting of convoys, Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director, said Monday. In a tent camp in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, Palestinians lined up at makeshift mud ovens trying to buy a few loaves of flatbread for their families. With the price of flour mounting because of scarcity, the bakers — women displaced from further north — said they could bake less bread, and families could afford far less. “They divide them to their children, one loaf every day,” said one woman baker, Wafaa al-Attar. Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Fatma Khalid in Cairo contributed to this report. Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/mideast-warsInspireMD Announces Appointment of Accomplished Medical Technology Executive Scott R. Ward to its Board of DirectorsTransfer: Fenerbahce offer Osayi-Samuel new contract
Concerns about extra social housing
Multiple Headwinds Set Up Sensata Technologies For Strong 2025 ReturnsARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fluence Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLNC) (“Fluence” or the “Company”), a global market leader delivering intelligent energy storage, operational services, and asset optimization software, today announced its results for the three months and full fiscal year ended September 30, 2024. Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Highlights Record revenue for fiscal year 2024 of approximately $2.7 billion and revenue for the fourth quarter of approximately $1.2 billion, representing an increase of approximately 22% from fiscal year 2023 and an increase of approximately 82% from the same quarter last year, respectively. GAAP gross profit margin improved to approximately 12.6% and 12.8% for fiscal year 2024 and the fourth quarter, respectively, compared to approximately 6.4% and 11.3% for fiscal year 2023 and the same quarter last year, respectively, reflecting the Company's continued focus on ongoing profit improvement strategies. Net income of approximately $30.4 million and $67.7 million for fiscal year 2024 and the fourth quarter, respectively, improved from a net loss of approximately $104.8 million and net income of approximately $4.8 million, for fiscal year 2023 and the same quarter last year, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA 1 of approximately $78.1 million and $86.9 million for fiscal year 2024 and the fourth quarter, respectively, improved from approximately negative $61.4 million and $19.8 million for fiscal year 2023 and the same quarter last year, respectively. Quarterly order intake of approximately $1.2 billion, compared to approximately $737 million for the same quarter last year. Backlog 2 increased to approximately $4.5 billion as of September 30, 2024, compared to approximately $2.9 billion as of September 30, 2023. Financial Position Total Cash 3 of approximately $518.7 million as of September 30, 2024, representing an increase of approximately $56.0 million from September 30, 2023. Net cash provided by operating activities was approximately $79.7 million, compared to approximately negative $111.9 million for fiscal year 2023. Free cash flow 1 was approximately $71.6 million, compared to approximately negative $114.9 million for fiscal year 2023. Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook The Company is initiating fiscal year 2025 guidance as follows: Revenue of approximately $3.6 billion to $4.4 billion with a midpoint of $4.0 billion. Presently, approximately 65% of the midpoint of the Company's revenue guidance is covered by the Company's current backlog, in line with our fiscal 2024 revenue coverage at the same time period last year. Adjusted EBITDA 4 of approximately $160 million to $200 million with a midpoint of $180 million. Annual recurring revenue ("ARR") of about $145 million by the end of fiscal year 2025. The foregoing Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook statements represent management's current best estimate as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially depending on a number of factors. Investors are urged to read the Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements included in this release. Management does not assume any obligation to update these estimates. "Our record financial results for 2024 are a testament to our team's dedication, operational efficiency, and commitment to delivering value to our stakeholders as we achieved our highest ever revenue and profitability, marking a significant milestone in the Company's growth trajectory. Furthermore, we had our second consecutive quarter of signing more than $1 billion of new orders, which brought our backlog to $4.5 billion, underscoring the market's strong confidence in our energy storage solutions," said Julian Nebreda, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "As we look forward, we see unprecedented demand for battery energy storage solutions across the world, driven principally by the U.S. market. We believe we are well positioned to continue capturing this market with our best-in-class domestic content offering which utilizes U.S. manufactured battery cells." "We are pleased with our strong fiscal year-end performance, achieving record revenue growth, robust margin expansion and free cash flow. We also generated positive net income for the first time," said Ahmed Pasha, Chief Financial Officer. "With backlog and development pipeline at record levels, we enter fiscal 2025 poised for sustained profitable growth." Share Count The shares of the Company’s common stock as of September 30, 2024 are presented below: Conference Call Information The Company will conduct a teleconference starting at 8:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, to discuss the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024 financial results. To participate, analysts are required to register by clicking Fluence Energy Inc. Q4 Earnings Call Registration Link . Once registered, analysts will be issued a unique PIN number and dial-in number. Analysts are encouraged to register at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. General audience participants, and non-analysts are encouraged to join the teleconference in a listen-only mode at: Fluence Energy Inc. Q4 Listen Only - Webcast , or on http://fluenceenergy.com by selecting Investors, News & Events, and Events & Presentations. Supplemental materials that may be referenced during the teleconference will be available at: http://fluenceenergy.com, by selecting Investors, News & Events, and Events & Presentations. A replay of the conference call will be available after 1:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. The replay will be available on the Company’s website at http://fluenceenergy.com by selecting Investors, News & Events, and Events & Presentations. Non-GAAP Financial Measures We present our operating results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”). We believe certain financial measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Profit Margin, and Free Cash Flow, which are non-GAAP measures, provide users of our financial statements with supplemental information that may be useful in evaluating our operating performance. We believe that such non-GAAP measures, when read in conjunction with our operating results presented under GAAP, can be used to better assess our performance from period to period and relative to performance of other companies in our industry, without regard to financing methods, historical cost basis or capital structure. Such non-GAAP measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, including that other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate these measures differently, reducing their usefulness as comparative measures. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated from the consolidated statements of operations using net income (loss) adjusted for (i) interest income, net, (ii) income taxes, (iii) depreciation and amortization, (iv) stock-based compensation, and (v) other non-recurring income or expenses. Adjusted EBITDA also includes amounts impacting net income related to estimated payments due to related parties pursuant to the Tax Receivable Agreement, dated October 27, 2021, by and among Fluence Energy, Inc., Fluence Energy, LLC, Siemens Industry, Inc. and AES Grid Stability, LLC (the “Tax Receivable Agreement”). Adjusted Gross Profit is calculated using gross profit, adjusted to exclude (i) stock-based compensation expenses, (ii) amortization, and (iii) other non-recurring income or expenses. Adjusted Gross Profit Margin is calculated using Adjusted Gross Profit divided by total revenue. Free Cash Flow is calculated from the consolidated statements of cash flows and is defined as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less purchase of property and equipment made in the period. We expect our Free Cash Flow to fluctuate in future periods as we invest in our business to support our plans for growth. Limitations on the use of Free Cash Flow include (i) it should not be inferred that the entire Free Cash Flow amount is available for discretionary expenditures (for example, cash is still required to satisfy other working capital needs, including short-term investment policy, restricted cash, and intangible assets); (ii) Free Cash Flow has limitations as an analytical tool, and it should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of other GAAP financial measures, such as net cash provided by operating activities; and (iii) this metric does not reflect our future contractual commitments. Please refer to the reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures included in this press release and the accompanying tables contained at the end of this release. The Company is not able to provide a quantitative reconciliation of full fiscal year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP Net Income (Loss) on a forward-looking basis within this press release because of the uncertainty around certain items that may impact Adjusted EBITDA, including stock compensation and restructuring expenses, that are not within our control or cannot be reasonably predicted without unreasonable effort. About Fluence Fluence Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLNC) is a global market leader delivering intelligent energy storage and optimization software for renewables and storage. The Company's solutions and operational services are helping to create a more resilient grid and unlock the full potential of renewable portfolios. With gigawatts of projects successfully contracted, deployed and under management across nearly 50 markets, the Company is transforming the way we power our world for a more sustainable future. For more information, visit our website, or follow us on LinkedIn or X. To stay up to date on the latest industry insights, sign up for Fluence's Full Potential Blog. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The statements contained in this press release and statements that are made on our earnings call that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements set forth above under “Fiscal Year 2025 Outlook,” and other statements regarding the Company's future financial and operational performance, future market and industry growth and related opportunities for the Company, anticipated Company growth and business strategy, including future incremental working capital and capital opportunities, liquidity and access to capital and cash flows, demand for electricity and impact to energy storage, demand for the Company's energy storage solutions, services, and digital applications offerings, our positioning to capture market share with domestic content offering and future offerings, expected impact and benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and U.S. Treasury domestic content guidelines on us and on our customers, anticipated timeline of U.S. battery module production and timing of our domestic content offering, expectations relating to our contracting manufacturing capacity, potential impact to tariffs, related policies, and regulations from the change in political administration, new products and solutions and product innovation, relationships with new and existing customers and suppliers, expectations relating to backlog, pipeline, and contracted backlog, future revenue recognition, future results of operations, future capital expenditures and debt service obligations, and projected costs, beliefs, assumptions, prospects, plans and objectives of management. Such statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “possible,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” "commits", “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions and variations thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events, and their potential effects on our business. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and there can be no assurance that future developments affecting our business will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to, our relatively limited operating and revenue history as an independent entity and the nascent clean energy industry; anticipated increasing expenses in the future and our ability to maintain prolonged profitability; fluctuations of our order intake and results of operations across fiscal periods; potential difficulties in maintaining manufacturing capacity and establishing expected mass manufacturing capacity in the future; risks relating to delays, disruptions, and quality control problems in our manufacturing operations; risks relating to quality and quantity of components provided by suppliers; risks relating to our status as a relatively low-volume purchaser as well as from supplier concentration and limited supplier capacity; risks relating to operating as a global company with a global supply chain; changes in the global trade environment; changes in the cost and availability of raw materials and underlying components; failure by manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations; significant reduction in pricing or order volume or loss of one or more of our significant customers or their inability to perform under their contracts; risks relating to competition for our offerings and our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers; ability to maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition; ability to effectively manage our recent and future growth and expansion of our business and operations; our growth depends in part on the success of our relationships with third parties; ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel; risks associated with engineering and construction, utility interconnection, commissioning and installation of our energy storage solutions and products, cost overruns, and delays; risks relating to lengthy sales and installation cycle for our energy storage solutions; risks related to defects, errors, vulnerabilities and/or bugs in our products and technology; risks relating to estimation uncertainty related to our product warranties; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; risks related to our current and planned foreign operations; amounts included in our pipeline and contracted backlog may not result in actual revenue or translate into profits; risks related to acquisitions we have made or that we may pursue; events and incidents relating to storage, delivery, installation, operation, maintenance and shutdowns of our products; risks relating to our impacts to our customer relationships due to events and incidents during the project lifecycle of an energy storage solution; actual or threatened health epidemics, pandemics or similar public health threats; ability to obtain financial assurances for our projects; risks relating to whether renewable energy technologies are suitable for widespread adoption or if sufficient demand for our offerings do not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipate; estimates on size of our total addressable market; risks relating to the cost of electricity available from alternative sources; macroeconomic uncertainty and market conditions; risk relating to interest rates or a reduction in the availability of tax equity or project debt capital in the global financial markets and corresponding effects on customers’ ability to finance energy storage systems and demand for our energy storage solutions; decline in public acceptance of renewable energy, or delay, prevent, or increase in the cost of customer projects; severe weather events; increased attention to ESG matters; restrictions set forth in our current credit agreement and future debt agreements; uncertain ability to raise additional capital to execute on business opportunities; ability to obtain, maintain and enforce proper protection for our intellectual property, including our technology; threat of lawsuits by third parties alleging intellectual property violations; adequate protection for our trademarks and trade names; ability to enforce our intellectual property rights; risks relating to our patent portfolio; ability to effectively protect data integrity of our technology infrastructure and other business systems; use of open-source software; failure to comply with third party license or technology agreements; inability to license rights to use technologies on reasonable terms; risks relating to compromises, interruptions, or shutdowns of our systems; barriers arising from current electric utility industry policies and regulations and any subsequent changes; reduction, elimination, or expiration of government incentives or regulations regarding renewable energy; potential changes in tax laws or regulations; risks relating to environmental, health, and safety laws and potential obligations, liabilities and costs thereunder; failure to comply with data privacy and data security laws, regulations and industry standards; risks relating to potential future legal proceedings, regulatory disputes, and governmental inquiries; risks related to ownership of our Class A common stock; risks related to us being a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NASDAQ rules; risks relating to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws; risks relating to our relationship with our Founders and Continuing Equity Owners; risks relating to conflicts of interest by our officers and directors due to positions with Continuing Equity Owners; risks related to short-seller activists; we depend on distributions from Fluence Energy, LLC to pay our taxes and expenses and Fluence Energy, LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be limited or restricted in certain scenarios; risks arising out of the Tax Receivable Agreement; unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of tax returns; risks relating to improper and ineffective internal control over reporting to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Act; risks relating to changes in accounting principles or their applicability to us; risks relating to estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies; and other factors set forth under Item 1A.“Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and in other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the effect of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made in this press release. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur, or which we become aware of, after the date hereof, except as otherwise may be required by law. Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. Accounts payable with related parties of $2.5 million and Accruals with related parties of $3.7 million as of September 30, 2023, were reclassified from Deferred revenue and payables with related parties to Accounts payable and Accruals and provisions, respectively, on the consolidated balance sheet. The reclassification had no impact on the total current liabilities for any period presented. Corresponding reclassifications were also reflected on the consolidated statement of cash flows for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023 and 2022. The reclassifications had no impact on cash provided by (used in) operations for the period presented. Provision on loss contracts, net of $6.1 million and $30.0 million for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, was reclassified to current accruals and provisions on the consolidated statement of cash flows. The reclassification had no impact on cash provided by (used in) operations for the period presented. The following tables present our key operating metrics for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The tables below present the metrics in either Gigawatts (GW) or Gigawatt hours (GWh). Our key operating metrics focus on project milestones to measure our performance and designate each project as either “deployed”, “assets under management”, “contracted backlog”, or “pipeline”. The following table presents our order intake for the three months and fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. The table is presented in Gigawatts (GW): Deployed Deployed represents cumulative energy storage products and solutions that have achieved substantial completion and are not decommissioned. Deployed is monitored by management to measure our performance towards achieving project milestones. Assets Under Management Assets under management for service contracts represents our long-term service contracts with customers associated with our completed energy storage system products and solutions. We start providing maintenance, monitoring, or other operational services after the storage product projects are completed. In some cases, services may be commenced for energy storage solutions prior to achievement of substantial completion. This is not limited to energy storage solutions delivered by Fluence. Assets under management for digital software represents contracts signed and active (post go live). Assets under management serves as an indicator of expected revenue from our customers and assists management in forecasting our expected financial performance. Contracted Backlog For our energy storage products and solutions contracts, contracted backlog includes signed customer orders or contracts under execution prior to when substantial completion is achieved. For service contracts, contracted backlog includes signed service agreements associated with our storage product projects that have not been completed and the associated service has not started. For digital applications contracts, contracted backlog includes signed agreements where the associated subscription has not started. We cannot guarantee that our contracted backlog will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period or at all. Contracted backlog may not generate margins equal to our historical operating results. We have only recently begun to track our contracted backlog on a consistent basis as performance measures, and as a result, we do not have significant experience in determining the level of realization that we will achieve on these contracts. Our customers may experience project delays or cancel orders as a result of external market factors and economic or other factors beyond our control. If our contracted backlog fails to result in revenue as anticipated or in a timely manner, we could experience a reduction in revenue, profitability, and liquidity. Contracted/Order Intake Contracted, which we use interchangeably with “order intake”, represents new energy storage product and solutions contracts, new service contracts and new digital contracts signed during each period presented. We define “Contracted” as a firm and binding purchase order, letter of award, change order or other signed contract (in each case an “Order”) from the customer that is received and accepted by Fluence. Our order intake is intended to convey the dollar amount and gigawatts (operating measure) contracted in the period presented. We believe that order intake provides useful information to investors and management because the order intake provides visibility into future revenue and enables evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s sales activity and the attractiveness of its offerings in the market. Pipeline Pipeline represents our uncontracted, potential revenue from energy storage products and solutions, service, and digital software contracts, which have a reasonable likelihood of contract execution within 24 months. Pipeline is an internal management metric that we construct from market information reported by our global sales force. Pipeline is monitored by management to understand the anticipated growth of our Company and our estimated future revenue related to customer contracts for our battery-based energy storage products and solutions, services and digital software. We cannot guarantee that our pipeline will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period or at all. Pipeline may not generate margins equal to our historical operating results. We have only recently begun to track our pipeline on a consistent basis as performance measures, and as a result, we do not have significant experience in determining the level of realization that we will achieve on these contracts. Our customers may experience project delays or cancel orders as a result of external market factors and economic or other factors beyond our control. If our pipeline fails to result in revenue as anticipated or in a timely manner, we could experience a reduction in revenue, profitability, and liquidity. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) ARR represents the net annualized contracted value including software subscriptions including initial trial, licensing, long term service agreements, and extended warranty agreements as of the reporting period. ARR excludes one-time fees, revenue share or other revenue that is non-recurring and variable. The Company believes ARR is an important operating metric as it provides visibility to future revenue. It is important to management to increase this visibility as we continue to expand. ARR is not a forecast of future revenue and should be viewed independently of revenue and deferred revenue as ARR is an operating metric and is not intended to replace these items. The following tables present our non-GAAP measures for the periods indicated. ____________________________ 1 Non-GAAP Financial Metric. See the section below titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information regarding the Company's use of non-GAAP financial measures, as well as a reconciliation to the most directly comparable financials measure stated in accordance with GAAP. 2 Backlog represents the unrecognized revenue value of our contractual commitments, which include deferred revenue and amounts that will be billed and recognized as revenue in future periods. The Company’s backlog may vary significantly each reporting period based on the timing of major new contractual commitments and the backlog may fluctuate with currency movements. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Company’s customers have the right to terminate contracts or defer the timing of its services and their payments to the Company. 3 Total cash includes Cash and cash equivalents + Restricted Cash + Short term investments.None
Hezbollah fired into a disputed border zone held by Israel on Monday. The militant group said the volley, its first during the truce, was a warning shot in response to what it called repeated Israeli truce violations . Israeli leaders threatened to retaliate and within hours, Israel’s military carried out its biggest wave of strikes in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on a village killed five people, while another airstrike killed four. Israeli strikes had already killed two people on Monday before the Hezbollah attack. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire, which began Wednesday. Israel says that under the truce deal it reserves the right to retaliate for Hezbollah violations. Hezbollah began launching its attacks on Israel last year in solidarity with Hamas militants who are fighting in the Gaza Strip. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage . Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians , more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war in Gaza has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times . WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders says Israel “is committing war crimes & ethnic cleansing in Gaza.” The Vermont lawmaker said he agreed with a former top Israeli general and defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, who accused the government of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza , where the army has sealed off the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya and the Jabaliya refugee camp and allowed almost no humanitarian aid to enter. “You don’t fight terrorism by starving people & killing tens of thousands of civilians,” Sanders said Monday in a post on social media. Last month, the Senate rejected attempts by Sanders to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel over mounting civilian deaths in Gaza. WASHINGTON — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is demanding the immediate release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that if they are not freed before he is sworn into office for a second term there will be “HELL TO PAY.” “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social site . He added that, “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Trump allies have said he hopes there will be a ceasefire and hostage release deal before he returns to office early next year. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. Some 100 are still held inside Gaza , around two-thirds believed to be alive. WASHINGTON — Senior American officials have had conversations with Israelis to raise questions about some of the strikes they have carried out against Hezbollah since a ceasefire went into place but have not found the Israelis to be in gross violation of the terms of the ceasefire, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive conversations with the Israelis, said those conversations were part of a mechanism that was created to ensure that ceasefire agreement is implemented. “This is that mechanism working,” the official added. White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Monday that “largely speaking the ceasefire is holding.” “We’ve gone from, you know dozens of strikes, you know, down to one a day maybe two a day,” Kirby told told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Joe Biden made his way for a visit to Angola. “That’s a tremendous, tremendous reduction. And we’re going to keep trying and see what we can do to get it down to zero so that both sides are fully implementing it. But, this is, this is the only it’s only a, a week or so old.” — By Aamer Madhani JERUSALEM — Hezbollah fired into a disputed border zone held by Israel on Monday, the militant group’s first attack since its ceasefire with Israel took hold last week, after Lebanon accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days. The Israeli military said two projectiles were launched toward Mount Dov, a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet. Israel said the projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported. Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired on an Israeli military position in the area as a “defensive and warning response” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal by Israel. It said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “were futile in stopping these violations.” The U.S.- and French-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday calling for a 60-day halt in fighting, aiming to end more than a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel. Since then, Israel has carried out a number of strikes in Lebanon, most recently on Monday, when a drone strike killed a man on a motorcycle in southern Lebanon and another hit a Lebanese army bulldozer in the northeastern town of Hermel, wounding a soldier. The Lebanese army had stayed on the sidelines of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel says the strikes are in response to Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire, without giving specifics. BEIRUT — Lebanon’s parliament speaker on Monday accused Israel of committing 54 breaches of the ceasefire that ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel, demanding urgent intervention to halt what he called “flagrant violations.” Speaking to the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri condemned Israel’s “aggressive actions,” including the alleged demolition of homes in border villages, the persistent overflight of Israeli reconnaissance drones, and airstrikes that have caused casualties. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Berri’s assertions. Israel says it reserves the right under the ceasefire deal to respond to perceived ceasefire violations. An Israeli drone strike on Monday hit a Lebanese army military bulldozer in the northeastern town of Hermel, wounding a soldier, the Lebanese army said in a statement. Also on Monday, an Israeli drone strike targeting a motorcycle in Jdeidet Marjayoun in southern Lebanon killed one person, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. In Bint Jbeil province, a drone strike injured one person, the state-run National News Agency said. On Saturday, two people were killed in an airstrike on Marjayoun province, Lebanon’s state media said. Berri called on the technical committee established to monitor the ceasefire to take immediate action, urging it to “oblige Israel to halt its violations and withdraw from Lebanese territories without delay.” He said that Lebanon and Hezbollah have fully adhered to the terms of the ceasefire since the early hours of Wednesday. Berri is the leader of the Shiite Amal movement, which is closely allied with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Monday one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a motorcycle, while the Lebanese army said that a soldier was wounded in an Israeli strike on a military bulldozer at an army base. The Israeli military said that it carried out a series of strikes in Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, including one in the same area where the soldier was said to have been wounded. It said it struck several military vehicles in Lebanon’s Bekaa province as well as strikes on Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. The incidents underscored the fragility of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah reached after nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting. Since the ceasefire went into effect on Wednesday, Israel has struck several times in response to what it says have been ceasefire violations by Hezbollah. Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the deal but so far Hezbollah has not resumed its rocket fire. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday rejected accusations that Israel is violating the tenuous ceasefire agreement, saying it was responding to Hezbollah violations. In a post on X, Saar said that he made that point in a call with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot. France, along with the U.S., helped broker the deal and is part of an international monitoring committee meant to ensure the sides uphold their commitments. Israel says that it reserves the right under the deal to respond to perceived ceasefire violations. TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said Monday an Israeli American soldier who was believed to have been taken hostage alive on Oct. 7, 2023, is now presumed to have been killed during Hamas’ attack and his body taken into Gaza. Neutra, 21, was a New York native who enlisted in the Israeli military and was captured when Hamas attacked southern Israel. Neutra’s parents, Ronen and Orna, led a public campaign while he was thought to be alive for their son’s freedom. They spoke at protests in the U.S. and Israel, addressed the Republican National Convention this year and kept up ties with the Biden administration in their crusade to secure their son’s release. In a statement announcing the death, the military did not say how it came to the conclusion over Neutra’s fate. He was one of seven American Israelis still held in Gaza, four of whom are now said to be dead. Hamas released a video of one, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating he was still alive. In late summer, Israel said Hamas killed Hersh Goldberg-Polin , another prominent Israeli American hostage, along with five other captives, whose bodies the Israeli military recovered. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Some 100 captives are still held inside Gaza , around two-thirds believed to be alive. Iraqi militias supported by Iran deployed in Syria on Monday to back the government’s counteroffensive against a surprise advance by insurgents who seized the largest city of Aleppo, a militia official and a war monitor said. Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo last week and the countryside around Idlib before moving toward neighboring Hama province. Government troops built a fortified defensive line in northern Hama in an attempt to stall the insurgents’ momentum while jets on Sunday pounded rebel-held lines. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus Sunday and announced Tehran’s full support for his government. He later arrived for talks in Ankara, Turkey, one of the rebels' main backers. Iran has been of Assad’s principal political and military supporters and deployed military advisers and forces after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war. Tehran-backed Iraqi militias already in Syria mobilized and additional forces crossed the border to support them, said the Iraqi militia official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. According to Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some 200 Iraqi militiamen on pickups crossed into Syria overnight through the strategic Bou Kamal. They were expected to deploy in Aleppo to support the Syrian army’s pushback against the insurgents, the monitor said. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. Navy destroyers shot down seven missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the warships and three American merchant vessels they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported. U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O’Kane shot down and destroyed three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three drones and one anti-ship cruise missile. The merchant ships were not identified. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement and said they had targeted the U.S. destroyers and “three supply ships belonging to the American army in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.” Houthi attacks for months have targeted shipping through a waterway where $1 trillion in goods pass annually over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. A ceasefire was announced in Lebanon last week. The USS Stockdale was involved in a similar attack on Nov. 12 . Read more of the AP's coverage of the Middle East wars: https://apnews.com/hub/mideast-wars
VANCOUVER — Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank is preparing for a future that looks more uncertain and more prone to shocks. In a speech to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, he said Monday structural changes are underway in the world including demographic shifts, technological changes, decarbonization and a move away from globalization. "We need to use the pandemic experience to prepare for future crises," Macklem said in a prepared text of his speech. To that end, Macklem says the Bank of Canada is working to learn what it can from how the economy reacted to the pandemic and in its aftermath. The Bank of Canada is conducting a review of the policy actions it took to restore financial stability and support the economy during the pandemic that it plans to publish along with an assessment of an independent panel of experts. Macklem said the spike in inflation in 2022 was a reminder that even though inflation was relatively low and stable for 30 years leading up to the pandemic, central banks cannot take public trust for granted. "All of a sudden, people couldn’t afford the things they need to live. And while inflation is low once again, many prices are still a lot higher than they were before the pandemic. So people feel ripped off. And that erodes public trust in our economic system," he said. The Bank of Canada has cut its key policy interest rate five times this year including last week when it reduced the benchmark by a half a percentage point to 3.25 per cent. Macklem says the bank will be evaluating the need for further reductions in the policy rate one decision at a time and anticipates a more gradual approach to monetary policy if the economy evolves as expected. Statistics Canada reported last month that the annual inflation rate was two per cent in Ontario, hitting the Bank of Canada's target. The speech by Macklem came ahead of the release of the November inflation report on Tuesday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024. The Canadian PressQ3 2024 Global Semiconductor Equipment Billings Grew 19% Year-Over-Year, SEMI Reports