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South Korea lifts president's martial law decree after lawmakers reject military rulePlateau State Governor, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang has dismissed rumours circulating on social media that he has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Governor Mutfwang in a press statement issued in Jos by his Director of Press Dr Gyang Bere described the claims as the handiwork of mischief makers and agents of division, aimed at misleading the public about his political allegiance and unwavering commitment to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The Governor specifically condemned the doctored content being circulated, which falsely depicted his image alongside APC governors, purportedly preparing to welcome President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Edo State. He pointed out that the fabrication was a deliberate ploy to create confusion and cast doubt on his loyalty to the PDP. Mutfwang reiterated his steadfast dedication to serving the people of Plateau State under the PDP, the platform through which he earned the people’s mandate. He categorically stated that he has never contemplated leaving the PDP for any other political party. He also reassured PDP members in Plateau State and the North Central Zone that consultations with critical stakeholders are ongoing to resolve lingering issues affecting the party in the zone. Highlighting the success of the recent PDP Governors’ meeting hosted in Plateau State, the Governor emphasized that it reflected the principles of equity, justice, and fairness envisioned by the party’s founding fathers. Governor Mutfwang further reaffirmed his commitment to collaborating with the Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the collective interest of Plateau State’s development.
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Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title when he hit a major league-best .366 for the Atlanta Braves, has died. He was 85. Major League Baseball , the players’ association and the Braves paid tribute to Carty on social media on Sunday. A family friend told Listín Diario — a newspaper in Carty’s native Dominican Republic — that he died Saturday night in an Atlanta hospital. “Carty was one of the first groundbreaking Latino stars in the major leagues, and he established himself as a hero to millions in his native Dominican Republic, his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, and the city of Atlanta, where he was a beloved fan favorite,” the players' association said in its statement . The Braves said Carty left an indelible mark on the organization. “While his on-field accomplishments will never be forgotten, his unforgettable smile and generous nature will be sorely missed,” the team said in its statement. Carty made his big league debut with the Braves in September 1963. He batted .330 with 22 homers and 88 RBIs in his first full season in 1964, finishing second to Dick Allen in voting for NL Rookie of the Year. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season, and Carty got the franchise's first hit in its new home on April 12, 1966, against Pittsburgh. Carty had his best year in 1970, batting .366 with 25 homers and a career-best 101 RBIs. He started the All-Star Game after he was elected as a write-in candidate, joining Willie Mays and Hank Aaron in the NL outfield. Carty batted .299 with 204 homers and 890 RBIs over 15 years in the majors, also playing for Cleveland, Toronto, Oakland, Texas and the Chicago Cubs. He retired after the 1979 season. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
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Key Natural Antioxidants Market Trend 2024-2033: Strategic Partnerships for Geographical ExpansionA new bill has been introduced, and passed, to the House of Representatives which could help millions of Social Security beneficiaries get a higher amount every month. This is the Social Security Fairness Act , which passed with bipartisan support and is now headed to the Senate to, hopefully, be approved as well. The Social Security Fairness Act This bill, introduced by House sponsors, Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Louisiana Republican Garret Graves, aims to repeal two federal policies that currently limit Social Security payouts for around 2.8 million Americans who work in federal, state and local jobs. As they explained in a joint statement, “By passing the Social Security Fairness Act , a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives showed up for the millions of Americans — police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other local and state public servants — who worked a second job to make ends meet or began a second career to support their families after retiring from public service. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. House voted to provide a secure retirement to the hundreds of thousands of spouses, widows, and widowers who are denied their spouses’ benefits simply because they chose careers of service.” What provisions did it repeal? the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). According to the SSA, the WEP is “a formula used to adjust Social Security worker benefits for people who receive “ non-covered pensions ” and qualify for Social Security benefits based on other Social Security–covered earnings. A non-covered pension is a pension paid by an employer that does not withhold Social Security taxes from your salary, typically, state and local governments or non-U.S. employer.” This provision currently affects approximately 2 million beneficiaries. The GPO “adjusts Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefits for people who receive “ non-covered pensions. ”” This rule impacts nearly 800,000 retirees. By repealing the bill it would allow to: All of these provisions would help average Americans make ends meet as it would raise benefits for those who are currently subject to the WEP and GPO. The bad news is that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, implementing this bill would add $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, contributing to the shortfall of Social Security even more. Regardless, as Graves explains “This has been 40 years of treating people differently, discriminating against a certain set of workers. They’re not people that are overpaid; they’re not people that are underworked,” he said. Despite the House win, the bill still has long to go, as it has not been put up to a vote in the Senate and the president would still have to sign it into law, but efforts are being made so that it can pass with the minimum possible disturbance. Spanberger and Graves, along with Senate sponsors, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Susan Collins, made their case to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for them to put the bill up for a vote. Their impassionate plea read that Americans who are subject to the provisions “are being punished for supporting and protecting our neighbors and families, educating our children, providing healthcare to our Veterans, delivering our mail, and more.”
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After their most productive day in a non-overtime game this season, the Denver Nuggets are out to earn consecutive victories for the first time in a month when they play host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Following a run of seven losses in 11 games -- including one of their two setbacks against the Clippers this season -- the Nuggets turned their offense loose in a 141-111 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday as Nikola Jokic scored 48 points with 14 rebounds and eight assists. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Stacker ranked the best films of 2024 so far using data from Metacritic as of Dec. 2, 2024. Check back to see this list evolve as the year concludes. Click for more. The best movies of 2024 so farAn online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalitionNone
After their most productive day in a non-overtime game this season, the Denver Nuggets are out to earn consecutive victories for the first time in a month when they play host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Following a run of seven losses in 11 games -- including one of their two setbacks against the Clippers this season -- the Nuggets turned their offense loose in a 141-111 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday as Nikola Jokic scored 48 points with 14 rebounds and eight assists. With three MVP awards in the past four seasons, Jokic is pointed toward another as he leads the NBA in rebounds at 13.6 per game and is second in points (32.3) and assists (10.2). He has 104 points over the past two games but his 56-point outing Saturday ended up in a defeat to the lowly Washington Wizards. Jokic's push for offense coincides with a hamstring injury to Jamal Murray, who missed the past two games and is expected to be listed as questionable for Friday's game. Dario Saric is expected back after he was inactive the past two games with an ankle injury. In his first season with the Nuggets, former Clippers guard Russell Westbrook has averaged 6.4 assists per game. With Murray down, he has averaged 11.5 assists the past two games. "When Russ is out there with Nikola, he's just always looking for him," Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. "He's always trying to find him. And that makes complete sense to me. You're playing with the best player in the world. You might want to give him the ball." The Clippers' Norman Powell has averaged 32.5 points in the two victories over the Nuggets and leads Los Angeles with 23.6 points per game this season. While Powell has returned from a recent hamstring injury, James Harden (groin) was absent from Sunday's 117-106 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks, as was Terance Mann (finger). Kawhi Leonard (knee) has not played this season but has finally returned to practice as he nears his season debut. The hope for Los Angeles head coach Tyronn Lue was to hold things together as best as possible until Leonard returned, and a 14-11 record through the first two months appears to have to accomplished that goal. Leonard won't travel with the team for Friday's game, but his return to practice has made an impact. "It raised our energy just for our guys to see him on the floor," Lue said. "It brought a juice to our team, so we needed that jolt, especially going through the schedule we've been through. It was really good to see him out there." Instead of playing it passive until Leonard returns, the Clippers have ramped up their defense, which has allowed 107.4 points per game. It is the fifth-best mark in the NBA. The 35-year-old Harden has raised his game for the Clippers by averaging 21.6 points, his most since the 2021-22 season. He has also averaged 8.5 assists with 6.8 rebounds while playing in 24 of 25 games. This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.
MADRID (AP) — Getafe scored twice in three minutes midway through the second half to beat struggling Valladolid 2-0 and record only its second win in La Liga on Friday. The victory ended Getafe’s five-game winless run and lifted it into 15th place in the 20-team standings. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
St. John's bids to remain hot in clash vs. DelawareNorth Dakota regulators OK underground storage for proposed Midwest carbon dioxide pipelineThe standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" Thanks for your interest in Kalkine Media's content! To continue reading, please log in to your account or create your free account with us.
By Jody Godoy (Reuters) - Andrew Ferguson, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to chair the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, has expressed the desire to go after Big Tech companies while taking a hands-off approach to regulating artificial intelligence. Ferguson's views on social media, data privacy, AI and the need to boost American competitiveness are likely to affect the regulator's approach to companies including Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google. Here are some of the views Ferguson has expressed in statements during his term as an FTC commissioner which began in April and ends in 2030. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The "pro-regulation side of the AI debate" is "the wrong one," Ferguson said. "A knee-jerk regulatory response will only squelch innovation, further entrench Big Tech incumbents, and ensure that AI innovators move to jurisdictions friendlier to them — but perhaps hostile to the United States," he said in a September statement on the FTC's report on social media. The report called for comprehensive legislation to protect users' data and prevent AI from perpetuating discrimination. ONLINE PRIVACY Ferguson has described the vast collection, aggregation and indefinite storage of data on social media and internet users in the U.S. as an "online privacy crisis" that regulators should focus on. However, he has warned against regulating how such information is used to target advertising. "If regulators and lawmakers attempt to ban or seriously curtail targeted advertising, they will be undoing the balance of the online economy," he said. CONTENT MODERATION POLICIES Ferguson has criticized social media platforms for instituting "Orwellian policies banning nebulous categories of content like 'misinformation,' 'disinformation,' and 'hate speech.'" The FTC could take action against social media platforms if their terms of service misled users about content moderation policies. With more transparent policies, users could decide if they want to stay on the platforms, Ferguson said in December. "But the choice would be real only if there are suitable free-speech-respecting substitutes to the censorious platforms," Ferguson said, praising Elon Musk's "unusually firm commitment to free and open debate" after the billionaire took over social media platform X. PLATFORM COLLABORATION ON CONTENT Ferguson has expressed concern that social media platforms may have coordinated in banning Trump in 2021, taking down posts they deemed harmful during the COVID-19 pandemic, and restricting dissemination of stories about Hunter Biden's laptop computer. "If the platforms colluded amongst each other to set shared censorship policies, such an agreement would be tantamount to an agreement not to compete on contract terms or product quality," which would violate antitrust laws, Ferguson said. ADVERTISER COORDINATION Coordination between advertisers to pull money from platforms such as X over content concerns could violate antitrust laws, Ferguson said. The World Federation of Advertisers' Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which was formed to help advertisers avoid their ads being placed next to harmful content on social media, shut down after X sued, accusing it of facilitating group boycotts. Ferguson has said the FTC could investigate similar efforts. KIDS AND TEENS ONLINE Congress should pass a law that would require online service providers to give parents more control over children's online privacy, Ferguson said. "Congress should empower parents to impose whatever level of supervision and control over internet messaging they feel is right for their family and their children," he said. (Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)