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[ h~OpҥQE;iVĎS+Tf0#"NGBill Maher went off on an expletive-laden rant about “the left” in which he blasted those who would refuse to talk to family members during the holiday season because of political differences. During a sit-down with Jay Leno in a recent episode of Club Random, the comedian blasted those who have threatened to “cut off” relatives over politics , though said he would never switch to the “Trump side.” The pair discussed a range of subjects, including Johnny Carson, Leno’s recent accidents and the late Sammy Davis Jr. Leno mentioned the fact that the musician was called a “traitor” by activists after taking a photo with former Republican president Richard Nixon in the White House. “It’s so funny you mention that because today we live in this time where you’re not allowed to have friends from the other side or cross lines politically, and I forgot that there’s an example of that way back when,” Maher said. “A guy who crossed lines politically. Oh, the worst thing you could ever do. Be friends with a Republican? Ah! Call 911!” he added. “This is what I f****** hate about the left,” he emphasized. “You know — and they’re not going to get me over to the Trump side, which they think they will sometimes — but just the idea of ‘cut your family off for Thanksgiving if they voted for the wrong guy.’ F*** off, you f****.” Following Trump’s victory in November, some have called out for severing relationships with conservative and MAGA-supporting family members. Celebrities including The View co-host Sunny Hostin have supported the move, saying Trumpers “voted not only against their families but against them,” referring to those recommending ostracizing relatives on the other divide of the political spectrum.1. An adorable bookmark book tracker to gamify reading and entice you to finally finish the story on your nightstand. British Book Art is a small business based in the UK that sells the most book art and bookmarks. Promising review: "I'm absolutely obsessed with this bookmark. It's definitely made me more determined to read this year, and it will be a nice keepsake. Will be repurchasing when this one's almost filled." — Mady Taylor Get it from British Book Art on Etsy for $5.34 . 2. A hammered metal gold lunar garland that'll ~eclipse~ all your other bedroom decor as your favorite purchase of all time. You'll be ~over the moon~ when you see how much coziness this adds to your bedroom. Base Roots is a woman-owned small business creating home decor that blends modern and traditional design elements. Promising review: "I'm an incoming freshman this fall, and I bought this to add some personality to my dorm. It has beyond exceeded my expectations! I placed it directly on top of my dorm bed, as shown in the display photos, and am so pleased with how it looks. It fits perfectly with the gray/white color scheme I was going for, and I have received numerous compliments from both my friends and RAs when they visited. I cannot stress enough how much of an 'aesthetic feel' it adds to my dorm." — jhsgf Get it from Base Roots on Amazon for $17.99+ (available in a gold or silver color and a garland style). 3. A couch cooler shaped like a potato plushie — a ~couch potato~ if you will — so you can show up to movie night with everything you need: drinks, snacks, a bottle opener, and a stuffie for cuddling. Get it from Amazon for $23.89 . 4. A mounted brush for satisfying your cat's ceaseless demands for scritches. Just mount it to a corner with the included adhesive strips and watch as your beloved babies leave you for the warm embrace of this gray and white piece of plastic. Promising review: "Both my cats seem to love this inexpensive product. I bought it on a whim, but I am very pleased. Little need for catnip; with some positive attention and gentle encouragement, they started using this groomer and haven't stopped , only when it falls down. Didn't want to use screws and haven't found a lasting adhesive tape that holds up under such constant use. Command strips are on the shopping list." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $5.74 . 5. A pound of cereal marshmallows because your ideal ratio of cereal to marshmallows is 90% marshmallows and 10% cereal. Promising review: "Amazing! I put them in hot chocolate, Rice Krispies treats, other cereals, or just eat then by the handful. Impulse buy that totally worked out. " — Maddison Helsel Get it from Amazon for $12.99 . 6. An ugly cats in Renaissance paintings calendar so you can get a few laughs and feel much, much better about your art skills (not me believing I could be a Renaissance painter!). It'll also probably trigger an urge to scoop up your furry friends and tell them how handsome they are. Shhh, you look nothing like July! (April is...me...100% of the time.) Decor Hardcore is a small business based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Promising review: "My brother, sister, and I decided to buy fun esoteric calendars for each other for Hanukkah. My sister is a huge cat lover, and this made her day. 100 out of 10 would buy again!" — Gwendy7769 Get it from Decor Hardware on Etsy for $26.34+ (available in two sizes; there's also an ugly Renaissance dog paintings version ) 7. An adorable octopus-shaped blackhead remover to exfoliate your skin while pulling out whiteheads, blackheads, and other pore-clogging yuckies. Promising review: "After just two days of use, this adorable little octopus has done wonders for me and smells great, too. Here's how I used it: I wore down the stick just a little to where the texture from the salt is visible, scrubbed around on my face so there was plenty of product, then I used my fingers to gently massage all the gunk away. Rinse, pat dry, and enjoy the softness. Highly recommended for people with sensitive skin like myself. " — LuckLocust Get it from Amazon for $12.50 . 8. A pair of batwings that'll look so ~bloody~ adorable on your shoes. Yep, that's right — these are batwings for your shoes and skates! Halloween might be over, but they're a ~fang-tastic~ accessory for folks who celebrate spooky season 365 days of the year. Wolf Workshop is a UK-based small business run by Pipa and George (the cat) that specializes in handmade leather goods. Promising review: "This is by far one of my favorite things I’ve ever purchased ever. The quality of the wings is phenomenal, and the packaging was so great and thoughtful! I really appreciate the extra touches to it and the freebies!! The seller was very kind, patient, and helpful when I had questions about how the wings would fit my skates. Thank you so much for this experience! Join Waitlist . When will Apple Intelligence be available on my phone? How long it will take to be granted access is unknown. On my iPhone running the developer beta it took a few hours, while others got in after a few minutes. As things have scaled up for the release, wait times could be longer. As one example, when I was running the iOS 18.2 developer beta, which included the new Image Playground app to create Genmoji and AI-generated artwork, I had to wait several weeks before I could start playing with them. With iOS 18.2 now available broadly, it remains to be seen what the waitlist will be like.A thrill ride manufacturer that has designed a 1,000-foot-tall roller coaster that would shatter all height and speed records is looking for a theme park willing and able to build the towering behemoth. The once-impossible dream of a 1,000-foot-tall coaster is now feasible and in top secret development by an unnamed ridemaker, according to Dennis Speigel, an industry expert with International Theme Park Services . “The project is still under heavy wraps with the final international location yet to be announced,” Speigel wrote on the ITPS website. “But the progress is quite well along and so far is nothing short of breathtaking in every sense of the meaning.” ALSO SEE: Six Flags to spend $1 billion on 11 coasters over next 2 years The 1,000-footer would be twice as tall as any coaster ever built and smash a new record for world’s tallest coaster about to be set in 2025. Six Flags announced in November that its 456-foot-tall Kingda Ka coaster in New Jersey would be removed and replaced by a new record-breaking launch coaster in 2026. The 2005 Kingda Ka held the title of world’s tallest coaster for two decades. ALSO SEE: 5 of the world’s fastest coasters are closed, but a new king will soon rise The 415-foot-tall Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain now reigns as the tallest operating coaster in the world while the 420-foot-tall Top Thrill 2 coaster at Ohio’s Cedar Point remains closed for repairs. Falcon’s Flight will become the world’s tallest coaster at a skyscraping 640 feet when the new ride debuts in 2025 at Six Flags Quiddiya in Saudi Arabia. ALSO SEE: Coaster war brewing between Six Flags Magic Mountain and relatively unknown European rival Speigel got a sneak preview of the 1,000-foot-tall coaster by the as-yet-unidentified ride manufacturer that swore him to secrecy. Technological advancements in computer- and AI-assisted design have made the pipe dream of a 1,000-foot-tall coaster a very real possiblity, according to Speigel. ALSO SEE: 4 reasons why Universal won’t launch Fast & Furious coaster until 2026 “It’s only a matter of time and financial investment before this aspiration becomes a reality,” Speigel wrote on the ITPS website. The record-setting coaster will need to be built on a swath of land large enough to accommodate the amount of track needed for the launch and run out on either side of the 1,000-foot precipice. ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain plans 21st roller coaster for 2026 The structural engineering team behind the project has designed a coaster that can withstand immense vertical and lateral forces, according to Speigel. An “ingenious” braking system will help control the incredible speeds of the coaster that will likely require riders to wear safety goggles, according to Speigel. Related Articles
Financial giants have made a conspicuous bullish move on Freeport-McMoRan. Our analysis of options history for Freeport-McMoRan FCX revealed 11 unusual trades. Delving into the details, we found 54% of traders were bullish, while 45% showed bearish tendencies. Out of all the trades we spotted, 4 were puts, with a value of $213,113, and 7 were calls, valued at $287,434. Projected Price Targets Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $30.0 to $42.0 for Freeport-McMoRan over the recent three months. Volume & Open Interest Development Assessing the volume and open interest is a strategic step in options trading. These metrics shed light on the liquidity and investor interest in Freeport-McMoRan's options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Freeport-McMoRan's substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $30.0 to $42.0 over the preceding 30 days. Freeport-McMoRan Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days Largest Options Trades Observed: Symbol PUT/CALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp. Date Ask Bid Price Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume FCX PUT TRADE BEARISH 05/16/25 $0.62 $0.59 $0.61 $30.00 $73.2K 68 1.3K FCX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 01/17/25 $0.34 $0.31 $0.34 $42.00 $68.0K 7.3K 2.0K FCX CALL SWEEP BULLISH 06/20/25 $3.95 $3.85 $3.9 $40.00 $61.2K 1.2K 259 FCX PUT SWEEP BULLISH 02/21/25 $2.68 $2.66 $2.66 $40.00 $50.2K 4.3K 189 FCX PUT SWEEP BEARISH 06/20/25 $5.3 $5.25 $5.29 $42.00 $50.2K 7.4K 96 About Freeport-McMoRan Freeport-McMoRan owns stakes in 10 copper mines, led by its 49% ownership of the Grasberg copper and gold operations in Indonesia, 55% of the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, and 72% of Morenci in Arizona. It sold around 1.2 million metric tons of copper (its share) in 2023, making it the one of the world's largest copper miners by volume. It also sold about 900,000 ounces of gold, mostly from Grasberg, and 70 million pounds of molybdenum. About 75% of 2023 revenue was from copper, with a further 15% from gold and about 10% from molybdenum. It had about 25 years of copper reserves at end December 2023. we expect it to sell similar amounts of copper midcycle in 2028, though we expect gold volumes to decline to about 700,000 ounces then due to falling production at Grasberg. Where Is Freeport-McMoRan Standing Right Now? Trading volume stands at 4,177,817, with FCX's price down by -0.25%, positioned at $39.12. RSI indicators show the stock to be may be oversold. Earnings announcement expected in 27 days. Unusual Options Activity Detected: Smart Money on the Move Benzinga Edge's Unusual Options board spots potential market movers before they happen. See what positions big money is taking on your favorite stocks. Click here for access . Options trading presents higher risks and potential rewards. Astute traders manage these risks by continually educating themselves, adapting their strategies, monitoring multiple indicators, and keeping a close eye on market movements. Stay informed about the latest Freeport-McMoRan options trades with real-time alerts from Benzinga Pro . © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Endrick, Arda Not Leaving Madrid In January –AncelottiFuturology A new study has unveiled a discovery beneath the Earth's surface: a vast reservoir of hydrogen that could potentially reshape the global energy landscape. Scientists estimate that approximately 6.2 trillion tons of hydrogen lie hidden in rocks and underground reservoirs, a quantity that dwarfs known oil reserves by a factor of 261. The research, led by Geoffrey Ellis, a petroleum geochemist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has been published in the journal Science Advances. It suggests that tapping into just a fraction of this hydrogen could have far-reaching implications for the world's energy future. "Just 2% of the hydrogen stocks found in the study, equivalent to 124 billion tons of gas, would supply all the hydrogen we need to get to net-zero [carbon] for a couple hundred years," Ellis told LiveScience. This amount of hydrogen contains roughly twice the energy stored in all known natural gas reserves on Earth. Hydrogen, a clean energy carrier, has diverse applications, ranging from fueling vehicles to powering industrial processes and generating electricity. As global efforts to combat climate change intensify, hydrogen is projected to play an increasingly significant role, potentially accounting for up to 30% of future energy supply in some sectors. The study's findings challenge long-held beliefs about hydrogen's behavior underground. "The paradigm throughout my entire career was that hydrogen's out there, it occurs, but it's a very small molecule, so it easily escapes through small pores and cracks and rocks," Ellis said. However, recent discoveries of substantial hydrogen caches in West Africa and an Albanian chromium mine have shifted this perspective. To estimate the global hydrogen reserves, Ellis and his colleague Sarah Gelman developed a model accounting for various factors, including hydrogen production rates underground, the amount likely trapped in reservoirs, and losses through processes such as atmospheric leakage. The model revealed a wide range of possible hydrogen quantities, from 1 billion to 10 trillion tons, with 6.2 trillion tons being the most probable estimate. While these figures are promising, Ellis cautions that much of this hydrogen may be inaccessible due to depth or offshore locations. Additionally, some reserves might be too small for economically viable extraction. Nevertheless, the sheer scale of the estimated reserves suggests that even with these limitations, there could be ample hydrogen available for exploitation. One of the key advantages of natural hydrogen over synthetically produced "green" or "blue" hydrogen is its ready availability. "We don't have to worry about storage, which is something that with the blue hydrogen or green hydrogen you do," Ellis said. "You want to make it when electricity is cheap and then you have to store it somewhere. With natural hydrogen, you could just open a valve and close it whenever you needed it." However, the exact locations of these hydrogen reserves remain unknown, presenting the next challenge for researchers. Ellis and his team are working on narrowing down the geological criteria necessary for underground hydrogen accumulation, with results for the U.S. expected early next year. While the potential of this discovery is enormous, some experts urge caution. Professor Bill McGuire from University College London told the BBC that extracting hydrogen on a scale large enough to impact emissions significantly would require "an enormous global initiative for which we simply don't have time." He also emphasized the need for extensive supporting infrastructure. McGuire questioned whether exploiting another finite resource is necessary, given the availability of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
ALTOONA, Pa. — After UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was gunned down on a New York sidewalk, police searched for the masked gunman with dogs, drones and scuba divers. Officers used the city's muscular surveillance system. Investigators analyzed DNA samples, fingerprints and internet addresses. Police went door-to-door looking for witnesses. When an arrest came five days later, those sprawling investigative efforts shared credit with an alert civilian's instincts. A Pennsylvania McDonald's customer noticed another patron who resembled the man in the oblique security-camera photos that New York police had publicized. Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry speaks during a press conference regarding the arrest of suspect Luigi Mangione, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pa., in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey) Luigi Nicholas Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, was arrested Monday in the killing of Brian Thompson, who headed one of the United States’ largest medical insurance companies. He remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. By late evening, prosecutors in Manhattan had added a charge of murder, according to an online court docket. He's expected to be extradited to New York eventually. It’s unclear whether Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Asked at Monday's arraignment whether he needed a public defender, Mangione asked whether he could “answer that at a future date.” Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after the McDonald's customer recognized him and notified an employee, authorities said. Police in Altoona, about 233 miles (375 kilometers) west of New York City, were soon summoned. This booking photo released Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shows Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Pennsylvania Department of Corrections via AP) They arrived to find Mangione sitting at a table in the back of the restaurant, wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop, according to a Pennsylvania police criminal complaint. He initially gave them a fake ID, but when an officer asked Mangione whether he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake,” the complaint says. When he pulled his mask down at officers' request, “we knew that was our guy,” rookie Officer Tyler Frye said at a news conference in Hollidaysburg. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Manhattan news conference that Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione also had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America." An NYPD police officer and K-9 dog search around a lake in Central Park, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the document included a line in which Mangione claimed to have acted alone. “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official. It also had a line that said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 in cash — $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount. Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a midtown Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. Police quickly came to see the shooting as a targeted attack by a gunman who appeared to wait for Thompson, came up behind him and fired a 9 mm pistol. Investigators have said “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on ammunition found near Thompson’s body. The words mimic a phrase used to criticize the insurance industry. A poster issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows a wanted unknown suspect. (FBI via AP) From surveillance video, New York investigators gathered that the shooter fled by bike into Central Park, emerged, then took a taxi to a northern Manhattan bus terminal. Once in Pennsylvania, he went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, “trying to stay low-profile” by avoiding cameras, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said. A grandson of a wealthy, self-made real estate developer and philanthropist, Mangione is a cousin of a current Maryland state legislator. Mangione was valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep school, where his 2016 graduation speech lauded his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.” He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland lawmaker Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.” An NYPD police officer and K-9 dog search around a lake in Central Park, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Luigi Nicholas Mangione worked for a time for the car-buying website TrueCar and left in 2023, CEO Jantoon Reigersman said by email. From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of Honolulu tourist mecca Waikiki. Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin. “Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. "There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.” At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, from surfing to romance, Ryan said. “He went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back," Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym. NYPD officers in diving suits search a lake in Central Park, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago. Although the gunman obscured his face during the shooting, he left a trail of evidence in New York, including a backpack he ditched in Central Park, a cellphone found in a pedestrian plaza, a water bottle and a protein bar wrapper. In the days after the shooting, the NYPD collected hundreds of hours of surveillance video and released multiple clips and still images in hopes of enlisting the public’s eyes to help find a suspect. “This combination of old-school detective work and new-age technology is what led to this result today,” Tisch said at the New York news conference. ___ Scolforo reported from Altoona and Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Contributing were Associated Press writers Cedar Attanasio and Jennifer Peltz in New York; Michael Rubinkam and Maryclaire Dale in Pennsylvania; Lea Skene in Baltimore and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Broncos’ boom-or-bust offense leaves playoff hopes in jeopardy: “It doesn’t feel very good”
Level Up In Cybersecurity With Infosectrain’S Latest CoursesNASA’s micro-mission Lunar Trailblazer will make macro-measurements of the lunar surface in 2025
The US says it pushed retraction of a famine warning for north Gaza. Aid groups express concern.DALLAS -- The Hilton Anatole has become Major League Baseball's top destination this week as teams converge for the winter meetings with writers, agents and even some fans circling the vast lobby floors. The biggest offseason news came down Sunday night, when the New York Mets and star free agent slugger Juan Soto reportedly agreed on a 15-year, $765 million deal, which would be the largest contract ever given to a professional athlete. That was a key talking point when managers started meeting with the media on Monday. Nationals manager Dave Martinez reflected on when he was Soto's first manager in the big leagues back in 2018. "This kid, he was different," Martinez said. "The ball comes off his bat differently. The way he approaches the hitting was way different than a lot of kids I've seen. But the one thing that I always remember about him, the first conversation I had, the first thing that came out of his mouth when I asked him what motivates him, what drives him, and he just came out and said, 'I love baseball.' Truly you can see it in him. He loves playing the game." The Red Sox were among the clubs in the mix for Soto. Boston manager Alex Cora didn't get into specific details, but he enjoyed the organization's pursuit of the four-time All Star. "It was fun in a way, you know, to get to know people and players of that status," Cora said. "It's amazing. The kid, he gets it. He gets it. Let me put it that way." Royals manager Matt Quatraro, meanwhile, spoke about the impact such a monumental contract may have on smaller market teams in order to compete in today's market. "We have to be creative. We have to put the best 26 guys on a roster or the best 40 guys on a roster, not the best one or two," Quatraro said. "At the end of the day, you have a chance to compete against those guys. Soto is going to hit four to five times a night. Those are impactful at-bats, but there's other ways to combat that with a full 26-man roster." Sasaki Posted Outside of the Soto reaction, Monday's other main storyline - at least going into the afternoon hours - centered on Japanese ace right-hander Roki Sasaki officially being posted. The 23-year-old phenom is available to sign as a free agent from Tuesday through 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 23. The rumor mill was churning with plenty of speculation and talk about where Sasaki might sign. He was just one of many big-name players being discussed on Monday. The list of top free agents behind Soto includes pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried and infielders Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and Christian Walker. On the trade front, much attention is being placed on White Sox left-handed starter Garrett Crochet. It was a relatively quiet Day 1 through the standard working hours, although things are always subject to change at meetings of this nature. Tito is Back Terry Francona joked that his desire to manage again resurfaced when his daughters went on a 10-day trip to Europe. "I watched the grandkids. That was the one day I thought maybe I'll go back to baseball," Francona said, laughing. All joking aside, Francona said it simply happened that when the Reds reached out, the timing felt right. He's healthy and refreshed as he's set to enter his 24th season as a manager. "I had a really good year and maybe I just needed that," Francona, 65, said. "Then, when these guys called, it just felt right." Honoring Mays The winter meetings kicked off with MLB announcing that its annual charity auction during the event would help revitalize Willie Mays Park in the late Hall of Famer's hometown of Fairfield, Ala. At a news conference, April Brown, MLB's senior vice president of social responsibility and diversity, said the vision for the project includes access for all levels of players, from youth leagues to advanced levels. "This effort will not just be MLB alone," Brown said. "We have the blessing of so many connected to his legacy and that have the mission to instill the love of our game that Willie had to all of the youth in the area growing up in the neighborhood where he grew up." The auction, which features items from every major league club, runs through Thursday. --Drew Davison, Field Level MediaPanic has gripped school heads across the country following the creation of a monitoring unit by the Ministry of Education and Sports to unearth the rot in government schools including those that inflate pupils’ numbers to swindle capitation grants from the government. The unit has hit the road running and so far has uncovered 43,045 ‘ghost’ pupils – who are counted in official records but do not exist in Ntungamo district, western Uganda. This revelation was made by Janet Kataha Museveni, the minister of Education and Sports also the first lady during her year-end address to ministry staff and affiliated agencies. The revelation sheds light on the persistent issue of inflated enrollment numbers that have cost taxpayers billions of shillings over the years. Ms Museveni said that the discovery was part of broader efforts to enhance accountability and governance within Uganda’s education sector. To address these challenges, Ms Museveni noted that a Special Infrastructure Monitoring Unit has been established within the ministry to oversee and streamline operations. This unit aims to curb fraudulent practices, ensure transparency, and safeguard public funds invested in education. The unit, led by Dr Kenneth Ssemwogerere, is tasked with closely monitoring infrastructure projects among other assignments. “These people have been my feet, ears, and eyes for all the projects we undertake because I don’t want to sit here and report on projects that are non-existent or done poorly,” Ms Museveni started. She added that one of the achievements made by the unit this year was their recent findings in Ntungamo district where they conducted surprise checks and headcounts across 236 primary schools, they identified 43,045 ghost pupils. Given that the government allocates Shs 20,000 for each primary school pupil, this discrepancy could have led to an overpayment of approximately Shs 860 million in capitation grants to the district over the years yet similar funds if placed into use could make a difference. For instance, districts like Kabarole receive Shs 500 million for schools in the 17 sub-counties as School Facilitation Grant (SFG) to help with the construction of more classrooms, latrines and purchase of desks for primary schools under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) program. Despite the gravity of this discovery, Ms Museveni did not reveal the fate of the implicated head teachers or other officials in charge. However, in her address, she urged ministry staff and school officials to act with integrity, stressing that corruption and dishonesty must have no place in Uganda’s education system. “We must serve with integrity in handling the funds allocated for education. This money is meant to support our children’s learning, not to be misused,” she concluded. According to estimates from the ministry of Finance, ‘ghost’ pupils alone cost taxpayers about $11 million (Shs 41 billion) annually. In 2022, the ministry of Education introduced an improved Education Management Information System (EMIS) to among other things combat the issue of ghost pupils by assuring accurate learner enrollment data in individual schools, enhancing planning and management. Though EMIS is still in its roll-out phase, preliminary results have already shown significant discrepancies. Ministry sources revealed that some schools reported inflated numbers of pupils, only for those students to be missing when the data was cross-checked in the system. Nearly half a million over-reported learners have been identified nationwide through this process, and the ministry plans to carry out a full analysis of the data shortly. When asked about the matter, Vincent Ssozi, assistant commissioner for statistics, monitoring, and evaluation at the ministry of Education, explained that once the ministry completes the harmonization of data collected from schools, a clearer picture of the ghost learners will emerge. “This process will allow us to eliminate discrepancies. We will completely handle those so-called ghost pupils and ensure that future capitation grants are allocated based only on verified data from the Education Management Information System (EMIS).” Still addressing the issue of integrity spoke on the recent disciplinary action taken at the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT), following reports supported by evidence of misappropriation, misuse of government resources, and abuse of office. She emphasized that whenever such issues are detected, she will not hesitate to take swift and decisive action to address the matter. “This year, we had to crack the whip on the team at DIT, and this was not done haphazardly, it followed a report by the IGG, with evidence of misappropriation, misuse of government resources, and total abuse of office,” she noted. She added that, while recognizing the importance of DIT and the significant benefits it brings to the people, the work must be done properly. “Next year, we must come together to streamline the mandate, management, and work methods of DIT,” she stated. Meanwhile, during the same session, the ministry also took stock of its achievements over the past year, including securing the AFCON co-hosting bid and streamlining the TVET sector, among other successes. It is not new for public servants to include ‘ghosts’ and non-existent figures in the payrolls so as to siphon public funds. For example, in 2021, it was discovered that over 1,039 ‘ghost’ workers were on the nurses’ payroll whereby each nurse was receiving Shs 15,000 per day. editor
House approves $895B defense bill with military pay raise, ban on transgender care for minors
Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. Investors: Please contact the Portnoy Law Firm to recover your losses. December 16, 2024 Deadline to file Lead Plaintiff Motion.Clarke Reed, who helped Gerald Ford win the 1976 Republican nomination, has died at 96
University rape suspect a repeat offender
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Jimmy Carter's environmental legacy set the foundation for today's climate action
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Doctors in Wagga in regional NSW have increased their rate of abortion access to above the national average after barely scratching the surface just five years ago. or signup to continue reading A new report from Family Planning Australia shows 28 per cent of NSW local government areas . That includes Narrandera, Coolamon, Temora, Junee, and Hay. But . The report - analysed data supplied by Services Australia, highlighting where patients live and where health providers are based to . According to lead researcher Dr Emmalee Ford, Wagga's medical practitioners are "punching above their weight". "For the Wagga LGA, it had suppressed or really low rates [in 2019] and then there has obviously been an uptake in people providing that service, which is obviously great," Dr Ford said. Before decriminalisation, . This increased to 19.5 in 2022, above the state and national average. It's a number significantly higher than the 9.3 women per 1000 in need of a medical abortion living in the LGA. Though this number is . In plain numbers, that is 129 women from Wagga who accessed medical termination in 2022. Pharmacist dispensing rates also skyrocketed in Wagga over the reporting period to 9.8 per 1000 women, up from 0.9 five years earlier. , numbers that reflect a staggering increase in women accessing the service since 2022. It could also be drawn that close to two-thirds of his customers . It's not a far-fetched hypothesis, based on pharmacy dispensation rates around the Riverina. It's a stark difference between Cootamundra-Gundagai and Temora, which both had no prescriptions filled in the LGA prior to 2021, and Coolamon, Junee, Murrumbidgee, Leeton, and Lockhart, which had no dispensation activity for the entire reporting period. These LGAs did, however, have multiple residents acquiring medical termination prescriptions. Meanwhile, in Griffith, patient numbers increased year-on-year, but . Dr Ford said the data shows the disparity between regional and metropolitan access for the first time, beyond just anecdotal evidence. "We can see overall it is not a one-to-one ratio," Dr Ford said. "Everywhere there was a patient, there wasn't always a prescriber, and there wasn't always a pharmacy. Some areas with a low number of patients had high number of prescriptions and it really goes to show where people are getting it, where it's being given from, ." The report is the first time termination data in NSW has been made available since 2020, despite medical practitioners being required to report termination procedures to the state government. A NSW Health spokesperson said termination data will not be published outside of a report following the first 12 months of decriminalisation. "Section 15 of the Act requires that a medical practitioner who performs a termination of pregnancy must notify the Secretary of the Ministry of Health within 28 days," the spokesperson said. "Ongoing publication of data is not mandated under the Act." Data from a similar reporting period has shown teenage pregnancy within the Murrumbidgee Local Health District has not fallen in line with the rest of the state. However, teenagers remain a minority of the women looking for termination care. While the report encapsulates girls and women aged 15 to 49, Dr Ford said the average patient is between 20 and 39. It is data that supports comments from Family Planning Australia chief executive Sue Shilbury. "We see a wide range of women accessing termination services from all socioeconomic backgrounds from across all the community in terms of cultural and linguistically diverse, communities Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, young women," Ms Shilbury said. "We do not see a particular woman. "There is not a stereotype of a particular woman that accesses a termination of pregnancy. The distinction is that women that are of a higher socioeconomic status can more easily afford to pay for an abortion to be undertaken if less than 20 weeks in the private setting. "So what happens is that women, as always, that are in vulnerable communities, that have less capacity to pay that struggle to access these services for a multitude of reasons." Ms Shilbury said the report is an important planning tool moving forward. . She called for greater access to GPs and pharmacists in regional areas to ensure that women are not being forced to travel for care. "This report is an important tool for informing healthcare planning. In it, we can see the strong need for more prescribers to find their way to country towns so people can get healthcare near where they live," she said. Tahlia Sinclair runs around Wagga Wagga for The Daily Advertiser. You can reach me on 0455 370 575 Tahlia Sinclair runs around Wagga Wagga for The Daily Advertiser. 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DALLAS -- The Hilton Anatole has become Major League Baseball's top destination this week as teams converge for the winter meetings with writers, agents and even some fans circling the vast lobby floors. The biggest offseason news came down Sunday night, when the New York Mets and star free agent slugger Juan Soto reportedly agreed on a 15-year, $765 million deal, which would be the largest contract ever given to a professional athlete. That was a key talking point when managers started meeting with the media on Monday. Nationals manager Dave Martinez reflected on when he was Soto's first manager in the big leagues back in 2018. "This kid, he was different," Martinez said. "The ball comes off his bat differently. The way he approaches the hitting was way different than a lot of kids I've seen. But the one thing that I always remember about him, the first conversation I had, the first thing that came out of his mouth when I asked him what motivates him, what drives him, and he just came out and said, 'I love baseball.' Truly you can see it in him. He loves playing the game." The Red Sox were among the clubs in the mix for Soto. Boston manager Alex Cora didn't get into specific details, but he enjoyed the organization's pursuit of the four-time All Star. "It was fun in a way, you know, to get to know people and players of that status," Cora said. "It's amazing. The kid, he gets it. He gets it. Let me put it that way." Royals manager Matt Quatraro, meanwhile, spoke about the impact such a monumental contract may have on smaller market teams in order to compete in today's market. "We have to be creative. We have to put the best 26 guys on a roster or the best 40 guys on a roster, not the best one or two," Quatraro said. "At the end of the day, you have a chance to compete against those guys. Soto is going to hit four to five times a night. Those are impactful at-bats, but there's other ways to combat that with a full 26-man roster." Sasaki Posted Outside of the Soto reaction, Monday's other main storyline - at least going into the afternoon hours - centered on Japanese ace right-hander Roki Sasaki officially being posted. The 23-year-old phenom is available to sign as a free agent from Tuesday through 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 23. The rumor mill was churning with plenty of speculation and talk about where Sasaki might sign. He was just one of many big-name players being discussed on Monday. The list of top free agents behind Soto includes pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried and infielders Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and Christian Walker. On the trade front, much attention is being placed on White Sox left-handed starter Garrett Crochet. It was a relatively quiet Day 1 through the standard working hours, although things are always subject to change at meetings of this nature. Tito is Back Terry Francona joked that his desire to manage again resurfaced when his daughters went on a 10-day trip to Europe. "I watched the grandkids. That was the one day I thought maybe I'll go back to baseball," Francona said, laughing. All joking aside, Francona said it simply happened that when the Reds reached out, the timing felt right. He's healthy and refreshed as he's set to enter his 24th season as a manager. "I had a really good year and maybe I just needed that," Francona, 65, said. "Then, when these guys called, it just felt right." Honoring Mays The winter meetings kicked off with MLB announcing that its annual charity auction during the event would help revitalize Willie Mays Park in the late Hall of Famer's hometown of Fairfield, Ala. At a news conference, April Brown, MLB's senior vice president of social responsibility and diversity, said the vision for the project includes access for all levels of players, from youth leagues to advanced levels. "This effort will not just be MLB alone," Brown said. "We have the blessing of so many connected to his legacy and that have the mission to instill the love of our game that Willie had to all of the youth in the area growing up in the neighborhood where he grew up." The auction, which features items from every major league club, runs through Thursday. --Drew Davison, Field Level Media