The US president-elect transferred all his shares into a revocable trust, according to a regulatory filing. Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group slid in midday trading on Friday after US President-elect Donald Trump transferred all his shares into a revocable trust, according to a regulatory filing. Mr Trump transferred all of his nearly 115 million shares — worth around four billion dollars (£3.2 billion) on paper — in the parent company of social networking site Truth Social as a “bona fide gift” to the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing on on Thursday said. Mr Trump’s shares amount to more than half of the company’s stock. It is not clear why Mr Trump transferred the stock. Donald Trump Jr is the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment power over all securities owned by the trust. Trump Media shares were down about 2% at midday, to 34.68 dollars each. At one point on Friday, they were down around 6%. Trump Media shares have been volatile since the company began trading in March. They reached intraday highs close to 80 dollars (£63.70) on the first day of trading, then slumped to all-time lows in September when Mr Trump and other insiders were finally allowed to sell shares after standard lock-up agreements expired. Mr Trump has not sold any shares in the company. The company’s stock price has fluctuated wildly on news — good and bad — related to Mr Trump. They tumbled after Mr Trump’s conviction in a hush money trial in May, then surged after the first assassination attempt on him in July. They surged again after he won re-election in November, even as the company reported a 19.2 million-dollar (£15.29 million) third-quarter loss. Mr Trump created Trump Media after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the January 6 2021 Capitol riot.The Associated Press One of the country’s largest health insurers reversed a change in policy Thursday after widespread outcry, saying it would not tie payments in some states to the length of time a patient went under anesthesia. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said in a statement that its decision to backpedal resulted from “significant widespread misinformation” about the policy. “To be clear, it never was and never will be the policy of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to not pay for medically necessary anesthesia services,” the statement said. “The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines.” Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield would have used “physician work time values,” which is published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as the metric for anesthesia limits; maternity patients and patients under the age of 22 were exempt. But Dr. Jonathan Gal, economics committee chair of the American Society for Anesthesiologists, said it’s unclear how CMS derives those values. In mid-November, the American Society for Anesthesiologists called on Anthem to “reverse the proposal immediately,” saying in a news release that the policy would have taken effect in February in New York, Connecticut and Missouri. It’s not clear how many states in total would have been affected, as notices also were posted in Virginia and Colorado . People across the country registered their concerns and complaints on social media, and encouraged people in affected states to call their legislators. Some people noted that the policy could prevent patients from getting overcharged. Gal said the policy change would have been unprecedented, ignored the “nuanced, unpredictable human element” of surgery and was a clear “money grab.” “It’s incomprehensible how a health insurance company could so blatantly continue to prioritize their profits over safe patient care,” he said. “If Anthem is, in fact, rescinding the policy, we’re delighted that they came to their senses.” Prior to Anthem’s announcement Thursday, Connecticut comptroller Sean Scanlon said the “concerning” policy wouldn’t affect the state after conversations with the insurance company. And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an emailed statement Thursday that her office had also successfully intervened. The insurance giant’s policy change came one day after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare , another major insurance company, was shot and killed in New York City.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate former Senator Kelly Loeffler for secretary of the Department of Agriculture, CNN cited two sources to report on Friday. According to the publication, he will meet with her at Mar-a-Lago. However, nothing is final until he announces his pick. Kelly Loeffler Family: Who Is Husband Jeffrey C Sprecher? Kelly Loeffler's husband, Jeffrey C. Sprecher, is a businessman and billionaire. He is the founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a company that owns the New York Stock Exchange. Sprecher, 69, was born and brought up in Madison, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin as a chemical engineer and then from Pepperdine University with an MBA. He initially got a job at Trane and then worked at Western Power Group, a power plant developmental firm. He has been married to Loeffler since 2004 and both currently live in Tuxedo Park, Atlanta. The couple bought their 15,000 square-foot mansion for $10.5 million. They also own three properties in Florida, Chicago and Georgia. The billionaire met his future wife Loffler in 2002. At that point, ICE had hired her. Soon after, the duo started dating and then got hitched. Loeffler also went on to become head of marketing, communications and investor relations in ICE. The couple reportedly sold $20 million worth of stock in companies affected by the Covid pandemic, the news website stated. This took place after Loeffler learned about Covid's pending economic problems during private and privileged Senate briefings. However, the former Senator has refuted all wrongdoings. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News, World and around the world.
Okanagan Sun head coach Travis Miller was struck by a vehicle in Kelowna's Glenmore neighbourhood on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Kelowna RCMP have confirmed the incident, stating the pedestrian was struck when crossing the road in the crosswalk. The Sun confirmed in a social media post stating the pedestrian was Miller, who had just finished his last recruiting meeting of the day. According to RCMP, Miller was taken to Kelowna General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and the extent of the injuries are unknown. Meanwhile, the Sun said Miller underwent surgery and both his feet were crushed in the incident. “The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and cooperated with police,” said Kelowna RCMP media relations officer Sgt. Laura Pollock. “There was no indication the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and speed does not appear to be a factor.” RCMP are still investigating the incident and are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or anyone with dashcam footage in the area from 5:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. to step forward and reach out to police at 250-762-3300 with the file number 2024-72174. Miller has been the Sun's head coach since Apr. 2, 2022.Syrians are dancing in the streets of Damascus and other cities, to celebrate the collapse of the hideous regime of Bashar al-Assad, the man responsible for an estimated 600,000 dead in a 13-year-long civil war — including tens of thousands viciously tortured to death in his dungeons. Those still alive have been staggering out of liberated prisons, limping and running toward family and freedom. “This is the moment of celebration,” I was told by the University of Oklahoma’s Joshua Landis, a Syria specialist with family in the country. He told me the dispirited Syrian army had faded away and let rebels win because they had been receiving little or no pay and no further support from their Russian and Iranian backers. That’s the good news. The not so good news: No one is certain what kind of government will follow Assad in the weeks to come — whether it will help stabilize the region, including Lebanon and possibly Gaza, or further tear it apart. The critical news, which may save Syria from a relapse into violence: Assad’s flight to exile in Moscow is a body blow to Iran’s ayatollahs and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, for whom Syria had critical importance. It displays their increasing weakness and paints them as losers. It makes them more vulnerable to anyone who seeks negotiations with either. President-elect Trump, take note. The immediate post-Assad threat is that Syria might collapse into separate militia fiefs or into another civil war. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (known as HTS) — the main rebel group that toppled the government in a lightning advance from the north — was once the Syrian branch of al-Qaida. Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, broke with the terrorist group several years ago and is trying to soften his image. But Syria’s many minorities will have doubts. “Jolani’s going to have to reach out to all these different Syrian communities,” said Landis, hopefully. I still recall my last visit inside Syria in 2012, during the Arab Spring just before the heightened civil war and Islamist kidnappings made journalistic access almost impossible. With a Syrian translator, I visited a headquarters of a group called Ahrar al-Sham, inside an abandoned school, and the aggressive hostility of the fighters was only contained when a Belgian volunteer intervened. I soon left. I also interviewed moderate, unbearded civilian fighters who had set up militias because they wanted a democracy to replace Assad’s vicious rule. How to coalesce secular Syrians, moderate Muslims, Kurds, and Christians into a government with Islamists, and whether free elections will be possible is the huge challenge Syria will face. Yet, what gives me hope is that the Iranians and Russians will no longer be able to bend Syria to their will. After a popular uprising in 2011, Assad was only able to retain power because of intervention by Tehran, and later by Moscow. Although Syria has a religiously and ethnically mixed population, including a plurality of Sunni Muslims along with Kurds, Christians and other minorities, Assad belongs to a minority Shiite sect, known as Alawites, who have controlled the country for decades. Thus he was close to the Shiite regime in Tehran. The Iranians sent thousands of fighters to Syria, comprised of their own forces along with Iraqi Shiite militias and even Afghan refugees living in Iran. Led by Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers, they were much more effective combatants than the underpaid and corrupt Syrian army. Iran’s quid pro quo was Assad’s permission to allow Iranian weapons and missiles to be trucked and flown from Tehran via Damascus to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon to use against Israel. Syria thus became a critical element of Tehran’s effort to encircle Israel with a “ring of fire” that included Lebanon’s Hezbollah militiamen (along with Hamas in Gaza and Houthis in Yemen). With Assad gone and Sunni Syrian rebel groups in charge, Iranians are fleeing the country. No more will they be able to transport weapons to Lebanon to be used against Israel. Nor will they be able to help the Alawite minority dominate the country. Russia, for its part, sent planes in 2015 to bomb Syrian civilians and cities into rubble, just as they have done to Ukraine. Moscow was rewarded with a critical Mediterranean port in Tartus and a major airfield which helped support Putin’s expansionist ambitions. Russia will most likely lose those bases, which gave them their only access to the Mediterranean and gave Putin an important Mideast role. His global access is thus shrinking. And Syria, hopefully, will be freed from his colonial games. This means that the Islamists, and Jolani, will have to look to the moderate Sunni Arab world and to the West to help rebuild their country and resettle Syrian refugees who return. Which in turn gives those Arabs and Western leaders leverage to prevent any attempt to impose an ultraconservative religious state. If this leverage is not used wisely, Jolani could become a threat, in a country where ISIS still has cells that are in touch with their counterparts in Iraq. If used wisely, Syria could revive and rebuild its shattered society. Nothing less is owed to the thousands who died under torture during Assad’s rule.My love of movie scoundrels has been sorely tested this year. When I was young, I daydreamed of exotic heists, slick con artists and lovable crooks I’d seen on screen. For most of my moviegoing life, I’ve been a sucker for larceny done well. Most of us are, probably. Related Articles Movies | ‘Nightbitch’ review: Amy Adams goes feral in a cautionary tale of love and parental imbalance Movies | Review: Angelina Jolie glides through ‘Maria’ like an iceberg, but a chilly Callas isn’t enough Movies | ‘Sweethearts’ review: Breakup-focused romcom is largely engaging Movies | Making ‘Queer’ required openness. Daniel Craig was ready Movies | 18 most anticipated movies in holiday season 2024 But now it’s late 2024. Mood is wrong. In the real world, in America, it’s scoundrel time all the time. Maybe Charles Dickens was right. In “American Notes for General Circulation” (1842), the English literary superstar chronicled his travels and detected a widespread, peculiarly American “love of ‘smart’ dealing” across the land. In business and in politics, Dickens observed, slavish admiration of the con men among them “gilds over many a swindle and gross breach of trust.” And here we are. It’ll pass, this scoundrel reprieve of mine. In fact it just did. All it took was thinking about the conspicuous, roguish outlier on my best-of-2024 list: “Challengers.” It’s what this year needed and didn’t know it: a tricky story of lying, duplicitous weasels on and off the court. The best films this year showed me things I hadn’t seen, following familiar character dynamics into fresh territory. Some were more visually distinctive than others; all made eloquent cases for how, and where, their stories unfolded. “All We Imagine as Light,” recently at the Gene Siskel Film Center, works like a poem, or a sustained exhalation of breath, in its simply designed narrative of three Mumbai hospital workers. Fluid, subtly political, filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s achievement is very nearly perfect. So is cowriter-director RaMell Ross’ adaptation of the Colson Whitehead novel “The Nickel Boys,” arriving in Chicago-area theaters on Jan. 3, 2025. “Nickel Boys,” the film, loses the “the” in Whitehead’s title but gains an astonishingly realized visual perspective. If Ross never makes another movie, he’ll have an American masterpiece to his credit. The following top 10 movies of 2024 are in alphabetical order. Both a mosaic of urban ebb and flow, and a delicate revelation of character, director and writer Payal Kapadia’s Mumbai story is hypnotic, patient and in its more traditional story progression, a second feature every bit as good as Kapadia’s first, 2021’s “A Night of Knowing Nothing.” Mikey Madison gives one of the year’s funniest, saddest, truest performances as a Brooklyn exotic dancer who takes a shine to the gangly son of a Russian oligarch, and he to her. Their transactional courtship and dizzying Vegas marriage, followed by violently escalating complications, add up to filmmaker Sean Baker’s triumph, capped by an ending full of exquisite mysteries of the human heart. As played by Adrien Brody, the title character is a visionary architect and Hungarian Jewish emigre arriving in America in 1947 after the Holocaust. (That said, the title refers to more than one character.) His patron, and his nemesis, is the Philadelphia blueblood industrialist played by Guy Pearce. Director/co-writer Brady Corbet’s thrillingly ambitious epic, imperfect but loaded with rewarding risks, was shot mostly in widescreen VistaVision. Worth seeing on the biggest screen you can find. Opens in Chicago-area theaters on Jan. 10, 2025. Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play games with each other, on the tennis court and in beds, while director Luca Guadagnino builds to a match-point climax that can’t possibly work, and doesn’t quite — but I saw the thing twice anyway. In Bucharest, production assistant Angela zigzags around the city interviewing people for her employer’s workplace safety video. If that sounds less than promising, even for a deadpan Romanian slice-of-life tragicomedy, go ahead and make the mistake of skipping this one. llinca Manolache is terrific as Angela. Like “Do Not Expect Too Much,” director Agnieszka Holland’s harrowing slice of recent history was a 2023 release, making it to Chicago in early 2024. Set along the densely forested Poland/Belarus border, this is a model of well-dramatized fiction honoring what refugees have always known: the fully justified, ever-present fear of the unknown. A quiet marvel of a feature debut from writer-director Annie Baker, this is a mother/daughter tale rich in ambiguities and wry humor, set in a lovely, slightly forlorn corner of rural Massachusetts. Julianne Nicholson, never better; Zoe Ziegler as young, hawk-eyed Lacy, equally memorable. I love this year’s nicest surprise. The premise: A teenager’s future 39-year-old self appears to her, magically, via a strong dose of mushrooms. The surprise: Writer-director Megan Park gradually deepens her scenario and sticks a powerfully emotional landing. Wonderful work from Aubrey Plaza, Maisy Stella, Maria Dizzia and everybody, really. From the horrific true story of a Florida reform school and its decades of abuse, neglect and enraging injustice toward its Black residents, novelist Colson Whitehead’s fictionalized novel makes a remarkable jump to the screen thanks to co-writer/director RaMell Ross’s feature debut. Cousins, not as close as they once were, reunite for a Holocaust heritage tour in Poland and their own search for their late grandmother’s childhood home. They’re the rootless Benji (Kieran Culkin) and tightly sprung David (Jesse Eisenberg, who wrote and directed). Small but very sure, this movie’s themes of genocidal trauma and Jewish legacy support the narrative every step of the way. Culkin is marvelous; so is the perpetually undervalued Eisenberg. To the above, I’ll add 10 more runners-up, again in alphabetical order: “Blink Twice,” directed by Zoe Kravitz. “Conclave,” directed by Edward Berger. “Dune: Part Two ,” directed by Denis Villeneuve. “Good One ,” directed by India Donaldson. “Hit Man,” directed by Richard Linklater. “Joker: Folie a Deux,” directed by Todd Phillips. “Nosferatu,” directed by Robert Eggers, opens in Chicago-area theaters on Dec. 25. “The Outrun,” directed by Nora Fingscheidt. “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” directed by Johan Grimonprez. “Tuesday,” directed by Daina O. Pusić. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
The world’s highest solar + storage project is online in TibetTop 10 movies of 2024: In a time of scoundrels, ‘Brutalist,’ ‘Challengers’ and the movie about the exotic dancerRussia shares higher at close of trade; MOEX Russia Index up 1.05%
Automating the entire DevOps toolchain end-to-end
One of the country’s largest health insurers reversed a change in policy Thursday after widespread outcry, saying it would not tie payments in some states to the length of time a patient went under anesthesia. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said in a statement that its decision to backpedal resulted from “significant widespread misinformation” about the policy. “To be clear, it never was and never will be the policy of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to not pay for medically necessary anesthesia services,” the statement said. “The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines.” Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield would have used "physician work time values," which is published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as the metric for anesthesia limits; maternity patients and patients under the age of 22 were exempt. But Dr. Jonathan Gal, economics committee chair of the American Society for Anesthesiologists, said it's unclear how CMS derives those values. In mid-November, the American Society for Anesthesiologists called on Anthem to “reverse the proposal immediately,” saying in a news release that the policy would have taken effect in February in New York, Connecticut and Missouri. It's not clear how many states in total would have been affected, as notices also were posted in Virginia and Colorado . People across the country registered their concerns and complaints on social media, and encouraged people in affected states to call their legislators. Some people noted that the policy could prevent patients from getting overcharged. Gal said the policy change would have been unprecedented, ignored the “nuanced, unpredictable human element” of surgery and was a clear “money grab.” “It’s incomprehensible how a health insurance company could so blatantly continue to prioritize their profits over safe patient care,” he said. "If Anthem is, in fact, rescinding the policy, we’re delighted that they came to their senses.” Prior to Anthem's announcement Thursday, Connecticut comptroller Sean Scanlon said the “concerning” policy wouldn't affect the state after conversations with the insurance company. And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an emailed statement Thursday that her office had also successfully intervened. The insurance giant’s policy change came one day after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare , another major insurance company, was shot and killed in New York City. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.New details on a triple stabbing that occurred on Sunday night in Monterey County, California. Deputies with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office responded to an area for reports of a stabbing. Deputies then located three people with stab wounds. Their injuries ranged from minor to critical. They were taken to a local hospital and are expected to survive. Deputies said that Devin Wolfgang Vandorhoef, 25, of Canada, became obsessed with a woman he played video games online with for years. He boarded a plane with Darius Avery Whyte, 25, of Canada, to Salinas, California. Vandorhoef did not tell the woman he played video games with online that he was in town with his friend. Vandorhoff then posed as a delivery man while carrying a package that contained handcuffs, knives and duct tape, per a deputy spokesperson. A deputy spokesperson is unsure how the suspect intended to use these items. When Vanderhoef knocked at the woman's door, her boyfriend answered the door. Vanderhoef then began stabbing the woman's boyfriend, who suffered critical injuries but is expected to survive. The woman then came to her boyfriend's defense and stabbed Vanderhoff with a sharp metal object, said the spokesperson. Vanderhoef then strangled and stabbed the woman, causing moderate injuries. Vandorhoef suffered various critical stab wounds during the struggle. Whyte was questioned at the scene but said he did not know what was going on and was allowed to leave. However, further investigation revealed he was a part of the scheme and was arrested Monday morning at a tarmac in San Jose as he was preparing to fly back to Canada. Vandorhoef and Whyte were both booked into Monterey County Jail. Vandorhoef was booked for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, mayhem, stalking and burglary. His bail was set at $4.15 million. Whyte was booked for conspiracy to commit a crime and attempted murder. His bail was set at $1 million.Next Witcher saga is now in full-scale production, CD Projekt confirms
Texas Instruments announces award agreement for CHIPS and Science Act fundingTimothée Chalamlet has a sports media mentor in Stephen A. Smith. Days after the “Dune” star wowed much of the sports community with an impressive appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” Smith posted Wednesday on X that he is “down to show” Chalamet, 28, the ropes. “I see you little bro @RealChalamet. Down to show you the ropes whenever,” the “First Take” personality wrote. Smith’s post was in response to a red-carpet interview of Chalamet that was shared on Entertainment Tonight’s page Tuesday night. During the exchange, Chalamet — who stars as Bob Dylan in the upcoming film “A Complete Unknown” — joked about a transition to the ESPN ranks. “Well weirdly that was, you know, the Bob Dylan movie approached me five years ago and my hope was okay, I’m gonna shoot this movie and then in the promotional run, I’ll be able to pivot and go on ESPN or any sportscasting thing because, you know, acting’s not really a reliable gig. If I can get a nice six-to-eight month ESPN gig Stephen A. Smith-style, you know, that’s become the new 1A,” he said. Chalamet joined the “College GameDay” desk in Atlanta on Saturday ahead of the SEC title game between Georgia and Texas. He showcased deep knowledge of the SWAC and MAC conferences, dazzling the likes of Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit. “Jackson State, eight wins in a row, 11 all-conference players — this should be a comfortable, easy win for them,” Chalamet said before Jackson State’s win over Southern. Chalamet was lauded on social media by members of the sports media community. “Timothee Chalamet came prepared, researched, and referenced the Pony Express. Maybe the best College Gameday guest picker yet. NYC guy. Respect,” Peter Schrager of “Good Morning Football” posted on X . “Timothee Chalamet being a real deal college football fan, being a SMU fan, and knowing about all these teams was so crazy to me. I thought just invited cause famous, but he was a legit great guest picker on College Gameday,” The Ringer’s Chris Vernon wrote . Perhaps Chalamet will return for an encore.Top 10 movies of 2024: In a time of scoundrels, ‘Brutalist,’ ‘Challengers’ and the movie about the exotic dancer
Simple Hacks to Make the Holidays Merrier (and Cheaper)Mikael Thalen is a tech and security reporter covering social media, data breaches, hackers, and more.Simple Hacks to Make the Holidays Merrier (and Cheaper)