Penticton vaccine discrimination complaint against B.C. Union dismissedHere at the port of Nogales, on the southern edge of the United States, deadly drugs hide among the $22 billion in goods that enter annually. A high-stakes sorting game plays out every day: discerning what needs more inspection without grinding global commerce to a halt. Last fiscal year, the 12,000 pounds of fentanyl that customs officers seized in Arizona was more than at the rest of the country’s ports and border sectors combined. And within Arizona, the government says, the port of Nogales seized the most. “I think we’re doing a great job, but we can always use more people,” says Michael Humphries, the port director. But to conquer the epidemic, he says, “It’s going to take more than law enforcement.” Fentanyl, up to 50 times more potent than heroin, is what the Drug Enforcement Administration calls the country’s “greatest and most urgent drug threat.” It’s also an issue President-elect Donald Trump says he’ll tackle through tariffs, terrorist designations, and military might. Meanwhile, individuals tasked with tracking down the synthetic opioid are testing a range of solutions, from incorporating facial-scanning technology at ports of entry to investigating money laundering by criminal groups that traffic fentanyl in bulk. Beneath the blaze of the Arizona sun, a customs official unboxes flour tortillas. He bends them back and forth, and their soft middles give. Proof that the stack hasn’t been hollowed out to hide drugs. Across the border region in this state, powder and pills have been found inside the panels of cars. Stuffed in spare tires. Strapped to a teenager’s thighs with tape. Here at the port of Nogales, on the southern edge of the United States, the deadly drugs hide among the $22 billion in goods that enter annually. A high-stakes sorting game plays out every day: discerning what needs more inspection without grinding global commerce to a halt. Last fiscal year, the 12,000 pounds of fentanyl that customs officers seized in Arizona was more than at the rest of the country’s ports and border sectors combined. And within Arizona, the government says, the port of Nogales seized the most. “I think we’re doing a great job, but we can always use more people,” says Michael Humphries, the port director. But to conquer the epidemic, he says, “It’s going to take more than law enforcement.” He cites “the whole of government, along with the medical community, along with counseling – and really, everybody” as stakeholders. The synthetic opioid is so strong that the port stocks an overdose-reversing spray for its staff, the public, and its drug-detection dogs. It’s true: Arizona port authorities are catching prodigious amounts of fentanyl, making these ports responsible for more than half the seizures across the country by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It’s also true: Fentanyl, and the chemicals that make it, gets in between the ports. Driven up interstates. Flown overhead on cargo flights. And still: No one knows how much illicit fentanyl enters the U.S. all told. But synthetic opioids are linked to tens of thousands of deaths each year, of people addicted and not. Some fentanyl isn’t found at all. Not until it appears in coroner reports. Fentanyl, up to 50 times more potent than heroin, is what the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) calls the country’s “greatest and most urgent drug threat.” It’s also an issue President-elect Donald Trump says he’ll tackle, through tariffs, terrorist designations, and military might. On Truth Social, he’s said he’ll work on a “large scale United States Advertising Campaign” on the dangers of the drug. Supporters say imposing new penalties on enablers of the supply is justified, given the unrelenting stakes. Despite recent progress, the U.S. tracks more deaths involving synthetic opioids each year than the country’s deaths from the Vietnam War. Critics say it’s unfair for Mr. Trump to link illegal migration at the southern border with drug smuggling, given the bulk of fentanyl that is seized is found at official ports. Plus, they point out, most sentenced fentanyl traffickers are U.S. citizens. Mr. Trump enters his second term at a time when Border Patrol encounters of unauthorized immigrants along the southern border are hovering around four-year lows, after historic highs under the Biden administration. Deaths involving fentanyl nationally also appear on the decline. Still, the ubiquity and lethality of the human-made drug remain a critical U.S. challenge. “There is no single solution to this problem,” says David Luckey, a Rand senior researcher. He led a team that drafted a 2022 commission report on combatting fentanyl trafficking. What’s required, he says, is a “concerted effort across all three dimensions: supply reduction, demand reduction, and harm reduction.” How did we get here? Some analysts trace the opioid crisis back decades. Back to a five-sentence note. The New England Journal of Medicine published a brief letter to the editor in January 1980. The authors wrote that, based on data they examined on painkiller use in hospitals, “The development of addiction is rare in medical patients with no history of addiction.” Experience taught Americans that isn’t true. Researchers have found that the letter, a single paragraph, was “widely invoked” and “uncritically cited” as evidence that minimized risk of opioid addiction. An oversupply of prescription opioid pain medication followed in the mid-1990s, exposing millions of Americans to the drugs. Strong synthetic opioids, mostly illicit fentanyl, began to flood U.S. drug markets by around 2014, notes the commission report from Mr. Luckey’s team. As American demand for opioids spread, international actors cashed in. Fentanyl used to come primarily from China, authorities say, but a 2019 crackdown there led producers to pivot. Now, they say, precursor chemicals shipped from China are used to make fentanyl in Mexico, which is then brought into the U.S. The DEA says two Mexican criminal networks are largely responsible for funneling in fentanyl – the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels. Part of the problem: Production is cheap. Fentanyl, which is synthetic, doesn’t require growing seasons like poppy-based heroin does. And its potency allows small quantities to yield high returns for criminal groups. Drug overdose deaths peaked in the U.S. in 2022 with over 111,000, a figure higher than the deaths that year from car crashes and guns combined. Modest progress, based on provisional data, was announced this spring. The federal government estimates that 2023 saw 107,543 drug overdose deaths – a 3% decline from the year prior. Though 7 in 10 of those deaths still involve synthetic opioids, last year’s decrease in overdose deaths was the first since 2018. Additional data through part of 2024 seems to support this downward trend. Expanded access to naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, is credited with helping lower deaths. The DEA has touted arrests of Mexican criminal leaders and a dip in the potency of fentanyl-laced pills. Despite growing social awareness of fentanyl’s risks, stigma persists. Some people who’ve lost loved ones prefer the term “poisoning” to “overdose,” to shift blame off victims who may have assumed a pill was safe. That was the case for Weston, says Anne Fundner. In 2022, the California mother lost her high schooler son to a drug poisoning involving fentanyl, following what she says was peer pressure. Ms. Fundner repurposed her grief to speak at the Republican National Convention in support of Mr. Trump. She has amplified his call for heightened border security and urged families to be on alert. Without sufficient action from the government, she says, it’s fallen on parents to do what they can. “I was very angry for a while,” she says. Now, through her activism, she points to a feeling of peace. “My son’s life is saving other lives.” At the port of Nogales, the search for the hidden drugs churns on. Mr. Humphries watches trucks heave to a halt at checkpoints, and then growl past. He ambles by towers of avocado crates pulled aside for more inspection – if not for drugs, then for pests and disease. At the port of Nogales, tens of millions of pounds of produce enter every day. Customs and Border Protection employs what it calls “layered enforcement,” a series of possible points of inspection. That includes license plate scans, X-rays, sniffing canines, and undercarriage mirrors. The agency, along with the wider Department of Homeland Security, has also explored uses of artificial intelligence, including a pilot of face-scan technology at the port of Nogales. A government watchdog has raised potential privacy concerns around the agency’s use of tech. Still, old-school observation plays a role. Mr. Humphries’ staff looks for drivers who appear nervous or maintain a “death grip” on the steering wheel. Court records detailing cases of alleged drug “mules” – people who transport drugs through the border – underscore the signs officials seek. One American “would not make eye contact” with a customs officer at inspection, reads a criminal complaint. U.S. citizens like her make up the vast majority of people sentenced for fentanyl trafficking – 86.4% in fiscal year 2023, reports the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Traffickers take advantage of low-income, struggling Americans whose passports might help them pass through a port easier, experts say. But some contraband is coming through the air. A Reuters investigation found that fentanyl precursor chemicals – the substances used to make the drug – often arrive to the U.S. as air cargo in packages small enough to evade a certain threshold of inspection. From the U.S., the precursor chemicals are often sent into Mexico, and then reenter the U.S. ready for consumption. When fentanyl first came on the radar of the federal postal service, a decade ago, it was mostly seized in international mail. That trend shifted in 2019, when China banned production of the drug. As of fiscal year 2024, nearly all of the 3,844 pounds of suspected synthetic opioids seized by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service came in domestic mail. Postal inspectors partner with other federal agencies in southwest border states to stave off the drug’s journey into the interior. “We don’t want to be the unwitting accomplice to narcotics being delivered to anywhere in this country,” says Daniel Adame, inspector in charge at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. State and local law enforcement are another line of defense. In Cochise County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Dannels says his team finds fentanyl two ways. The first is through “proactive policing,” such as at traffic stops, says the sheriff. “The second part is when we respond to a death.” The head of the Border Patrol, which operates between official ports of entry, said this month that fentanyl is a top priority. (That along with the southern border arrival of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, which officials across the country say is committing violent crime.) Jim Chilton tracks a fraction of all border crossers evading the Border Patrol. The Arizona rancher has seen a surge under the Biden administration – at least 3,700 people, by his count – through his motion-activated trail cameras. They enter through a gap in the border wall, often in matching camouflage, and pass through saguaros and mesquite trees on his land. He says he’s learned from the Border Patrol that some pack drugs; an agency spokesperson says they can’t confirm. “You really don’t know who all’s coming across the border, including the possibility of terrorists,” says Mr. Chilton. Along with the installation of more patrols and surveillance, he says, “I hope that Trump finishes the wall.” Beyond more border wall, Mr. Trump has signaled what else may come. He’s called for designating major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. He’s also threatened new tariffs against China (10%) along with Mexico and Canada (25% each) unless those countries do more to stop outflows of fentanyl – and migrants, from the latter two. Faced with claims of enabling fentanyl supply, officials from both China and Mexico have reprimanded the U.S. for enabling the drug’s demand. “No one will win a trade war or a tariff war,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington. In an emailed statement, they pointed to resumed communication between the countries’ counternarcotics authorities since a presidential summit in 2023 . Addressing fentanyl trafficking requires bilateral cooperation that is “respectful of the sovereignties of Mexico and the United States,” a spokesperson for the Mexican Embassy in Washington said in an emailed statement. They also noted the creation of a new national intelligence system in Mexico to enhance targeting of clandestine labs and supervision at ports. Mr. Trump’s supporters have endorsed his approach ahead of inauguration and say it’s already having an effect. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago. A Trump call with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo was followed by what Mexican officials said was the largest fentanyl seizure in their history. The Mexican Embassy spokesperson, however, says the operation was not a direct response to the tariff threat, but rather part of a domestic security effort. At The Heritage Foundation, Steve Yates, a senior research fellow, says funds from tariffs could be put toward expanded interdiction or families who’ve lost ones to the drug. The epidemic is personal for him; in 2023, his daughter died from a drug poisoning involving fentanyl. Regarding China, “The surest way to fail is to fall short of taking heavy action against what we know they’re doing now, without stopping,” says Mr. Yates, an informal adviser to the Trump campaign and transition team. He points to a bipartisan report released in April from the House of Representatives’ select committee on China. The report concludes that, by subsidizing fentanyl chemical exports, China is fueling the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. Such claims run “completely counter to facts and reality,” said the Chinese Embassy spokesperson. Mr. Yates says domestic drug demand needs attention, too. But he says the U.S. is playing defense “unless you can do something significant about the supply chain.” Trump critics, including several economists, argue retaliatory tariffs could harm U.S. consumers. Peter Andreas, a political scientist at Brown University, chalks Mr. Trump’s tariff talk up to “recklessly irresponsible diplomacy,” especially regarding Mexico, whose economy is dependent on the U.S. “Nothing would actually put more pressure on the border and stimulate migration more than if Mexico’s economy went south,” says Professor Andreas, author of “Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America.” At various points in history, U.S. administrations have alternately prioritized drug enforcement or migration control, says Professor Andreas. That may soon change, as the next president signals both are front-burner issues, he adds. The catch: The prior Trump and Biden administrations put drug trafficking “on the back burner,” he says, “because they needed Mexican cooperation on stopping migration.” Analysts credit Mexico’s increased immigration enforcement with helping lower illegal border crossings over the past year. At his office, Mr. Humphries displays a symbol of one of Mexico’s challenges: ammunition for a .50-caliber gun. His officers regularly seize the military-grade weaponry heading south, for presumed use by cartels. Mexico has sued U.S. gun companies with accusations that they’ve fueled illegal arms trafficking to violent criminal groups. It’s a case the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear. Mr. Humphries holds the bullet up, half the length of his face. “If we’re tasked with going after the cartels, we have to work both inbound and outbound,” he says. Beyond shifts in diplomacy, though, the military may come into play. Mr. Trump’s campaign website says he “will impose a total naval embargo on cartels.” The Republican Party platform , meanwhile, calls for “the U.S. Navy to impose a full Fentanyl Blockade on the waters of our Region – boarding and inspecting ships to look for fentanyl and fentanyl precursors.” The Trump transition team did not directly address clarifying questions about his fentanyl plans, including the use of the Navy. In response to an interview request, the Navy referred the Monitor to the U.S. Coast Guard. Essentially, the Coast Guard – not the Navy – has law enforcement authority for drug interdiction at sea, like apprehensions of suspects or vessels, says Comdr. Cory Riesterer at the Coast Guard’s Maritime Law Enforcement program. (The Navy, as part of the Defense Department, can support the law enforcement activities of the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.) However, says the commander, “We don’t see fentanyl or precursors being smuggled much in the maritime environment.” In fact, Coast Guard data reviewed by the Monitor shows zero fentanyl seizures in fiscal year 2024. And only one seizure of fentanyl – roughly a quarter of a pound – was reported since fiscal year 2017. Throughout that span of years, the agency says, it administered naloxone during its operations six times. Though the numbers are small, that means the Coast Guard responds to suspected opioid overdoses more often than it seizes fentanyl. When batches of fentanyl manage to get past the port of Nogales – or come through other routes – the enforcement efforts shift into interior states. Some corners of the country have not yet seen a reduction in overdose deaths involving fentanyl. That includes Colorado, whose health department reports a record 1,097 such overdose deaths in 2023, though initial 2024 data shows signs of a downward trend. As of early December, Denver police say they’ve seized more than 170 pounds of fentanyl in 2024. At the state level, meanwhile, the Colorado State Patrol reports seizing more than 300 pounds of fentanyl – largely along two interstates that crisscross the state. Regionally, the DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division, which covers Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, says it has seized a record of around 2.7 million fentanyl pills in 2024. Put another way, that’s more than three per every Denver resident. Again, the profit margins are steep. The regional DEA office says fentanyl pills produced for 2 cents to 4 cents in Mexico can sell for $1 to $5 in Colorado. In northern Montana, the price can ratchet up to $60 a pill. Sellers have even sold to minors, sometimes through social media apps, after marketing pills cut with fentanyl as legitimate prescription drugs. Cartels “don’t care,” says Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge. “It’s about greed.” Some in the state are trying to chase criminal drug money. In a high-rise office in downtown Denver, a poster above the printer reads as a morale boost. “Only an Accountant Could Catch Al Capone.” This is the Internal Revenue Service unit focused on investigating crimes. And officials here see themselves as on the front lines of deterring illicit drug flows. They are keen to tout how the IRS brought down the Chicago gangster on tax evasion nearly a century ago. Their work today has direct parallels, as they investigate activity such as money laundering by drug criminals. The idea is to target what they care about most. “There is no one peddling fentanyl without the motivation of money,” says Johnathan Towle, assistant special agent in charge for the IRS Criminal Investigation Denver Field Office. The agency has partnered here with the DEA on an outreach campaign to money-services businesses for help investigating drug proceeds. The IRS is part of a broader initiative with the Treasury Department to educate regional and local banks on the digital fingerprints that fentanyl trafficking can leave on accounts. Another complication comes from the use of common phone apps and cryptocurrency to buy and sell drugs like fentanyl. That said, the IRS has special expertise to “decode the funding,” says Mr. Towle. The belief that cryptocurrency is anonymous – and can’t be tracked by the government? “That’s wrong,” he says. “We can.”
( MENAFN - GetNews) "Autonomous Trucks Market"Autonomous Trucks market by LoA (L1, L2/ L3, L4 & L5), Vehicle Type, Propulsion (Diesel, Electric, Hybrid), ADAS Features, Vehicle Class, Application, Sensor Type and Region - Global Forecast to 2035 The global Autonomous trucks market size is projected to grow from USD 40.7 billion in 2024 to USD 179.9 billion by 2035, at a CAGR of 14.4%. The Autonomous trucks market is witnessing robust growth driven by increasing demand for autonomous vehicles and innovation around advance driving technologies may drive the market for autonomous trucks. Electric segment is expected to be the fastest in the Autonomous trucks market The electric segment is expected to be the fastest one during the forecast period. The rising demand for passenger safety and efficient bus transit operations would boost the demand for the electric segment for the advanced autonomous bus market during the forecast period. Favorable government regulations for better road safety would positively impact the autonomous bus market. Features such as AEB and BSD are expected to be compulsory for all vehicles, including buses. In December 2023, Davao Metro Shuttle Corporation (Philippines) launched a self-driving shuttle and its first electric bus, which includes AEB and ACC features. Shuttle segment is estimated to exhibit the fastest growth in Autonomous trucks market The shuttles segment is expected to be the fastest market in the autonomous trucks market, as they are commercialized. Navya (US), Easilmile (France), and Local Motors (US) have developed self-driving shuttles. Successful pilot programs of autonomous shuttles worldwide indicate that shuttles could be a practical solution to the gaps in traditional public transport. In January 2023, EasyMile(France) partnered with Keolis (France) on an autonomous shuttle project underway at France's National Sports Shooting. Such partnerships highlight the growth of the shuttles segment in the market. Download PDF Brochure @ US to lead the Autonomous trucks market in North America The US is expected to have the largest market share in terms of value in the North American autonomous trucks market due to strict safety regulations imposed by the NHTSA that have compelled OEMs to provide safety features. Road safety is very critical for efficient transportation. Autonomous trucks can help to improve safety, which, in turn, would boost the market in the region. Major OEMs in the region are forming supply contracts for products like sensors, LiDAR that would further enhance their vehicles performance. For instance, in January 2024, Daimler Truck AG (Germany) and TORC Robotics (US) selected Aeva Technologies (US) to Supply advanced 4D LiDAR technology for series-production of autonomous trucks. Key Players The Autonomous trucks market is dominated by global players such as Daimler Truck AG (Germany), AB Volvo (Sweden), Iveco S.p.A. (Netherlands), NVIDIA Corporation (US), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), among others. These companies adopted new product development strategies, expansion, partnerships & collaborations, and mergers & acquisitions to gain traction in the market. Request Free Sample Report @ MENAFN16122024003238003268ID1108999861 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.
Rachel Reeves has been dealt a fresh blow as damning new graphs reveal the UK's flatlining economy and decline in multiple industries since Labour has been in government. The new data, released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), shows the economy shrinking for a second month in a row in October, despite analysts previously predicting 0.1% growth. The period covers the four weeks prior to Reeves' highly controversial Budget and marks the first back-to-back decline since the start of the COVID -19 pandemic. Gross domestic product (GDP) - the value of goods and services produced by a country - fell by 0.1% between August and September, and another 0.1% between September and October. Since Labour won the election in July, the economy has stagnated or declined every month except August, which puts pressure on the Bank of England to reduce interest rates in order to stimulate the economy and increase consumer spending. Looking closer at the ONS figures, they reveal that production, construction, and the services sector all declined during the same period. Factories and mining firms are also becoming less economically viable ; both experience output production delcines of 0.6% after a 0.5% shrinkage in September. Construction companies' output also declined by 0.4%, which may make reaching Labour's taregt of building 1.5 million new homes across the country even harder to reach. Reeves was forced to respond to the "disappointing" figures, realsing a statement maintaining her government has a plan for "long-term economic growth". She said: "While the figures this month are disappointing, we have put in place policies to deliver long-term economic growth." The Tories were quick to hit back at the recent economic downturn under the new Labour government, accusing Reeves of poor decision making. Mel Stride, the party's spokesperson on the economy, said: "It is no wonder businesses are sounding the alarm. This fall in growth shows the stark impact of the chancellor's decisions and continually talking down the economy."These Are the 27 Hottest and Most Popular Trending Gifts You Should Be Giving in 2024Champagne Gifts Gain Popularity For Celebrating The Christmas
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WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary said her agency will need to start taking “extraordinary measures,” or special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting , as early as January 14, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday afternoon. "Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23," she wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership, at which point extraordinary measures would be used to prevent the government from breaching the nation's debt ceiling — which was suspended until Jan. 1, 2025. The department in the past deployed what are known as “extraordinary measures” or accounting maneuvers to keep the government operating. Once those measures run out, the government risks defaulting on its debt unless lawmakers and the president agree to lift the limit on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow. "I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States," Yellen said. FILE - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a visit to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in Vienna, Va., on Jan. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) The news came after Democratic President Joe Biden last week that averted a government shutdown but did not include Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s core to raise or suspend the nation’s debt limit. Congress approved the bill only after a over how to handle Trump's demand. “Anything else is a betrayal of our country,” Trump said in a statement. After a protracted debate in the summer of 2023 over how to fund the government, policymakers crafted the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which included suspending the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing authority until Jan. 1, 2025. Notably however, Yellen said, on Jan. 2 the debt is projected to temporarily decrease due to a scheduled redemption of nonmarketable securities held by a federal trust fund associated with Medicare payments. As a result, “Treasury does not expect that it will be necessary to start taking extraordinary measures on January 2 to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations," she said. The federal debt stands at about $36 trillion — after ballooning across both Republican and Democratic administrations. The spike in inflation after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed up government borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, have big plans to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts and other priorities but are debating over how to pay for them. Many consumers may remember receiving their first credit card, either years ago in a plain envelope, or months ago from a smartphone app. Still other consumers may remember their newest card, maybe because it's the credit card they're now using exclusively to maximize cash back rewards or airline miles. But for most consumers, there's also a murky in-between where they add, drop and generally accumulate credit cards over time. Over the years, consumers may close some credit card accounts or leave some of their credit cards dormant as a backup form of payment, or perhaps left forgotten in a desk drawer. In the data below, reveals the changes in consumers wallets in recent years. U.S. consumers, on average, carry fewer cards today than they did in 2017, when the typical wallet held 4.2 active credit cards. As of the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, consumers carried 3.9 cards on average. This average is up slightly since the early days of the pandemic, when consumers reduced their and number of accounts as the economy slowed. As Experian revealed earlier this year, credit card balances are still climbing, despite (and partially because of) higher interest rates. And while average balances are increasing, they are spread across fewer accounts than in recent years. Alternative financing—including buy now, pay later plans for purchases—may account for at least some of this discrepancy, as consumers gravitate toward these newer financing methods. In general, residents of higher-population states tend to carry more credit cards than those who live in states with fewer and smaller population centers. Nonetheless, the difference between the states is relatively small. Considering that the national average is around four credit cards per consumer, the four states with the fewest cards per consumer (Alaska, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming) aren't appreciably different, with "only" about 3.3 credit cards per consumer. Similarly, the four states on the higher end of the scale where consumers have 4.2 or more credit cards are Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The disparity in average credit card counts is more apparent when the population is segmented by age, thanks in part to Generation Z, many of whom have yet to receive their first credit card. The average number of credit cards for these consumers was two, less than half of what older generations keep on hand. The average number of credit cards held by each generation follows the familiar pattern seen in credit card balances, which tend to increase in a consumer's middle age. It's not surprising that the number of credit card accounts follows a similar climb throughout young adulthood and middle age, then drops off in the retirement years. No matter how many credit cards you may have at the moment, keep in mind that the number of accounts has little if any bearing on one's FICO Score. Far more important is how consumers manage those accounts. This is easily demonstrable by quickly stepping through some of the . Longer credit histories do tend to have a positive effect on a consumer's credit score, but it's not something you can rush. Adhering to on-time payments and managing amounts owed will go far in improving credit scores, even absent a lengthy credit history. While accounts closed in good standing remain on your credit report for 10 years, canceling your oldest credit card account still has the potential to shorten your credit history when it is eventually removed. The impact of its removal depends on any other active credit cards in your credit file. Ultimately, the number of cards a particular individual carries is a personal decision. Justifications can be found for carrying a travel rewards card, a cash back card, a balance transfer card, a card for business transactions and other types of credit cards that other consumers may not have either the need or qualifications for. However, keeping track of numerous credit cards, whether or not a consumer is actively using all of them, can be a mentally taxing exercise. Not only that, credit card fees can add up and dull the benefit of carrying several credit cards. Organized consumers can benefit greatly from a wallet full of specialized cards, but for those seeking a more zen-like financial future, some judicial pruning may be in order. The analysis results provided are based on an Experian-created statistically relevant aggregate sampling of our consumer credit database that may include use of the FICO Score 8 version. Different sampling parameters may generate different findings compared with other similar analysis. Analyzed credit data did not contain personal identification information. Metro areas group counties and cities into specific geographic areas for population censuses and compilations of related statistical data. 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All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. If you’re looking for a new pair of sneakers for playing basketball, then Skechers is a fantastic pick for hooping on the hardwood or blacktop — thanks to the sneaker company’s signature “ Comfort That Performs “, when it comes to style, comfort, and performance on the court. See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In fact, Skechers are the go-to sneakers for a number of NBA superstar players, such as Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Julius Randle of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Terance Mann of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Jabari Walker of the Portland Trail Blazers. The sneaker brand also signed their first WNBA superstar player Rickea Jackson of the Los Angeles Sparks this summer. For basketball, there are four signature styles, the SKX Float , SKX Nexus , SKX Reign , and SKX Resagrip styles, that offer speed, quickness, mobility, balance, support and stability when hooping up and down the court. Shop the Skechers Basketball sneakers , below: The Skechers SKX Float sneakers feature elements for performance and support with locked-down heels for stability and the company’s “HYPER BURST” cushioning for additional bounce. The sneakers are durable — thanks to Goodyear Rubber. Yup, the same Goodyear that makes car tires. These shoes are just that tough. The SKX Float comes in three colorways and various unisex sizes. For fast and super responsive performance on the basketball court, then the Skechers SKX Nexus are a fantastic pick with their low-top and breathable design. These sneakers are made with Goodyear Rubber for additional traction and grip on the hardwood or blacktop. The SKX Nexus comes in four colorways and a number of unisex sizes. The Skechers SKX Reign sneakers offer speed with the company’s “HYPER BURST PRO” and “Carbon Infused” design and traction with Goodyear Rubber. The shoes have a mid-top design with stability and support for your feet and ankles when playing basketball, while their “HYPER BURST” midsole gives players cushioning and bounce. They’re also vegan! The SKX Reign comes in four colorways and sizes for men and women. The SKX Resagrip is a lightweight court shoe that provides premier comfort and support with an enhanced collar foam for ankle control. Perfect for players who move at top speed, these court-ready sneakers also feature a TPU plate for midfoot support, as well as Skechers “HYPER BURST PRO” technology for increased cushioning and response. The SKX Resagrip currently comes in six colorways and sizes for men and women. Want more? Skechers has more sneakers in various styles and colorways available from the sneaker company’s basketball collection , below: For more product recommendations , check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals , studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories .( MENAFN - EIN Presswire) Christmas Gifts Bring Holiday Cheer with splendid Champagne Gifts for Christmas Celebrations VIENNA, VA, UNITED STATES, December 13, 2024 /EINPresswire / -- As the festive season approaches, the tradition of exchanging meaningful gifts is taking center stage, with champagne emerging as a popular choice for celebrating Christmas. Known for its timeless appeal and celebratory nature, champagne is becoming a favored gift option for friends, family, and business associates during the holidays. This growing trend highlights the appeal of curated champagne gift sets, such as the Veuve Clicquot Gifts and the Moët & Chandon Gifts, which pair premium champagne with gourmet treats and elegant accessories. These thoughtful combinations elevate the act of gifting, making the experience as memorable as the champagne itself. The Veuve Clicquot Gift Set , for example, combines the brand's renowned champagne with a selection of flutes and gourmet chocolates, creating a complete festive package. Known for its vibrant flavors and rich history, Veuve Clicquot embodies the spirit of celebration. Another alternative that serves as the best Christmas gifting piece includes a Moët & Chandon gift basket . The gift basket comes along with a bottle of luxurious Moët & Chandon renowned globally for its fruity and toasty flavors that pairs wonderfully with the chocolaty delights like cookies, truffles and brownies that is an addition in the gift basket. The tradition of gifting champagne extends beyond individual bottles to include unique options like hand-painted champagne bottles and Mimosa gift baskets, which combine champagne with fruit juice and festive snacks. These gifts cater to morning celebrations and brunch gatherings, adding a touch of elegance to early-day festivities. For those seeking convenience, online platforms such as Wine & Champagne Gifts provide a wide selection of champagne gift options, including personalized sets and curated baskets. These platforms are gaining recognition for their ability to deliver high-quality champagne gifts paired with gourmet delicacies and premium glassware. This growing preference for champagne gifts reflects a broader shift toward thoughtful and celebratory presents during the holiday season. Whether it's a classic bottle, a curated gift basket, or a set enhanced with festive accessories, champagne gifts offer a timeless way to spread cheer. Last-minute gift baskets can be a reliable and thoughtful option, offering a variety of combinations to suit different preferences. Many providers specialize in pairing champagne with gourmet snacks and elegant accessories, making it easier to find a meaningful gift during the busy holiday season. Wishing you a joyous and memorable holiday celebration! For More Gift Ideas Take reference From Below: blog/best-champagnes-to-give-as-a-gift/ blog/best-champagne-brands-for-every-celebration/ blog/best-champagnes-for-christmas-gifts/ blog/best-champagne-under-budget-100/ Charu Smith Wine And Champagne Gifts +1 202-459-8489 email us here Visit us on social media: Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "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 author above. 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Penticton vaccine discrimination complaint against B.C. Union dismissed
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Bill Belichick spent time after his NFL exit talking with college coaches wanting his thoughts on managing new wrinkles at their level that looked a lot like the pros. The two-minute timeout. The transfer portal as de facto free agency. Collectives generating name, image and likeness (NIL) money for athletes becoming like a payroll. The impending arrival of revenue sharing. It didn't take long for Belichick to envision how a college program should look based on his own NFL experience. "I do think there are a lot of parallels," Belichick said. And that's at least partly why the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach is now taking over at North Carolina. Years of rapid change at the have only increased the professionalization of college football across the country, with schools adjusting staffing to handle growing duties once seemingly more fitting for a pro team. UNC just happens to be making the most audacious of those bets, bringing in a 72-year-old who has never coached in college and asking him to build what amounts to a mini-NFL front office. But plenty could follow. "I really think there's going to be some of those guys that maybe don't have a job in the NFL anymore," Kansas State general manager Clint Brown said, "and now that this is going to be structured in a way where there is a cap that that's going to be something they're interested in." The rapid changes in college athletics have fueled that, notably with players able to transfer and play right away without sitting out a year and be paid through NIL endorsement opportunities in the past five years. Recruiting is now just as much about bringing in veteran talent through the portal as signing recruits out of high school, mirroring the NFL with free agency and the draft, respectively. And a bigger change looms with revenue sharing, the result of a $2.78 billion legal settlement to antitrust lawsuits. Specifically, that model will allow the biggest schools to establish a pool of about $21.5 million for athletes in the first year, with a final hearing in that case set for April 2025. It will be up to schools to determine how to distribute that money and in which sports, though football's role as the revenue driver in college sports likely means a prominent cut everywhere as a direct parallel to a professional team's salary cap. Throw all that together, and it's why coaches are adjusting their staffs like Florida's Billy Napier interviewing candidates to be the Gators' general manager. "We're built to do it now," Napier said. "The big thing here is that we're getting ready to be in a business model. We have a cap. We have contracts. We have negotiation. We have strategy about how we distribute those funds, and it's a major math puzzle. "We're going to build out a front office here in the next couple of months, and it's primarily to help us manage that huge math problem," Napier added. "There'll be a ton of strategy around that. I'm looking forward to it." Still, that also explains why Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, the former head coach of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, said: "This job as a head coach is a juggernaut. There's way more to do here than I had to do in the NFL." And it explains why the Tar Heels are betting on Belichick to be the right fit for today's changing climate. "If I was 16 of 17 years old, a coach who came at you and won how many Super Bowls? And he said, 'Come play for me,'" said New York Giants offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu, now in his third year out of UNC. "I mean, that's pretty hard to turn down now, especially in this day and age, he's telling you to come play for him and he's offering you some money, too. I mean, you can't go wrong with that choice." The timing worked for UNC with Belichick, who was bypassed for some NFL openings after leaving the New England Patriots last year and instead spent months taking a closer look at the college game. Those conversations with coaches — some in the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, he said Thursday — made him understand how the changes in college aligned with his pro experience. "College kind of came to me this year," Belichick said. "I didn't necessarily go and seek it out." And his mere presence in Chapel Hill makes a difference, with athletic director Bubba Cunningham saying his "visibility" would likely allow the team to raise prices for advertising such as sponsorships and signage. Belichick is also hiring Michael Lombardi, a former NFL general manager and executive, as the Tar Heels' general manager. Cunningham also said the plan is for Belichick to continue his appearances on former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning's "Manningcast" broadcasts during Monday Night Football as well as ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" — all giving the coach the chance to promote himself and the program. Yet these steps to reshape football at North Carolina comes with a rising price. Belichick will make $10 million per year in base and supplemental pay, with the first three years of the five-year deal guaranteed, according to a term sheet released by UNC on Thursday. That's roughly double of former coach Mack Brown, whose contract outlined about $4.2 million in base and supplemental salary before bonuses and other add-ons. Additionally, Belichick's deal includes $10 million for a salary pool for assistant coaches and $5.3 million for support staff. That's up from roughly $8.1 million for assistants and $4.8 million for support staff for the 2022 season, according to football financial data for UNC obtained by The Associated Press. And those figures from 2022 under Brown were already up significantly from Larry Fedora's tenure with the 2017 season ($4 million for assistant coaches, $2.3 million for support staff). There is at least one area where the Tar Heels are set for Belichick's arrival: facilities. UNC spent more than $40 million on its football practice complex with an indoor facility (2018) as the biggest project, while other projects include $3 million in upgrades to the locker room and weight room (2019), $14.5 million on renovations to the Kenan Football Center (2022), even $225,000 on Brown's former office (2021). Now it's up to Belichick to rethink the approach to football here for the changing times. "We're taking a risk," Cunningham said. "We're investing more in football with the hope and ambition that the return is going to significantly outweigh the investment." AP Sports Writers Tom Canavan in New Jersey; Mark Long in Florida; and Eric Olson in Nebraska; contributed to this report. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Phil Murphy has asked the Biden administration to put more resources into an investigation of mysterious drone sightings that have been reported in New Jersey and nearby states. Murphy, a Democrat, made the request in a letter Thursday, noting that state and local law enforcement remain “hamstrung” by existing laws and policies in their efforts to successfully counteract any nefarious activity of unmanned aircraft. He posted a copy of the letter on the social media platform X . Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that he will not be returning to Congress after withdrawing his name from consideration to be attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump amid growing allegations of sexual misconduct. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” Gaetz told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, adding that he has “some other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue with my wife and my family.” The announcement comes a day after Gaetz, a Florida Republican, stepped aside from the Cabinet nomination process amid growing fallout from federal and House Ethics investigations that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. The 42-year-old has vehemently denied the allegations against him. Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general had stunned many career lawyers inside the Justice Department, but reflected Trump’s desire to place a loyalist in a department he has marked for retribution following the criminal cases against him. Hours after Gaetz withdrew, Trump nominated Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, who would come to the job with years of legal work under her belt and that other trait Trump prizes above all: loyalty. It’s unclear what’s next for Gaetz, who is no longer a member of the House. He surprised colleagues by resigning from Congress the same day that Trump nominated him for attorney general. Some speculated he could still be sworn into office for another two-year term on Jan. 3, given that he had just won reelection earlier this month. But Gaetz, who has been in state and national politics for 14 years, said he’s done with Congress. “I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress,” he said. Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press