Robinson won't appear at Trump's North Carolina rally after report on online posts, AP sources sayA man who pointed a double barrel shot gun at uniformed unarmed gardaí causing the officers to have “genuine concerns for their lives” has been jailed for four years. Michael Donoghue (21) of Stocking Hill, Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of a firearm and making threats to kill at his home on December 20, 2023. He has 12 previous convictions, mainly for theft and fraud and public order offences.AI voice cloning: How programs are learning to pick up on pitch and tone
When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Auto-emptying cordless vacuums are one of the biggest trends on the cleaning scene, but they tend to be quite large and visually cumbersome. If you want the convenience of a self-emptying vacuum but don't want an unsightly base in your living space, the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI strikes the right balance of function and aesthetics. This high-end cordless stick vacuum isn't just powerful — it's also surprisingly sleek, with a stylish base that won't be an eyesore in your home. The addition of the base also very much limits how often you come into contact with any debris. However, this top-of-the-line vacuum isn't cheap, and I tested it for a month in my multi-pet home to see how it compares against the best cordless vacuums . Its overall cleaning performance was impressive — as was its appearance — but there are a few critiques you should know about before you splurge. The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Cordless Stick has a sleek design with an auto-emptying base that minimizes contact with dust, and its five suction settings make it a powerful cleaning tool for your home. Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Sleek Design with auto-empty dock Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Five suction settings Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Telescoping wand Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Digital display with battery life timer con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Awkwardly designed base with no storage for attachments con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Long hair wraps around brushroll con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Short warranty, for the price Specifics Dustbin: 0.5 liters (vacuum); 2 liters (base) Weight: 6.3 pounds Battery: Up to 100 minutes Brush length: 9.8 inches Filtration: Five-stage HEPA Warranty: 1 year Extras: All-in-one clean station, Pet Tool+, combination tool, crevice tool, seven dust bags Setup and Design The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Cordless Stick Vacuum is designed with aesthetics in mind. It has a sleek round base with a fluted exterior and satin finish, and it could pass as a piece of contemporary decor. The vacuum has a matching finish, creating a seamless appearance when it's docked. It's definitely one of the most stylish vacuums I've seen, and I wouldn't mind having it out in the open in one of my main living spaces. However, I didn't get off to the best start with this vacuum. Despite having assembled dozens of cordless vacuums in my career, I had a surprisingly hard time setting it up. After unboxing all the pieces, I was able to put the vacuum itself together with no problem, but the design of the base wasn't intuitive. The side that I expected to be the back of the base was actually the front, which means you have to place the vacuum onto the back of the dock. It's a strange design choice that prioritizes aesthetics over function, and if you place the base too close to the wall, you'll end up banging the vacuum against it every time you put it away. The other thing that had me scratching my head was that there are three accessories — a powered pet tool, combination tool, and crevice tool — yet there's nowhere to store them. I spent longer than I care to admit prying at different panels on the base, trying to find a compartment where I could put the accessories. (I also read through the manual, which offered no insights.) It turns out that there's just not any storage for these pieces, which is a big negative if you ask me. What's the point of having a big, stylish base that's meant to be displayed in your home if you then have to keep the attachments separately in a closet somewhere? Our review of the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Stick vacuum To see how the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI stacks up against other cordless vacuums, I tested it in my home for around a month. I predominantly used it to vacuum the main floor of my home, which is around 1,000 square feet and features hardwood and linoleum floors, as well as several area rugs. Because I share my home with two long-hair dogs, as well as a short-haired cat, there's no shortage of dirt, dust, and pet hair, so I was able to put the vacuum through its paces to find out where it excelled — and where it fell short. This cordless vacuum is fairly lightweight at just over six pounds, and I found that it was very easy to carry around. It has an on/off switch on the top of the vacuum, as well as buttons to increase or decrease suction and a fancy digital display screen. When I turned the vacuum on for the first time, it even asked me to select my preferred language. I also love that it has a telescoping wand, which allows you to adjust its height. This makes it much more ergonomic to use, especially if you're a taller individual. When you're done cleaning, you simply dock this vacuum back on its base, which then automatically empties the dust bin. The dock also makes sure the vacuum is fully charged and ready to go the next time you need it. One of my favorite aspects of the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI is that it has five different cleaning settings — Min, AI, Mid, Max, and Jet — with a maximum suction power of 280 air watts. Most cordless vacuums only have three settings, and I've found that "eco" modes are often too weak to be useful, and "max" modes drain the battery way too quickly. For this reason, I appreciate having more suction levels in between to find the right balance of performance and battery life. When you turn this vacuum on, it defaults to AI mode, which automatically adjusts its suction based on the floor type to maximize battery life — it functions similarly to the "Auto" mode you'll find on cordless vacuums from Shark, Dyson, and Tineco. This setting worked surprisingly well, increasing suction as soon as I moved onto carpeting and dropping it back down when it sensed hard floors, It also boosted suction when I drove it through a large amount of dirt or debris. I used the Bespoke Jet AI vacuum for everyday cleaning around my house, and I also put it through a series of tests, using it to suck up debris like uncooked rice, coffee grounds, and baby powder off different types of flooring. Because it offers more settings than your average vacuum, I was able to dial in the suction to the task at hand, and it did a (mostly) great job on both hard floors and carpeting thanks to its dual brushrolls. However, it struggled with larger debris like cereal and rice on hardwoods — the floorhead is too low and struggled to suck up the large pieces, often just pushing them around the floor instead. Another area where this vacuum struggled was cleaning up pet hair — long pet hair, in particular. After cleaning the main floor of my home, where my two golden retrievers spend most of their time, I noticed that there was a lot of hair wrapped around the vacuum's brushroll, and I had to use scissors to cut it off. I was surprised that such an expensive vacuum doesn't have any sort of anti-tangle technology, and as such, I can't recommend it for households with long-haired pets. You'll just end up having to clean off the brushroll again and again. The crevice and combo tools are fairly standard in terms of attachments, but I did like the Pet Tool+. Thanks to its rubber fins, it did a great job picking up pet hair off my furniture, and unlike the floorhead, it doesn't get wrapped up in long strands of hair. The tool pivots slightly, making it easy to hold it at a comfortable angle as you clean. As with most cordless vacuums, Samsung's battery life varies greatly depending on what mode you're using. I generally used the AI mode for everyday cleaning, and on hard floors, the vacuum offers around 60 minutes of runtime, which is impressive. However, if you move over to carpeting, the suction increases, and the runtime drops down to around 30 minutes. On Mid mode, you generally get around 30 to 40 minutes of battery life, and runtime drops to 20 minutes on Max and just 12 minutes on Jet. However, I seldom turned this vacuum to anything higher than Mid for more than a few minutes at a time, so I think it's safe to say you'll get at least 30 minutes of use out of it in most instances. I love that you can monitor the exact amount of runtime you have left on the unit's digital display. The display has a countdown timer that adjusts based on the settings you use. The only other vacuum I've tested with this feature is the Dyson Gen5detect , which is similarly expensive. This vacuum can hold 0.5 liters of debris in its onboard dust bin, which is fairly standard. However, the real selling point is its auto-emptying base. Not only does the vacuum's dock look sleek, but it also makes emptying the vacuum a hands-off task. Every time you dock the vacuum, the base automatically opens the bottom of the vacuum's dust bin and uses powerful suction to pull out all the debris, which is then trapped in a 2-liter vacuum bag in the base. (There's also a button labeled Start/Stop that lets you manually run the self-emptying cycle.) The process is much more sanitary than banging a dustbin over the trash can, which often ends up spewing dust all over the room, and it's equally mess-free to change the inner bag, which is accessible through the front panel of the base. I've also noticed that this feature helps to keep the on-board dustbin cleaner. The auto-emptying feature works with or without the vacuum's wand attached — convenient when you're using a hand tool like the pet brush — but I did run into issues one time when I overfilled the on-board dustbin. I wasn't paying attention while cleaning and let the debris surpass the max fill line. When I put the vacuum on the dock, a large clump of pet hair got stuck toward the top of the dust cup. I ran the self-emptying cycle twice, but it wasn't able to dislodge the clump. I ended up manually digging out the debris over the trash can. This was the only time I ran into a problem with the base, and ultimately, it was my fault for not paying attention to how much debris I was picking up. There are a few things you'll need to do regularly to keep this vacuum working properly. When the button on the top of the dock turns red, that means it's time to replace the vacuum bag. The manual indicates that the bag generally needs to be emptied every one or two months — after using the vacuum for around a month, my bag was still only half full. The vacuum comes with six replacement bags , which is nice, and when you need to purchase more, they cost $40 for a pack of five. This vacuum also has three filters, all of which are washable, and the brand recommends cleaning them once a month. Because this vacuum often gets long hair wrapped around its brushroll, you'll want to check its floorhead periodically and cut off hair as needed. The brushroll can also be removed from the floorhead for more thorough cleaning. Cons to consider My biggest complaint about the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI is the design of the base. While it is attractive, I found it frustrating that it needs to be placed so far away from a wall, or else it's very hard to get the vacuum into the dock, as you have to place it in from the back. I also dislike that there's nowhere to store the vacuum's three accessories. The other major downside is that this vacuum quickly gets tangled with long strands of hair. If you have long-haired pets, you'll likely find yourself cutting hair off the brushroll frequently to keep it working properly. It's worth mentioning that despite its high price point, this vacuum only comes with a one-year warranty. (For comparison, Dyson vacuums come with a two-year warranty, and Shark offers a five-year warranty.) If you buy directly from the brand, you have the option to purchase Samsung Care+ , which offers three years of protection against mechanical and electrical problems, but it costs an extra $134.99. What are your alternatives? There are several versions of the Samsung Jet that you may want to consider — especially if you're hoping to spend a bit less. The next step down is the regular Bespoke Jet , which has a virtually identical design, including a self-emptying base and the same multi-level filtration. The regular Jet lacks AI mode and has a max runtime of 60 minutes, and it also has slightly less suction power than the AI model. However, it's a fair bit cheaper, retailing at $699.99, so it's a good option if you want a similar design at a lower price. If you want something even more affordable, the Samsung Jet 75 costs $400 and has fewer bells and whistles (i.e. forgoes the clean station but is compatible with one). There are several other auto-emptying models among the best cordless vacuums that we've tested that you may want to consider, as well. The LG CordZero All-in-One is a (slightly) less-expensive option, retailing for around $750, and it has a better self-emptying base that has hidden storage for all its attachments. This cordless vacuum is powerful and works well across both hard floors and carpeting, and it also has a spray mop attachment. The Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty System is another self-emptying option that automatically detects dirt and floor type, and while it's not as sleek as the Samsung Bespoke Jet, it's more budget-friendly at around $450. The bottom line The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI Cordless Vacuum has a lot going for it — it's powerful, low-maintenance, and versatile, and more than anything, it's surprisingly attractive for a vacuum. However, it's also very expensive at $1,000 and has some quirks, such as its awkward base and lack of accessory storage. If you're looking for something aesthetically pleasing, it might be worth the splurge, but in terms of cleaning performance, there are comparable (if not better) options that will cost significantly less.5️⃣ things we learned from Wednesday's eye-opening UCL action
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Breyten Breytenbach: a masterful poet, jailed for his politics, who reimagined South AfricaSAN DIEGO , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra (NYSE: SRE) (BMV: SRE) today announced it has been recognized by Newsweek as one of "America's Most Responsible Companies" for 2025, earning this distinction for the sixth consecutive year. The annual list ranks companies based on their commitment to corporate responsibility in the areas of corporate governance and responsible social and environmental practices. Sempra has been included since the list's inception. "At Sempra, we believe our responsible business practices improve the value of our franchise. By strengthening governance and risk management and improving the safety and resiliency of our business operations, it allows us to better meet the needs and expectations of our customers, while also adding scale to our business," said Lisa Larroque Alexander , senior vice president of corporate affairs and chief sustainability officer for Sempra. "We will continue to approach global energy challenges with an entrepreneurial mindset, steadfast optimism and confidence in our vision of delivering energy with purpose." Newsweek's recognition of Sempra as one of "America's Most Responsible Companies" is based on publicly available key performance indicators derived from the company's Corporate Sustainability Report and an independent survey that asked U.S. citizens about their perception of Sempra's commitment to corporate social responsibility. Details of Sempra's approach to responsible stakeholder engagement and corporate governance can be found in the company's most recent Corporate Sustainability Report, which is available here . In addition to being recognized on Newsweek's America's Most Responsible Companies list, Sempra is included in the FTSE4Good Index and JUST 100 list, has been named one of TIME Magazine's World's Best Companies and one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies , and earned a perfect score on the CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability , among other accolades. About Sempra Sempra (NYSE: SRE ) is a leading North American energy infrastructure company focused on delivering energy to nearly 40 million consumers. As owner of one of the largest energy networks on the continent, Sempra is electrifying and improving the energy resilience of some of the world's most significant economic markets, including California , Texas , Mexico and global energy markets. The company is recognized as a leader in sustainable business practices and for its high-performance culture focused on safety and operational excellence, as demonstrated by Sempra's inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and in The Wall Street Journal's Best Managed Companies. More information about Sempra is available at sempra.com and on social media @Sempra . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sempra-named-among-newsweeks-most-responsible-companies-302324298.html SOURCE Sempra
Conners, Tate lead Appalachian State over Sam Houston 66-63LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Andrej Jakimovski converted an off-balance layup with 8 seconds left, and Colorado handed No. 2 UConn its second loss in two days at the Maui Invitational, beating the two-time defending national champion 73-72 on Tuesday. A day after a 99-97 overtime loss to Memphis that left Huskies coach Dan Hurley livid about the officiating, UConn (4-2) couldn't shake the unranked Buffaloes (5-1), who shot 62.5% in the second half. With Colorado trailing 72-71 in the closing seconds, Jakimovski drove to his right and absorbed contact from UConn’s Liam McNeeley. He tossed the ball toward the glass and the shot was good as he fell to the floor. Hassan Diarra missed a 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer for UConn. Elijah Malone and Julian Hammond III scored 16 points each for Colorado, and Jakimovski had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Huskies led 40-32 at halftime and by nine points early in the second half, but Colorado quickly closed that gap. McNeeley led UConn with 20 points. UConn: Hurley's squad is facing its first adversity in quite a while. The Huskies arrived on Maui with a 17-game winning streak that dated to February. Colorado: The Buffaloes were held to season lows in points (56) and field goal percentage (37%) in a 16-point loss to Michigan State on Monday but shot 51.1% overall and 56.3% (9 of 16) from 3-point range against the Huskies. Hurley called timeout to set up the Huskies' final possession, but the Buffs forced them to take a contested 3. Colorado had a 28-26 rebounding advantage after being out-rebounded 42-29 by Michigan State. Colorado will play the Iowa-Dayton winner in the fifth-place game on Wednesday. UConn will play the loser of that matchup in the seventh-place game. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball .