Amidst a deteriorating social and political landscape, sexual violence survivors in Haiti find themselves increasingly vulnerable. A recent report highlights the impact of armed gangs and the collapse of healthcare and justice systems on these individuals, underlining a severe humanitarian crisis. According to Human Rights Watch, almost 4,000 women and girls have reported sexual violence in Haiti in 2024. Fear of retaliation and inadequate medical assistance deter many from seeking help. Many victims cannot access essential medical care within the crucial 72-hour window for treatments like HIV prophylaxis due to inaccessible healthcare facilities. International bodies and local organizations are sounding the alarm, but systemic issues and political instability further complicate resolution efforts. The situation has led leading feminist groups to demand government action, though political tensions seem to stifle meaningful progress. (With inputs from agencies.)
Police have arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old software developer, in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione, of Maryland, was detained at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday morning. Mangione was taken into custody on local firearm charges, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters. He has not been charged in connection with the shooting but is “believed to be our person of interest,” Tisch said. Police have been searching for Thompson’s killer for nearly a week, despite the shooting taking place in public outside a Manhattan hotel. The manhunt has thus far relied on just whose face is largely obscured by a mask and hoodie. Investigators have reportedly been to load into facial recognition software. Police were led to Mangione via a “combination of old-school detective work and new age technology,” Tisch said. Despite scant visual evidence, a McDonald’s employee recognized Mangione on Monday morning and called police, . “He was just sitting there eating,” Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, said at a press briefing Monday. Mangione reportedly had a gun, a silencer, and four fake IDs in his possession. The gun appeared to be a 3D-printed “ghost gun,” Kenny told reporters. After being apprehended, Mangione showed police a fake New Jersey ID, Kenny said. The ID was the same one used to check into a hostel in Manhattan on November 24th, eight days before the shooting. Sources also that he was carrying a “manifesto” criticizing the US healthcare industry. /By Lauren Beavis An adorable little donkey named Wonder has received a new prosthetic leg to help her stand and walk - just in time for Christmas. Wonder was born with two deformed hooves leaving her unable to stand or walk. But since being fitted with a specialist prosthesis, the young mule is now able to walk "better than ever before". At a young age, she was admitted to Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire in the Netherlands - a center for neglected, abused, confiscated, sick or old donkeys . Wonder the donkey with its new leg. ( When veterinarians at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University heard about Wonder's condition, they got in touch with Wesley Michiels from Pet Orthopedics - a company that makes prostheses and braces for animals. Wesley Michiels, head of Pet Orthopedics , said: "The vets contacted us and explained that they wanted to amputate the leg - asking us how they could best go about it to ensure that the donkey would be able to walk again with a view to a prosthesis. "We were on site for about three weeks to carry out the measurements on Wonder." As the vets amputated her little hooves - the orthopedics were able to fit a prosthetic leg that grows as Wonder does. (Pet Orthopedics via SWNS) Wesley said: "The cooperation results in a perfect amputation stump so that the prosthetic device also fits perfectly. "Wonder is still a little donkey who still has to grow in the future, so the prosthesis is adaptive so we can adjust it when she grows. "In the beginning, she has to learn how to use the leg more - but with the prosthetic device she is now already walking better than before." (Pet Orthopedics via SWNS) Wesley says he has worked with donkeys before - but a full prosthesis for the species was a new task for him. He added the new technology has helped many species - from alpacas to dogs and now donkeys . Wesley said: "In the past, the legs of animals were completely amputated up to the shoulder or up to the hip for a problem with toes for example - then sometimes you couldn't do anything with one leg. "But now many vets first call us to ask for advice about the amputation, so that we can put a prosthesis afterwards."
For the second straight Major League Baseball offseason, a norm-shattering contract has been the talk of the winter, with Juan Soto agreeing with the New York Mets on a $765 million, 15-year deal that's the richest in baseball history. It comes almost exactly one year after the Los Angeles Dodgers forked out a princely sum of $700 million on a 10-year, heavily deferred deal for two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. They are believed to be the two richest contracts in pro sports history. The way it's going, a contract approaching $1 billion doesn't seem out of the question. But several factors are working against it — at least in the near future. There's reason to believe the megadeals for Ohtani and Soto are unicorns in the baseball world. Both players are uniquely talented, surely, but both also had unusual circumstances propelling their value into the stratosphere. Ohtani is the greatest two-way player in baseball history, capable of improving any team on both sides of the ball. He's also the rare baseball player who has true international appeal. His every move ( like his unexpected marriage announcement ) is followed closely in his native Japan, adding another 125 million potential fans who buy merchandise, watch him play and help fill the Dodgers' coffers. Then there's Soto — a four-time All-Star and on-base machine who won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019. The X-factor for him is he became a free agent at the prime age of 26, which is extremely hard to do under current MLB rules. New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, with the help of his agent Scott Boras, left, agreed to a $765 million, 15-year deal with the New York Mets on Sunday. Players have to be in the big leagues for six years before testing free agency. The precocious Soto debuted at 19 with the Nats, making him part of a rare group of players who reached the highest level of professional baseball as a teenager. That accelerated his free agency timeline. It's rare for players to debut that young, and rarer still for them to develop into stars and test the open market the first chance they get. Two recent examples are Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, who both reached free agency in 2019. Machado signed a free-agent record $300 million contract with San Diego, and Harper overtook him days later with a $330 million contract to join the Phillies. Most players debut in the big leagues from ages 22 to 26, which means free agency comes in their late 20s or early 30s. A typical example is Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is one of this generation's great players but didn't hit the market until he was 30. Judge played three seasons of college baseball for Fresno State before getting drafted by the Yankees in 2013 at age 21 — already two years older than Soto was when he made his MLB debut. It took a few years for the budding superstar to reach the majors, and he was 25 when he had his breakout season in 2018, smashing 52 homers to earn AL Rookie of the Year honors. By the time he reached free agency after the 2022 season, he had already passed age 30. It's a major factor that led to him signing a $360 million, nine-year deal with the Yankees, which seems downright reasonable these days after the Ohtani and Soto deals. Two major trends are colliding that will make it harder for guys like Soto to hit free agency in their mid 20s. First, MLB teams have been more likely in recent years to take college players early in the draft, betting on more experienced talents. Just 10 high school players were drafted among the top 30 picks in the 2024 draft. Second, teams are more eager to lock up young, premium talent on long-term deals very early in their careers, well before they hit free agency. Sometimes before they even reach the majors. Juan Soto's deal comes almost exactly one year after the Los Angeles Dodgers forked out a princely sum of $700 million on a 10-year, heavily deferred deal for two-way Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani. Since Soto, just two players have debuted in MLB before their 20th birthday — Elvis Luciano and Junior Caminero. Luciano hasn't been back to the majors since his 2019 cup of coffee. Caminero is now 21 and has only played in 50 big league games. Among those that debuted at 20: Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a $340 million, 14-year deal with San Diego in 2021, years before reaching the open market. Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio got an $82 million, eight-year deal before even reaching the big leagues. Young stars Corbin Carroll ($111 million, eight years with Arizona), Bobby Witt Jr. ($288 million, 11 years with Kansas City) and Julio Rodriguez ($209.3 million, 12 years with Seattle) also got massive guarantees early in their 20s to forgo an early free agency. The exception and wild card: Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be a 26-year-old free agent next offseason. Guerrero hasn't been as consistent in his young career as Soto, but a standout 2025 season could position him to threaten Soto's deal. More likely is that the player to pass Soto isn't in the majors yet — and might not even be in pro baseball. When 25-year-old Alex Rodriguez signed his record $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas in 2001, it took over a decade for another player to match that total, when Albert Pujols got $240 million over 10 years from the Angels in 2012. For many players, passing up life-changing money in their early or mid 20s is too enticing, even if it means that they might not maximize their value on the free agent market later in their careers. Soto was determined to test the market. He famously turned down a $440 million, 15-year offer to stay with the Washington Nationals in 2022, betting that he could make even more as a free agent. Not many players would turn down that kind of cash. Then again, that's what makes Soto so unique. And it's also why his $765 million deal could be the industry standard for some time. Stiliana Nikolova, of Bulgaria performs in the rhythmic gymnastics individuals all-round qualification round, at La Chapelle Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India reacts as he collides with San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano during the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. India was safe and Campusano was charged with an error. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Kimberley Woods of Britain competes in the women's kayak cross time trial at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Mike Tyson, left, fights Jake Paul during their heavyweight boxing match, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus plays a forehand return to Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte) Noah Lyles, of the United States, jumps as he limbers-up ahead of the men's 100-meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) A member of the Seattle Mariners tosses a ball against a wall during drills at spring training baseball workouts, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Peoria, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia waits to receive serve during her first round match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Czech Republic's Jiri Beran, left, competes with France's Yannik Borel in the men's team epee bronze final match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) France's Adrien Truffert jumps over Argentina's goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli during a quarterfinal soccer match between France and Argentina, at Bordeaux Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Bordeaux, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) Fans interfere with a foul ball caught by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 4 of the baseball World Series against the New York Yankees, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Italy's Sara Curtis splashes her face with water before a women's 50-meter freestyle semifinal at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Ivory Coast 's Seko Fofana, top, duels for the ball with Nigeria's Victor Osimhen during the African Cup of Nations final soccer match between Nigeria and Ivory Coast, at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) Costa Rica midfielder Jefferson Brenes, from left, Alvaro Zamora (21), Francisco Calvo (15) and Joseph Mora (8) are pelted with drinks and trash after celebrating a Brenes goal in the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League Play-In soccer match against Honduras, Saturday, March 23, 2024, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Gabrielle Thomas, of the United States, celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 200 meters final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Tyrrell Hatton, of England, reacts on the 11th hole during a practice round in preparation for the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Augusta, GA. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) Quincy Hall, of the United States, celebrates after winning the men's 400-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Tim Tszyu, of Australia, hits Sebastian Fundora in a super welterweight title bout Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers takes the field prior to an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) Workers peep through curtains to watch a match between France's Gael Monfils and Russia's Daniil Medvedev during the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Amy Yang, of South Korea, is doused after winning the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Sahalee Country Club, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Sammamish, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Workers remove snow from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/ Jeffrey T. Barnes) United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Gurgl, Austria, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti) Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, left, scores his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue ) Czech Republic's Michal Kempny, right, punches United States' Brady Tkachuk during the quarterfinal match between Czech Republic and United States at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) Turkey's Taha Akgul, left, competes with Georgia's Geno Petriashvili in a men's freestyle 125 kg category gold medal wrestling match during the European Wrestling Championships, in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith cries after winning the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Carles Coll Marti of Spain competes in the men's 200-meter breaststroke heat at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots between New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III and guard CJ McCollum in the second half of an NBA basketball play-in tournament game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New Orleans. The Lakers won 110-106. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) A man in a monk's robe waves the French flag as the peloton passes during the sixth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 163.5 kilometers (101.6 miles) with start in Macon and finish in Dijon, France, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) Belgium's Jeremy Doku, left, challenges for the ball with Romania's Andrei Ratiu during a Group E match between Belgium and Romania at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Cologne, Germany, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) A spectator walks through a water mist sprayer on her way to Eiffel Tower Stadium to watch a beach volleyball at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Gabriel Medina, of Brazil, kicks off of a wave as he warms up prior to the quarterfinals round of the 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, is reflected on a surface as she performs on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics all-around finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Wyndham Clark waits to hit on the 17th hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Kolkata Knight Riders' wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz dives to make an unsuccessful attempt to run out Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abhishek Sharma during the Indian Premier League cricket final match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, May 26, 2024.(AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.) Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the qualifying session of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Serbia's Novak Djokovic embraces his daughter Tara after defeating Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the men's singles tennis final at the Roland Garros stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Spain's Dani Olmo clears the ball from the goal line during the final match between Spain and England at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) A fleet of boats compete in the mixed multihull sailing race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole) A horse watches from its stable ahead of the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race at Saratoga Race Course, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Silver medalist Simone Biles, of the United States, left, and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles, of the United States, right, bow to gold medalist Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, during the medal ceremony for the women's artistic gymnastics individual floor finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Denver celebrates after winning the championship game against Boston College in the Frozen Four NCAA college hockey tournament Saturday, April 13, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. Denver won 2-0 to win the national championship. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan (13) and cornerback Elijah Jackson (25) break up a pass to Eastern Michigan wide receiver Terry Lockett Jr. (3) in the end zone during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Seattle. Washington won 30-9. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Milwaukee Bucks' AJ Johnson, right, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Jared McCain, center, and Adem Bona during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) Elise Mertens, of Belgium, serves against Naomi Osaka, of Japan, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Italy's Giovanni Tocci competes in the men's 3m springboard diving preliminary at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani breaks his bat during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Wearing a device that measures his energy consumption, the Israel Amputee Football Team player, Ben Maman, left, fights for the ball with a young soccer player from a local team during a practice session in Ramat Gan, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) A soccer fan dressed as Spiderman watches Brazil play Uruguay in a Copa America quarterfinal match on a screen set up for fans on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Brazil lost in a penalty shootout and Uruguay qualified for the semifinals. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Men dressed in traditional clothes try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, kicks the ball after double faulting against Jessica Pegula, of the United States, during the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Water is sprayed on the pitch as the ball boys and girls walk along the center line before the start of the men's Group A field hockey match between South Africa and Germany at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Colombes, France. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) Cleveland Browns defensive end Isaiah McGuire (57) reaches for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens (12) during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) Morocco's Widad Bertal celebrates after defeating Thailand's Jutamas Jitpong in their women's 54kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher) Brazil's Priscila eyes the ball during a women's semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, at Marseille Stadium in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Simone Biles of the United States competes on the balance beam during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) New Orleans Saints linebacker Willie Gay Jr. signs autographs for a young fan before the start of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga) Real Madrid's players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Mozambique's Deizy Nhaquile battles rough seas during a women's dinghy race, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Marseille, France. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) People watch the cauldron rise at sunset by the Olympic rings during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) kisses Taylor Swift after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22. (AP Photo/John Locher) A light show is projected from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Kateryna Tabashnyk, a high jumper, sits for a portrait Sunday, June 9, 2024, at the athletics arena of the "Polytechnic" sports complex, which was destroyed by a Russian rocket attack, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Sent weekly directly to your inbox!WASHINGTON (AP) — President said Tuesday he was “stupid” not to put his own name on pandemic relief checks in 2021, noting that had and likely got credit for helping people out through this simple, effective act of branding. Biden did the second-guessing as he delivered a speech at the Brookings Institution defending his economic record and challenging Trump to preserve Democratic policy ideas when he returns to the White House next month. Related Articles As Biden focused on his legacy with his term ending, he suggested Trump should keep the Democrats’ momentum going and ignore the policies of his allies. The president laid out favorable recent economic data but acknowledged his rare public regret that he had not been more self-promotional in advertising the financial support provided by his administration as the country emerged from the pandemic. “I signed the American Rescue Plan, the most significant economic recovery package in our history, and also learned something from Donald Trump,” Biden said at the Washington-based think tank. “He signed checks for people for 7,400 bucks ... and I didn’t. Stupid.” The decision by the former reality TV star and real estate developer to add his name to the checks sent by the U.S. Treasury to millions of Americans struggling during the coronavirus marked the first time a president’s name appeared on any IRS payments. Biden and Vice President , who , largely failed to convince the American public of the strength of the economy. The addition of 16 million jobs, funding for infrastructure, new factories and investments in renewable energy were not enough to overcome public exhaustion over inflation, which spiked in 2022 and left many households coping with elevated grocery, gasoline and housing costs. More than 6 in 10 voters in November’s election described the economy as “poor” or “not so good,” according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. who felt the economy was in bad shape, paving the way for a second term as president after his 2020 loss to Biden. Biden used his speech to argue that Trump was inheriting a strong economy that is the envy of the world. The inflation rate fell without a recession that many economists had viewed as inevitable, while the and applications to start new businesses are at record levels. Biden called the numbers under his watch “a new set of benchmarks to measure against the next four years.” “President-elect Trump is receiving the strongest economy in modern history,” said Biden, who warned that Trump’s planned tax cuts could lead to massive deficits or deep spending cuts. He also said that Trump’s promise of broad tariffs on foreign imports would be a mistake, part of a broader push Tuesday by the administration to warn against Trump’s threatened action. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also issued a word of caution about them at a summit of The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council. “I think the imposition of broad based tariffs, at least of the type that have been discussed, almost all economists agree this would raise prices on American consumers,” she said. Biden was also critical of Trump allies who have pushed , a policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation that calls for a complete overhaul of the federal government. Trump has disavowed participation in it, though parts were written by his allies and on economics, immigration, education policy and civil rights. “I pray to God the president-elect throws away Project 2025,” Biden said. “I think it would be an economic disaster.”
By JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “stupid” not to put his own name on pandemic relief checks in 2021, noting that Donald Trump had done so in 2020 and likely got credit for helping people out through this simple, effective act of branding. Biden did the second-guessing as he delivered a speech at the Brookings Institution defending his economic record and challenging Trump to preserve Democratic policy ideas when he returns to the White House next month. Related Articles National Politics | Biden issues veto threat on bill expanding federal judiciary as partisan split emerges National Politics | Trump lawyers and aide hit with 10 additional felony charges in Wisconsin over 2020 fake electors National Politics | After withdrawing as attorney general nominee, Matt Gaetz lands a talk show on OANN television National Politics | What will happen to Social Security under Trump’s tax plan? National Politics | Republican-led states are rolling out plans that could aid Trump’s mass deportation effort As Biden focused on his legacy with his term ending, he suggested Trump should keep the Democrats’ momentum going and ignore the policies of his allies. The president laid out favorable recent economic data but acknowledged his rare public regret that he had not been more self-promotional in advertising the financial support provided by his administration as the country emerged from the pandemic. “I signed the American Rescue Plan, the most significant economic recovery package in our history, and also learned something from Donald Trump,” Biden said at the Washington-based think tank. “He signed checks for people for 7,400 bucks ... and I didn’t. Stupid.” The decision by the former reality TV star and real estate developer to add his name to the checks sent by the U.S. Treasury to millions of Americans struggling during the coronavirus marked the first time a president’s name appeared on any IRS payments. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris , who replaced him as the Democratic nominee , largely failed to convince the American public of the strength of the economy. The addition of 16 million jobs, funding for infrastructure, new factories and investments in renewable energy were not enough to overcome public exhaustion over inflation, which spiked in 2022 and left many households coping with elevated grocery, gasoline and housing costs. More than 6 in 10 voters in November’s election described the economy as “poor” or “not so good,” according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. Trump won nearly 7 in 10 of the voters who felt the economy was in bad shape, paving the way for a second term as president after his 2020 loss to Biden. Biden used his speech to argue that Trump was inheriting a strong economy that is the envy of the world. The inflation rate fell without a recession that many economists had viewed as inevitable, while the unemployment rate is a healthy 4.2% and applications to start new businesses are at record levels. Biden called the numbers under his watch “a new set of benchmarks to measure against the next four years.” “President-elect Trump is receiving the strongest economy in modern history,” said Biden, who warned that Trump’s planned tax cuts could lead to massive deficits or deep spending cuts. He also said that Trump’s promise of broad tariffs on foreign imports would be a mistake, part of a broader push Tuesday by the administration to warn against Trump’s threatened action. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also issued a word of caution about them at a summit of The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council. “I think the imposition of broad based tariffs, at least of the type that have been discussed, almost all economists agree this would raise prices on American consumers,” she said. Biden was also critical of Trump allies who have pushed Project 2025 , a policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation that calls for a complete overhaul of the federal government. Trump has disavowed participation in it, though parts were written by his allies and overlap with his stated views on economics, immigration, education policy and civil rights. “I pray to God the president-elect throws away Project 2025,” Biden said. “I think it would be an economic disaster.” Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.Freeland says the two-month GST holiday is meant to tackle the 'vibecession'
Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 sees big crowds and some big sales following art market slumpScientists pinpoint just how fast Santa would have to travel to visit every child on the planet... and reveal why, at this speed, Rudolf's nose wouldn't be red READ MORE: Follow the 2024 NORAD Santa Tracker LIVE By WILIAM HUNTER Published: 16:27 GMT, 24 December 2024 | Updated: 16:30 GMT, 24 December 2024 e-mail 4 View comments As Christmas approaches, children around the world will be eagerly awaiting a visit from Santa and his reindeer. But with around two billion children on the planet, Santa really has his work cut out for him tonight. Scientists have calculated that Santa would need to travel 89 million miles (144 million kilometres) to deliver presents to all the good girls and boys around the world. That is the equivalent of flying his sleigh all the way from Earth to the sun in a single night. In order to leave some time for delivering presents, this means Santa would need to travel at 5.1 million miles per hour (8.2 million kmph), or 0.8 per cent of the speed of light. That incredible speed might also explain why Joly Saint Nick is able to fit his belly down a narrow chimney. According to Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity, objects travelling with Santa's sleigh will become compressed in size as they near the speed of light. But most strange of all, scientists say that, at this speed, Rudolf's famous nose wouldn't appear red at all. Scientists have calculated that Santa would need to cover 89 million miles (144 million kilometres) to deliver presents to all the children who celebrate Christmas. This is the equivalent of travelling almost all the way to the sun in a single night (stock image) Dr Laura Nicole Driessen, a radio astronomer from the University of Sydney, made these festive calculations based on a formula created by particle physicists from Fermilab in the 1980s. First Dr Driessen estimated the number of children that Santa would need to deliver presents to. There are approximately two billion children on Earth, but Christmas is only celebrated in some way in 93 per cent of countries we can assume that seven per cent of children don’t need presents. But, of course, even among those who celebrate Christmas not every child is good enough to warrant a visit from the man himself. Writing for the Conversation, Dr Driessen says: 'We know Father Christmas only delivers presents to those who truly believe. 'If we assume the same percentage of believers by age as found in the United States, that leaves us with approximately 690 million children.' And with about 2.3 children per household worldwide, Santa will need to stop at a minimum of 300 million homes tonight. 'Spreading those households evenly across 69 million square kilometres of habitable land area on Earth,' says Dr Driessen. In order to make that journey, Santa would need to travel at a minimum speed of 5.1 million miles per hour (8.2 million kmph), or 0.8 per cent of the speed of light. Pictured: The NORAD Santa Tracker 'Father Christmas has to travel 144 million kilometres on Christmas Eve. That’s nearly the same as the distance from Earth to the Sun.' That would be a very tall order if Father Christmas only had the 10 hours between 20:00 and 06:00 the next day when children in the UK are sleeping. Thankfully, he gets a few extra hours thanks to Earth’s rotation. If the children are evenly distributed around the globe, then Sata has at least 24 hours to travel from the make his way all around the planet. And, with the 11-hour difference in time zones between one side of the world and the other, Santa has a total of 35 hours from the first child falling asleep to the last waking up. Dr Driessen says: 'Let’s say Father Christmas uses half his time to zip in and out of each household, which gives him 17.5 hours total or 0.2 milliseconds per household. He uses the other 17.5 hours for travelling between households. 'My hypothesis is that he needs to travel at a whopping 8.2 million kilometres per hour, or 0.8 per cent of the speed of light, to drop off all the presents.' But if Santa wants some time to eat a mince pie and put his feet up and the end of the evening, Dr Driessen suggests he might have to travel significantly faster. Some of the strangest effects would occur when looking at the bright nose of Rudolf the reindeer. At this speed, scientists say it might not appear red at all (stock image) To deliver everything nice and fast, Santa could travel 10 per cent of the speed of light - or 66.5 million miles per hour (107 million kmph). However, at these speeds, things would start to get very weird for Father Christmas. Thanks to the theory of special relativity, from our perspective Santa and anything travelling with him would appear to be much skinnier than usual. Even though Einstein predicts that Santa would gain more mass as he gets faster, as he nears the speed of light he would get compressed in the direction he’s travelling – letting him slip down a chimney with ease. Dr Katy Sheen, a physicist in the geography department at the University of Exeter, has previously suggested this could also be why Santa always looks the same age. As objects near the speed of light, time moves slower from their frame of reference than in ours which means that Santa would age slower while travelling. Yet, thanks to something called the Dopler Effect, the strangest effects would occur if we were to look out for the bright light of Rudolf's nose. This is the same effect which means that an oncoming ambulance’s siren sounds higher pitched than it does once it has passed. The Dopler effect means that motion changes the frequency of the sound wave based on the direction of motion of its source. This is why ambulance sirens sound lower after they've passed us Due to the Dopler Effect, Rudolf would appear to have a bright orange nose as he flies towards you and a dark black nose as he flies away As the object races towards us, the waves are compressed making the pitch higher and as it moves away the waves stretch out to produce a lower tone. The faster something is moving the more pronounced this effect becomes which means that Rudolf’s breakneck flight will create an extraordinarily strong Dopler effect. Red-coloured light has a wavelength, the distance between one peak to the next, of 694.3 nanometres when its source is at rest. Flying at 10 per cent of the speed of light, we would see this light shift radically in either direction. Read More How to spot 'Santa' in the sky tomorrow as the International Space Station passes over the UK Dr Driessen says: 'At this speed, Rudolph’s nose would be blueshifted to bright orange (624 nanometres) as he was flying towards your home. 'And it would be redshifted to a very dark red (763 nanometres) as he was moving away. 'The darkest red human eyes can see is around 780 nanometres. At these speeds, Rudolph’s nose would be almost black.' That means no one on Earth would ever really get to see Rudolf's famous red nose. WHAT IS THE DOPPLER EFFECT? The Doppler Effect is a well-understood physical phenomenon which is also seen in astrophysics as the universe expands and creates 'redshifting' but is more commonly seen in sirens. For example, when a blaring ambulance or police car shoots past with its sirens on, they seem high-pitched as they approach you and then lower-pitched as they speed past. This is due to the compression of sound waves as they come closer, and they then stretch out as they grow more distant. A stretched-out sound wave has a greater wavelength, and therefore a lower frequency, resulting in an increasingly lower pitch. In astronomy, scientists use this effect to measure the speed of distant stars and planets. When light sources in space move away from us, their wavelengths are stretched out into the red end of the spectrum. Likewise, when something is moving towards us the light wave is compressed and the light shifts towards the blue part of the spectrum. By looking at this red and blue shift, we are able to work out how something is moving relative to Earth. For example, by measuring the red-shift of distant supernovae the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope have helped to calculate how fast the universe is expanding. Astronomers have also used this effect to work out whether a star is orbiting another. The Doppler effect, or Doppler shift, describes the changes in frequency of any kind of sound or light wave produced by a moving source with respect to an observer Christmas Earth Share or comment on this article: Scientists pinpoint just how fast Santa would have to travel to visit every child on the planet... and reveal why, at this speed, Rudolf's nose wouldn't be red e-mail Add comment
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NoneReddit's internal search engine is often criticized as one of the site's weakest features but the platform claims AI integration will make it "faster, smarter, and more relevant." Reddit Answers, which the site announced has begun rolling out to a limited number of users in the US today, allows redditors to "ask questions and receive answers using a new, AI-powered conversational interface" that returns "curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit ... including links to related communities and posts," the social media giant said in a blog post. Reddit didn't include much information about what it'll look like, with the blog post featuring only a single animated GIF of an example search for "tips for better sleep." If you use Google, you know perfectly well what this looks like: Google search results now surface bullet-pointed, AI-generated answers to many questions users ask, and the GIF included in Reddit's blog post suggests it operates in a similar way. However, in Reddit's case, the AI-powered results won't cull data from around the internet; instead, it will rely on posts and comments from the site to provide answers. Just like the ChatGPT does. Only a few users have been invited to the Answers beta, with Reddit promising an invitation to this vulture that has yet to materialize. If you're lucky enough to have access, you'll find the feature at reddit.com/answers , or on the Reddit homepage along with buttons for Home, Popular posts, Explore, and the like. The Answers feature is also available in the latest version of the Reddit app for iOS, where those with access will find it along the bottom of the home screen with buttons for Home, Communities, Chat and other features. No word on an Android release was provided. It's also not clear when it will be made more widely available, with a Reddit spokesperson only telling us the biz has plans to expand Answers to additional languages in the coming months. Reddit has been vocal about its plans to integrate AI into the site. In February, it announced a partnership with Google to provide post and comment data to the Chocolate Factory for its AI models, followed by signing a deal with OpenAI in May to integrate Reddit content into ChatGPT, too. Reddit told us that Answers is "Reddit-built tech and not based on a partnership," and while the company integrates models from OpenAI and Google, Answers is a model of its very own. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following Reddit since it went public in March: The social media giant finally turned a profit for the first time in its history in its third quarter of 2024, which ended in October, and AI has been credited with much of the reason for the boost. As we mentioned in our look at Reddit going all-in on AI, CEO Steve Huffman has had plenty to say about plans to integrate AI into Reddit's search engine, a site feature that has had no end of criticism from redditors. "[Search is] an important part of our strategy and will be a focused investment for us heading into 2025," Huffman said on the Q3 earnings call. "We'll start working [on] integrating LLMs into making our results more sophisticated ... you'll start to see this over the course of the next year," Huffman added. Redditors commenting on the news, however, don't seem as enthused as Huffman or investors about the prospect of AI Answers on Reddit. "So instead of finding a way to make Reddit search actually work and not be a flaming dumpster they turn to AI to try and fill in the blanks," one user opined in a thread discussing the Answers beta launch. Another poster noted that it was purely a move to please investors and VCs, while others predicted chaos as highly-upvoted sarcastic responses work their way into top results, à la suggestions to eat rocks or add glue to pizza cheese to help it stick. Reddit assured us that users don't need to worry about Answers ruining the site or subsuming the existing search function: It's not going away, so you're free to keep hating both. As for how well it works, we'll let you know if and when we get access. ®