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Apple facing $1.2 billion lawsuit for failing to stop distribution of child pornography
Number of Black students at Harvard Law drops by over half after SCOTUS ruling
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta , stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
South Korea is on the brink of a disaster if it doesn't take urgent steps; here's how it can navigate the massive problemJACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Greg McGarity had reason to be concerned. The Gator Bowl president kept a watchful eye on College Football Playoff scenarios all season and understood the fallout might affect his postseason matchup in Jacksonville. What if the Southeastern Conference got five teams into the expanded CFP? What if the Atlantic Coast Conference landed three spots? It was a math problem that was impossible to truly answer, even into late November. Four first-round playoff games, which will end with four good teams going home without a bowl game, had the potential to shake up the system. The good news for McGarity and other bowl organizers: Adding quality teams to power leagues — Oregon to the Big Ten, Texas to the SEC and SMU to the ACC — managed to ease much of the handwringing. McGarity and the Gator Bowl ended up with their highest-ranked team, No. 16 Ole Miss, in nearly two decades. "It really didn't lessen our pool much at all," McGarity said. "The SEC bowl pool strengthened with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. You knew they were going to push traditional SEC teams up or down. Texas ended up pushing just about everyone down." The long waiting game was the latest twist for non-CFP bowls that have become adept at dealing with change. Efforts to match the top teams came and went in the 1990s and first decade of this century before the CFP became the first actual tournament in major college football. It was a four-team invitational — until this year, when the 12-team expanded format meant that four quality teams would not be in the mix for bowl games after they lose next week in the first round. "There's been a lot of things that we've kind of had to roll with," said Scott Ramsey, president of the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. "I don't think the extra games changed our selection model to much degree. We used to look at the New York's Six before this, and that was 12 teams out of the bowl mix. The 12-team playoff is pretty much the same." Ramsey ended up with No. 23 Missouri against Iowa in his Dec. 30 bowl. A lot of so-called lesser bowl games do have high-profile teams — the ReliaQuest Bowl has No. 11 Alabama vs. Michigan (a rematch of last year's CFP semifinal), Texas A&M and USC will play in the Las Vegas Bowl while No. 14 South Carolina and No. 15 Miami, two CFP bubble teams, ended up in separate bowls in Orlando. "The stress of it is just the fact that the CFP takes that opening weekend," Las Vegas Bowl executive director John Saccenti said. "It kind of condenses the calendar a little bit." Bowl season opens Saturday with the Cricket Celebration Bowl. The first round of the CFP runs Dec. 20-21. It remains to be seen whether non-CFP bowls will see an impact from the new dynamic. They will know more by 2026, with a planned bowl reset looming. It could include CFP expansion from 12 to 14 teams and significant tweaks to the bowl system. More on-campus matchups? More diversity among cities selected to host semifinal and championship games? And would there be a trickle-down effect for everyone else? Demand for non-playoff bowls remains high, according to ESPN, despite increased focus on the expanded CFP and more players choosing to skip season finales to either enter the NCAA transfer portal or begin preparations for the NFL draft. "There's a natural appetite around the holidays for football and bowl games," Kurt Dargis, ESPN's senior director of programming and acquisitions, said at Sports Business Journal's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum last week in Las Vegas. "People still want to watch bowl games, regardless of what's going on with the playoff. ... It's obviously an unknown now with the expanded playoff, but we really feel like it's going to continue." The current bowl format runs through 2025. What lies ahead is anyone's guess. Could sponsors start paying athletes to play in bowl games? Could schools include hefty name, image and likeness incentives for players participating in bowls? Would conferences be willing to dump bowl tie-ins to provide a wider range of potential matchups? Are bowls ready to lean into more edginess like Pop-Tarts has done with its edible mascot? The path forward will be determined primarily by revenue, title sponsors, TV demand and ticket sales. "The one thing I have learned is we're going to serve our partners," Saccenti said. "We're going to be a part of the system that's there, and we're going to try to remain flexible and make sure that we're adjusting to what's going on in the world of postseason college football." Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Smith LOGO Representatives will meet with global partners to share market insights and discuss the company's unique supply chain solutions HOUSTON , Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith , a leading global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, today announces its attendance at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada . Company representatives will be on hand to meet with current and potential customers during the trade show, which runs from Tuesday, January 7 , to Friday, January 10, 2025 . CES, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is widely regarded as the world's premier technology showcase. The biggest names in consumer electronics and entertainment will gather to debut their newest products and cutting-edge innovations. "This is a great opportunity for us to shake hands with our customers, forge new relationships, and gain insights into their needs and the challenges they face within the semiconductor supply chain," said Todd Burke , Smith's President of Global Business Development. "We are excited to demonstrate how Smith's customized programs can help keep chip inventories in balance and how our open-market strategies can generate new revenue streams." Todd and his team will discuss the benefits of supplier diversification , robust inventory management , and staying ahead of market trends . "As artificial-intelligence products and services become more mainstream, demand will continue to rise for the components powering its processing capabilities," said Todd. "Smith's agile sourcing team, broad global reach, and decades of industry expertise underpin our ability to develop fully customizable solutions that help our customers avoid supply chain disruptions and support their success." Visit Smith's CES landing page to schedule a meeting. About Smith Founded in 1984, Smith is celebrating 40 years of Intelligent DistributionTM. As a leading independent distributor of electronic components, Smith sources, manages, tests, and ships billions of components to partners worldwide in every industry and vertical. Offering a comprehensive suite of flexible and scalable supply chain solutions, Smith identifies and delivers customized service programs to support its customers' success. The company's expertise is backed by decades of market data, cutting-edge technology, and a systems-based approach to quality excellence. Smith has generated more than USD $12.9 billion in global revenue since 2019 and ranks eleventh among all global distributors. Visit www.smithweb.com to learn more. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/meet-smith-at-ces-2025-in-las-vegas-302334000.html SOURCE SmithSezzle Inc. (SEZL) Investigated for Securities Fraud; Block & Leviton Encourages Investors ...Solstice Expands Expertise With Tree Of Life
The claim: Image shows bus crash that killed at least 135 people in December 2024 A Dec. 10 Facebook post ( direct link , archive link ) shows vehicles parked in a grassy field and billows of smoke and fire rising in the distance."BRЕAKING NEVVS (sic)! Horrific accident. At least 135 people have died after a truck collided with a bus!" the post's caption reads. It was shared more than 80 times in a day. Another Facebook post with the same claim was shared more than 300 times before it was deleted. More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page Our rating: False The image is miscaptioned. It's from 2021 and shows a fire at a chemical plant in Illinois that had no reported fatalities. There is no evidence of a bus crash in December 2024 that killed 135 or more people. Journalist shared image of chemical plant fire on social media in 2021 The photo in the post dates back to June 14, 2021, when it was shared on X , then Twitter, by news anchor Maggie Polsean. Her posts at the time make it clear the image shows a large fire at a Chemtool Inc. facility in Rockton, Illinois, about 95 miles west of Chicago. Polsean reported from the scene for local TV station 13 WREX . The fire forced emergency officials to establish a one-mile evacuation zone surrounding the plant, CNN reported . Seventy employees escaped to safety, the article said, and there were no reported fatalities. ABC News reported that two firefighters suffered minor injuries . There is also no evidence of any bus crash involving 135 or more deaths in December 2024. Any incident involving that number of victims would have garnered significant news coverage, but there are no credible reports about such an incident around the time the post was made. The Facebook user shared a link in the post's comments that provided no evidence supporting the claim. It links to a disreputable website article about a bus crash that killed 15 elderly passengers in Manitoba, Canada. That crash happened in June 2023, according to The Washington Post . Fact check : Viral video purporting to show Dec. 5 earthquake predates it by months The fire at the Illinois chemical plant started after a scissor lift hit a "pressure tap on a hot oil return pipe" and caused a leak, 13 WREX reported , citing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration . A Winnebago County judge approved a $94.5 million settlement in September in connection with the fire, WIFR reported . Residents living within three miles of the plant were eligible for compensation, the article said. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Lead Stories also debunked the claim. Our fact-check sources Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here . USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta .The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed by a vote of 281-140 and next moves to the Senate, where lawmakers sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. Lawmakers are touting the bill's 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. Lawmakers said service member pay failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. "No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that's exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "This bill goes a long way to fixing that." The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators wanted to increase defense spending about $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a "tremendous loss for our national defense," though he agreed with many provisions in the bill. "We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it," Wicker said. House Republicans don't want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many nondefense programs. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a "very real problem." He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, proved effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. "These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives," Smith said. "And in this bill, we decided we're going to bar service members' children from having access to that." Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson's office insisted on the ban and said the provision "taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation." Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, "I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates." Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, "and yet, here it is in this bill." Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team did not tell Democrats how to vote on the bill. "There's a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well," Jeffries said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January.Berkshire Partners Managing Director Ted Rainaud Named to GrowthCap's 2024 “Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors” List
Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission says merger could harm market competition and raise consumer costs Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has blocked Uber Technologies’ $950 million purchase of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda business on the island, citing anti-competition concerns. The FTC announced the decision on Wednesday, stating that the deal would harm market competition by eliminating the rivalry between Taiwan’s main food delivery competitors, UberEats and Foodpanda. FTC Vice Chairman Chen Chih-min said the merger would give UberEats less pressure to compete, making it easier to raise prices for consumers and increase commissions for restaurants. He added that the combined market share of UberEats and Foodpanda in Taiwan would exceed 90%. The deal, announced in May, included a separate agreement for Uber to buy $300 million worth of newly issued shares from Delivery Hero. Uber expected the acquisition to add $150 million annually to its delivery business’s adjusted core profit within a year of closing, which was expected in early 2025. Foodpanda had reported break-even adjusted core earnings in Taiwan for the year ending March 31, 2024. While food delivery platforms form a small part of Taiwan’s overall food market, the FTC emphasized the importance of maintaining competition in this sector. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );
Jammu, Dec 25: To weed out ineligible beneficiaries, a five-member panel will conduct verification of all beneficiaries enrolled in the Public Distribution System (PDS) database in every district of J&K. To be constituted at the district level, amid reports about cancellation of 1.27 lakh fake ration cards during 2013-2024, these panels will verify the eligibility of all beneficiaries enrolled in the database, in light of applicable rules and ensure weeding out of ineligible beneficiaries there from. These committees have been given one month’s time to submit their reports in this regard to the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs. Besides weeding out ineligible beneficiaries, the panels will also ensure inclusion of left-out eligible beneficiaries, if any identified, in appropriate groups or categories under PDS. Each district level such panel will comprise Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned as chairperson and Assistant Commissioner, Revenue; Assistant Commissioner, Development and District Social Welfare Officer as its members. Assistant Director, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS & CA) will be the member secretary. The chairperson may co-opt any other member, as deemed appropriate, to the panel. The panels have been mandated to ensure completion of e-KYC of all pending beneficiaries eligible under PDS. Notably, recently, the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, while giving a detailed account of deleted fake ration cards between 2013 to 2024, across the country, in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, had informed that 1,27, 872 (bogus) ration cards were deleted in J&K during this period (from 2013 to 2024). Out of total 5,87,22,894 such deleted ration cards across the country, maximum fake ration cards i.e., 1,93,54,572 were cancelled in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal 85.59 lakh; Maharashtra 46.12 lakh and Andhra Pradesh 43.68 lakh ration cards. In between, J&K also witnessed a wordy duel between the NC Government and Kashmir based opposition political parties in the wake of “certain reports circulated in the social media about some Government order cancelling around 1.5 lakh BPL ration cards.” People Democratic Party (PDP) and few other Kashmir based parties used these “reports in circulation on social media” to slam the J&K government led by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, thus forcing the latter to come out with a strong rejoinder as well as counter attack against them (PDP and other opposition parties) for “spreading canards.” Even the FCS&CA Department issued a long rejoinder in this connection denying issuing any such order. Terming the assertion totally fabricated and based on false assumptions, the Department stated, “The figure being quoted in the said video does not even match the actual deletion figure of 1.27 lakh cited in media reports for having been reported to the parliament recently with regard to fake and duplicate ration card deletions in Jammu and Kashmir since 2013.” “These are in fact the deletions carried out in the past, over 10 years in J&K as a part of reforms pursued by the Government of India across the country. Elimination of bogus and duplicate ration cards and beneficiaries is an essential requirement under targeted PDS control order of Government of India, which is now being established through technology interventions like Aadhaar seeding, eKYC and through field verification,” it was stated. It was pointed out that as a result of accelerated Aadhaar seeding, pursued by the Department, huge duplication of ration cards and beneficiaries was established leading to deletion of such ration cards and beneficiaries over the years. “At the same time, bringing the left out eligible beneficiaries under the PDS cover has also been seriously pursued by the Department and this effort has also led to the addition of 8.6 lakh eligible beneficiaries to PDS in J&K since shifting to a dependable Ration Card Management System in September, 2022,” it was mentioned. As per the information shared by the department, the number of beneficiaries under NFSA, who are provided free food grains every month, has gone up from 66.37 lakh to 66.59 lakh during the last three months in J&K. “Additionally, the Department has also pursued, in a mission mode, the inclusion of left out JK registrants on e-Shram Portal so that none such registrant who is eligible under PDS for free or subsidised food grains, remains uncovered,” the department stated, while sharing statistics. According to it, a mammoth exercise for matching of nearly 34.80 lakh such registrants in J&K was carried out in coordination with NIC and every registrant who remained unmatched with PDS database, was approached by the Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs and Labour & Employment Department for securing their inclusion. “Of these, nearly 34.40 lakh registrants are presently availing benefits under PDS or other schemes, and remaining forty thousand, could not either be traced by the Department or they refused to share their details and documents, despite making efforts in coordination with respective district administrations,” it was pointed out. “The Department is making arrangements for providing free food grains every month to 66.59 lakh beneficiaries under NFSA and for providing highly subsidised food grains to another group of 31.81 lakh beneficiaries in the Non Priority Households category, which implies that 98.40 lakh people are presently benefitted under PDS every month in J&K,” it added. Notably, the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) governed under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) is operated under the joint responsibility of the central and the State or Union Territory (UT) Governments. The operational responsibilities for allocation of food-grains within the States or UTs, identification of eligible beneficiaries’ families, issuance of ration cards to them, distribution of food-grains to eligible beneficiaries under TPDS, supervision over and monitoring of functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) etc., rest with the concerned State or UT Governments.
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — Khaden Bennett's 23 points helped Quinnipiac defeat Sacred Heart 83-73 on Sunday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — Khaden Bennett's 23 points helped Quinnipiac defeat Sacred Heart 83-73 on Sunday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — Khaden Bennett’s 23 points helped Quinnipiac defeat Sacred Heart 83-73 on Sunday. Bennett added five rebounds for the Bobcats (5-5, 2-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Amarri Tice added 19 points while shooting 6 for 16 (2 for 11 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line while they also had five rebounds and eight steals. Paul Otieno shot 5 of 9 from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points, while adding three blocks. Amiri Stewart led the Pioneers (4-6, 1-1) in scoring, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Anquan Hill added 15 points for Sacred Heart. Bryce Johnson also had 11 points. Quinnipiac plays Tuesday against Holy Cross at home, and Sacred Heart hosts Albany (NY) on Wednesday. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. Advertisement
Capitals are rolling along without Alex Ovechkin thanks to depth that has kept them a contenderPearl Diver Credit Company Inc. Announces Offering of Series A Preferred Stock