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kinds of casino games 4 analysts have shared their evaluations of Sight Sciences SGHT during the recent three months, expressing a mix of bullish and bearish perspectives. The table below summarizes their recent ratings, showcasing the evolving sentiments within the past 30 days and comparing them to the preceding months. Bullish Somewhat Bullish Indifferent Somewhat Bearish Bearish Total Ratings 1 0 3 0 0 Last 30D 0 0 1 0 0 1M Ago 1 0 1 0 0 2M Ago 0 0 1 0 0 3M Ago 0 0 0 0 0 In the assessment of 12-month price targets, analysts unveil insights for Sight Sciences, presenting an average target of $5.15, a high estimate of $5.50, and a low estimate of $4.60. Observing a downward trend, the current average is 17.86% lower than the prior average price target of $6.27. Breaking Down Analyst Ratings: A Detailed Examination A clear picture of Sight Sciences's perception among financial experts is painted with a thorough analysis of recent analyst actions. The summary below outlines key analysts, their recent evaluations, and adjustments to ratings and price targets. Analyst Analyst Firm Action Taken Rating Current Price Target Prior Price Target Joanne Wuensch Citigroup Lowers Neutral $4.60 $5.80 Danielle Antalffy UBS Announces Buy $5.50 - Cecilia Furlong Morgan Stanley Lowers Equal-Weight $5.00 $7.00 Matt O'Brien Piper Sandler Lowers Neutral $5.50 $6.00 Key Insights: Action Taken: Responding to changing market dynamics and company performance, analysts update their recommendations. Whether they 'Maintain', 'Raise', or 'Lower' their stance, it signifies their response to recent developments related to Sight Sciences. This offers insight into analysts' perspectives on the current state of the company. Rating: Analysts unravel qualitative evaluations for stocks, ranging from 'Outperform' to 'Underperform'. These ratings offer insights into expectations for the relative performance of Sight Sciences compared to the broader market. Price Targets: Gaining insights, analysts provide estimates for the future value of Sight Sciences's stock. This comparison reveals trends in analysts' expectations over time. Considering these analyst evaluations in conjunction with other financial indicators can offer a comprehensive understanding of Sight Sciences's market position. Stay informed and make well-informed decisions with our Ratings Table. Stay up to date on Sight Sciences analyst ratings. If you are interested in following small-cap stock news and performance you can start by tracking it here . Unveiling the Story Behind Sight Sciences Sight Sciences Inc is an ophthalmic medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of surgical and nonsurgical technologies for the treatment of prevalent eye diseases. Its Surgical Glaucoma segment's product portfolio features the OMNI Surgical System, a device that facilitates the performance of both canaloplasty and trabeculotomy with a single device and single corneal incision to reduce intraocular pressure in adult patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. The company's Dry Eye segment's product portfolio consists of the TearCare System for ophthalmologists and optometrists. It derives key revenue from the Surgical Glaucoma segment. A Deep Dive into Sight Sciences's Financials Market Capitalization Analysis: Below industry benchmarks, the company's market capitalization reflects a smaller scale relative to peers. This could be attributed to factors such as growth expectations or operational capacity. Positive Revenue Trend: Examining Sight Sciences's financials over 3 months reveals a positive narrative. The company achieved a noteworthy revenue growth rate of 0.74% as of 30 September, 2024, showcasing a substantial increase in top-line earnings. In comparison to its industry peers, the company trails behind with a growth rate lower than the average among peers in the Health Care sector. Net Margin: Sight Sciences's net margin surpasses industry standards, highlighting the company's exceptional financial performance. With an impressive -54.9% net margin, the company effectively manages costs and achieves strong profitability. Return on Equity (ROE): Sight Sciences's ROE surpasses industry standards, highlighting the company's exceptional financial performance. With an impressive -11.26% ROE, the company effectively utilizes shareholder equity capital. Return on Assets (ROA): Sight Sciences's ROA is below industry standards, pointing towards difficulties in efficiently utilizing assets. With an ROA of -7.55%, the company may encounter challenges in delivering satisfactory returns from its assets. Debt Management: Sight Sciences's debt-to-equity ratio is below the industry average at 0.37 , reflecting a lower dependency on debt financing and a more conservative financial approach. The Basics of Analyst Ratings Analyst ratings serve as essential indicators of stock performance, provided by experts in banking and financial systems. These specialists diligently analyze company financial statements, participate in conference calls, and engage with insiders to generate quarterly ratings for individual stocks. Some analysts also offer predictions for helpful metrics such as earnings, revenue, and growth estimates to provide further guidance as to what to do with certain tickers. It is important to keep in mind that while stock and sector analysts are specialists, they are also human and can only forecast their beliefs to traders. Breaking: Wall Street's Next Big Mover Benzinga's #1 analyst just identified a stock poised for explosive growth. This under-the-radar company could surge 200%+ as major market shifts unfold. Click here for urgent details . This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a former and potentially future president, Donald Trump hailed what would become Project 2025 as a road map for “exactly what our movement will do” with another crack at the White House. As the blueprint for a hard-right turn in America became a liability during the 2024 campaign, Trump pulled an about-face . He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans written in part by his first-term aides and allies. Now, after being elected the 47th president on Nov. 5, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the detailed effort he temporarily shunned. Most notably, Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy . Those moves have accelerated criticisms from Democrats who warn that Trump's election hands government reins to movement conservatives who spent years envisioning how to concentrate power in the West Wing and impose a starkly rightward shift across the U.S. government and society. Trump and his aides maintain that he won a mandate to overhaul Washington. But they maintain the specifics are his alone. “President Trump never had anything to do with Project 2025,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “All of President Trumps' Cabinet nominees and appointments are whole-heartedly committed to President Trump's agenda, not the agenda of outside groups.” Here is a look at what some of Trump's choices portend for his second presidency. The Office of Management and Budget director, a role Vought held under Trump previously and requires Senate confirmation, prepares a president's proposed budget and is generally responsible for implementing the administration's agenda across agencies. The job is influential but Vought made clear as author of a Project 2025 chapter on presidential authority that he wants the post to wield more direct power. “The Director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the President’s mind,” Vought wrote. The OMB, he wrote, “is a President’s air-traffic control system” and should be “involved in all aspects of the White House policy process,” becoming “powerful enough to override implementing agencies’ bureaucracies.” Trump did not go into such details when naming Vought but implicitly endorsed aggressive action. Vought, the president-elect said, “knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State” — Trump’s catch-all for federal bureaucracy — and would help “restore fiscal sanity.” In June, speaking on former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Vought relished the potential tension: “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” The strategy of further concentrating federal authority in the presidency permeates Project 2025's and Trump's campaign proposals. Vought's vision is especially striking when paired with Trump's proposals to dramatically expand the president's control over federal workers and government purse strings — ideas intertwined with the president-elect tapping mega-billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump in his first term sought to remake the federal civil service by reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers — who have job protection through changes in administration — as political appointees, making them easier to fire and replace with loyalists. Currently, only about 4,000 of the federal government's roughly 2 million workers are political appointees. President Joe Biden rescinded Trump's changes. Trump can now reinstate them. Meanwhile, Musk's and Ramaswamy's sweeping “efficiency” mandates from Trump could turn on an old, defunct constitutional theory that the president — not Congress — is the real gatekeeper of federal spending. In his “Agenda 47,” Trump endorsed so-called “impoundment,” which holds that when lawmakers pass appropriations bills, they simply set a spending ceiling, but not a floor. The president, the theory holds, can simply decide not to spend money on anything he deems unnecessary. Vought did not venture into impoundment in his Project 2025 chapter. But, he wrote, “The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government. Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.” Trump's choice immediately sparked backlash. “Russ Vought is a far-right ideologue who has tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to override the spending decisions of Congress (and) who has and will again fight to give Trump the ability to summarily fire tens of thousands of civil servants,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and outgoing Senate Appropriations chairwoman. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said Vought wants to “dismantle the expert federal workforce” to the detriment of Americans who depend on everything from veterans' health care to Social Security benefits. “Pain itself is the agenda,” they said. Trump’s protests about Project 2025 always glossed over overlaps in the two agendas . Both want to reimpose Trump-era immigration limits. Project 2025 includes a litany of detailed proposals for various U.S. immigration statutes, executive branch rules and agreements with other countries — reducing the number of refugees, work visa recipients and asylum seekers, for example. Miller is one of Trump's longest-serving advisers and architect of his immigration ideas, including his promise of the largest deportation force in U.S. history. As deputy policy chief, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, Miller would remain in Trump's West Wing inner circle. “America is for Americans and Americans only,” Miller said at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Oct. 27. “America First Legal,” Miller’s organization founded as an ideological counter to the American Civil Liberties Union, was listed as an advisory group to Project 2025 until Miller asked that the name be removed because of negative attention. Homan, a Project 2025 named contributor, was an acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during Trump’s first presidency, playing a key role in what became known as Trump's “family separation policy.” Previewing Trump 2.0 earlier this year, Homan said: “No one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” John Ratcliffe, Trump's pick to lead the CIA , was previously one of Trump's directors of national intelligence. He is a Project 2025 contributor. The document's chapter on U.S. intelligence was written by Dustin Carmack, Ratcliffe's chief of staff in the first Trump administration. Reflecting Ratcliffe's and Trump's approach, Carmack declared the intelligence establishment too cautious. Ratcliffe, like the chapter attributed to Carmack, is hawkish toward China. Throughout the Project 2025 document, Beijing is framed as a U.S. adversary that cannot be trusted. Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, wrote Project 2025's FCC chapter and is now Trump's pick to chair the panel. Carr wrote that the FCC chairman “is empowered with significant authority that is not shared” with other FCC members. He called for the FCC to address “threats to individual liberty posed by corporations that are abusing dominant positions in the market,” specifically “Big Tech and its attempts to drive diverse political viewpoints from the digital town square.” He called for more stringent transparency rules for social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and “empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any.” Carr and Ratcliffe would require Senate confirmation for their posts.In the harsh light of his cell, alone and near death, Simon Cartwright pressed the intercom. Water, he pleaded. He needed water. “Please, please, just give me a chance, please,” he said, according to call logs provided to the coroner. On the other end of buzzer, the prison guards were getting irritated. They’d shut off the water to Simon’s cell deliberately. It was being used as a bargaining chip, an inquest would later find, by guards who had a limited understanding of his severe and untreated mental illness. Simon . “Yeah, this is really entertaining actually,” a guard joked after one of Simon’s frantic pleas. “Yeah, keep buzzing up actually – this is keeping me entertained.” They found Simon the next day, naked on a mattress in the middle of his cell. He was cold to the touch. Despite being in an observation cell designed for 24/7 surveillance at Sydney’s Silverwater jail, rigor mortis had set in by the time anyone realised he was dead. A nurse who had rushed to the cell, responding to a request for medical assistance, wrote in her report that Simon had been dead for a “prolonged period”. His death was needless, a coroner would find. He was suffering from chronic peptic ulcer disease and had an ulcer in his small intestine. It was highly treatable. A drug called pantoprazole, administered at any point before the 25th day of his 30-day stay in Silverwater, would most likely have saved him, according to a gastroenterologist expert witness. But prison staff inexplicably missed all signs pointing to serious illness. Simon was extremely thin, to the point of malnourishment, and was recorded on CCTV clutching himself in pain and collapsing to the ground, although this was not observed by guards. He told guards he was struggling to breathe. Prison health staff had failed to make even a cursory check of their own records. Those records showed he had a history of gastric ulcers, infection and vomiting blood. Instead they wrongly answered “no” to a prompt of “history of gastrointestinal conditions?” during Simon’s intake assessment. The untreated ulcer penetrated surrounding organs in the weeks that followed, according to autopsy notes provided to the inquest. Bacteria entered Simon’s bloodstream and he went into septic shock, dying sometime on 19 September 2021. His grieving family have spent the years since trying to find answers. Their journey has led them to an incontrovertible truth – one that sits at the foundation of everything that went wrong. Simon should not have been in Silverwater. He should have been in hospital. Sixteen days before his death a psychiatrist had invoked the state’s mental health laws to order Simon be transferred to hospital for treatment for his unmedicated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. No bed could be found, something the coroner would describe as a “gross systemic failure”. He was locked up for a month in a cell designed to be used for no more than 48 hours, and mocked by guards who withheld water from an emaciated man as punishment for behaviour they did not understand. “It was torture,” Simon’s sister Clare tells Guardian Australia. In her hospital bed at Lingard Private, in the beachside Newcastle suburb of Merewether, Simon’s elderly mother, Frances, had reason to smile. It was her birthday, 20 September 2021, and two of her three daughters, Michele and Alison, had just turned up. She thought they had managed to bypass Covid restrictions to pay her a surprise birthday visit. One look at their faces changed her mind. “I thought they had been given special permission as visitors were not allowed,” Frances wrote. “However, on closer look realised they were to give me bad news and I immediately knew it was Simon – a mother’s premonition.” At that stage, Frances didn’t even know her son had been in prison. None of his family did. Alison was the first to find out. Police officers told her about her brother’s incarceration when they knocked on the door of her Gosford home to tell her he was dead. The next day she and Michele travelled north to see their mother. The sisters could offer no explanation of what had happened. “That was the worst thing I have ever had to do,” Michele says. It was the beginning of a never-ending period of grief for Frances. The news triggered a desperate search for answers. Information was not forthcoming. The New South Wales government took months to release details. In December Justice Health, which runs health services at NSW correctional facilities, briefed the family on the results of its internal serious adverse event review. This raised more questions than it gave answers. The family wanted to know, among other things, why there were huge stretches of “unaccounted” hours where no recorded observations were made of Simon, and why more wasn’t done to investigate his physical health. Frances wrote a furious letter to the then corrections minister, Geoff Lee. She described her son’s treatment as worse than that of a dog. She asked for a more thorough investigation. “To be told that Simon had been found dead at 8pm on the 19th was one of the worst moments of my life,” she wrote to the minister on 27 January 2022. “Just thinking of Simon dying all alone with no family was unbearable.” She received an automatic receipt, promising the minister would respond within 28 days. When the 28 days passed without reply, Frances sent the letter again. She received nothing back. Simon was a smart kid, his sisters agree. They remember a child who loved music and loved to dance. He grew up in Tamworth, the youngest of six children. His closest sibling was 10 years his senior. Frances always told the kids it made raising Simon a dream. She had five pairs of hands eager to help. “He was a gorgeous little baby who everyone spoiled from day one,” Clare tells Guardian Australia. “He was a really loved kid. And he was very smart, probably because he had all his siblings pushing him along. He was bright, really friendly, outgoing social boy.” Things changed in his teenage years after he began using cannabis. “It just changed him, it changed the way he looked at life,” Clare said. “Keeping him at school was difficult, he just struggled.” The strain on his parents became overwhelming. His siblings tried to help. At one point Clare brought him up to the Gold Coast for rehab. She lost count of the times the family set him up in an apartment, furnishing it for him, and hoping for stability. “I don’t know what the percentage was of good to bad,” she said. “But there were lots of years where he was stable and he was still, sometimes, mentally challenged with his emotions.” In 2008, at age 28, Simon was diagnosed with schizophrenia and in 2013 he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When his parents moved from Tamworth to Wollongong, Simon followed, getting a unit in a public housing estate. “The move to Wollongong was the start of some more serious times when he was in a mental health hospital and then back out,” Clare said. “Then the cycle of good and bad would begin.” In July 2020 a new psychiatrist at Shellharbour hospital abruptly departed from the decade-long diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, reclassifying Simon’s condition as a personality disorder and polysubstance use disorder. The antipsychotic medications he had been taking for years were discontinued. Simon’s longstanding psychologist expressed concern about the sudden change. Records tendered to the inquest show the psychologist warned that Simon would become a problem for police and “potentially could go to gaol” if his psychiatric condition was not properly managed. That prediction was realised just six months later. In January 2021 Simon lit a fire in a neighbour’s apartment and was remanded briefly in Silverwater. At that point, prison staff noted his history of gastric ulcers and infection, vomiting blood and weight loss, obtaining records from two hospitals that had treated him. They had prescribed pantoprazole. All of these records would be available to prison health staff seven months later, when Simon returned to Silverwater. After 13 days on remand, the court deemed him not criminally responsible for the fire, due to his serious mental ill health, and sent him for treatment at Cumberland hospital in Parramatta. Discharge notes handed to the inquest suggest the treatment was effective. “On assessment at the day of discharge, Simon was well-kempt, polite and co-operative,” they read. “Engaged well and maintained a good eye contact. Speech was well articulated, coherent with normal rate, rhythm and tone. Did not exhibit any psychotic or pervasive mood symptoms.” Clare said her brother often responded well to treatment. It made him stable and able to spend time with the rest of the family. It gave them hope. He’d come to Christmases and weddings. He’d help Frances with her vacuuming. She’d do his washing. “He was good for long periods of time but that was on medication,” she said. “The medication had bad side-effects, so he’d self-medicate or come off the medications, and then the cycle of getting into trouble [would begin again].” On 19 August 2021 Simon was sent back to Silverwater. He’d been arrested on relatively minor charges of trespass, intimidation and resisting arrest. On 3 September a psychiatrist used the state’s mental health laws to order Simon be transferred to Long Bay forensic hospital, 40 minutes across Sydney, for involuntary treatment. “Care of an appropriate kind is not available in a correctional centre as he is refusing treatment in this setting,” the psychiatrist wrote. Experts told the inquest that, had such an order been made for someone in an emergency department, they would generally receive appropriate treatment within four hours. Delays of more than 24 hours would be rare. Delays beyond two days would be regarded as a significant failure of the system. There were no beds left at Long Bay. Simon languished in a queue for weeks. On 7 September he was still behind eight others waiting for a bed. A week later he was second on the list for transfer. Five days later he was still stuck at Silverwater. The inquest was told the delay was “unimaginable in Australia”. The deputy state coroner Erin Kennedy found that, had Simon been transported to Long Bay, his physical health would have been more closely monitored and the ulcer would probably have been detected and treated. Instead he was kept in his cell alone . It was, in the words of one psychiatric expert, a torture-like setting for a man suffering untreated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The lights never went out. The surfaces were hard and cold. The noise and chaos spilling in from Silverwater’s Darcy wing was constant. The surveillance camera was always on. Ordinarily, inmates are not held on the wing for more than 48 hours. Simon was there for almost a month. At times, Simon was recorded as being doubled over in pain. He collapsed to the floor repeatedly. For long stretches he sat with his head in his hands. Guards reported him muttering “biblical things” they couldn’t understand. Transcripts of his intercom exchanges show a man confused and afraid. “You have to understand I’m struggling to breathe,” he told the guards the day before he died. Five minutes later, he buzzed for help again. “Yeah, um, sorry, just give me a sec, I’m standing in front – just give me a few minutes to breathe,” he said. A guard responded: “You’re not doing yourself a favour. Just go to sleep.” Clare and her family have watched the CCTV recordings and listened to the intercom exchanges of Simon’s final days. She says these will stay with her for ever. “He must have been in so much pain to die of sepsis in the last 48 hours, to be so unwell and to be refused water, just the basic human need of water,” she said. “It’s just, it can’t be comprehended.” Clare counted the 19 times that her brother pleaded for water over two days. Guards had shut off the water after Simon left a tap running, flooding the cell. On the evening before his death one told him they would give him water if he stayed silent. “Cartwright, is that you?” the guard asked. “Cartwright, listen. If you be quiet for half an hour and stop knocking up I’ll turn the water on.” Simon waited an hour and a half then rang again. “What is your 300th medical emergency for the night?” the guard responded. Simon pleaded: “Can you turn the water on!” The guard said: “If you aren’t knocking up so much I’ll do it.” Simon begged: “Please!” The last request for water came at 7.48pm. “Medical?” the guards responded. Simon again asked: “Can you turn the water on please?” The guard said: “If you don’t behave like that we will.” The voice in the recordings was barely recognisable to Simon’s family. “It was just so strained and pleading and begging,” Clare says. The prison had no formal policy or procedure governing the restriction of water to cells, the inquest found. Sometime in the year of Simon’s death, a requirement was introduced that compelled guards to get approval by a manager and document such a decision in an accommodation journal. There is no evidence that the requirement was in place at the time of Simon’s death. Simon had not been convicted of any crime. He remained innocent in the eyes of the law. Even if he were convicted, the inquest heard, there was little indication he would have been sentenced to imprisonment. He could have been diverted for mental health treatment and sent to a hospital by the courts, as had happened previously, or given a non-custodial sentence. He was by no means a hardened criminal. “He was one of the most vulnerable in our community,” the coroner wrote. Clare has a vivid memory of her brother’s funeral. He was laid to rest in Newcastle. Covid restrictions meant Clare could not get across the Queensland border. She was forced to watch a video stream. On it she saw her mother sitting on her own, weeping. Frances was forced to grieve alone, separate from the rest of the family, because of social distancing rules. “Seeing my mum just sitting there hunched over on her own, sitting on her own, not even having someone sit next to her and hold a hand – it’s just the most memorable thing in my mind,” Clare says The family still knew little about what had happened. It robbed them of any semblance of closure. “You know, we’re burying our brother and we’re like, ‘What happened?’” Clare says. “You know, you can’t say farewell when there’s just questions in your head: ‘Why are we burying him? We don’t know why.’” Clare was dealing with trauma of her own when she found out her brother was dead. Her husband had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Between treatments, the couple jumped in a caravan and hit the road. Clare described their trip through the outback as “a bucket-list thing”. They got as far as Julia Creek in north-western Queensland when Clare’s sister called. “It’s almost numbing – you just don’t expect to get that call about your siblings,” she says. “Especially our youngest brother. In the back of your mind for so many years, you’re thinking, ‘is Simon going to get better and get himself on his feet or one day are we going to find out that something has happened to him, or he’s disappeared?’” “It was just this feeling of total numbness, the shock that one of us had passed away out of the six of us.” The CCTV camera in Simon’s cell captured several distressing scenes the day before his death. On three occasions he collapsed to the floor. The first time he stumbled and fell backwards over his toilet, remaining on the ground for two minutes. Three and a half hours later he fell while walking towards his bed. He stayed on the ground for two minutes. An hour and a half later he stood up from the bed then fell backwards. He fell again while trying to get to his knees, this time lying on his side for five minutes before getting up. No one in the jail noticed, the inquest found. “You don’t need to be a medical person to see how much pain he was in, anyone could see just how much he was suffering,” Michele says. “His whole experience in the facility by those who were supposedly looking after him was inhumane.” About 9pm that evening, Simon covered his cell’s CCTV camera. Staff testified that steps are usually taken within an hour to uncover surveillance cameras. It took three shifts and almost 24 hours for the camera to be uncovered. Physical checks of the cell were not much better. On the day of Simon’s death, CCTV recordings showed the guard on duty looking into the cell for about four seconds at 2.17pm. He didn’t stand outside the cell and look in again for five hours. The guard used the intercom about 3.41pm to ask Simon to uncover the camera. He received no response. About two hours later, he tried again: “Hey, mate, 37. Cartwright. Cartwright, wake up.” Again, there was no response. Nobody bothered to conduct a physical check. “Although in ostensibly a 24 hour surveillance cell, he was in fact not being observed, nor indeed observable, 24 hours a day,” the coroner wrote. “In the days leading up to his death no one identified that Simon was in fact in urgent need of medical attention. His falls were not observed, his weakened state was not investigated. “The seriousness and urgency of his condition was missed.” After Simon’s death was discovered, the guard on duty filled out an observation form that wrongly suggested that electronic observations had been conducted at 30-minute intervals, the inquest found. The guard later accepted that the form was “not an accurate representation of his observations”. He said he had created the document in an attempt to “neat up” a scrappy piece of paper he had been using to record his checks on Simon. He also made “misleading” statements about his physical checks on Simon, which he later accepted as being “false”. The inquest found that, even with proper checks on that final day, Simon may not have survived. “The fact that Simon lay dying and dead on a cell floor, for long enough that he was not found until there were clearly no indications of life, despite supposedly being subject to the highest level of monitoring within the gaol, is both alarming, and carries its own particular trauma for Simon’s family,” the coroner found. Simon’s mother waited almost three years for an inquest into her son’s death. The family felt it was their only real avenue to the truth. Frances, a pensioner, tried to obtain legal aid so they could be represented in the coronial process but was rejected. It was a decision that infuriated them. They travelled to Sydney for the hearings in May and August this year. They sat in the courtroom, despite invitations to leave, as Simon’s last moments were played to the court, and then prepared a moving statement for the inquest: We are changed forever by the circumstances surrounding his death. Beyond the lack of health care provided the fact that a staff member unilaterally chose to deny Simon water after multiple pleading requests is appalling and a disregard for his basic human rights. We can only regret the many missed opportunities to save him and the thought of what he would have suffered will haunt us forever. The statement was repeated, almost in full, in the coroner’s concluding remarks. Her findings were delivered this month. They are damning. Kennedy found that Simon could have been saved. She was highly critical of the decision to withhold water from him. “Simon’s death was preventable,” she found. “This inquest highlights that [Corrective Services NSW] is not and should not be placed in a position to care for a mentally ill person. Once Simon was scheduled arrangements should have been made to provide medical care.” She recommended that guards on duty be told the reason that inmates are placed in observation cells. She said it was “unfair” that guards were not explicitly given this information, but accepted that it was available to them if they looked for it. She recommended that formal policies be implemented to govern the practice of restricting water to cells and to ensure that prisons monitor food and fluid intake. Justice Health was told to “give consideration” to recommending transfers of mentally unwell patients to external hospitals when no beds at a designated facility are available. The coroner recommended mandating mental health first aid training to officers staffing observation cells. She also recommended that guards be told at the start of their shifts why each inmate is in an observation cell. Justice Health said it acknowledged the pain caused by Simon’s loss and extended its sincere condolences to his family. “We are sorry for the distress experienced by Mr Cartwright’s family and will carefully consider the Coroner’s findings and recommendations before providing a formal response to the Attorney General,” a spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the current corrections minister, Anoulack Chanthivong, said the death was a “tragic loss” to Cartwright’s family and loved ones, and said “we offer them our deepest sympathies”. Corrective Services NSW’s formal response to the inquest will be released at a later date. But the spokesperson said a number of reforms have already been implemented since Cartwright’s death, including establishing a specialised observation suite at Silverwater’s remand centre to monitor at-risk inmates electronically; updating observations policies for at-risk inmates; and implementing a mandatory requirement for control room officers to document and record emergency response activities. Corrective Services is also trialling a new proof of life monitoring technology to detect vital signs, including heart and respiration rates. It has commenced a review of its policies regarding the restriction of water to prison cells. It will also aim to improve its supervision of inmates held in assessment cells for more than 48 hours and is investigating further mental health training for guards. “Corrective Services NSW takes seriously its duty of care to inmates who they are tasked with keeping safe and secure while under supervision,” the spokesperson said. “Any conduct that jeopardises the health or wellbeing of inmates or staff is completely unacceptable and inconsistent with the extremely high standard of behaviour that the minister expects.” “Corrective Services NSW will follow the expert advice of Justice Health in respect to the clinical management of inmate physical and mental health issues, and placement in specialised mental health beds.” It is understood the Corrective Services NSW professional standards unit is also assessing the inquest report to determine whether to take action. The coroner’s findings have come too late for Frances. She died last month at the age of 87, about two weeks before the decision was handed down. “My mother was always at the forefront of finding out what happened to Simon,” Clare says. “Her grief was endless and her regular questions and follow-up with me ensured that we wrote a response to the initial [serious adverse event review] report.” Clare says the inquest has given the family a partial sense of justice. They have nothing but praise for the police investigation and the crown lawyers who worked to find out what had happened. But she says she feels like there have been no real consequences. “It feels like a bit of a slap on the wrist, you know, that they’ve been told that they probably should do things better,” she said. “But really, is that enough when they’ve let someone die in those circumstances?

The Fabric and Apparel Accessory Manufacturer’s Association (FAAMA), a subsidiary association of the Joint Apparel Association Forum of Sri Lanka (JAAF), hosted its 17th Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2024, at Jetwing Colombo Seven on October 29. The chief guest was the Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka, Doug Sonnek and the guest of honour was Chairman of JAAF, Saif Jafferjee. Representatives of JAAF member associations including JAAF Secretary General Yohan Lawrence, BOI Director General Mrs. Renuka M. Weerakoon and Director General of the Central Environmental Authority, P.B. Hemantha Jayasinghe were also present. Outgoing Chairman Pubudu de Silva outlined the association’s progress over the past financial year ending March 31, 2024. He highlighted several challenges faced by the textile and apparel industry due to uncertain global demand, brought about by geopolitical tensions and economic fluctuation. He said that these challenges greatly impacted supply chains and costs of raw material. Despite these challenges, Sri Lanka’s apparel was the largest contributor to the local economy. He outlined FAAMA’s pivotal role in the apparel industry, emphasising the fact that the association is working closely with stakeholders and government to implement favourable policies for the apparel industry. The Association would continue its focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives such as beach clean ups and ocean strainers. FAAMA hopes to strengthen its partnership with JAAF and further expand global demand for Sri Lankan apparel, he said. Chairman of JAAF, Saif Jafferjee said the JAAF, in spite of the challenges, will continue to collaborate with FAAMA to strengthen the apparel industry and turn Sri Lanka’s apparel industry into an USD $8 billion industry over the next two years. Chief guest, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Doug Sonnek said, “The United States is proud to be Sri Lanka’s top export market, with $2.8 billion in goods exported to the U.S. in 2023. Organisations such as FAAMA play a critical role in strengthening our bilateral economic relations. By promoting good governance, supporting workers’ rights, and advancing environmental sustainability, FAAMA is not only driving the apparel industry forward but also contributing to Sri Lanka’s long-term economic resilience and growth. The United States looks forward to continuing our partnership to create opportunities and prosperity for both our nations.” The new office-bearers: Chairman Samal Dissanaike, Secretary Shahid Sangani, Treasurer Suranga Gallage, Vice Chair 1 Niroshan Samarasinghe, Vice Chair 2 Vasu Wijegoonawardene. Exco members: Beauno Fernando, Jonah Goh, Husni Salieh, Chamila Bakmeewewa, Sanjaya Weerasinghe, Harin Gabriel, Shehan Olegarasam.

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WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies. The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump takes office Jan. 20. Then-President Donald Trump looks to Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as she speaks during a Jan. 11, 2018, prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins would succeed Tom Vilsack , President Joe Biden’s agriculture secretary who oversees the sprawling agency that controls policies, regulations and aid programs related to farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as his former domestic policy chief. She is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. Rollins, 52, previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Brooke Rollins, assistant to the president and director of the Domestic Policy Council at the time, speaks during a May 18, 2020, meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Rollins’ pick completes Trump’s selection of the heads of executive branch departments, just two and a half weeks after the former president won the White House once again. Several other picks that are traditionally Cabinet-level remain, including U.S. Trade Representative and head of the small business administration. Trump didn’t offer many specifics about his agriculture policies during the campaign, but farmers could be affected if he carries out his pledge to impose widespread tariffs. During the first Trump administration, countries like China responded to Trump’s tariffs by imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports like the corn and soybeans routinely sold overseas. Trump countered by offering massive multibillion-dollar aid to farmers to help them weather the trade war. President Abraham Lincoln founded the USDA in 1862, when about half of all Americans lived on farms. The USDA oversees multiple support programs for farmers; animal and plant health; and the safety of meat, poultry and eggs that anchor the nation’s food supply. Its federal nutrition programs provide food to low-income people, pregnant women and young children. And the agency sets standards for school meals. Brooke Rollins speaks at an Oct. 27 campaign rally for then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has vowed to strip ultraprocessed foods from school lunches and to stop allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries from using food stamps to buy soda, candy or other so-called junk foods. But it would be the USDA, not HHS, that would be responsible for enacting those changes. In addition, HHS and USDA will work together to finalize the 2025-2030 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They are due late next year, with guidance for healthy diets and standards for federal nutrition programs. ___ Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Josh Funk and JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report. Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat. Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement. The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea. Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration. She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute. Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda. Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic. She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race. Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day. In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation. “There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump . He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign. The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines . For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction. He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending. “This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district. As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency. The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs. Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social. Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration. The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate. Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields. Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement. Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. “I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency . Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X , “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added. During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration. In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband. Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission. Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment. Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile. If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah. “He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.” Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East. The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud." Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday. The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. “Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner , was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign. Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate. Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign. Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Blair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president. Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago. Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president. Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency. McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump's first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee's election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign. In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.KINGSTON, Ont. — Felipe Forteza went from delivering hits to making kicks for the Laval Rouge et Or this season. The linebacker-turned-kicker showed a veteran's poise with his boot on Saturday, kicking a Vanier Cup record six field goals to lift Laval to a 22-17 win over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks at Richardson Stadium. "The defence did its job and the offence put me in the right position to do it," said Forteza, who was named game MVP. "So I'm stoked." Quarterback Arnaud Desjardins was 34 of 42 for 320 passing yards to help the Rouge et Or win their second Vanier Cup in three years and record 12th overall. It was the first loss of the year for the Golden Hawks, who last won a Canadian university football title in 2005. Laval set the early tone with some big defensive plays and Desjardins was in fine early form, completing his first 22 pass attempts. Forteza split the uprights five times in the first half as Laval took a 17-7 lead into the intermission. Forteza broke the record with his sixth field goal with 2:31 remaining. His only miss was a 32-yard attempt in the final minute. The Golden Hawks ran the ball out of the end zone but didn't threaten again. "We didn't score touchdowns but we moved the ball very well," said Laval coach Glen Constantin. "We flipped the field on these guys." Forteza did some part-time kicking in high school but this was his first season kicking field goals on a regular basis. The Rouge et Or coaching staff liked his powerful leg and helped him with the transition. "It was a bit heartbreaking for me because I like hitting people," Forteza said. "I like being intense and that job is really about being calm and trying to stay healthy." "I like the position," he added. "I like the pressure of it and I like the preparation. I like the hard work and being able to kick that (well) during a game." Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma, who won the Hec Crighton Trophy as most outstanding player this season, had a quiet opening quarter before settling in and throwing touchdown passes to Ryan Hughes and Jaxon Stebbings. Elgersma was 23 of 34 for 246 yards but was sacked five times. "Our game plan was just to be us and execute," he said. "Obviously we didn't do that well enough today." Laurier had an 8-0 record in the regular season and outscored its opposition 128-76 over its first three playoff wins. Laval entered at 10-1 overall (7-1, 3-0) and was coming off two close victories over the last two weeks. A near-capacity crowd at the 8,000-seat Queen's University venue had an even split of Laurier and Laval supporters. The weather co-operated after two days of showers in the area. It was cloudy and 8 C at kickoff. Desjardins marched the Rouge et Or deep into Laurier territory on Laval's first possession before settling for an 18-yard field goal by Forteza. Laval used a no-huddle offence in the early going with Desjardins frequently using dump passes to great effect. A 15-yarder from Forteza with 2:54 left in the first quarter made it 6-0. The potent Rouge et Or defence, which led U Sports with just 106 points allowed in the regular season, showed its form as Jordan Lessard forced a fumble from Elgersma that the Golden Hawks recovered. On the next play, Ndeki Garant-Doumambila walloped the Laurier pivot with a ferocious sack. "We know what it takes to get here and what it takes to win these games," he said. Laurier didn't record a first down until late in the first quarter. Laval's special-teams play was also on point. Forteza booted a 65-yard punt and the Rouge et Or coverage swarmed returner Tayshaun Jackson, forcing him down at the Laurier one-yard line. The Golden Hawks would concede a safety to make it 8-0. Forteza added to the lead at 7:01 with a 35-yard field goal. Jackson gave Laurier some life when he broke for a 51-yard run to the Laval five-yard line. Hughes took a shovel pass from Elgersma and sprinted for the corner of the end zone to put Laurier on the scoreboard with 4:57 left in the half. Forteza made a 32-yard field goal with 2:33 remaining. After a Jackson fumble, he added a 42-yard kick 24 seconds later to make it 17-7. The Golden Hawks came out with more jump in the third quarter. Elgersma found Ethan Jordan for a 45-yard reception to highlight a 93-yard drive capped by Stebbings' three-yard TD catch and a Dawson Hodge conversion. Laval took a 19-14 lead when Laurier conceded a safety to open the fourth quarter. Hodge made it a two-point game when he hit a 34-yard field goal with 8:26 left. A pivotal play came with 4:57 remaining when Laval's Loic Brodeur forced a fumble at midfield. He knocked the ball out of Elgersma's hands and Garant-Doumambila recovered. "We focused, we believed in it, and experience," Garant-Doumambila said. "That's what did it for us." The Golden Hawks fell to 2-4 in national championship game appearances while Laval improved to 12-2. The 2025 Vanier Cup will be played in Regina. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024. Follow @GregoryStrongCP on X. Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press

Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. “We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir’s loved ones during this difficult time,” said a statement from OpenAI. Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said “appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation.” The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide. His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a “happy, smart and brave young man” who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends. Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT. “Suchir’s contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn’t have succeeded without him,” said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what made him such an exceptional engineer and scientist was his attention to detail and ability to notice subtle bugs or logical errors. “He had a knack for finding simple solutions and writing elegant code that worked,” Schulman wrote. “He’d think through the details of things carefully and rigorously.” Balaji later shifted to organizing the huge datasets of online writings and other media used to train GPT-4, the fourth generation of OpenAI's flagship large language model and a basis for the company's famous chatbot. It was that work that eventually caused Balaji to question the technology he helped build, especially after newspapers, novelists and others began suing OpenAI and other AI companies for copyright infringement. He first raised his concerns with The New York Times, which reported them in an October profile of Balaji . He later told The Associated Press he would “try to testify” in the strongest copyright infringement cases and considered a lawsuit brought by The New York Times last year to be the “most serious.” Times lawyers named him in a Nov. 18 court filing as someone who might have “unique and relevant documents” supporting allegations of OpenAI's willful copyright infringement. His records were also sought by lawyers in a separate case brought by book authors including the comedian Sarah Silverman, according to a court filing. “It doesn’t feel right to be training on people’s data and then competing with them in the marketplace,” Balaji told the AP in late October. “I don’t think you should be able to do that. I don’t think you are able to do that legally.” He told the AP that he gradually grew more disillusioned with OpenAI, especially after the internal turmoil that led its board of directors to fire and then rehire CEO Sam Altman last year. Balaji said he was broadly concerned about how its commercial products were rolling out, including their propensity for spouting false information known as hallucinations. But of the “bag of issues” he was concerned about, he said he was focusing on copyright as the one it was “actually possible to do something about.” He acknowledged that it was an unpopular opinion within the AI research community, which is accustomed to pulling data from the internet, but said “they will have to change and it’s a matter of time.” He had not been deposed and it’s unclear to what extent his revelations will be admitted as evidence in any legal cases after his death. He also published a personal blog post with his opinions about the topic. Schulman, who resigned from OpenAI in August, said he and Balaji coincidentally left on the same day and celebrated with fellow colleagues that night with dinner and drinks at a San Francisco bar. Another of Balaji’s mentors, co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, had left OpenAI several months earlier , which Balaji saw as another impetus to leave. Schulman said Balaji had told him earlier this year of his plans to leave OpenAI and that Balaji didn't think that better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence “was right around the corner, like the rest of the company seemed to believe.” The younger engineer expressed interest in getting a doctorate and exploring “some more off-the-beaten path ideas about how to build intelligence,” Schulman said. Balaji's family said a memorial is being planned for later this month at the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, not far from his hometown of Cupertino. —————- EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. —————-- The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.

SINGAPORE , Nov. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Amber DWM Holding Limited ("Amber DWM"), the holding entity of Amber Group's digital wealth management business, known as Amber Premium ("Amber Premium"), today announced that it has entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited ("iClick" or the "Listco") (NASDAQ: ICLK) and Overlord Merger Sub Ltd. ("Merger Sub"), a Cayman Islands exempted company and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of the Listco. Under the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into Amber DWM, with Amber DWM continuing as the surviving entity and becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Listco (the "Merger"). Amber DWM's shareholders will exchange all of their issued and outstanding share capital for a mix of newly issued Class A and Class B ordinary shares of the Listco on the terms and conditions set forth therein in a transaction exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act of 1933. Wayne Huo , Chief Executive Officer and Director of Amber DWM , said: " We are thrilled to embark on this transformative journey with iClick. This merger represents a significant milestone, bringing together Amber Premium's expertise in digital wealth management and iClick's innovative marketing technology. Together, we aim to redefine the digital financial ecosystem, delivering unparalleled value to our clients and stakeholders. By bridging the worlds of blockchain, fintech and digital marketing, we are unlocking new opportunities to revolutionize how value is created and exchanged in the digital economy ." The transaction values Amber DWM at US$360 million and the Listco at US$40 million by equity value on a fully diluted basis (assuming completion of certain restructuring as set forth in the Merger Agreement). Upon closing of the Merger (the "Closing"), the Amber DWM shareholders and the Listco shareholders (including holders of ADSs) will own approximately 90% and 10%, respectively, of the outstanding shares of the combined company, or 97% and 3% voting power, respectively. The Merger Agreement also contemplates that, upon the Closing, the Listco will change its name to "Amber International Holding Limited" and adopt the tenth amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the Listco, in each case immediately before the effective time of the Merger (the "Effective Time"), following which the authorized share capital of the Listco shall only consist of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares (with different voting powers but equal economic rights), a par value of US$0.001 each. Please refer to the Merger Agreement filed as Exhibit 99.2 to the Form 6-K furnished by the Listco to the SEC on November 29, 2024 for more details. The Listco's board of directors (the "Board") approved the Merger Agreement and other transaction documents, including but not limited to the voting agreement entered into by and among certain shareholders of the Listco (who holds approximately 36% of the outstanding shares representing 71% voting power of the Listco as of the date of this press release), the Listco and Amber DWM (the "Voting Agreement") (collectively, the "Transaction Documents"), and the transactions contemplated thereunder (the "Transactions"), with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors. The Board also resolved to recommend that the Listco's shareholders vote to authorize and approve the Transaction Documents and the Transactions when they are submitted for shareholder approval. In connection with the Transaction, each of the shareholders of Amber DWM immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger is entering into a lock-up agreement with the Listco pursuant to which they have agreed not to transfer the shares received in consideration of the Merger for a period of 12 months following the Merger closing. The completion of the Transactions is subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, including, among other things, receipt of the Listco's shareholder approval and regulatory/stock exchange approvals (if applicable). The Merger Agreement provides for a long-stop date for any party to terminate the agreement if the Merger is not completed by June 30, 2025 . " This merger represents a transformative opportunity to broaden our business portfolio by integrating Amber Premium's state-of-the-art digital wealth management solutions. By uniting iClick's robust data analytic and enterprise software expertise with Amber Premium's advanced digital wealth management services, we aim to unblock synergies between traditional finance and the rapidly evolving digital asset ecosystem, particularly benefitting corporate and high net worth individual clients ", said Mr. Jian Tang , Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of iClick . The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement and the Voting Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety to the full text of the Merger Agreement and the Voting Agreement, which are filed as Exhibits 99.2 and 99.3 to the Form 6-K furnished by the Listco to the SEC on 29, 2024, respectively. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as U.S. legal counsel to Amber DWM. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is serving as U.S. legal counsel to iClick. About Amber Premium Amber Premium, the business brand behind Amber DWM Holding Limited, is a leading digital wealth management platform offering private banking-level solutions tailored for the dynamic crypto economy. Serving a premium clientele of esteemed institutions and qualified individuals, Amber Premium develops and supports innovative digital wealth management products. Its institutional-grade access and operations makes it the top choice for one-stop digital wealth management services, providing tailored, secure solutions that drive growth in the Web3 economy. About iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited Founded in 2009, iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited (NASDAQ: ICLK) is a renowned online marketing and enterprise solutions provider in Asia . With its leading proprietary technologies, iClick's full suite of data-driven solutions helps brands drive significant business growth and profitability throughout the full consumer lifecycle. For more information, please visit https://ir.i-click.com . Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements." These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the pending transactions described herein, and the parties' perspectives and expectations, are forward-looking statements. The words "will," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "plan" and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and shareholders and other potential investors must recognize that actual results may differ materially from the expectations as a result of a variety of factors. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are hard to predict or control, that may cause the actual results, performance, or plans to differ materially from any future results, performance or plans expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) risks related to the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the proposed transaction, including the risk that the transaction may not close due to one or more closing conditions to the transaction not being satisfied or waived; (ii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the applicable transaction agreements; (iii) the risk that there may be a material adverse change with respect to the financial position, performance, operations or prospects of the Listco, Amber DWM or the combined entity; (iv) risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction; (v) the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of the Listco's securities; (vi) the risk that the proposed transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of Amber DWM or the combined entity to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally; (vii) any changes in the business or operating prospects of Amber DWM and the combined entity or their businesses; (viii) changes in applicable laws and regulations; and (ix) risks relating to Amber DWM's and the combined company's ability to enhance their services and products, execute their business strategy, expand their customer base and maintain stable relationship with their business partners. A further list and description of risks and uncertainties can be found in the proxy statement that will be filed with the SEC by the Listco in connection with the proposed transactions, and other documents that the parties may file or furnish with the SEC, which you are encouraged to read. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date they were made, and the Listco, Amber DWM and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made except as required by law or applicable regulation. No Offer or Solicitation This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the transactions described above and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of Amber DWM, the Listco or the combined company, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. Participants in the Solicitation The Listco, Amber DWM and their respective directors and executive officers may also be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of the Listco in connection with the proposed transaction. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the proposed transaction will be included in the proxy statement pertaining to the proposed transaction when it becomes available for the proposed transaction. Additional Information and Where to Find It The Listco will file with the SEC and mail to its shareholders a proxy statement in connection with the proposed transaction. Investors and securityholders are urged to read the proxy statement when it becomes available because it will contain important information regarding the proposed arrangement. You may access the proxy statement (when available) and other related documents filed by the Listco with the SEC at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . You also may obtain the proxy statement (when it is available) and other documents filed by the Listco with the SEC relating to the proposed arrangement for free by accessing the Listco's website at ir.i-click.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amber-groups-subsidiary-amber-dwm-holding-limited-and-nasdaq-listed-iclick-interactive-asia-group-limited-enter-into-a-definitive-merger-agreement-302319082.html SOURCE Amber GroupAre Wall Street Analysts Predicting W.W. Grainger Stock Will Climb or Sink?

Regulators are looking to block Google from investing $2 billion in Antrophic , a Jeff Bezos -backed rival to artificial intelligence (AI) innovator OpenAI . What Happened : The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended in a court filing Wednesday that Alphabet Inc ‘s GOOG GOOGL Google divest its Chrome browser to dismantle its monopoly on online search. It doesn’t end there. Google should be barred from doing any deals with companies that control where consumers search for information, regulators say. That includes AI products. This puts Google's Anthropic investment at risk, according to Bloomberg , citing unnamed sources. Also Read: Nvidia’s Post-Earnings Jitters: Can NVDA Stock Regain Its AI-Fueled Momentum? Google boasts over 91% global market share when it comes to online search, per GlobalStats . Why It Matters : Google needs Anthropic, or startups like it. Without it, Google is at a disadvantage, considering every major tech company is essentially in an AI arms race. Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launch in late 2022, tech giants have heavily invested in AI startups. But Google’s Anthropic deal is raising concerns overseas as well. Last month, U.K. antitrust officials announced an investigation into whether Google’s pursuit of Anthropic could harm competition . Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN managed to avoid scrutiny. The UK’s competition regulator recently approved the partnership between Amazon and Anthropic, despite the Seattle-based company’s significant $4 billion investment in the company. Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed the partnership does not fall under its jurisdiction. Microsoft Corp MSFT also appeased regulators when it relinquished its board observer role at OpenAI. The Redmond, Washington-based company invested over $10 billion in the AI startup. What’s Next : A decision on whether the UK will require further investigation is expected by Dec. 19. In the U.S., Google plans to appeal Judge Amit Mehta ‘s antitrust ruling in August . Mehta’s decision could ultimately lead to Google divesting segments of its business, including Chrome . Price Action: Alphabet was down 4.5% to $169.24 on Thursday. Now Read: MicroStrategy Surges 674% In 2024: 5 ETFs That Benefit From MSTR’s Bitcoin-Driven Growth Image: Shutterstock © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Blessed youngers who inspired with the wonder of the universe will never stand alone. In prosperous future of tomorrow with the pool of knowledge, initially the Leo Club of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology launched their first and grand phase of project “Vidu hastha” on last December 2024 at the SLIIT premises itself with school student participation and guest speakers from Foundation of Astronomical studies and Exploration (FASE). Far more importantly, the project was mainly focused on the theme of Astronomy and Astrophysics under the category of Quality education and literacy via the students got to know about the practical knowledge in telescope making. Also, there was a rapid question round which was to test the students’ understanding of the theory behind the telescope making. The workshop concluded as its first phase not only with the knowledge but also with the passion that encourages students to engage in both leadership and extracurricular activities. Together with all, Leo Club of SLIIT now hopes to go beyond the tradition with their upcoming projects while unleashing new point of view.