TORONTO, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mattr Corp. (“Mattr” or the “Company”) (TSX: MATR) confirmed today that it has successfully closed its previously announced private offering (the “Offering”) of debt subscription receipts (the “Subscription Receipts”) for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $129.3 million. The Offering proceeds, less the underwriters’ fee and expenses, are being held in escrow pending the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions, following which, the Subscription Receipts will convert into Notes, as described below. Mattr intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to pay a portion of the purchase price for the Company’s previously announced indirect acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of all of the issued and outstanding shares of AmerCable Incorporated. Subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, Mattr expects the closing of the Acquisition to occur during the first quarter of 2025. In order to facilitate an orderly settlement of the Offering, the number of Subscription Receipts issued pursuant to the Offering has been modified to 125,000,000 (from the previously announced 125,000). Holders of the Subscription Receipts will be entitled to receive, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions and without payment of additional consideration or further action, a newly authenticated 7.25% senior unsecured note of the Company due April 2, 2031, in a principal amount of $1,000 (collectively for all Subscription Receipts, the “Notes”) per 1,000 Subscription Receipts held. The Notes issued upon the conversion of the Subscription Receipts shall be issued as “Additional Notes” pursuant to the trust indenture dated April 2, 2024, between TSX Trust Company and the Company, as supplemented by a supplemental indenture, such that, following the issuance thereof, $300 million aggregate principal amount of 7.25% senior unsecured notes of the Company due April 2, 2031, will be outstanding. The Subscription Receipts were offered through TD Securities and National Bank Financial Markets. The Subscription Receipts were offered for sale in Canada to accredited investors on a private placement basis, in accordance with Canadian securities laws. The Subscription Receipts were not registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any state securities laws, and were offered and sold in the United States to qualified institutional buyers only, pursuant to Rule 144A of the U.S. Securities Act, and outside of the United States in accordance with Rule 903 of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. Mattr is a growth-oriented, global materials technology company broadly serving critical infrastructure markets, including transportation, communication, water management, energy and electrification. Its two business segments: Composite Technologies and Connection Technologies, enable responsible renewal and enhancement of critical infrastructure while lowering risk. For further information, please contact: Meghan MacEachern VP, External Communications & ESG Telephone: 437.341.1848 Email: Website: www.mattr.com Source: Mattr Corp.Illinois bill aims to reduce state requirements for name changes (copy)Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have faced a turbulent 2024, marked by persistent rumours about their personal lives and public image. As speculation about their relationship continues, PR expert Ed Coram-James believes the Sussexes can recover their reputations with a strategic reset. Meghan, who once compared her bond with Harry to “salt and pepper”, has seen her solo ventures fuel talk of a split. Despite Harry publicly denying such claims at a New York event, the narrative of marital strain remains strong. In an interview with The Mirror, Coram-James described the couple’s brand as “tainted beyond repair” due to poor PR strategies and constant backlash. However, he noted that a focused approach could help them regain public trust. The Sussexes have significant plans for 2025, including Meghan’s American Riviera Orchard brand launch and Harry’s Invictus Games in Canada. Coram-James urged the couple to focus on these ventures while avoiding overexposure. The PR expert suggests Meghan prioritises impactful philanthropic work over flashy projects, while Harry should distance himself from controversies tied to Meghan. What Harry-Meghan Could Do Coram-James suggests Meghan should return to acting to reshape her image and distance herself from royal controversies. A comeback in Hollywood , paired with a stronger emphasis on her work in women’s rights, could help her re-establish herself as a trailblazer. For Harry, Coram-James emphasised the importance of focusing on his passions, such as veterans’ welfare and conservation. Initiatives like the Invictus Games, where his authenticity shines, could help him reconnect with the public while carving out an independent identity. While sceptics remain doubtful, Coram-James argues that leveraging their individual strengths could be the key to a fresh start. Whether the couple will adopt these strategies and turn 2025 into a year of transformation remains to be seen. For now, the spotlight remains firmly on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they navigate their next chapter.
Boon raises $20.5M to build agentic AI tools for fleets
Xavier Bell scores 29 to lead Wichita State over Friends University 87-72Another stowaway caught on Delta flight raises major concerns about airport safetyThe Biden administration has imposed sanctions on the founder of Georgia’s ruling political party, which has steered the country away from a pro-Western stance and towards Russia, US officials said. The US State and Treasury departments said they hit Georgian Dream party founder and honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili with penalties “for undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian Federation”, according to a statement. The designation of Mr Ivanishvili is the latest in a series of sanctions the US has placed on Georgian politicians and others this year. Those sanctions include freezes on assets and properties those targeted may have in US jurisdictions or that might enter US jurisdictions as well as travel bans on the targets and members of their families. “We strongly condemn Georgian Dream’s actions under Ivanishvili’s leadership, including its ongoing and violent repression of Georgian citizens, protesters, members of the media, human rights activists, and opposition figures,” the State Department said in a statement. “The United States is committed to promoting accountability for those undermining democracy and human rights in Georgia.” Mr Ivanishvili is a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia and served briefly as Georgia’s prime minister. In 2012, he founded Georgian Dream, Georgia’s longtime ruling party. Critics have accused Georgian Dream of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted towards Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBT+ rights, prompting the European Union to suspend Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely. In October, Georgian Dream won another term in a divisive parliamentary election that has led to more mass protests. Last month, the country’s prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced a four-year suspension of talks on Georgia’s bid to join the European Union, fuelling further public outrage.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump says he told Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky during a Christmas Day visit that he should run for prime minister of Canada. “I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in ice-hockey circles,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Wednesday afternoon. “I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for prime minister of Canada, soon to be known as the governor of Canada — you would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’ He had no interest,” Trump wrote. His comment about being governor of Canada refers to Trump repeatedly suggesting the country become a U.S. state, which Ottawa insists is a joke. Trump added that it would be “fun to watch” if Canadians launched a movement to get the retired hockey player to seek office. The Canadian Press has tried to contact Gretzky through his agents. Experts have said that Ottawa is rightfully focused on the prospect of damaging tariffs under the looming Trump presidency instead of pushing back on rhetoric about annexing or purchasing Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leads a minority government that could be toppled by a confidence vote next year, following the surprise resignation of finance minister Chrystia Freeland. Trump also expressed Christmas greetings to Trudeau, again referring to him as a governor and claiming that Canadians would see a tax cut of more than 60 per cent if the country became an American state. “Their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other country anywhere in the world,” Trump wrote in a post that also alluded to his desire to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal. Gretzky has previously backed Conservative politicians, such as former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown during his run for the party leadership. During the 2015 federal election, Conservative leader Stephen Harper interviewed Gretzky in front of hundreds of supporters as the Tories unsuccessfully sought re-election. At the event, Gretzky told Harper he thought he had been an “unreal prime minister” who had been “wonderful to the whole country.” Gretzky later said he always follows a prime minister’s request, regardless of political stripe, noting he had once hosted a lunch for former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Xavier Bell had 29 points in Wichita State's 87-72 victory over Friends University on Sunday. Bell shot 11 of 16 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Shockers (10-3). Quincy Ballard added 17 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Corey Washington totaled 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Collin Maclin finished with 18 points for the Falcons. Cahlese Lee added 11 points and two steals. Randy Woolf Jr. recorded 10 points, five assists and two steals. Wichita State took the lead with 8:30 left in the first half and never looked back. Bell led his team in scoring with 21 points in the first half to help put them up 45-36 at the break. Wichita State pulled away with a 12-1 run in the second half to extend a nine-point lead to 20. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Penny chose not to testify and defense lawyers rested their case Friday at his trial in the death of an agitated man he choked on a subway train. Closing arguments are expected after Thanksgiving in the closely watched manslaughter case about the death of Jordan Neely , 30. The encounter between Penny, a white Marine veteran, and Neely, a homeless Black man with mental health and drug problems, has been drawn into U.S. political divides over race, public safety and cities’ ability to handle mental illness and social ills. Penny, 26, has pleaded not guilty. Many criminal defendants don't take the stand, and juries are routinely instructed that they cannot hold defendants' silence — a constitutional right — against them. One of Penny’s lawyers, Daniel Kenniff, noted after court that jurors did hear from Penny, in the form of his recorded statements to police minutes and hours after he put Neely in a chokehold. “Virtually everything he said then is consistent with credible testimony of his fellow passengers," Kenniff said. Penny told police that he wrapped his arm around Neely's neck, took him to the floor and “put him out” because he was angrily throwing things and making threatening comments. Penny said on police video that he hadn't wanted to injure Neely but rather to keep him from hurting anyone else. A number of other passengers testified that they were scared of Neely and relieved that Penny grabbed hold of him. A man who later stepped in and held down Neely's arms, however, told jurors that he urged Penny to let go but that the veteran kept choking Neely for a time. Prosecutors say Penny meant to protect people but recklessly used too much force, overlooking Neely's humanity and making no effort to spare his life. City medical examiners ruled that the chokehold killed Neely. A pathologist hired by Penny's defense disputed that finding . Prosecutors, defense lawyers and the judge are set to meet Monday to hash out jury instructions.
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom and MONTREAL and VANCOUVER, British Columbia and BASEL, Switzerland, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Epitopea, a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies, and Genevant Sciences, a leading nucleic acid delivery company with world-class platforms and a robust and expansive lipid nanoparticle (LNP) patent portfolio, today announced that they have entered into a collaboration and nonexclusive license agreement to develop novel mRNA-LNP immunotherapies targeting Epitopea’s proprietary aberrantly-expressed tumor specific antigens (aeTSAs), called Cryptigens , for an undisclosed oncology indication. “At Epitopea we continue to accelerate our near-term clinical development plans for our next generation, tumor selective, off-the-shelf, RNA-based immunotherapies that we believe have the potential to extend the durability of clinical responses in patients. Access to world-class LNP delivery technology in support of our vision is critical. Genevant is a longstanding leader in the LNP space, and we are excited about the translational path forward,” said Alan Rigby, Chief Executive Officer of Epitopea. “Our clinically validated LNP technology and decades of experience in the space make us a partner of choice for innovative RNA-based immunotherapy companies,” said James Heyes, Chief Scientific Officer of Genevant Sciences. “We are delighted to be collaborating with the Epitopea team and supporting its mission to extend the durability of clinical response in cancer patients.” Under the terms of the agreement, Genevant granted to Epitopea a nonexclusive worldwide license to certain Genevant LNP technology to develop RNA-based immunotherapies targeting Epitopea’s CryptigenTM TSAs in an undisclosed oncology indication. Genevant is eligible to receive up to $123.5 million in upfront and contingent milestone payments per product and tiered royalties ranging from the mid to high single digits on future product sales. Dr. Alan C. Rigby – CEO Katja Stout +44 7789 435990 Daniel Gooch +44 7747 875479 Epitopea is a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies for use in hard-to-treat cancers by targeting a new class of untapped tumor-specific antigens, which are known as CryptigenTM TSAs, that are broadly shared across multiple patients with the same tumor type. Epitopea has created an extensive library of novel CryptigenTM TSAs, discovered by its proprietary CryptoMapTM platform that leverages immunopeptidomics, genomics, and a bioinformatics pipeline, allowing the identification of aberrantly expressed, tumor-specific antigens (aeTSAs) that are hidden within cancer’s ’junk’ DNA. These hidden CryptigenTM TSAs were first discovered through research led by Drs. Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal. Epitopea is backed by leading life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Le Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, adMare BioInnovations, Jonathan Milner, the Harrington Discovery Institute, IRICoR and Novateur Ventures. Epitopea was founded in 2021 and consists of sister companies based in Cambridge, UK and in Montreal, Canada. For additional information, please visit and follow Epitopea on . Genevant Sciences is a leading nucleic acid delivery company with world-class platforms, a robust and expansive lipid nanoparticle (LNP) patent portfolio, and decades of experience and expertise in nucleic acid drug delivery and development. Genevant’s scientists have pioneered LNP delivery of nucleic acids for over 20 years, and Genevant’s LNP platform, which has been studied across more than a dozen discrete product candidates and is the delivery technology behind the first and only approved systemic RNA-LNP product (patisiran), enables a wide array of RNA-based applications, including vaccines, therapeutic protein production, and gene editing. For more information, please visit .Pep in their step: Gwangju's V League team hits milestone with sixth win
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"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" To keep reading, please log in to your account, create a free account, or simply fill out the form below.Stories that topped them all: From submerged vehicles, homemade explosives, senior pranks and new elementary schools – here are the stories that defined 2024