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US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems? DALLAS (AP) — Delta and United Airlines have become the most profitable U.S. airlines by targeting premium customers while also winning a significant share of budget travelers. That is squeezing smaller low-fare carriers like Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Some travel industry experts think Spirit’s troubles indicate less-wealthy passengers will have fewer choices and higher prices. Other discount airlines are on better financial footing but also are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Most industry experts think Frontier and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum if Spirit shrinks, and that there's still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking. Bitcoin ticks closer to $100,000 in extended surge following US elections NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin is jumping again, setting another new high above $99,000. The cryptocurrency has been shattering records almost daily since the U.S. presidential election, and has rocketed more than 40% higher in just two weeks. It's now at the doorstep of $100,000. Cryptocurrencies and related investments like crypto exchange-traded funds have rallied because the incoming Trump administration is expected to be more “crypto-friendly.” Still, as with everything in the volatile cryptoverse, the future is hard to predict. And while some are bullish, other experts continue to warn of investment risks. Supreme Court steps into fight over FCC's $8 billion subsidies for internet and phone services WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has stepped into a major legal fight over the $8 billion a year the federal government spends to subsidize phone and internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas, in a new test of federal regulatory power. The justices on Friday agreed to review an appellate ruling that struck down as unconstitutional the Universal Service Fund. The Federal Communications Commission collects money from telecommunications providers, who then pass the cost on to their customers. The Biden administration appealed the lower court ruling, but the case probably won’t be argued until late March. At that point, the Trump administration will be in place and it is not clear whether it will take a different view of the issue. Stock market today: Wall Street gains ground as it heads for a winning week Stocks gained ground on Wall Street, keeping the market on track for its fifth gain in a row. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% in afternoon trading Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 333 points and the Nasdaq composite was essentially flat. Retailers had some of the biggest gains. Gap soared after reporting quarterly results that easily beat analysts' estimates. EchoStar fell after DirecTV called of its purchase of that company's Dish Network unit. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. Crude oil prices gained ground. Australia rejects Elon Musk's claim that it plans to control access to the internet MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian Cabinet minister has rejected X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s allegation that the government intends to control all Australians' access to the internet through legislation that would ban young children from social media. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Friday that Musk’s criticism was “unsurprising” after the government introduced legislation to Parliament that would fine platforms including X up to $133 million for allowing children under 16 to hold social media accounts. The spat continues months of open hostility between the Australian government and the tech billionaire over regulators’ efforts to reduce public harm from social media. Parliament could pass the legislation as soon as next week. Oil company Phillips 66 faces federal charges related to alleged Clean Water Act violations LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oil company Phillips 66 has been federally indicted in connection with alleged violations of the Clean Water Act in California. The Texas-based company is accused of discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater containing excessive amounts of oil and grease. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment on Thursday. Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act. An arraignment date has not been set. A spokesperson for the company said it was cooperating with prosecutors. US regulators seek to break up Google, forcing Chrome sale as part of monopoly punishment U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade. The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department calls for Google to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions designed to prevent Android from favoring its search engine. Regulators also want to ban Google from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine as the default option on Apple’s iPhone and other devices. What you need to know about the proposed measures designed to curb Google's search monopoly U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly. The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday could radically alter Google’s business. Regulators want Google to sell off its industry-leading Chrome web browser. They outlined a range of behavioral measures such as prohibiting Google from using search results to favor its own services such as YouTube, and forcing it to license search index data to its rivals. They're not going as far as to demand Google spin off Android, but are leaving that door open if the remedies don't work. Apple and Google face UK investigation into mobile browser dominance LONDON (AP) — A British watchdog says Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers. The watchdog's report Friday recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year. The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker’s tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. The CMA’s report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers “the clearest or easiest option.” Apple said it disagreed with the findings. Atlantic City casino earnings fall nearly 14% in 3rd quarter ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City’s casinos saw their operating profits decline by nearly 14% in the third quarter of this year. New Jersey gambling regulators say the nine casinos had a collective gross operating profit of $236.5 million in the third quarter. That was down 13.8% from the third quarter of 2023. Every casino was profitable, but only two — Caesars and Hard Rock — saw their profits increase in the third quarter compared with a year ago. Hard Rock had the highest average hotel occupancy at over 95%, and Ocean had the highest average hotel room price at $335.
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. WRAY RESIGNS: FBI Director Christopher Wray told the bureau workforce Wednesday that he will resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated loyalist Kash Patel to lead the FBI. ECONOMY: The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, up from a yearly figure of 2.6% in October. And on Thursday, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 6.6% from 6.69% last week. SUBWAY DEATH: Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran who used a chokehold on an agitated subway rider, was acquitted on Monday in a death that became a prism for differing views about public safety, valor and vigilantism. A Manhattan jury cleared Penny of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 killing of Jordan Neely. Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad fled to Moscow last Sunday, Russian media reported, hours after a stunning rebel advance took over the capital of Damascus and ended the Assad family’s 50-year iron rule. The Russian agencies Tass and RIA cited an unidentified Kremlin source on Assad and his family being given asylum in Moscow by his longtime ally. Assad reportedly left Syria early Sunday, and Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire. The swift events raised questions about the future of the country and the wider Middle East region. TRUMP STAFF: President-elect Donald Trump made another flurry of job announcements on Tuesday, selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Ron Johnson for ambassador to Mexico, Kimberly Guilfoyle for ambassador to Greece and Tom Barrack for ambassador to Turkey. INFOWARS SALE: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet late Tuesday, criticizing the bidding process as flawed. GROCERY MERGER: The proposed merger between supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons floundered on Tuesday after judges overseeing two separate cases both halted the merger. The companies proposed in 2022 what would be the largest grocery store merger in U.S. history, but the Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the deal. — Associated Press 17.29M Average viewers for the Dec. 5 football game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, which Detroit won 34-31. It was the most-streamed NFL regular-season game in history. This looks like every other set of dietary guidelines since 1980: eat your veggies and reduce consumption of foods high in salt, sugar and saturated fat.” — Marion Nestle, a food policy expert, after the 2025 federal dietary guidelines were released Tuesday. GOLDEN GLOBES: Nominations for the 82nd Golden Globes were announced Monday, and Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical “Emilia Pérez” led with 10 nods, more than other contenders like the musical smash “Wicked” and the papal thriller “Conclave.” The awards show will be televised by CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on Jan. 5. MERRIAM-WEBSTER: Merriam-Webster announced Monday that its word of the year is “polarization.” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, said the choice reflected the nation’s political climate. “Polarization means that we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center,” he said. CONTRACT RECORD: Star outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets agreed last Sunday to a record $765 million, 15-year contract, a deal that could escalate to $805 million and is believed to be the largest contract in team sports history. Soto’s deal, which equals $314,815 per game, is the largest and longest in Major League Baseball history. GEORGE J. KRESGE JR. (1935-2024): George Joseph Kresge Jr., who was known to generations of TV watchers as the mesmerizing entertainer and mentalist The Amazing Kreskin, died Tuesday at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey, according to his former road manager Ryan Galway. He was 89. SUSPECT ARRESTED IN DEATH OF UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday asserted that satellite spectrum allocation will not follow a first-come-first-serve basis, while also addressing the recent controversy over personal remarks made against him in Parliament by an Opposition MP. Also Read : Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sukanta Majumdar walk the ramp at Ashtalakshmi Mahotsav | Video Speaking at the Times Network’s India Economic Conclave, Scindia emphasised that auctioning spectrum for satellite services was not feasible due to scientific constraints. “No country in the world auctions satellites because it’s physically impossible. The pricing will be decided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. That authority will assign the price, and based on that, the spectrum will be assigned to everyone that procures a license,” he said. Also Read : Aim of 3-day festival is to bring NE states to the world: Scindia The minister explained that satellite spectrum must be shared due to physical principles, making administrative allocation the global standard. “You can only auction something that is committed to a certain individual. For satellite phones, you have to point your antenna, and that’s when you get the signal, and it keeps shifting,” Scindia said. Also Read : TMC’s Banerjee apologises for remarks on minister Scindia Speaking about State-owned telecom operator BSNL, Scindia said the company has been posting operational profits since 2021, with revenues increasing by about 12% to ₹ 21,000 crore while expenditure reduced by 2%. He added that BSNL’s delayed 4G launch was due to its choice to use indigenous technology, with plans to roll out 100,000 towers by June 2025 Addressing the Parliament controversy, Scindia stressed the importance of maintaining decorum in democratic discourse. “In my 22 years of political experience, I have never made a personal remark about anyone. There should be a standard in politics,” he said, referring to offensive comments made by Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee during a discussion on the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that Banerjee had submitted a written apology for his remarks, though Scindia refused to accept it, calling it a “personal attack on me and the women of India”.Tumblr is taking a page from Reddit and Facebook with its new "Communities" feature, which are digital spaces like subreddits and Facebook groups. "Communities are a new and easy way to connect with the people on Tumblr who get it," Tumblr said in a post announcing the feature . "You can invite mutuals who share your obsessions to a private Community or start a public Community for the things you love and watch all the new friends pile in. Like a clown car, Communities can fit (almost) as many people in ‘em as you want." Communities — which allows users to create a space for anything from a D&D campaign to cat photos — has been available to some users in beta but officially launched across the platform on web, iOS, and Android on Thursday, Dec. 12. You can get started by browsing though Communities that already exist, like aesthetic , writing , and TV shows , or you can create your own Community . It's not a huge surprise that Tumblr would copy its more successful social media sisters. The platform has been struggling to maintain relevancy after it banned porn in 2018, and it's kind of the Thing Platforms Do — copy whatever else is successful and see if you can't make it slightly better. Look at Instagram Reels copying TikTok , or Facebook Stories copying Snapchat . So...TikTok Communities when?
NAU ROUNDUP: Men's basketball rallies in 2nd half to beat Southern Utah
Nearly 2,000 American CEOs Quit In 2024, Setting New RecordTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: People are tired of queuing in front of the vendors' office as the e-stamping process is not fast enough. Stamp papers, except those of 50 rupees and those for larger amounts, are not available. The information including the name and address of the parties involved in the title deed registration and the purpose of registration should be uploaded by the vendors to 'PEARL', the portal of the Registration Department. After that, the further steps including payment should be completed using the OTP number sent to the mobile phone of the title deed party. Delay in receiving the OTP number due to slow server speed is the major bottleneck. The e-stamp for registration purposes can be printed in colour and for non-registration purposes in black and white. Hundreds of people come in front of the vendors for both types of needs. Not all vendors have embraced the e-stamping system. Printed Stamp papers above 10 rupees are still allowed to be used, but Stamp papers are not available everywhere. Stamp papers are required for many purposes on a daily basis like for rent agreement, giving bond to students to join various courses, buying a vehicle etc. People can get an e-stamp for any amount but the time it takes to get it is bothering them. TRAI regulation New regulations introduced by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) for services are also causing delay in receiving OTP. TRAI introduced restrictions on SMS messages sent by government and private organizations under digital ledger technology from December 1. The requirement is that TRAI's approval is required for the format in which the SMS is sent. The template for this should be registered.Mitsotakis sees ‘no prospect’ for talks on EEZ, continental shelf with TurkeyA Montreal man died one day after he posted on social media about giving up waiting at the hospital for medical attention. Adam Burgoyne, 39, passed away on Dec. 6. According to his obituary, he died of an aneurysm. “Had a bit of a health scare last night, but thankfully it wasn’t a heart attack,” Burgoyne said in a Dec. 5 post on the social media platform X that has been viewed 12 million times. “Not sure what it was, though, because once they were sure I wasn’t dying I was thrown out into the waiting room.” Six hours later, he gave up and went home. “Canadian health care, folks,” Burgoyne said in his post. “Best in the world.” Had a bit of a health scare last night, but thankfully it wasn't a heart attack. Not sure what it was, though, because once they made sure I wasn't dying I was thrown out into the waiting room and 6 hours later I said f*ck it and went home. Canadian health care, folks. Best in... pic.twitter.com/kQIHyc2ZCc Burgoyne even joked about the hospital staff having to shave part of his chest for an electrocardiogram test. “I feel like Samson after his hair was cut.” He noted the hospital — which is not identified in the post — did not offer to test his blood or take any X-rays. “I suppose that might have happened had I been willing to wait 18 hours more.” Burgoyne — who said that he didn’t feel panicked at all before the hospital visit – noted he felt pain on the left side of his chest, nausea, and his skin was clammy. “Tried to just breathe a bit and see what happened but it started to get worse so I went to the ER.” Burgoyne told his followers that he slept most of the day after his hospital visit. His case has raised already heightened concerns about wait times at Canadian emergency rooms. “Many emergency rooms across the country are overflowing and patients across Canada are waiting far too long to receive necessary care,” according to a report from the Canadian Medical Association that came out earlier this year. “The scene is not new but unless we make major systemic changes, it will continue to repeat itself.” A family member of Burgoyne’s could not be reached for comment. “We will carry on with his spirit demanding high convictions of all of us,” said Burgoyne’s obituary. “We will carry on without him reluctantly but steadfastly. We will miss him and love him deeply until the end of time.” We will miss him and love him deeply until the end of time. His death was sudden, according to Burgoyne’s obituary. “His many family and friends will miss his sarcastic humour, his quick wit, his deeply felt convictions, his smarts, and his way of cutting through any stormy situation to reveal the core of what really matters,” it said. “From a young age, Adam took his interests to great depths, teaching himself to play piano, compose classical music, program computers, make chef-worthy feasts for loved ones, and learn French so well that he was consistently mistaken for a native Quebecker. He never did things in half-measures. He was all in.” Burgoyne, who is originally from Nova Scotia, “loved to laugh and always made us giggle with throwback quotes sourced from an eclectic collection of 90’s cartoons, Monty Python movies, MadTV sketches, childhood memories, and downright ridiculous memes,” said his obituary. He had been plagued with addictions, but marked six years “clean and sober” on Oct. 12, it said. “Adam worked very hard to leave difficult times in the rear view mirror, and succeeded beyond all measure. He had found a loving relationship, rose quickly to great heights in a new career, and proudly showed off the results of his ongoing fitness journey.” Burgoyne talked about breaking free from his addiction to alcohol and crystal methamphetamine four years ago on the Two For Tea Podcast. “I have become somewhat of a workaholic in my sobriety,” Burgoyne told the podcast’s host, Iona Italia. “Yes, I have an addictive personality, and, no that’s not just with regard to substances. If you put a pleasure button in front of me or something that I enjoy doing or just something that strikes my fancy, I’m going to want to push that button a lot more than other people necessarily would. And part of the work that I’ve been doing in recovery is trying to notice when I’m doing this. Trying to steer myself nicely into other things, because learning self-love has been a part of this.” His drinking problem, Burgoyne said, started around the age of 22. “I tend to have the type of mind that’s always going a mile a minute and what I liked the most about alcohol was the depressive effects of it. I like feeling numb. I liked not necessarily having 80 thoughts in my head at once. So, I think that although I wouldn’t have told you this at the time — I didn’t think about with it in enough depth to know this – that it was definitely a form of self-medication.” His addiction wasn’t the product of a harsh childhood, Burgoyne told the host, noting he came from an extremely loving family. But when he came out as gay around the age of 15, he didn’t have a lot of role models. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to be working towards.” Drinking became a real problem in his mid-twenties, when he started to consume alcohol alone. “I was less good at keeping it under wraps socially.” Some friends stopped hanging out with Burgoyne. “They didn’t want to be around my antics.” By the time Burgoyne hit 30, he was buying large bottles of high-proof beer in corner stores. “I was drinking about two of those a night. I am surprised that my liver still functions today.” He became reclusive. “One of the biggest things about addiction is shame.” At the age of 32, someone offered him a glass pipe holding crystal methamphetamine. After trying it three times over more than a month, “I knew that I had made a very grave error,” Burgoyne said, noting his addiction to crystal meth “completely supplanted” his addiction to alcohol. Crystal meth put him on a downward spiral that made the problem impossible to ignore. “That was a really lovely gift wrapped in really ugly paper,” Burgoyne said. “It forced me to confront what I had been denying.” His family requested donations be made in Burgoyne’s name to the Canadian Assembly of Narcotics Anonymous . “In honour of Adam, hug your loved ones, take life one day at a time, bake bread, and buy the fancy cheese,” said his obituary. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Dec. 23, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Poison experts see it every winter holiday season: Parents rush kids to the emergency room or call hotlines, panicking that their child has ingested something dangerous. Between holiday breaks, visiting relatives' homes, attending festivities, and opening gifts galore, kids face extra risks for accidental exposure to poison. In addition to heart felt season’s greetings, the Nebraska Poison Center sends out reminders that changes in routine may increase risks for kids. Poison experts urge parents and party hosts to remember safety best practices. • Pretty holiday plants aren't edible. Keep small children and animals away from mistletoe, holly berries, yew plants and poinsettias. • Be mindful of small batteries. Toys, games, watches, remotes, and musical greeting cards may contain button or disc batteries. If swallowed, they can become stuck and cause serious injury or death if not removed. • Watch out for water beads and magnets in toys . Expanding water beads and rare earth magnets are inappropriate for those who may ingest them. Strong magnets can stick together in the intestines and trigger a medical emergency. If water beads are swallowed, they may swell and cause a blockage in the intestines. • Be on the lookout for nicotine-containing products, including vape liquid and chewing tobacco, as well as CBD and THC products . These are often in brightly colored packaging that can easily be mistaken for candy or other food items for children. If swallowed by youngsters, nicotine may cause shakiness, vomiting or seizures. Keep these items away from common areas, locked and out of reach. • Lock up cleaning cabinets. Cleansers, laundry pods, and other cleaning products should also be stored out of sight. Do not mix chemicals together when cleaning and follow all label directions for using these products. • Remind relatives without small children about the importance of child-proofing prescription drugs . Encourage friends and family to store medications up, out of sight and locked up tight, not out on a nightstand or counter. Keep all purses and travel bags secured. • Be vigilant about the bar and alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are more readily accessible during gatherings. Clean immediately after gatherings and remove all items that may contain alcohol. Sadly, the holiday season can bring joy and grief simultaneously. As seasonal calls to the Poison Center concerning children increase, so do calls about intentional harm. If you or a loved one are having thoughts of self-harm or are in a crisis, remember that you are not alone. Call 988 to reach the 24/7 National Suicide and Crisis Line for help. Prevention is the best way to avoid and minimize poisonings. The Poison Center’s specially trained registered nurses and pharmacists are available 24/7/365. If you have questions or suspect poisoning exposure, call 1-800-222-1222. Your call will be routed to a local poison control center. Poison Center services are free and confidential. More information The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) has more about poison exposure. SOURCE: Holiday Help From the Nebraska Poison Center, fact sheet.
The MomentumX Accelerator has been launched by Web3 privacy layer COTI in collaboration with IDO platform Poolz. Through the MomentumX Boost Plan, a collection of services that provide companies with the tools they need to thrive, the accelerator will assist ventures expanding on COTI's technology stack. The MomentumX Accelerator was created to help the COTI ecosystem flourish sustainably. It will guarantee that projects using COTI's flagship privacy technology—which is based on Garbled Circuits from Soda Labs—are equipped to develop novel solutions in the field of Decentralized Confidential Computing (DeCC). The MomentumX Accelerator, a partnership between COTI and Poolz, will launch a wave of potent apps... AbdulFolk Maritime expands sustainability and connectivity in Middle East shippingThe Supreme Court’s senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has expressed concern that the country’s judiciary is undergoing “one of its weakest moments in our history” and thus risking executive overreach in its affairs, it emerged on Friday. The remarks come in the backdrop of the 26th Constitutional Amendment which was criticised for the haste with which it was passed. The International Court of Jurists derided the “blow to judicial independence” when the 26th Amendment was signed into law. Some of the major changes made to the Constitution included changing the process of the chief justice of Pakistan’s appointment, taking away the high courts’ suo motu powers, formation of constitutional benches, and performance evaluations of high court judges. The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) had last week approved the formation of a committee led by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail to constitute rules and criteria for appointing judges by December 15. In a letter written to Justice Mandokhail a day ago regarding the task ahead, seen by Dawn.com , Justice Shah said: “The judiciary of Pakistan is passing through one of its weakest moments in our history, and the risks of executive overreach are higher than ever.” He said he had “deep concern” regarding the formulation of rules for the appointment of judges to constitutional courts in Pakistan, a matter which he called of the “utmost significance to the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and democracy in our country” since it was mandated upon the JCP by the Constitution. “In the absence of such rules, any proceedings undertaken by the commission for the appointment of judges would be unconstitutional,” the senior puisne judge pointed out. Justice Shah said the judiciary had enjoyed primacy in the appointment process of judges but the vital balance was “fundamentally disturbed” under the 26th amendment, granting a majority to the executive in the JCP. “This unprecedented shift in the composition of the JCP poses grave risks, including the potential for political appointments and the packing of courts with judges lacking an ideological commitment to the rule of law,” the judge warned. He stressed that appointments made without a “well-defined and transparent framework of rules” would undermine public confidence in the judiciary, compromise its independence, and erode its ability to function as a neutral arbiter of justice. “The selection and appointment of judges must be structured and well-reasoned and never be left vulnerable to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions. “In these circumstances, it becomes imperative that well-thought-out rules are framed that provide the necessary filters to select the best of the best, thereby safeguarding judicial independence and ensuring merit-based selections.” He urged the five-member committee tasked with drafting the rules that selecting the best judges that would promote the rule of law required a focus on objective, fair and forward-looking criteria. Justice Shah proposed several criteria and factors that he said potential nominees should be judged for. “By adopting this comprehensive approach, the JCP can ensure a fair, robust and merit-based selection process that aligns with the principles of judicial independence and rule of law. “The absence of robust rules and criteria will allow outside influence to undermine the judiciary by facilitating appointments that serve partisan interests rather than upholding constitutional values,” he pointed out. The judge stressed that it was critical that “no appointment to the constitutional courts proceeds until these rules are finalised and adopted by the JCP”, saying that the approach was essential not only for ensuring the independence of the judiciary but also for enhancing public trust in the courts as “bastions of justice, the rule of law and democratic accountability”. “Any hurriedness in the matter by the JCP can seriously undermine and weaken the judiciary for years to come,” Justice Shah warned. He concluded by expressing trust that Justice Mandokhail would “recognise the urgency and importance of this matter and act decisively to ensure that the process is both fair and resistant to outside influence”. The JCP will meet on Dec 21 to consider 10 nominations for four vacant positions of the Islamabad High Court judges. Justice Shah said he looked forward to the draft rules in the Dec 21 meeting. “I understand that unless the rules are finalised by the JCP, we cannot initiate the process of appointment of judges,” he added.
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach found themselves in the odd position of having to aggressively deny their own creativity tonight: The husband-and-wife team (who co-wrote the script for Gerwig’s massive 2023 blockbuster Barbie ) are denying that they’ve cooked up an idea they’re happy with for a sequel to the bright pink pop satire, and have pitched it to Warner Bros. Warner Bros. is also denying the scurrilous allegations, published in The Hollywood Reporter , that they’d very much like to make a sequel to a movie that made $1.4 billion off an IP that had previously been relegated pretty much exclusively to direct-to-DVD shovelware. “There is no legitimacy to this reporting,” Gerwig and Baumbach’s rep said in response to baseless accusations of a good idea, and early talks about getting a movie made. Warner Bros. seemed outraged by the very idea. All of which sounds pretty much like the kind of language people use when there’s no deal in place yet , but that just might be the money of it all talking: After all, it’s hard to imagine there won’t be a Barbie 2 sometime . It’s just the nature of modern Hollywood, where they don’t let you make that much money with a film without pushing, hard, to generate a sequel. And while you can fight back against the process—arguably, what Todd Phillips did by making a Joker sequel specifically designed to piss off everybody who liked his first movie—it doesn’t feel like Gerwig is necessarily the type. (Although an obvious indie darling, Gerwig has never been afraid of studio fare; she’s talked in interviews about her interest in working with the studio machine to tell stories, rather than railing against it, and is in pre-production right now on her Netflix Narnia movie.) If Gerwig and Baumbach did have an idea for a Barbie 2 , we’d normally greet it with at least a bit of the skepticism traditionally reserved for kneejerk sequels. But Gerwig has earned a fair amount of benefit of the doubt over the last several years; the films leading up to the billion dollar explosion were pretty uniformly great, and Barbie itself threaded the needle between goofball comedy and social satire well enough that we’re convinced she and Baumbach will probably found something to say with a sequel that’s slightly more profound than “We’d like another billion dollars, please.” If they had an idea they’re happy with, which, they want you to know, they don’t.Musk has until Monday to respond to SEC Twitter settlement, source says
Syracuse and Georgetown meet for the 100th time Saturday when the Orange host the Hoyas in the latest installment of their classic rivalry. As former Big East Conference rivals, Syracuse and Georgetown have staged many memorable contests over the decades with the Orange holding a 54-45 all-time advantage. The teams still meet annually despite the Orange now playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse has won five of the last seven meetings, including a 12-point triumph in Washington D.C. last December. "It definitely felt like a Big East game," Hoyas coach Ed Cooley said after last season's contest. This time around, Georgetown (7-2) is coming off a 73-60 loss to West Virginia in which the team shot under 38 percent from the floor and committed 14 turnovers. "When the ball has music, when the ball is singing, unbelievable music happens," Cooley said. "The music is the play. The music is body movement and screening an open shot. We didn't have good music today." Thomas Sorber is the team's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, although the freshman has failed to reach that average in six of the last seven games. Syracuse (5-4), meanwhile, is coming off a 102-85 win over Albany despite the absence of leading scorer J.J. Starling (19.8 points), who is out indefinitely with a hand injury. In his stead, freshman Donnie Freeman supplied 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting despite playing just 23 minutes due to an illness. "Whatever (illness) he has, he needs to keep that, if he can keep playing like, whatever he was feeling," Orange coach Adrian Autry joked. Syracuse will be looking for more success from 3-point range after hitting 6-of-15 (40 percent) against Albany. In their previous game -- a five-point loss to Notre Dame -- the Orange failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time in more than a decade. No Syracuse player has made more than 11 3-pointers this season -- and even that player (Chris Bell) is only shooting 25 percent from long distance. --Field Level Media
New Delhi: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on PM Modi-led government at the Centre in her maiden speech saying that the government has not understood that 'Bharat ka Samvidhan' ( India's Constitution ) is not 'Sangh ka Vidhan' (law of the RSS). Speaking for almost 32 minutes in Hindi, Vadra talked about the violence in Sambhal and her meetings with rape victims in Agra and Unnao. She also talked about her meeting with victims of the landslide in Wayanad. The first speaker from the Opposition side to speak on the debate on the 75 years journey of the Constitution, she began her speech by outlining the significance of the Constitution and paying tributes to those who laid down their lives in the Parliament attack on December 13, 2001. She then started taking on the ruling BJP on Adani, Manipur and the caste census issues. She said the ruling party was stuck with issues of the past and don't talk much about the present and future. She took on the criticism of the Emergency head-on saying, "My friends there were saying this and that happened in 1975. So, you should also learn a lesson. And apologise for your mistakes," she said. She described the Constitution as a 'suraksha kavach' (protective shield) of justice, unity and freedom of expression and one the BJP-led government has made every effort to break in the past 10 years. Sitting in fourth row dressed in blue saree, Priyanka was combative but not loud. And from her family in the visitors' gallery to Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah paid close attention to her maiden speech. All through her speech, she described the treasury benches as "friends on the ruling side." "What is your responsibility? Or does all the responsibility lie with Jawaharlal Nehru ji," she asked taking a swipe at the BJP over its repeated criticism of India's first prime minister. 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USDCAD: open1.4221, overnight range,1.4213-1.4244, close 1.4220, WTI $70.83, Gold, $2666.89 The Canadian dollar took it on the chin again yesterday, but it had a lot of company. US weekly jobless claims proved resilient and gave traders another reason to suggest that the Fed may be less aggressive in lowering interest rates than previously thought. A host of US economic reports paints a picture of a slowing but very resilient US economy buoyed by stock market gains and the promise of personal and corporate tax cuts. It is a very different outlook in Canada. The economy is barely above water. The unemployment rate is soaring, and it seems like it is only governments hiring workers. The Bank of Canada slashed its benchmark rate by 50 bps this week, which was the second consecutive 50 bp rate cut. Meanwhile, the Federal government is doing all it can to crush the domestic energy industry. Yesterday, Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault announced another increase in the carbon emission target to decrease emissions by 45-50% of 2005 levels. Asian equity markets followed Wall Street's lead and closed lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 2.09%, Japan's Topix fell 0.95%, and Australia's ASX 200 index was down 0.45%. European bourses bucked the trend, and a 0.23% gain in the German DAX is leading the others higher. S&P 500 futures are up 0.35% while the US 10-year Treasury yield is 4.35%. EURUSD drifted in a 1.0453-1.0496 range overnight. Prices are weighed down by yesterday's ECB 25 bp rate cut and signals for further cuts at the next few meetings. Several ECB officials seem to agree with that view. GBPUSD continued its decline from the previous day, trading in a 1.2619-1.2684 range. Traders reacted negatively to disappointing economic growth data for October, which showed a 0.1% contraction against forecasts for a 0.1% gain. This marked the second consecutive month of a 0.1% decline. Additionally, Manufacturing Production and Industrial Production figures came in below expectations. USDJPY traded in a 152.46-153.66 range due to higher US 10-year Treasury yields and lower odds of a Bank of Japan rate increase next week. AUDUSD was subdued and drifted in a 0.6354-0.6376 band. Gains are capped by ongoing strength in the U.S. dollar and persistent concerns about the Chinese economy MENAFN13122024000212011056ID1108991775 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.Delta Board of Directors appoints Christophe Beck as newest member
Traders on Monday scrambled to buy cheap stocks after last week’s bloodbath, with the benchmark index reclaiming lost ground. By the closing bell, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) rallied by 2.01 percent, or 128.53 points, to 6,534.91. Likewise, the broader All Shares Index added 1.4 percent, or 51.4 points, to close at 3,727.23. READ: Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries A total of 713.21 million shares worth P4.2 billion changed hands as foreigners made P255.38 million in net purchases, stock exchange data showed. So far, the PSEi has declined by 13.5 percent from its recent peak of about 7,555 in October. With a few trading days left this year—there will be no trading on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, as well as Dec. 30 and Dec. 31—investors opted to buy stocks ahead, allowing the PSEi to finally bounce back, according to Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development Corp. The market rebound also came after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had announced another quarter-point rate cut during its last monetary policy meeting for the year. Cumulatively, the BSP has slashed the interest rate for overnight borrowing by 75 basis points this year to 5.75 percent. All subsectors registered gains, with investors snapping up the shares of industrial and property firms the most. International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the top-traded stock as it climbed by 2.05 percent to P398 each, followed by BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.35 percent to P145.10; Ayala Land Inc., up 5.85 percent to P26.25; SP New Energy Corp., up 0.98 percent to P1.03; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.91 percent to P122.60 each. Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., up 1.93 percent to P900; SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 1.41 percent to P25.15; Universal Robina Corp., up 0.13 percent to P75; PLDT Inc., up 0.24 percent to P1,255; and Ayala Corp., up 1.1 percent to P600 per share. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . Gainers overpowered losers, 110 to 72, while 53 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data also showed.Delta Board of Directors appoints Christophe Beck as newest member
Aclaris Stock Rises As Analyst Projects Billions In Sales For New TherapyLeBron James and Anthony Davis might not be the only former top overall picks on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster for long. Lakers writer Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints reported Friday that the team has had internal discussions about adding veteran guard Markelle Fultz. The 26-year-old Fultz remains an unsigned free agent after spending the last five NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic. Fultz was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers (over later lottery picks such as Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, Lauri Markkanen, Donovan Mitchell, and Bam Adebayo). But he is universally seen as a bust, having averaged just 7.7 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting for the 76ers before being traded less than two years after he was drafted. Fultz’s Philly tenure was also marred by an ugly and bizarre saga with his jump-shooting form . The former University of Washington star Fultz did manage to rebuild his reputation some though in a lower-stress environment in Orlando, posting 14.0 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in the 2022-23 campaign. With the Lakers getting next to nothing from their backup point guard Gabe Vincent, Fultz could have some appeal for them. But it could require much more ( such as a trade for this rumored target ) for the Lakers to turn around their mediocre 13-11 season. This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The United Nations raised the death toll of a recent massacre in which dozens of older people and Vodou religious leaders were killed by a gang in Haiti, and called on officials to bring the perpetrators to justice. The U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti said in a report published on Monday that between Dec. 6 and 11 more than 207 people were killed by the Wharf Jeremie gang. The gang took people from their homes and from a place of worship, interrogated them and then executed them with bullets and machetes. Earlier this month, human rights groups in Haiti had estimated that in the massacre, but the new U.N. investigation doubles the number of victims. “We cannot pretend that nothing happened” said María Isabel Salvador, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Haiti. “I call on the Haitian justice system to thoroughly investigate these horrific crimes and arrest and punish the perpetrators, as well as those who support them,” she said in a statement. Human rights groups in Haiti said the after the son of Micanor Altès, the leader of the Wharf Jeremie gang, died from an illness. The Cooperative for Peace and Development, a human rights group, said that according to information circulating in the community, Altès accused people in the neighborhood of causing his son’s illness. “He decided to cruelly punish all elderly people and (Vodou) practitioners who, in his imagination, would be capable of casting a bad spell on his son,” the group said in a statement released shortly after news of the massacre emerged. In Monday’s report, the United Nations said that people were tracked down in their homes and in a place of worship by Altès’ gang, where they were first interrogated and then taken to an execution site. The United Nations said that the gang tried to erase evidence of the killings by burning bodies, or by dismembering them and throwing them into the sea. The massacre is the latest humanitarian tragedy in Haiti, where gang violence has intensified since the nation’s president was killed in . Haiti has struggled to organize an election that will fill the power vacuum and restore democratic rule. The Caribbean nation is currently governed by a transitional council that includes representatives from the business community, civil society and political parties, but its government has no control over many areas of the capital city, and gangs are constantly fighting over ports, highways and neighborhoods. According to the United Nations, more than 5,350 people have been killed in Haiti’s gang wars this year. The Haitian government acknowledged the massacre against older people in a statement issued earlier this month, and promised to persecute those responsible for this act of “unspeakable carnage.”