PRIVACY PITSTOP: Ford Faces a Legal Pile-Up Over Chat Eavesdropping
A three-story apartment building in the Netherlands was reduced to rubble and ash by explosions that killed at least three people on Saturday morning. The cause of the blasts in The Hague wasn't immediately clear and there was little hope any more survivors would be pulled from the debris . "The chance that living people will be found is very small," Mayor Jan van Zanen said, according to Reuters . The Hague's fire service said emergency workers were "busy rescuing and searching for people and fighting the fire," according to the Guardian . Police said they were looking for a car that was spotted speeding away from the scene and asked witnesses to provide additional information or video footage. The first explosion took place shortly after 6 a.m. and was followed by a bigger blast, van Zanen said. There were conflicting accounts of the number of casualties, with the Associated Press quoting van Zanen as saying three bodies were recovered. Emergency authorities said four people were rescued and taken to the hospital, AP said. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on social media that he was "shocked by the terrible images of a collapsed apartment building in The Hague. "My thoughts go out to the victims, all other people involved and the emergency services who are now working on the scene," he wrote. Originally published by Latin Times
Police: Former marketing director funneled $870,000 to own accountsIn just a few hours the Boise State Broncos will have a chance to be the first team to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff. Boise State is facing off against UNLV in the Mountain West Championship Game on Friday night and currently sits as the No. 10 team in the playoff rankings. A win would essentially guarantee the Broncos a spot in the playoff, but a loss might send them crashing out. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.New pro-European coalition approved in Romania amid period of political turmoil
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains, including chip companies Nvidia and Broadcom. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1%. Honda’s U.S.-listed shares rose sharply after the company said it was in talks about a combination with Nissan in a deal that could also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. Major stock indexes rose on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, after a choppy start to a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from an early slide to gain 29 points, or 0.1% as of 3:40 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Gains in technology and communications stocks helped outweigh losses in consumer goods companies and elsewhere in the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, rose 3.3%. Broadcom climbed 5.5% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2% and PepsiCo slid 1.2%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. U.S.-listed shares in Honda jumped 13.4%, while Nissan slipped 0.2%. Eli Lilly rose 3.5% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.6% after it agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence slipped in December. Its consumer confidence index fell back to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Wall Street was expecting a reading of 113.8. The unexpectedly weak consumer confidence update follows several generally strong economic reports last week. One report showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The latest report on unemployment benefit applications showed that the job market remains solid. A report on Friday said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than economists expected. Worries about inflation edging higher again had been weighing on Wall Street and the Fed. The central bank just delivered its third cut to interest rates this year, but inflation has been hovering stubbornly above its target of 2%. It has signaled that it could deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than it earlier anticipated because of concerns over inflation. Expectations for more interest rate cuts have helped drive a roughly 25% gain for the S&P 500 in 2024. That drive included 57 all-time highs this year. Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labor market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under an incoming President Donald Trump. "Put simply, much of the strong market performance prior to last week was driven by expectations that a best-case scenario was the base case for 2025," said Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.53% late Friday. European markets were mostly lower, while markets in Asia gained ground. Wall Street has several other economic reports to look forward to this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. will release its November report for sales of newly constructed homes. A weekly update on unemployment benefits is expected on Thursday. Markets in the U.S. will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.
Pat King found guilty of mischief for role in ‘Freedom Convoy’
Pat King found guilty of mischief for role in ‘Freedom Convoy’
Darnold gives Vikings another gem with career-high 377 yards in 27-25 win over Packers MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sam Darnold added another exploit to his career-altering season, passing for a personal-best 377 yards and three touchdowns as the Minnesota Vikings hung on to beat the Green Bay Packers 27-25 for their ninth consecutive victory. The Vikings are 14-2. They set up a final-week showdown in Detroit for both the division title and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs in the NFC. Jordan Love’s only touchdown pass for the Packers came with 2:18 left to pull the Packers within two points. Darnold responded with two completions for first downs to seal the game. Saquon Barkley tops 2,000 yards rushing as Eagles beat Cowboys 41-7 to clinch NFC East PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley rushed for 167 yards to top 2,000 on the season, backup quarterback Kenny Pickett ran and threw for scores before departing with injured ribs, and the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East title by routing the Dallas Cowboys 41-7. Barkley has 2,005 yards and needs 101 in next week’s mostly meaningless regular-season finale to top Eric Dickerson and his 2,105 yards for the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. The Eagles led 24-7 in the third quarter when Pickett was drilled by defensive end Micah Parsons, ending his first start in place of the concussed Jalen Hurts. NFC's No. 1 seed comes down to Vikings-Lions showdown at Detroit in Week 18 The NFC’s No. 1 seed will come down to the final week when the Detroit Lions host the Minnesota Vikings. The winner takes the NFC North and gets a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl. The loser gets the No. 5 seed and must play on the road in the wild-card round. The Vikings held on for a 27-25 victory over the Green Bay Packers to set up the high-stakes showdown in Week 18. The Lions visit the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. Win, lose or tie, they have to beat the Vikings for a second time this season. Bills clinch the AFC's No. 2 seed with a 40-14 rout of the undisciplined Jets ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and the Buffalo Bills clinched the AFC’s No. 2 seed with a 40-14 rout of the New York Jets. The Bills put the game away by capitalizing on two Jets turnovers and scoring three touchdowns over a 5:01 span in the closing minutes of the third quarter. Buffalo’s defense forced three takeaways overall and sacked Aaron Rodgers four times, including a 2-yard loss for a safety in the second quarter. The five-time defending AFC East champion Bills improved to 13-3 to match a franchise single-season record. Herro leads Heat over Rockets in game marred by fight and ejections in final minute HOUSTON (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 27 points before being one of being one of seven people ejected, six for their roles in a fight in the final minute of the Miami Heat’s 104-100 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. Herro was thrown to the ground by the Rockets’ Amen Thompson with 35 seconds left and the Heat leading 99-94. Players and coaches from both benches then came onto the court. Both players were thrown out along with Rockets guard Jalen Green, coach Ime Udoka and assistant coach Ben Sullivan. Terry Rozier was also ejected for Miami. LeBron James at 40: A milestone birthday arrives Monday for the NBA's all-time scoring leader When LeBron James broke another NBA record earlier this month, the one for most regular-season minutes played in a career, his Los Angeles Lakers teammates handled the moment in typical locker room fashion. They made fun of him. Dubbed The Kid from Akron, with a limitless future, James is now the 40-year-old from Los Angeles with wisps of gray in his beard, his milestone birthday coming Monday, one that will make him the first player in NBA history to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. He has stood and excelled in the spotlight his entire career. Rising Sun Devils: Arizona State looks to pull off another big surprise at the Peach Bowl ATLANTA (AP) — As they prepare for Arizona State’s biggest game in nearly three decades, the guys who made it happen aren’t the least bit surprised to be rated a nearly two-touchdown underdog in the College Football Playoff. That’s a familiar position for the Sun Devils. They've been an underdog most of the season. Of the eight teams still vying for a national championship, there’s no bigger surprise than 11-2 Arizona State. The Sun Devils went 3-9 a year ago and were picked to finish dead last in their first season in the Big 12 Conference. Now, they're getting ready to face Texas in the Peach Bowl quarterfinal game on New Year’s Day. Penn State coach James Franklin says Nick Saban should be college football's commissioner SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Penn State coach James Franklin believes college football needs a commissioner and he even has a candidate in mind: former Alabama coach Nick Saban. Franklin made the suggestion Sunday at Penn State’s College Football Playoff quarterfinals media day ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions are preparing for their game against No. 3 seed Boise State on Tuesday. The veteran coach was responding to a question about Penn State’s backup quarterback situation after Beau Pribula transferred to Missouri before the playoff. Pribula’s decision highlighted some of the frustrating aspects of a new college football world in the Name, Image and Likeness era and the transfer portal, forcing players to make tough decisions at inopportune times. Penn State's polarizing QB Drew Allar puts critics on mute and keeps winning games SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Even when Penn State quarterback Drew Allar gets some praise, it’s usually a backhanded compliment. They say he’s a good game manager and stays within himself, or that he doesn’t try to do too much. They mention he might not be flashy, but he gives the team a chance to win. And here’s the thing about Penn State since Allar stepped under center: The Nittany Lions have won games. A lot of them. Sometimes that’s hard to remember considering the lukewarm reception he often gets from fans. The polarizing Allar has another chance to quiet his critics on Tuesday, when Penn State plays Boise State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Fiesta Bowl. Crosby breaks Lemieux's Penguins career assists record in 3-2 victory over the Islanders PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s Pittsburgh franchise career record for assists on Michael Bunting’s power-play goal and the Penguins beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on Sunday night. Crosby has 1,034 assists, good for 12th in NHL history. Only three players — Ray Bourque, Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman — have more assists with a single team. The 37-year-old Crosby has played 1,310-regular-season games. Lemieux played 915. Evgeni Malkin added the deciding power-play goal in the third for Pittsburgh, which has 14 goals with the man advantage in its last 13 games. Anthony Beauvillier also scored to help the Penguins win for the seventh time in their last eight home games. Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves in his first start since Dec. 17.APICTA continues with judging session, Hong Kong night
Ocado is ridiculed by customers over 'atrocious' Christmas substitute choices items after retailer suffers delivery malfunction Has YOUR Christmas shopping been axed? Email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk By MILO POPE Published: 20:43, 23 December 2024 | Updated: 20:50, 23 December 2024 e-mail 64 View comments Ocado has been ridiculed by customers over a series of 'atrocious' substitute choices after the retailer suffered a delivery malfunction. With Christmas Day fast approaching, scores of Brits slammed the retailer for leaving them without key ingredients after a 'robot' malfunctioned at the upmarket food retailer's £185million delivery centre. Long-booked Christmas shops were delivered to Londoners over the weekend without any chilled or frozen foods, with some claiming dozens of items were missing. The news comes as Morrisons triggered Christmas panic after online orders for scores of customers were cancelled just two days before Christmas. Now, Ocado shoppers have taken to social media, with some complaining that vegan items have been substituted for non vegan items. One person wrote on X: 'Substituting prawn toast for smoked salmon is an interesting one @Ocado.' Another said: 'Have just received our Christmas order with no less than a dozen substitution which included spicy party foods which we don’t like or tolerate. 'Although we have a smart pass, we paid £10 for the slot/privilege of not receiving half of what was ordered. Terrible service! Scores of customers were left without key staples of a Christmas dinner after a malfunction at Ocado's delivery centre Customers said they were left without almost all the items needed for their Christmas dinner Ocado shoppers took to social media to share their fury with the food retailer A third wrote: '@Ocado another disappointing Christmas shop. No crisp/ nuts at all! Lots of rubbish subs too. Thankfully I placed my meat order direct with another shop. I can see I’m not the only one disappointed.' A fourth added: '@Ocado my Christmas order is a joke - 1/3 of order out of stock despite having been booked months ago . Vegan items substituted for non vegan . I’m having to go shopping tomorrow for vegan dishes . Not what I paid £10 delivery for.' A fifth commented: '@Ocado what is wrong with your system that I can put an order in six weeks ago and your system doesn’t allocate the product ordered to me? Substitutions today are no good to me - and how can you have NO satsumas? It’s Christmas ffs. #angry.' A sixth also said: 'The fact that @Ocado don’t price match substitutions is atrocious. the substitutes i’m getting today are about £40 more expensive in total than what i ordered but that’s not my fault so why am i paying extra??? what a joke.' The robot malfunction took place at Ocado's hi-tech 563,000sq ft Erith centre, which is the world's largest automated warehouse for food deliveries, dealing with 200,000 orders a week. 'We are aware that a small proportion of orders were not delivered as expected. This does not meet our usual high standards and we understand the inconvenience this will have caused, especially at this time of year. We are proactively reaching out to apologise to those affected,' a spokeswoman added. The festive shopping woes came as Morrisons customers were today left reeling after the supermarket giant cancelled home deliveries and festive shops for scores of Brits. The shopping chain said its More rewards card is facing difficulties, with customers unable to get discounts on their food shops. The error took place at Ocado's hi-tech 563,000sq ft Erith centre, which is the world's largest automated warehouse for food deliveries, dealing with 200,000 orders a week Meanwhile Morrisons customers were also facing chaos today after the retailer was forced to cancel their shopping orders just two days before Christmas The shopping giant says an issue with its More rewards card scheme is to blame Read More BREAKING NEWS Fury as Morrisons customers have orders axed and unable to get discounts on their Christmas shops Some shoppers have also raged that their online orders have been cancelled or delayed, with Morrisons saying click-and-collect purchases are mostly affected. The chaos comes on what is predicted to be the busiest shopping day of the year for supermarkets ahead of the Christmas rush. Morrisons has apologised for the mayhem and said it was 'experiencing some system issues' that were impacting 'some' discount cards and collection orders. 'For More Card customers who have Morrisons Fivers to redeem, these will be done manually in store by colleagues. And if More Card prices are not registering, we will apply a 10% discount to the customer's entire shop,' it added in a statement online. 'For Click and Collect orders, we are asking customers to wait for an email to inform them that their order is ready for collection before heading to store. Some home delivery orders may be arriving late today - and we will be communicating directly with those customers affected. 'We sincerely apologise to our customers for this inconvenience.' But fuming shoppers have taken to social media to vent their anger, with one demanding Morrisons to 'get a f***ing grip', while another raged on X: 'Hope @Morrisons loses a s*** ton of money today for the simple fact they knew the more cards wasn't working but don't say on entry instead they wait till your at the till... 'I left like £100 - £150 worth of shopping just at the till because of the more saving I would have lost.' Furious customers have since taken to social media to slam the retailer for the 'shambles' Customers on social media have lashed out over the cancellations and issues with Morrisons' 'More' discount card scheme Morrisons' website also went down, with a '502 bad gateway' error message on some pages, leaving some customers panicking. One person on X - former known as Twitter until it was bought and rebranded by the world's richest man, Elon Musk - wrote: 'Hope you're not hoping to get any deals at today or use your card. Conveniently they are all down across all stores! Busiest shopping day of the year! No refunds apparently either.' On the Morrisons' Facebook page, outraged shoppers have also claimed their Christmas deliveries ordered a month ago have been cancelled. 'Half my Christmas shopping isn't coming including the turkey and puddings and they were ordered a month ago,' one person wrote under a post advertising discounts. Others claimed on X they had orders cancelled without any warning. 'Thanks so much @Morrisons for cancelling my delivery without any warning. No contact, no email, phone call, nothing to explain why. Superb customer service,' wrote one woman on X. Lorraine Calvo from Longhorsley, Northumberland, placed her food order with the supermarket seven weeks ago and was due to receive it between 5pm and 6pm today. But this morning she received a message notifying her that the order had been cancelled, leaving Lorraine stranded as her disability means that she can't get to the shops in person. Lorraine said: 'I rang them up and they said there's nothing they can do. I've looked at all of the other supermarkets and even the Co-op doesn't deliver where I am or Deliveroo. I'm just stuck. Morrisons shoppers were left outraged over the issue with click-and-collect deliveries 'I've got no family here so there's nobody that can go and get anything for me. It's not just my Christmas shop, it's my whole weekly shop because I just get it delivered once a week. 'I normally use Sainsbury's or Tesco's, but I was trying to find a Christmas slot and this is the only one I could find. I won't ever be using them again.' The supermarket chain has been advertising heavy discounts in the run-up on Christmas dinner food, including vegetables, in the last week. Morrisons released an updated statement, saying: 'Today we are experiencing some system issues which are affecting our More Card customers. For More Card customers who have Morrisons Fivers to redeem, these will be done manually in store by colleagues. 'All our stores have now made the top 100 More Card prices the regular price - including the 10p veg deal, turkeys, spirits and champagne. And in addition we will give More Card customers an extra 10% off their entire shop as an apology.' After reports that Ginger Pig - which delivers fresh meat to buyers via DPD - was also affected by delivery problems, one customer said: 'DPD have promised Ginger Pig to deliver the 300 ordered birds which were due out for delivery today - and have been picked up but not left the depot. 'No confirmations have yet been sent by either Ginger Pig or DPD to that effect, so those of us waiting for their premium poultry and other cuts not available at supermarkets will be waiting with baited breath to see if they arrive or whether we will have to rush out at the last moment tomorrow in the hope of finding a bog-standard frozen turkey which may be all that's left.' Retail analysts at Kantar say today is expected to be the busiest day of the year for shops as millions of Brits rush to their local supermarkets to stock up on last-minute food and drink for Christmas. Supermarket sales were expected to continue grow, exceeding £13billion over the four weeks of December for the first time ever. It comes as the cost of an average Christmas dinner for four ballooned by 6.5 per cent, rising to £32.57. MailOnline has gone to Ocado for comment. Morrisons Ocado Share or comment on this article: Ocado is ridiculed by customers over 'atrocious' Christmas substitute choices items after retailer suffers delivery malfunction e-mail Add comment