November tops year for juvenile arrests, but none related to new law aimed at youthful offenders, police say
Workday Names Rob Enslin President, Chief Commercial Officer
NoneOlder adults skip medical care at higher rates than other developed countries, survey says
By JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday voiced his support for the dockworkers union before their contract expires next month at Eastern and Gulf Coast ports, saying that any further “automation” of the ports would harm workers. Related Articles National Politics | Will Kamala Harris run for California governor in 2026? The question is already swirling National Politics | Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people National Politics | Trump taps immigration hard-liner Kari Lake as head of Voice of America National Politics | Trump extends unprecedented invites to China’s Xi and other world leaders for his inauguration National Politics | Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump The incoming president posted on social media that he met Harold Daggett, the president of the International Longshoreman’s Association, and Dennis Daggett, the union’s executive vice president. “I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” Trump posted. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen. Foreign companies have made a fortune in the U.S. by giving them access to our markets. They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt.” The International Longshoremen’s Association has until Jan. 15 to negotiate a new contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies. At the heart of the dispute is whether ports can install automated gates, cranes and container-moving trucks that could make it faster to unload and load ships. The union argues that automation would lead to fewer jobs, even though higher levels of productivity could do more to boost the salaries of remaining workers. The Maritime Alliance said in a statement that the contract goes beyond ports to “supporting American consumers and giving American businesses access to the global marketplace – from farmers, to manufacturers, to small businesses, and innovative start-ups looking for new markets to sell their products.” “To achieve this, we need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains,” said the alliance, adding that it looks forward to working with Trump. In October, the union representing 45,000 dockworkers went on strike for three days, raising the risk that a prolonged shutdown could push up inflation by making it difficult to unload container ships and export American products overseas. The issue pits an incoming president who won November’s election on the promise of bringing down prices against commitments to support blue-collar workers along with the kinds of advanced technology that drew him support from Silicon Valley elite such as billionaire Elon Musk. Trump sought to portray the dispute as being between U.S. workers and foreign companies, but advanced ports are also key for staying globally competitive. China is opening a $1.3 billion port in Peru that could accommodate ships too large for the Panama Canal. There is a risk that shippers could move to other ports, which could also lead to job losses. Mexico is constructing a port that is highly automated, while Dubai, Singapore and Rotterdam already have more advanced ports. Instead, Trump said that ports and shipping companies should eschew “machinery, which is expensive, and which will constantly have to be replaced.” “For the great privilege of accessing our markets, these foreign companies should hire our incredible American Workers, instead of laying them off, and sending those profits back to foreign countries,” Trump posted. “It is time to put AMERICA FIRST!”After winning a local business award last year, a Cloverdale student and entrepreneur wants to take his business to the next level. Vansh Sobti—who won a Clovie award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year—has opened Cloud Nine Clothing to sell his unique hoodies and sportswear. A student at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, Sobti makes a few different items, such as sweatshirts and zip ups, but his main product is his "stress ball hoodie." The hoodie features hidden stress balls and is made of a heavy-weight fabric, which he said is soothing to those with anxiety, something he deals with himself. He said the things he was dealing with in his own life inspired him to create the clothing line. "It was back in 2022, post-pandemic, and I was just noticing that a lot of people's social anxiety had increased a lot," he said. "Even for myself, I found myself using different tools like stress balls. However, the idea of using them in public made me feel more embarrassed." That's when Sobti got his eureka moment. As he went and looked for discrete solutions to solve his problem, he found there were non. So he had the idea to create something of his own that would solve the dilemma. "I couldn't find anything suitable to use in public while at the same time taking away excess energy," he explained. "That's where I saw a gap in the market and that's where I started to innovate and after a couple of months I made a prototype for the stress ball hoodie." He sold his first hoodie in April of 2023 and sales continued well for the year. At first no one knew he was making the hoodies, he was a little shy about letting anyone know, lest his venture fail. So really only his family and a few close friends knew about his new initiative. "I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, so I didn't want to tell anyone initially," he explained. "So the first year, no one really knew I was doing this." Sobti enjoyed success in his first year, which culminated in a Clovie award win in November, 2023. He said winning a Clovie was an "incredible" experience. "Just being able to look at the work I put into it, and then to be recognized for it, helped me to stay more motivated," he added. "That was super nice." Sales have gone well in 2024, but he wants to take it to the next level. Right now, he only has an online presence and works out of his house. He's not looking for a bricks and mortar store of his own, but he would like to sell his hoodies in some local stores in Cloverdale, Surrey, and Langley. "I don't know where to start, in terms of getting into local stores, but that's my next step." As for his next steps, Sobti said he loves the idea of trying to create more products that can help people with mental health issues in different ways. "Just coming out with different products that revolve around mental health somehow," he explained. "Even if it's not stress related, just helping promote the idea of better mental health, whether that's different designs on the shirts or hoodies or different sweatpants or bags—just, like, making this more of an actual company with a lot of different products to help promote a specific cause." For more info, or to buy some hoodies or sportswear, Cloud Nine can also be found on Instagram ( ) and on TikTok ( ).
On Friday, Nokia Corporation NOK and Du announced the launch of the first commercial 5G Cloud RAN solution in the Middle East and Africa. This partnership underscores du's hybrid RAN strategy, combining purpose-built and cloud-native infrastructures for enhanced flexibility and scalability. The deployment supports the UAE's digital growth and enables advanced use cases, including AI, machine learning, and industry-specific applications in manufacturing, energy, and logistics. The commercial 5G Cloud RAN site deployed in Abu Dhabi, based on Nokia's anyRAN approach, features Nokia's virtualized Distributed Units (vDU) and Centralized Units (vCU) running on Dell PowerEdge XR8620 servers, integrated with Red Hat OpenShift, a leading hybrid cloud platform powered by Kubernetes. This setup supports cloud-native RAN functions and allows service providers like du to scale their 5G networks and quickly roll out new services. Saleem Alblooshi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of du, said, "Leveraging 5G Cloud RAN will not only enhance our network's efficiency and flexibility but also enable us to explore new opportunities and services that can deliver genuine value to our customers and society at large." Mark Atkinson, Head of RAN at Nokia, stated, "Under our anyRAN approach, we bring together Nokia's expertise, trusted performance, and innovation in radio networks with best-in-class partner solutions to offer true flexibility and scalability to operators and enterprises." Last month, the company completed the UAE's first live transport slicing trial with du, enabling the telecom provider to offer diverse network services on existing infrastructure . Investors can gain exposure to NOK stock via iShares U.S. Digital Infrastructure and Real Estate ETF IDGT and Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) ETF RODM . Price Action : NOK shares are down 1.04% at $4.27 at the last check on Friday. Read Next : Kyndryl And Nokia Expand Partnership: AI-Powered Networking To Transform Data Center Solutions Image via Nokia This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Trump's lawyers rebuff DA's idea for upholding his hush money conviction