South_agency/E+ via Getty Images Investment Overview In my last note covering ImmunityBio ( NASDAQ: IBRX ) in August, I provided a fairly detailed overview of the company, its entrepreneurial founder Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong – who, with his affiliates, holds ~76% of Immunity's common stock – its recently approved, vaccine-style cancer drug, Anktiva, and If you like what you have just read and want to receive at least 4 exclusive stock tips every week focused on Pharma, Biotech and Healthcare, then join me at my marketplace channel, Haggerston BioHealth . Invest alongside the model portfolio or simply access the investment bank-grade financial models and research. I hope to see you there. Edmund Ingham is a biotech consultant. He has been covering biotech, healthcare, and pharma for over 5 years, and has put together detailed reports of over 1,000 companies. He leads the investing group Haggerston BioHealth . Learn more Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in IBRX over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.With Easter Sunday falling on April 20 next year, customers shared their confusion on social media after finding chocolate eggs and hot cross buns already for sale in shops including Morrisons, Tesco and Asda. One user, @Jingle1991, shared an image of Malteser Bunnies in Sainsbury’s on Christmas Eve and pointed out: “Jesus hasn’t even been born yet.” Meanwhile, Gary Evans from Margate shared a shot of Creme Eggs on display in Morrisons in Margate on Boxing Day. “I just think its crazy that everything is so superficial and meaninglessly commercial... (there’s) something quite frantic about it,” the 66-year-old told the PA news agency. No Shame.Morrisons.Easter eggs.Boxing Day. December 26th.Peace on Earth pic.twitter.com/slGoIjOpRq — Gary Evans (@GaryEva04679693) December 26, 2024 Joseph Robinson found Easter confectionary including Cadbury Mini Eggs, and themed Kit-Kat and Kinder Surprise products at his local Morrisons in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday evening. “It’s funny, as they’ve not even managed to shift the Christmas chocolates off the shelves yet and they’re already stocking for Easter,” the 35-year-old admin support worker told PA. “I wish that Supermarkets weren’t so blatantly consumerist-driven and would actually allow customers and staff a time to decompress during the Christmas period.” @Morrisons It's not even a full 2025 and you're already stocking for easter.Kindly get in the bin pic.twitter.com/kLS7DGSRXt — Joseph (@stokegoblin) December 27, 2024 Asked if he was tempted to make a purchase, Mr Robinson added: “As a vegan it holds no appeal to me!” Mike Chalmers, a devout Christian from Chippenham, Wiltshire, was slightly less critical after spotting a display entitled: “Celebrate this Easter with Cadbury.” Easter is for life, not just for Christmas(Photo today in Morrisons!) pic.twitter.com/VmdJ31La9r — Mike Chalmers (@realMChalmers) December 27, 2024 “Christmas and Easter are the two centrepoints of the Christian good news story so it’s no bad thing to see the connections,” the 44-year-old said. “It’s about more than shapes of chocolate though!” Marketing consultant Andrew Wallis admitted he was surprised to see Easter eggs in the Co-op in Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, but added it also illustrates “forward-thinking” from big businesses. Christmas isn’t even over, and Easter eggs are already on the shelves. Say what you want about it—but big brands don’t wait. They plan ahead and act fast. Are you doing the same? Your future self will thank you pic.twitter.com/Sl9qd7sOGS — andrewwallis (@andrewwallis) December 27, 2024 “It made me reflect on how big brands are always thinking ahead and planning early,” the 54-year-old from the Isle of Man, who provides marketing advice to the fitness industry, told PA. “My message to retailers would be: while planning ahead is important, it’s also essential to be mindful of consumer sentiment. “Some might feel it’s too early for seasonal products like this but others might see it as a sign of forward-thinking. “Striking the right balance is key to keeping customers happy.”Regroup thoughts, focus on silver linings
Ask Angi: What projects should I never DIY?Shoppers have been left bemused after spotting Easter eggs on supermarket shelves before New Year’s Eve. With Easter Sunday falling on April 20 next year, customers shared their confusion on social media after finding chocolate eggs and hot cross buns already for sale in shops including Morrisons, Tesco and Asda. One user, @Jingle1991, shared an image of Malteser Bunnies in Sainsbury’s on Christmas Eve and pointed out: “Jesus hasn’t even been born yet.” Meanwhile, Gary Evans from Margate shared a shot of Creme Eggs on display in Morrisons in Margate on Boxing Day. “I just think its crazy that everything is so superficial and meaninglessly commercial... (there’s) something quite frantic about it,” the 66-year-old told the PA news agency. Joseph Robinson found Easter confectionary including Cadbury Mini Eggs, and themed Kit-Kat and Kinder Surprise products at his local Morrisons in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday evening. “It’s funny, as they’ve not even managed to shift the Christmas chocolates off the shelves yet and they’re already stocking for Easter,” the 35-year-old admin support worker told PA. “I wish that Supermarkets weren’t so blatantly consumerist-driven and would actually allow customers and staff a time to decompress during the Christmas period.” Asked if he was tempted to make a purchase, Mr Robinson added: “As a vegan it holds no appeal to me!” Mike Chalmers, a devout Christian from Chippenham, Wiltshire, was slightly less critical after spotting a display entitled: “Celebrate this Easter with Cadbury.” “Christmas and Easter are the two centrepoints of the Christian good news story so it’s no bad thing to see the connections,” the 44-year-old said. “It’s about more than shapes of chocolate though!” Marketing consultant Andrew Wallis admitted he was surprised to see Easter eggs in the Co-op in Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, but added it also illustrates “forward-thinking” from big businesses. “It made me reflect on how big brands are always thinking ahead and planning early,” the 54-year-old from the Isle of Man, who provides marketing advice to the fitness industry, told PA. “My message to retailers would be: while planning ahead is important, it’s also essential to be mindful of consumer sentiment. “Some might feel it’s too early for seasonal products like this but others might see it as a sign of forward-thinking. “Striking the right balance is key to keeping customers happy.”
I'm an interior designer who shopped at West Elm and Crate & Barrel for holiday decorations. One felt way more festive.Less than two months after his party lost power, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Esan South East Constituency at the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Ojezele Osesua, Monday has dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ojezele was received into the party’s fold by the State APC chairman, Emperor Jarrett Tenebe, at the party secretariat in Benin City. The legislator, currently a two term member of the assembly, said he dumped the PDP over ‘irreconcilable’ issues within the PDP. He also described his defection as a debt he owed the APC and thanked the party for receiving him. According to him, “In 2019, I was elected to the Assembly on APC platform. Due to some challenges, I left the party and joined PDP after one year. “Though I was elected on PDP platform in 2023, but I have been indebted to the APC. It is that debt I have come to pay with my defection.” On his part, the APC chairman, Jarrett Tenebe commended the legislator joining the party. Tenebe described Ojezele as focus, election-winning member, adding, “it’s not APC fault that PDP have issues.” He added: “You will recall that during the election campaigns, I said our doors are opened and the door is still open.” The PDP lost the state to Senator Monday Okpebholo of the APC at the September 29, 2024 governorship election. However, the PDP candidate at the poll, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, is challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Okpebholo as winner of the poll at the State Election Petition Tribunal.
DALLAS — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here Things didn't look good when TGI Fridays Inc., a once-iconic casual dining chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. But new details have emerged about the situation at the North Texas-based restaurant that paint an even starker picture. The company has reportedly vacated its Dallas headquarters and stashed hundreds of boxes of documents and computer equipment in the homes of employees. Circumstances became so bad that four top executives, including the then-chief financial officer, quit in the fall, telling the board that they could not "risk our own personal liability for the company's further operations," according to a copy of a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal . TGI Fridays did not respond to Dallas Business Journal's request for comment. The Journal provided some helpful history of the chain and highlighted why it was such a big deal for decades. TGI Fridays was founded in 1965 in New York by restaurateur Alan Stillman. It rose to prominence as a fun place for dates and after-work happy hours serving up comforting American cuisine and fun cocktails. The Wall Street Journal noted that scenes in Tom Cruise's 1994 movie "Cocktails" were shot at a TGI Fridays in New York. The chain went public in 1983 but became private again through its 1989 purchase by Carlson Cos. The company continued to grow, especially in other parts of the globe. The company's U.S. sales peaked in 2008 at $1.97 billion. That year, the company had 601 restaurants. But the rise of fast-casual dining slowly ate into the margins of chains like Fridays, and by 2017, the company's sales had fallen 36% from 2008. The company sold stores to franchisees to reduce debt but also borrowed money, including a $450 million deal in 2017 that used a structure known as whole-business securitization, according to the Wall Street Journal. That mean bonds were backed by franchisee royalty payments, which could be claimed by lenders if TGI Fridays missed out on financial metrics like hitting at least $1.5 billion in annual sales. Financial hardships continued to weigh on the business and in 2018 S&P Global downgraded its debt due to seven straight quarters of declining sales. The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic was another blow, although Fridays managed to do better than some expected by pivoting to to-go food and cocktails. But by 2024, the number of restaurants had fallen to 163, with a few dozen owned by the company. Thirty-nine locations are going through bankruptcy, according to WSJ. A plan to merge TGI Fridays with its largest U.K. franchisee , Hostmore, and go public on the London Stock Exchange fell apart in September. That led to the top executives quitting and the bankruptcy filing. There's hope TGI Fridays could be revived. Former CEO Ray Blanchette, who started with Fridays as a restaurant manager in Philadelphia in 1989, has since become a franchisee and is trying to buy up more restaurants. He submitted a $30.5 million bid in December to purchase nine of the 39 bankrupt locations, including one at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Blanchette has a positive outlook on keeping the company alive. He said that TGI Fridays does its best business in airports and casinos, representing a need to shift the brand. "I’ve spent the vast majority of my career here. It’s an entire body of work. I don’t want to see the brand go away," Blanchette told WSJ.Presidential Pardon Power Grab
Rachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery. Related Articles Business | Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds Business | Army and Navy team up for hypersonic missile launch from Cape Canaveral Business | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? Business | Bank groups sue the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a proposed cap on overdraft fees Business | HOA Homefront: Can our board meet in secret? Whether you’ve been saving since your first job or you’re getting a late start, you can leverage expert-recommended strategies to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. And if you’re not quite on track, don’t sweat it — the experts we spoke to offered actionable tips to help you close the gap. 5 ways to tell if you’re on track for retirement You might have a general idea of how much money you need to save for retirement . A few quick calculations can give you an estimate, but to truly appreciate where you stand, you’ll need to dive into the numbers. Here’s how to get started. 1. Use the Rule of 25 to get a ballpark number A good rule of thumb to estimate your retirement savings goal is the Rule of 25 . Simply multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. The result is roughly how much you’ll need to save before hitting retirement. For example, if you plan to spend $50,000 a year, you’ll need about $1.25 million to make it a reality. The Rule of 25 is based on the idea that withdrawing 4% annually from your retirement savings should last you about 30 years. While it’s not an exact science by any means — health care costs and lifestyle changes can skew the numbers, for example — the Rule of 25 can be a good starting point to figure out how much you need to save. 2. Compare your savings to Fidelity guidelines Fidelity Investments, a behemoth in the retirement planning space, offers savings guidelines to help you determine if you’re on track . —By age 30: Save 1x your annual salary —By age 40: Save 3x your annual salary —By age 50: Save 6x your annual salary —By age 60: Save 8x your annual salary —By age 67: Save 10x your annual salary For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, you should aim for $600,000 in savings by age 67. But like the Rule of 25, Fidelity’s guidelines offer a 10,000-foot look at retirement goals, and they’re not customized to your situation. Maybe you earned a low salary in your 20s, but you’re working hard in your 30s to make up for it. Use these estimates as a benchmark — but don’t get discouraged if you’re lagging behind. 3. Use an online retirement calculator Now it’s time to zoom in a little. To get a clearer snapshot of your progress, use an online retirement calculator. These tools factor in your age, current savings, income and lifestyle goals to estimate whether you’re on track. You’ll get a more refined estimate without crunching the numbers yourself. Bankrate’s retirement calculator even lets you input different rates of return on your investments and accounts for estimated annual salary increases. 4. Map out your retirement budget Having a general savings goal is nice, but to avoid falling short in retirement, you’ll need more than a ballpark figure. Experts recommend creating a retirement budget to get an up-close-and-personal look at how much you’ll really need once you leave the workforce. First, estimate how much you’ll spend per month in retirement. While some costs will increase, like health care, others will likely decrease, like dining out and commuting. “Estimating expenses can be challenging for some people, so as a starting point, I often use your net take-home pay,” says Jeff DeLarme, a certified financial planner and president of DeLarme Wealth Management. For example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 every two weeks from work, use $5,000 as your estimated monthly spending in retirement. “Assuming this was enough to pay the bills while working, we can use $5,000 a month as a starting budget to plan for,” says DeLarme. Next, map out your sources of income in retirement. Social Security is the largest income stream for most retirees, but don’t neglect other inflows, such as: —Workplace retirement accounts, like 401(k)s —Personal retirement accounts, like a traditional or Roth IRA —Pensions —Annuities —Selling your home or business —Rental income —Inheritance “If there’s a gap between your expected expenses and income, you’ll have a good idea of how much you need to save,” says Mike Hunsberger, a certified financial planner and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. From there, you can adjust your savings and investment strategy accordingly. 5. Talk to a financial adviser For something as important (and complex) as retirement planning, it pays to speak with a professional. Financial advisers can analyze your savings, investments and retirement goals to create a personalized plan. Advisers use special planning software that account for more variables than an online calculator, giving you a much more precise, granular look at your financial life in retirement. Many financial advisers can also help you optimize your tax strategy, which can potentially save you thousands of dollars over time. Make sure the adviser you hire is a fiduciary , meaning they’re legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own. A fiduciary won’t push investments to earn a commission or recommend products that aren’t aligned with your needs. A certified financial planner is one of the most well-recognized designations for fiduciaries. You can use Bankrate’s adviser matching tool to find a certified financial planner in your area in minutes. 5 ways to catch up on retirement savings Maybe you did the math and realized you’re not quite where you need to be. Don’t panic if you’re behind schedule. Here are five strategies experts recommend to help you catch up on your retirement savings . 1. Scale back your spending now and in retirement Cutting expenses now frees up more cash to invest in your retirement accounts. Evaluate your budget and identify areas where you can cut costs, like dining out, streaming subscriptions or shopping. Don’t rule out bigger lifestyle changes either, especially if retirement is rapidly approaching. Housing is the biggest monthly expense for most people. Getting creative here can help amplify the amount you can sock away, says Joseph Boughan, a certified financial planner and managing member at Parkmount Financial Partners. It can also reduce your expenses in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as before. “Downsizing can be a great way to cut expenses,” says Boughan. “This can even free up cash if you don’t end up needing all that money for a new home.” Moving somewhere with lower property taxes or income taxes can also help bring your retirement plan back in line. And if you’re a renter, making tough short-term decisions, like taking on a roommate or moving to a lower cost-of-living area, can free up hundreds of dollars a month for your retirement. “Everyone’s plan is unique, so exploring all the options is important,” Boughan says. Joe Conroy, a certified financial planner and owner of Harford Retirement Planners, recommends taking a “retirement test drive” as you near your target date. “Start to live on what income you think you can afford in retirement and stash all the extra income into savings and investments,” says Conroy. “If you can make it through each month, you’re ready for retirement. If you run short, then adjust your plan accordingly.” 2. Delay retirement by a year or two Working a little longer can be a game-changer for your retirement nest egg. Not only does it give you more time to save, it also gives your investments room to grow. “Working longer or even just part time for a few years early in retirement is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you need to save,” says Hunsberger. Postponing retirement can also boost your Social Security benefits . “You can claim as early as 62, but your benefits will be reduced significantly,” says Hunsberger. Meanwhile, each year you delay claiming Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age , your monthly check will increase by 8%, though this benefit maxes out at age 70. So waiting can really pay off. 3. Save more It may seem obvious, but if you’re behind on retirement savings, you’ll need to boost your contributions as much as possible. Here are a few ways to make saving for retirement easier: —Increase your contribution rate: Allocate a larger portion of your paycheck to a workplace retirement plan. Even bumping up your contributions by 1% or 2% can make a huge difference down the road. —Take advantage of your employer match: Don’t leave free money on the table. Many employers will chip in between 3 and 5% depending on your plan, so make sure you’re contributing enough to take advantage of the benefit. —Use “unexpected” money to catch up: If you get a raise or bonus at work, funnel part of it directly into your 401(k). And if you get a refund at tax time, siphon some of it off to beef up your IRA. 4. Invest more aggressively If you’ve been investing in low-risk, low-return investments, you may not be keeping up with inflation, let alone growing your nest egg. Reallocating part of your portfolio to stocks or low-cost growth exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is one way to get your money working harder. Higher-risk investments like stocks carry more volatility but also offer higher potential returns. Work with a financial adviser or use a robo-adviser to strike the right balance between growth and your personal risk tolerance. 5. Take advantage of new retirement account catch-up contributions Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs are higher for people over 50. For 2025, employees aged 50 and up who participate in most 401(k) plans or the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan can save up to $31,000 annually, including a $7,500 catch-up contribution . But thanks to SECURE 2.0 , a sweeping retirement law, a new higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 applies for employees ages 60 to 63. So, if you’re in this age group, you can squirrel away a whopping $34,750 a year during the final stretch of your career. Of course, you’ll need a big salary (think six figures) in order to take full advantage of such massive contribution limits. But if you can afford it, these catch-up allowances can put your plan back on track, especially if you struggled to save much early in your career. Bottom line There’s no GPS to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. If you’ve veered off course or aren’t sure where to start, begin by getting a quick estimate of how much you’ll need before mapping out a retirement budget. And if you’re behind, don’t panic — adjusting your spending, boosting your contributions and speaking with a financial adviser can help you catch up. ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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By Rilwan Muhammad Former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of not telling Nigerians the true situation of the country and his administration. Lamido, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also accused former President Muhammadu Buhari of not being transparent with Nigerians during his time. Lamido leveled the accusations when he featured on BBC Hausa service program ‘Gane Mini Hanya’. He said the two administrations prioritised propaganda rather than telling Nigerians the actual state of the nation unlike during the time PDP governed the country. 13 passengers burnt to death in Ondo auto crash Tinubu doesn’t interfere in our operations –NNPCL “Buhari’s and Tinubu’s governments are not being transparent with Nigerians unlike during the time when PDP was in power where everything was transparent and open to all Nigerians. “But with the coming of Buhari, deception and propaganda became tools for running the government.” Lamido also faulted President Tinubu’s loan requests, lamenting that “what the government is telling Nigerians is different from what it is executing.” “If Nigerians are being told the truth then there is nothing wrong with that, but how would you budget N30tn, generate N50tn and then request loan when you have a surplus of N20tn.” he said, making reference to last year’s budget. He further added, “This recklessness and clear-cut selfishness is not done anywhere in the world, but yet you find (some) Nigerians supporting it. Visit social media and see how APC is being criticised, being referred to as calamity, yet you find some protecting it.” Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You. Bola Tinubu country's situation Nigerians Sule Lamido TruthNoneAfter issuing a in September, nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice filed a against federal agencies involved in the Bitterroot National Forest Plan. The complaint, filed on Tuesday, criticizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service and the Bitterroot National Forest for failure to follow guidelines enforced by the Endangered Species Act and seeks to rule the plan as unlawful. The four plaintiffs filing against federal agencies include Friends of the Bitterroot, Friends of Clearwater, Native Ecosystems Council, and the WildEarth Guardians. The lawsuit centers around the Bitterroot Forest Plan amendments’ erasure of road density limitations and how potential new road construction could impact grizzly bear and bull trout population in the Bitterroot. “Plaintiffs thus turn to this Court for relief. To protect grizzly bears and bull trout, Plaintiffs request the Court declare unlawful and vacate the Forest Service’s Programmatic Amendment 40, as well as the 6 underlying Biological Opinion and Environmental Assessment (EA), and remand to the agencies for further analysis,” the complaint reads. Conservation groups took issue with , which allows the Forest Service to, according to the plaintiffs’ (issued on Sep. 10), “open or construct new roads without closing other roads." “Plaintiffs challenge the Forest Service’s 2023 Programmatic Amendment 40 to the Land Management Plan for the Bitterroot National Forest, which eliminated restrictions on road retention and motorized use without adequately considering resulting impacts on grizzly bears and bull trout,” states the complaint. Jim Miller, president of the Friends of the Bitterroot, told the Ravalli Republic in September that road densities in the Bitterroot Forest are “probably the biggest contributor to stream sedimentation, harming trout fisheries.” Besides increasing stream sediment, high road densities could also negatively impact interconnectivity between bear populations, a constant struggle for the state’s already fragmented grizzly population. “Roads displace grizzly bears and degrade bull trout streams” said Ben Scrimshaw, Earthjustice attorney, in a . “The Bitterroot provides crucial connective habitat between grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and the isolated Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, so allowing for limitless road building and motorized use through this area is a huge step backward in the quest for recovery.” “Grizzly bears require large expanses of intact ecosystem,” Miller told the Ravalli Republic after the lawsuit was filed on Tuesday. “Road densities fragment habitat and compromise the grizzly bear’s ability to inhabit those areas.” Miller mentioned how grizzly bears in Montana have started to trickle back into the Bitterroot and how an increase in road densities could disrupt a gradual reintroduction of the species to the valley. “We see grizzly bears naturally moving into our area,” Miller said. “In order for the Bitterroot ecosystem to be good habitat for grizzly bears, we can’t have too many roads and right now the Bitterroot National Forest has too many roads.” Miller claims that grizzly bears are not recovered enough to be subjected to any kind of human-caused endangerment and that Programmatic Amendment 40 does not adequately analyze the effects of its contents on species like grizzly bears and bull trout. The complaint states that there are two significant ways in which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to analyze Programmatic Amendment 40’s impacts on grizzly bears. “(1) it failed to consider road-density impacts on grizzly bears outside of secure, unroaded habitat; and (2) it allowed the Forest Service to overinflate current and future calculations of secure grizzly bear habitat by including fractions of land as small as one acre in size — approximately .00156 square miles,” reads the complaint. These criticisms were also mentioned in the conservation groups’ letter of intent submitted in September. According to Scrimshaw, the lawsuit was not immediately filed after the 60-day-notice transpired because Earthjustice received “last-minute response letters from the agencies.” “It was two letters responding to our 60-day-notice,” Scrimshaw said. “One letter addressed our concerns about impacts to bull trout and the other one was about impacts to grizzly bears.” These response letters are referenced numerous times in footnotes throughout the complaint. “They (federal agencies) said that they would go back and reinitiate consultation on this problem of unauthorized motorized use, which is just a very, very small component of our grizzly bear claims,” Scrimshaw said. “They went through our other arguments and tried to provide rationale, which I didn’t find particularly compelling.” Scrimshaw said these response letters delayed the litigation process because Earthjustice wanted to carefully analyze their contents before proceeding. Relevant responses provided in the agencies’ letters are addressed individually in the lawsuit. Earthjustice highlights discrepancies in each of the responses and provides reasoning as to their failure to address the conservation groups’ complaint. “In response to Plaintiffs’ 60-day notice letter, the agencies asserted that they ‘will examine this issue to determine if further clarification is warranted.’ The agencies did not commit to making any changes and have provided no timeline for completing consultation,” reads one of the footnotes in the complaint. Scrimshaw said that the next step of the legal process involves federal agencies responding to the complaint. “They will submit an answer and we’ll get together with the agencies and work out a case management plan that sets deadlines,” Scrimshaw said. “We’ll get that sorted out together once the agency attorneys have made their appearances in the case; it will be a little bit of a process.” Jackson Kimball is the local government reporter for the Ravalli Republic. Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s embassy in Lebanon suspended consular services Saturday, a day after two relatives of were arrested at the Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports. Also on Saturday, Lebanese authorities handed over dozens of Syrians — including former officers in the Syrian army under Assad — to the new Syrian authorities after they were caught illegally entering Lebanon, a war monitor and Lebanese officials said. The embassy announced on its Facebook page that consular work was suspended “until further notice” at the order of the Syrian foreign ministry. The announcement did not give a reason for the suspension. Two Lebanese security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the suspension was ordered because the at the embassy. Assad’s uncle, Rifaat Assad — who has been indicted in Switzerland on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity — had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Saturday that 70 Syrians, including former army officers, were handed over by a Lebanese security delegation to the security forces of the new Syrian government, led by the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Three Lebanese judicial officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report. Regional countries have been quick to establish ties with Syria’s new rulers. Delegations of Libyan and Bahraini officials arrived in Damascus on Saturday on official visits. HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has largely succeeded in calming fears within and outside of Syria that his group would unleash collective punishment against communities that supported Assad’s rule or attempt to impose strict Islamic law on the country’s religious minorities. However, in recent days, sporadic clashes have broken out between the HTS-led security forces and pro-Assad armed groups. The country’s new security forces have launched a series of raids targeting officials affiliated with Assad and have set up checkpoints in areas with significant populations of the Alawite religious minority to which the former president belongs to search for weapons. There have also been ongoing tensions and clashes in northeastern Syria between Kurdish-led forces and armed groups backed by Turkey. Many Kurds have viewed the new order in Damascus, which appears to have strengthened Turkey’s hand in Syria, with anxiety. Ankara sees the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group — as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. The U.S. State Department said Saturday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to “discuss the latest developments in Syria.” “Secretary Blinken emphasized the need to support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that upholds human rights and prioritizes an inclusive and representative government,” the statement said, adding that they “also discussed the shared goal of preventing terrorism from endangering the security” of Turkey and Syria. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters convened by Kurdish women’s groups participated in a demonstration in the northeastern city of Hasaka to demand women’s rights in the new Syria. Perishan Ramadan, a participant from Hasaka, said the new government “is worse than Bashar” and that its leaders are Islamist extremists who “don’t accept any role for women.” While the country’s new leaders have not attempted to impose Islamic dress or other conventions, it remains to be seen what role women will have in the new order and whether they will hold political or government positions. "Women must be present in the new constitution for Syria,” said Rihan Loqo, spokeswoman for the Kongra Star women’s organization. "... Women’s rights should not be ignored.” ___ Associated Press writers Hogir Abdo in Hasaka, Syria, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report. Abby Sewell, The Associated PressAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas won the title in 2023 on its way out the door to the Southeastern Conference. It was still swinging open when Arizona State waltzed in and won the league title in its debut season. And now the old Big 12 champs meet the new Big 12 champs on the path toward a potential national title. The fifth-seeded Longhorns and fourth-seeded Sun Devils play News Years Day in the Peach Bowl in the quarterfinals of the . Both had their doubters they could get here. Texas (12-2) still had to prove is was “ready” for the SEC. Arizona State (11-2) was picked to finish last in the Big 12. But the Sun Devils quickly started winning and having fun in some new road environments in college towns smaller than some of their stops in the more cosmopolitan old Pac-12. running back Cam Skattebo led the barnstorming tour. “We were not used to getting tortillas thrown at us at Texas Tech. You're not used to some of these environments," Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday. “When you're in the Pac-12, you're playing in Seattle, you're playing in L.A., you're playing in Salt Lake City. We got to face a lot more small college town football with really, really great environments. ... It was definitely fun to join a new league," Dillingham said. And Dillingham laid down some Texas roots. The Sun Devils are recruiting Texas players out of high school, and the current roster has six transfers who started their college careers in burnt orange in Austin. “The guys we’ve gotten from Texas and coach (Steve Sarkisian's) program have been unbelievable,” Dillingham said. “We know what we’re getting when we’re getting a guy from that program, and that’s a guy who has worked really hard, competed and been pushed. Those are the things that we like to bring in.” Safety Xavion Alford was named . Defensive end Prince Dorbah is another Sun Devils starter. Defensive lineman Zac Swanson, who has two sacks this season, is another former Longhorn who said he relished a chance to beat his former team. Recruited by Texas out of Phoenix, Swanson was a reserve in 2022 and 2023 behind future NFL draft picks T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. “That's a team who kicked me out and said I'd never I was never going to be good enough to play there,” Swanson said last week. “That's something that has been on my agenda for a while.” Dillingham joked he'd like to get more Texas transfers this week. Sarkisian simply noted that he wished he'd signed Skattebo, a Californian who transferred from Sacramento State after the 2022 season. “I was unaware, so kudos to them. They found him, he's a heckuva player,” said Sarkisian, who also is a California native. Sarkisian said he was impressed by the Sun Devil's first-year success in the Big 12. “We were in that Big 12, what, for 27 years? We won four. This is their first year in and they won a Big 12 Championship. It’s a really hard thing to do,” Sarkisian said. “They’re playing with a ton of confidence right now. The last two months, I think they’re playing as good a football as anybody in the country.” Despite wining that last Big 12 title and a playoff appearance in 2023, Texas still faced skeptics that the Longhorns would take their lumps in the SEC this year. Texas was more than ready for the league and the Longhorns made it to the SEC championship game. Their only two losses have been to Georgia, the No. 2 seed in the playoff. Sarkisian still remembers his 5-7 Texas debut in 2021. The program wasn't ready for the SEC and the playoff back then, but it certainly is now. Texas is the only one of last year's four playoff teams to make the expanded 12-team field this year. “There’s a lot to be proud of, but mostly I’m proud of our veterans, our leaders, our seniors, because those guys went from 5-7 in year one, they went through 8-5 in year two, and they didn’t jump ship. They hung in there with us. They believed in what they were doing,” Sarkisian said. 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Johnson’s tax returns show his family brought in just over $176,000 in wages for 2023, his first year as mayor of Chicago. His annual salary was $216,210 that year, and he began his term mid-May. After claiming the standard $27,700 deduction for filing jointly with his wife Stacie and a $6,000 child tax credit, records show Johnson paid $17,302 in federal taxes, an effective tax rate of 11.65%. Johnson didn’t claim any other income from investments, retirement fund distributions or capital gains in 2023. He separately paid just under $8,000 in state income taxes, after taking a $140 tax credit for the property taxes he paid on his Austin home. 2023 was the highest reported wage Johnson earned since 2019. Household income for the Johnson family will go up for next year’s return, since his 2024 wage as mayor of Chicago climbed to just over $221,000. The Tribune annually requests the Chicago mayor’s tax returns, a longstanding tradition in U.S. politics when it comes to major public offices. Politicians are not mandated to disclose their income tax forms, but many do so to demonstrate transparency about potential conflicts — a particular importance to many voters in Illinois, where generations of politicians have enriched themselves through their government roles. Johnson, who grew up in suburban Elgin and famously touts being a West Sider, has often drawn from his humble upbringing when pitching himself as a firebrand progressive seeking to enact a host of “tax the rich” proposals. During the 2023 campaign, he fought back against criticism over his unpaid water bills to the city by saying his debt indicates he understands the plight of struggling Chicagoans, although by then he was employed as a county commissioner and Chicago Teachers Union organizer. Still, Johnson’s tax forms show his income history is more modest than that of his predecessors, Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel, while they were in office. Lightfoot, who grew up in the working-class town of Massillon, Ohio, reported making $402,414 in adjusted gross income in 2021, the most recent year the Tribune requested her returns. She reported taking out $210,000 in early distributions from retirement accounts that year to supplement her mayoral salary. While working as a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown before becoming mayor, Lightfoot reported an average adjusted gross income of $971,626 from 2014 through 2017. Emanuel reported making $554,000 while mayor in 2017 , including $353,000 from interest, dividends and capital gains from investments. Johnson did not provide his full 2022 return, which the Tribune has also requested, but his latest filing and other returns dating back to 2018 that his campaign provided to the Tribune during the mayoral race show the family reported about $161,782 in 2022, $161,000 in 2021, and $160,000 in 2020. Between 2018 and 2022, Johnson worked two jobs as a county commissioner earning $85,000 annually, and a separate income for the Chicago Teachers Union. His pay at the union varied year to year. His highest gross salary before becoming mayor was in 2019, when he earned about $94,000 in addition to his county salary, according to CTU’s federal disclosures. Between 2018 and 2021, Johnson also reported income for his work as a “media personality.” He reported $1,350 in gross income for that side business in 2021, while wife Stacie reported just under $2,000 in income for work as a doula. Johnson was not paid for his show on radio station WCPT AM-820, but was compensated when filling in for other hosts, his campaign previously told the Tribune. As a candidate when running for mayor in 2023, Johnson released four years of tax returns to the Tribune, with the most recent year’s reported income being 2021. Johnson previously reported $108,019 in adjusted gross income for 2018 when he was a regional organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union. In 2019, Johnson reported $171,300 in gross adjusted income. He listed his occupation as regional organizer, though he also was serving his first full year on the county board. For 2020, Johnson reported $160,217 in gross adjusted income. Johnson also reported $2,530 in income as a “media personality.” The next year, Johnson reported $161,371 in gross adjusted income. He also reported $1,350 as a “media personality” but claimed $1,450 in expenses and reported a $100 loss. His wife also reported making $1,941 as a doula that year. Johnson’s most recent city economic disclosure statement reported no financial conflicts in 2023.PRR loan fails to revamp Pakistan’s tax system: report Report says that multilateral donors provided 16 foreign loans and assistance packages to reform tax system ISLAMABAD: Despite utilising 80% of the $400 million World Bank-funded Pakistan Raises Revenues (PRR) loan, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed to address longstanding issues in Pakistan’s tax system and machinery. This was the conclusion of a joint report by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and PRIME, an economic think tank, titled “World Bank’s PRR Loan: Did It Help Increase Tax Revenues and Tax Machinery Efficiency? A Prospective Analysis,” launched on Friday. The report, authoured by economist Shahid Mehmood, highlights significant shortcomings in achieving the loan’s objectives. The report points out that multilateral donors have provided 16 foreign loans and technical assistance packages to reform Pakistan’s tax system. However, an FBR official, when contacted, argued that the report inaccurately included funding allocated to provinces as part of the FBR’s financing. The official clarified that the FBR itself had only secured three foreign loans. Speaking at the report’s launch, the World Bank’s lead economist, Tobias Akhtar Haque, emphasised the urgent need to bring all forms of income, at both federal and provincial levels, into the tax net. He said that Pakistan’s economy was on the brink of default 18 months ago but has now entered a stabilisation phase. However, bridging the revenue gap remains critical. “In the short term, emergency measures are necessary, but the country must ultimately broaden its tax base. Pakistan needs to consider moving toward a flat income tax system,” Haque added. Responding to questions about policy loans for addressing external financing gaps, Haque highlighted that provinces also secured foreign loans, underscoring the need to assess their actual benefits. On the digitisation of the FBR, he said that efforts were underway to develop state-of-the-art data centres and analytics to broaden the tax base. However, he conceded that the tax-to-GDP ratio remains unsatisfactory. Haque also stressed the importance of balancing revenue collection with necessary spending in a country where 80% of children face learning poverty, and 40% experience stunting. The report warns that the PRR loan risks repeating the failures of previous initiatives, such as the World Bank’s Tax Administration Reform Project (TARP). Despite partial improvements, fundamental issues persist due to a lack of institutional learning and consideration of ground realities. The loan’s main objective was to sustainably increase tax revenues by broadening the tax base and facilitating compliance. The first component outlined four goals: creating a simple and transparent system, ensuring taxpayer obligations, facilitating compliance, and promoting institutional development. However, none of these goals have been fully achieved. “With 80% of the loan already utilised, major improvements with the remaining funds seem highly improbable,” the report states. Core issues, such as the lack of institutional development, a stagnant tax-to-GDP ratio, declining filer numbers, and ineffective efforts to bring retailers and non-compliant groups into the tax net, remain unresolved. The report also criticises the use of technology under the loan’s second component, aimed at equipping the FBR with modern IT systems and tools. It references Robert Solow’s famous 1987 observation, “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics,” to underline the minimal impact of technology on improving FBR’s efficiency. The report concludes that outdated bureaucratic structures, political pressures, and entrenched inefficiencies continue to hinder the FBR’s performance, rendering technological upgrades insufficient to achieve meaningful reforms.
ATI Inc executive chairman Robert S. Wetherbee sells $1.47 million in stock