lucky 77

lucky 77 Dior Conners hits game-winning 3 with a second left as Appalachian State tops William & Mary, 79-76Brandon Sklenar speaks out on Blake Lively's Justin Baldoni complaint

SURREY, B.C. — Mounties say a Chilliwack, B.C., man has been charged with three criminal offences after a crash between a tractor and BC Highway Patrol vehicle during a 2023 protest. They say the 54-year-old was arrested on Dec. 18 and will appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 16, charged with fleeing police, dangerous operation of a vehicle and assaulting a police officer with a weapon. RCMP said last year that the tractor was one of several vehicles involved in a convoy that began in Chilliwack and was travelling to Vancouver. The tractor driver sustained serious injuries in the crash that left an officer with minor injuries. Photos from the collision posted to social media at the time showed a John Deere tractor on its side, and that it was flying a black and white flag that read "stop SOGI 123," an apparent reference to a set of classroom guidelines on sexual orientation and gender identity. Several protests erupted in cities across Canada last fall by those opposed to the educational resource intended to create more inclusive classrooms. The Independent Investigations Office issued a statement in February after concluding its investigation into the Highway 17 crash in Surrey, saying it had cleared police of any wrongdoing. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024. The Canadian PressNoneLogility Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results

NoneThe counterprogramming of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office. And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, “Saw Patrol” ). This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation “Wicked” opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic “Gladiator II.” Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: “Wickiator,” “Wadiator,” “Gladwick” and even the eyebrow raising “Gladicked” have all been suggested. “'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more,” actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of “Gladiator II” this week. “I think we should all band around ‘Glicked.’ It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it.” As with “Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, “Glicked” also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging muscles. Both films topped Fandango’s most anticipated holiday movie survey, where 65% of respondents said that they were interested in the “Glicked” double feature. Theaters big and small are also pulling out the stops with movie-themed tie-ins. B&B Theaters will have Roman guards tearing tickets at some locations and Maximus popcorn tubs. Marcus Theaters is doing Oz photo ops and friendship bracelet-making. Alamo Drafthouse is leaning into the singalong aspect (beware, though, not all theaters are embracing this) and the punny drinks like “Defying Gravi-Tea.” “Rather than it being in competition, I think they’re in conversation,” “Gladiator II” star Paul Mescal said. “This industry needs a shot in the arm. Those films gave it last year. We hope to do it this year.” And the hope is that audiences will flock to theaters to be part of this moment as well. It's a sorely needed influx of could-be blockbusters into a marketplace that's still at an 11% deficit from last year and down 27.2% from 2019, according to data from Comscore. “Competition is good for the marketplace. It’s good for consumers,” said Michael O'Leary, the president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners. “Having two great movies coming out at the same time is simply a multiplier effect.” “Glicked” is currently tracking for a combined North American debut in the $165 million range, with “Wicked” forecast to earn around $100 million (up from the $80 million estimates a few weeks ago) and “Gladiator II” pegged for the $65 million range. “Barbenheimer” shattered its projections last July. Going into that weekend, “Barbie” had been pegged for $90 million and “Oppenheimer” around $40 million. Ultimately, they brought in a combined $244 million in that first outing, and nearly $2.4 billion by the end of their runs. It’s possible “Glicked” will exceed expectations, too. And it has the advantage of another behemoth coming close behind: “Moana 2,” which opens just five days later on the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday. “Glickedana” triple feature anyone? “These are 10 important days,” O'Leary said. “It’s going to show the moviegoing audience that there’s a lot of compelling stuff out there for them to see.” There are infinite caveats to the imperfect comparison to “Barbenheimer,” as well. “Wicked” is a “Part One.” Musicals carry their own baggage with moviegoers, even those based on wildly successful productions (ahem, “Cats”). “Gladiator II” got a head start and opened internationally last weekend. In fact, in the U.K. it played alongside “Paddington in Peru,” where that double was pegged “Gladdington.” “Gladiator” reviews, while positive, are a little more divided than the others. And neither directors Ridley Scott nor Jon M. Chu has the built-in box office cache that Christopher Nolan’s name alone carries at the moment. The new films also cost more than “Barbie” ($145 million) and “Oppenheimer” ($100 million). According to reports, “Gladiator II” had a $250 million price tag; “Wicked” reportedly cost $150 million to produce (and that does not include the cost of the second film, due next year). The narrative, though, has shifted away from “who will win the weekend.” Earlier this year, Chu told The Associated Press that he loves that this is a moment where “we can root for all movies all the time.” Close behind are a bevy of Christmas releases with double feature potential, but those feel a little more niche. There’s the remake of “Nosferatu,” the Nicole Kidman kink pic “Babygirl” and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.” The internet can’t even seem to decide on its angle for that batch of contenders, and none exactly screams blockbuster. Sometimes the joy is just in the game, however. Some are sticking with the one-name mashup (“Babyratu”); others are suggesting that the fact that two of the movies feature real-life exes (Timothée Chalamet and Lily-Rose Depp) is enough reason for a double feature. And getting people talking is half the battle. When in doubt, or lacking a catchy name, there’s always the default: “This is my Barbenheimer.” Associated Press journalist John Carucci and Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed reporting.WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s decision to go back on his word and issue a categorical pardon for his son, Hunter , just weeks before his scheduled sentencing on gun and tax convictions was a surprise that wasn't all that surprising. Not to those who had witnessed the president’s shared anguish over his two sons after the boys survived a car crash that killed Biden's first wife and a daughter more than a half-century ago. Or to those who heard the president regularly lament the death of his older son, Beau , from cancer or voice concerns — largely in private — about Hunter’s sobriety and health after years of deep addiction. People are also reading... But by choosing to put his family first, the 82-year-old president — who had pledged to restore a fractured public’s trust in the nation’s institutions and respect for the rule of law — has raised new questions about his already teetering legacy. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jared Polis wrote in a post on X. He added that while he could sympathize with Hunter Biden’s struggles, “no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.” Biden aides and allies had been resigned to the prospect of the president using his extraordinary power in the waning days of his presidency to ensure his son wouldn't see time behind bars, especially after Donald Trump ’s win. The president's supporters have long viewed Biden's commitment to his family as an asset overall, even if Hunter's personal conduct and tangled business dealings were seen as a persistent liability. But the pardon comes as Biden has become increasingly isolated since the loss to Trump by Vice President Kamala Harris , who jumped in to the race after the president’s catastrophic debate against Trump in June forced his exit from the election. He is still struggling to resolve thorny foreign policy issues in the Middle East and Europe. And he must reckon with his decision to seek reelection despite his advanced age, which helped return the Oval Office to Trump, a man he had warned time and again was a threat to democratic norms. Trump has gleefully planned to undo Biden’s signature achievements on climate change and reverse the Democrat's efforts to reinvigorate the country’s alliances, all while standing poised to take credit for a strengthening economy and billions in infrastructure investments that are in the pipeline for the coming years. And now, Biden has handed the Republican a pretext to carry through with sweeping plans to upend the Department of Justice as the Republican vows to seek retribution against supposed adversaries. “This pardon is just deflating for those of us who’ve been out there for a few years yelling about what a threat Trump is,” Republican Joe Walsh, a vocal Trump critic, said on MSNBC. “‘Nobody’s above the law,’ we’ve been screaming. Well, Joe Biden just made clear his son Hunter is above the law.” Jean-Pierre said Monday from Air Force One that the president wrestled with the decision but ultimately felt his son’s case had been tainted by politics, though she tried to thread the needle — insisting he had faith in the Justice Department. “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” she said. But Trump has already made very clear his intent to disrupt federal law enforcement with his initial nomination of outspoken critics like former Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general and Kash Patel to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , who nominally still has more than two years left in his term. (Gaetz ended up quickly withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.) Reacting to the pardon, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement: “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people." In a social media post, the president-elect himself called the pardon “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.” “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked. He was referring to those convicted in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters aiming to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. Biden and his spokespeople had repeatedly and flatly ruled out the president granting his son a pardon. In June, Biden told reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” In July, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “It's still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No." In November, days after Trump's victory, Jean-Pierre reiterated that message: “Our answer stands, which is no." Neither Biden nor the White House explained the shift in the president's thinking, and it was his broken promise as much as his act of clemency that was a lightning rod. He is hardly the first president to pardon a family member or friend entangled in political dealings. Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger for drug charges after he had served his sentence roughly a decade earlier. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner , the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Yet Biden held himself up as placing his respect for the American judicial system and rule of law over his own personal concerns — trying to draw a deliberate contrast with Trump, who tested the bounds of his authority like few predecessors. Inside the White House, the timing of the pardon was surprising to some who believed Biden would put it off as long as possible, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. It came just after Biden spent extended time over the past week with Hunter and other family members on Nantucket in Massachusetts, a family tradition for Thanksgiving. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” Biden said in a statement announcing the pardon. Some in the administration have privately expressed anguish that the substance of Biden’s statement, including his claim of an unfair politically-tinged prosecution of his son resembled complaints Trump — who faced now-abandoned indictments over his role in trying to subvert the 2020 election — has been making for years about the Justice Department. Biden said the charges in his son's cases "came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.” Many legal experts agreed that the charges against the younger Biden were somewhat unusual, but the facts of the offenses were hardly in dispute, as Hunter wrote about his gun purchase while addicted to illegal drugs in his memoir and ultimately pleaded guilty to the tax charges. The pardon too was unusual, coming before Hunter Biden was even sentenced and covering not just the gun and tax offenses against his son, but also anything else he might have done going back to the start of 2014. It's a move that could limit the ability of the Trump Justice Department to investigate the younger Biden's unsavory foreign business dealings, or to find new ground on which to bring criminal charges related to that time period. Biden, in his statement, asked for consideration: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision." Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington and Will Weissert aboard Air Force One contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

The standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" Thanks for your interest in Kalkine Media's content! To continue reading, please log in to your account or create your free account with us.JHVEPhoto After helping to fuel the S&P 500 to record gains this year, the chip sector has taken a heavy step back, particularly over the past month as heavyweights Micron ( MU ) and Western Digital ( WDC ) signaled Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of STX either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. 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.

This holiday season brings an extra reason to be joyful: A recent poll found that Americans’ belief in the existence of a “War on Christmas” has fallen dramatically since 2022, to 23%. Peace on earth and mercy mild! Perhaps with the ongoing “invasion” of our southern border, Fox and other conservative networks have decided that it’s best to focus on drumming up support for one war at a time. Or maybe waging a two-decade war over the Prince of Peace with imaginary grinches has finally grown wearisome, even if Donald Trump is still manning the barricades. The idea that there’s a war against Christmas has never been about the ability to practice Christianity, only the fear that America is under siege by secular liberals and their allies among Jews, Muslims and people of other faiths. It is based on the claim that saying “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays” is culturally verboten, rather than a well-intentioned (one might even say Christian) effort at inclusive grace. The tragedy of making up a forever war on Christmas to score political points isn’t that it’s been needlessly divisive. It’s that so many Christians spent so much time confusing a greeting with the gospel. In taking aim at secularization, they trained their fire on the most superficial and meaningless target, rather than the big prize: infusing the Christmas season with more of Christ’s spirit, in the face of the avalanche of commercialism that overwhelms it. The work of rescuing Christianity from partisan warriors is captured in an inspiring new book, “Your Jesus Is Too American.” Its author, Steve Bezner, is the pastor of a large evangelical church in Houston, Texas, which I visited recently on a cross-country RV trip. “It’s not unusual,” he writes, “to see signs featuring a cross draped in an American flag or even Jesus wearing an American flag as a sash.” Those images lead to “people being convinced that being an American citizen is synonymous with being a Christian” — and often, that being a Christian is synonymous with being a Republican. “You’re not a Christian if you vote for a Democrat,” a megachurch pastor in Dallas said earlier in the year. He was hardly the only person to make that claim, which has led many Christians to believe, Bezner writes, “that our salvation is found not in Jesus but in who occupies the White House.” His book aims “to remind us of the backward and upside-down values of Jesus and to hold them in tension with our American values.” He’s deeply patriotic, but doesn’t confuse love of country with love of God, or loyalty to party with fidelity to scripture. Bezner thoughtfully explores paradoxes at the heart of Christianity that challenge American culture: denying our material wants to fulfill our spiritual needs, which runs counter to our consumerism; giving away our resources to enrich ourselves, which runs counter to our ambitions; and serving others to save ourselves, which runs counter to our individualism. “Jesus’ final act of teaching before sharing a meal with his disciples and then journeying to the cross,” Bezner writes, “was an act of joyful service” — washing his disciples’ feet, demonstrating that the lowliest forms of service are God’s highest calling. “Too many of our pastors sound like pundits,” he writes. “Too few of us wash feet.” Bezner examines the most difficult of Jesus’ commandments — love your enemies — by placing it in historical context that has contemporary relevance. Jesus spoke those words to Jews living under a violently repressive Roman regime that was “militarily occupying their homeland, taxing them, and building up pagan worship.” At a time when hatred of Donald Trump runs deep through the Democratic Party, and when Trump and other Republicans are threatening retribution against their enemies, Jesus’ call to practice what Bezner calls “enemy love” is a challenge to Christian members of both parties. Bezner is especially compelling when examining Jesus’ solidarity with “ethnic outcasts,” including Samaritans despised by Jews, and with aliens and exiles who arrive to new lands with nothing. “His reputation as the friend of sinners is well earned,” Bezner writes of Jesus, “but we might do well to think of him also as the friend of foreigners.” His disciples took that lesson to heart. “The earliest churches,” notes Bezner, “were multiethnic in an age when xenophobia was high.”Pakistani police have arrested more than 4,000 supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan ahead of a planned rally in the capital, Islamabad, to demand his release, a security official said Sunday (November 24). Khan, who has been imprisoned for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains a popular figure in Pakistan. His political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), claims the charges are politically motivated. Shahid Nawaz, a security officer in Punjab province, confirmed the arrests, which include five parliamentarians. Authorities have sealed off Islamabad with shipping containers and closed major roads linking the city to PTI strongholds in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Clashes erupted Sunday between police and PTI supporters along the Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border, with reports of tit-for-tat tear gas exchanges. In a bid to disrupt communications, Pakistan suspended mobile data services in “security-sensitive areas.” The Interior Ministry announced the suspension on X, the social media platform banned in the country, but did not specify the affected areas or the duration of the shutdown. Telecom company Nayatel encouraged customers to use landline services as a workaround. PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was en route to Islamabad in a convoy led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur. “She cannot leave the party workers on their own,” Akram said. In Peshawar, a festive atmosphere prevailed as PTI supporters danced, played drums, and displayed Khan’s pictures while caravans headed toward the capital. Internet advocacy group NetBlocks reported issues with messaging app WhatsApp, widely used by Khan’s supporters for event coordination and information sharing. The government has previously used similar tactics, including last month’s cellphone shutdown in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, to thwart pro-Khan rallies. The move disrupted banking, ride-hailing, and food delivery services, drawing public criticism. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings, has been sealed off. “Anyone reaching it will be arrested,” Naqvi told reporters, blaming PTI for disrupting public life and businesses. According to Geo News, protests by Imran Khan’s PTI party have incurred over PKR 2.7 billion from government coffers over the past 18 months. This includes the cost of destruction of public and private property. With inputs from AP34 Lives Rescues 34 Kidneys

THE THROWBACK MACHINE: Always something to prepare for!

Guest Column: Target land acquisition, sustaining livelihoods in Punjab

At the start of finals week at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, trumpet players and vocalists waited to give their final performances of the semester in the only space available. The cold, cramped hallways of the Westbrook Music Building. The three-story building near the southwest corner of City Campus has been the headquarters of numerous choirs, dozens of instrumental ensembles and thousands of music majors since it opened nearly seven decades ago. But in recent years, as UNL opened new buildings for business and engineering students and overhauled other learning spaces on campus, the creativity and passion emerging from its outdated rehearsal halls and practice rooms was often in spite of Westbrook Music Building — not inspired by it. That will soon change. Next spring, UNL will open a modern music building at the corner of 10th and Q streets teeming with natural light, ample space for collaboration and innovation among artistic disciplines, and interwoven with cutting-edge technology unlike any other on a college campus. The music building is among the projects benefiting from a 2021 law LB 384 enacted by the Legislature to increase state and university funds for deferred maintenance projects. That summer, NU secured $400 million in municipal bonds — the largest in university history — to address an $800 million backlog of construction and renovation projects at its campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney. The NU Board of Regents later approved a plan to use $78 million in bond financing and $3 million in private funds to replace the existing building, which was built, furnished and equipped in 1967 for $1.5 million in state tax dollars. Felix Olschofka, the director of UNL's Glenn Korff School of Music, said the facility built with support from state lawmakers and private donors "will inspire students and faculty to push the boundaries of music expression and creativity like never before." The design of the new building, developed by Lincoln-based architecture firm Sinclair Hille in partnership with BNIM of Kansas City, seeks to push the boundaries on what musical education looks like in higher education. Eighty percent of the spaces inside the new facility will be exposed to natural light, including individual practice rooms where students spend hours and hours each school year. "We really wanted to expose as many of the practice rooms as possible to natural light," said Kjersten Tucker, a senior associate at Sinclair Hille, "which has a big impact on people's mental health, physical health and just overall well-being." Similar to other newer buildings on UNL's campus, such as Hawks Hall for the College of Business and Kiewit Hall for the College of Engineering, the new music building has large windows and glass doors that allow daylight in while also giving passersby a peek at the activity inside. In the new music building, a vestibule on the northeast side will open from campus into a new student lounge area — something Westbrook Music Building doesn't have — while windows on the southwest corner of the building look out onto a "porch" with views of downtown and the Haymarket. Windows, both internal and external, also allow light into various levels of the three-story building, and ceilings with "butterfly folds" help amplify the brightness, the architects said. While music buildings used to avoid windows in order to prevent sound from bleeding from one space to another, or from the outside into performance areas, modern construction has helped solve those issues, said David Quade, a principal at Sinclair Hille. The external walls of the new building are 3 feet thick, bolstered with concrete and a sound shield meant to tamp down the noise from the on-ramp to Interstate 180 just a few feet away. Inside, acoustic glass and special frame assemblies also help prevent outside sounds from coming in and inside sides from going out. The building's HVAC system was also specially designed to prevent sounds from bouncing through the air vents into rooms where they're not wanted. "All of those details are part of making sure that those acoustics stay within the space where they're intended," Quade said. That won't mean that the facility will be devoid of any sounds, Tucker added. The building was designed to let some music escape from practice and performance rooms into common areas; just not between those spaces. Three stories of practice rooms opening up onto a hallway are meant to evoke an alley in a European city, she said, where music may be spilling out of homes into a public thoroughfares. "It's not like you're going to walk through the space and not be able to hear any music," Tucker said. The music building also features three rehearsal spaces — one for large instrumental ensembles, one for choral ensembles, and a percussion/jazz space — as well as a state-of-the-art recital hall and a recording studio connected to each. Quade said each of the spaces is "tunable," that is, able to be adjusted to better reflect or absorb sound based on the needs of the performers. In the largest rehearsal space, for example, a 50foot tall room meant to accommodate the Cornhusker Marching Band, acoustic "clouds" suspended from the ceiling help absorb sound along with banners mounted to the wall that can be adjusted with the push of a button. Quade said each of the rooms also has features like custom-designed panels and walls slightly angled away from 90 degrees help reflect sound to fill the space. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Major stock indexes we mixed on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, marking a choppy start to a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 21 points, or 0.1% as of 2:22 p.m. Eastern time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1%. 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 3.6%. Broadcom jumped 5.7% to also help support the broader market. Walmart fell 2.2% and PepsiCo slid 1.3%. 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 12.1% , while Nissan fell 0.9%. Eli Lilly rose 3.3% after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first and only prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Department store Nordstrom fell 1.7% 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 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.HONG KONG , Dec. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- China Telecom's Open Gateway API serves as a ubiquitous connection and a full-scenario solution, which is widely applied in scenarios such as online games, online education, and autonomous driving. It significantly improves user experience through dynamic traffic optimization and device collaboration. Common challenges in these scenarios include traffic surges, network fluctuations, critical data transmission, which requires intelligent management, highly available guarantees, priority support for data transmission and unified network quality management of cross-regional devices. To address these issues, leveraging a diverse range of sensing modalities including service perception, network perception, and location perception, we are able to offer dynamic policy control at the service flow tier. By integrating time gating techniques, we can attain meticulous service quality management and optimized distribution of network resources. Based on this, an integrated network optimization solution is constructed to comprehensively improve the network quality in ubiquitous connection scenarios and form a closed-loop mechanism from user access, accurate identification to network optimization, ensuring that in ubiquitous connection scenarios such as online games, online education and autonomous driving, stable and efficient network services can be enjoyed. Ensure the stability of synchronization data: In autonomous driving, ensure low-latency and high-reliability data transmission between the vehicle-mounted system and the network infrastructure to provide a safe and smooth autonomous driving experience and promote the development of intelligent transportation and future cities. Prioritize video transmission: In online education, optimize the teacher-student interaction stream to ensure the smooth and real-time progress of teaching activities. Dynamic bandwidth adjustment: During the peak period of online games, dynamically optimize bandwidth allocation, combine real-time location perception of player distribution, prioritize guaranteeing the core area and player experience, and avoid stuttering and latency. In 2024, China Telecom's QoD API completed the interface transformation in accordance with the standards of the GSMA Open Gateway, it was released as the world's first Open Gateway case study in June 2024 . As of 2024, the cumulative number of calls to China Telecom's QoD API has exceeded 5 billion times. The monthly average number of calls to the number verification API has reached 45 billion times, with a peak capacity call rate exceeding 52,000 times per second. There are 200 million monthly active users, covering nearly 40 million telecom users and serving mainstream domestic and foreign manufacturers such as Bosch, Honor, Huawei Cloud , and Tencent . The cumulative revenue has reached 500 million US dollars , promoting the comprehensive implementation of ubiquitous connections. In the 5G era, we are witnessing a revolutionary transformation in mobile work and entertainment, driven by high-quality, high-speed network services. To meet the demands of this new era, HONOR has partnered with China Telecom based on principles of open collaboration and mutual benefit to introduce an innovative service for the new AI-powered flagship, the Magic7 Series—"HONOR Fast Pass". Through End-cloud Collaboration Technology, "HONOR Fast Pass" automatically activates VIP channels and works with China Telecom's Open Gateway API for seamless connectivity, dynamically adjusting network parameters to optimize the performance of the operator's air interface QoS channels. Bosch is researching future vehicle functions, such as autonomous driving and intelligent transportation, which will rely on cloud computing technology supported by 5G or 6G networks. To achieve this vision, Bosch focuses on developing reliable distributed systems. A key driver of this effort is the Open Gateway APIs provided by China Telecom (e.g., QoD services), which ensure predictable and timely data exchange and function calls. Bosch will work together with China Telecom to advance these technologies and shape a smarter, safer future for mobility. In the 5G era, with the surging demand for network quality in ubiquitous connection scenarios, China Telecom will focus on key areas such as the Internet of Vehicles, the low-altitude economy, and intelligent manufacturing to promote the diversified development of GSMA OpenGateway API capabilities, ushering in a new situation of prosperity. This will not only drive innovation and breakthroughs in the Chinese market but also help the global application of ubiquitous connection scenarios. It achieves seamless connections across regions and devices, enhancing the competitiveness and cooperation depth of the global ubiquitous connection market. SOURCE China Telecom

Texas sues NCAA to block transgender athletesTHE POWER OF ALLO'S ALL-FIBER NETWORK COMING TO BOULDER, COLORADOHow a middle schooler found a new compound in a piece of goose poop

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., or MAA MAA , today announced a full quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per outstanding share of its 8.50% Series I Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable on December 31, 2024 , to shareholders of record on December 13, 2024 . About MAA MAA is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) and member of the S&P 500. MAA owns or has ownership interest in apartment communities primarily throughout the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. focused on delivering strong, full-cycle investment performance. For further details, please refer to the "For Investors" page at www.maac.com or contact Investor Relations at investor.relations@maac.com . Forward-Looking Statements Certain matters in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended with respect to our expectations for future periods. Such statements include statements made about the payment of preferred dividends. The ability to meet the payment of preferred dividends in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements could differ materially from the projection due to a number of factors, including a downturn in general economic conditions or the capital markets, changes in interest rates and other items that are difficult to control such as increases in real estate taxes in many of our markets, as well as the other general risks inherent in the apartment and real estate businesses. Reference is hereby made to the filings of Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K, and its annual report on Form 10-K, particularly including the risk factors contained in the latter filing. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maa-announces-regular-quarterly-preferred-dividend-302319993.html SOURCE MAA © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday. Bilal Hussein/Associated Press JERUSALEM – Israel approved a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. In the hours leading up to the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah in the final hours before any ceasefire takes hold. Israel’s security Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement late Tuesday after it was presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office said. President Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East, but neither he nor Netanyahu have proposed a postwar solution for the Palestinian territory, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL ‘ATTACK WITH MIGHT’ IF HEZBOLLAH BREAKS TRUCE Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” Netanyahu’s office later said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance. But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state” of Lebanon, he said. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” WARPLANES BOMBARD BEIRUT AND ITS SOUTHERN SUBURBS Even as Israeli, U.S, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah’s military capabilities. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta – the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said. Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three more in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel claims it only targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure. Israel also struck a building in Beirut’s bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 yards from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah’s financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate. ISRAELI FORCES REACH LITANI RIVER IN SOUTHERN LEBANON The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 20 miles north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since. Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed. Comments are not available on this story. Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous

Staff reporter An artificial intelligence educational base co-created by mainland technology giant Baidu and Hong Kong Qianfan Technology will open next year at Cyberport, which will help to enhance Hong Kong teenagers' "soft power," says Karson Choi Ka-tsan, chairman of Qianfan Technology and Sing Tao News Corp chairman. At the launch ceremony at Cyberport on Friday, Choi said the Baidu AI Cloud Innovation Centre and educational base hopes to offer training to society, especially younger generations. "The base has invited a Baidu research team to engage in a series of lively teaching and training programs to grow the concept of AI in the minds of younger generations and to help Hong Kong nurture innovation talent," Choi said. He added that as more young people learn about AI, IT-related knowledge and skills, this will be crucial for Hong Kong's development into an international innovation center and smart city. "We are also honored to have the University of Hong Kong as the first higher education institute to sign a cooperation agreement with the educational base, enhancing Hong Kong youngsters' soft power and competitiveness together," Choi said. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he welcomes efforts by different sectors of society to inject new vigor in the city's AI technology development, for which he had launched a series of policies in his policy address last month, including setting up a HK$10 billion I&T Industry-Oriented Fund and optimizing the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund. He also said the Baidu AI Cloud Innovation Centre was among the new batch of strategic enterprises to establish or expand business in Hong Kong this month. "This collaboration is inter-sector and inter-regional: Hong Kong Qianfan Technology is responsible for investment and daily operations while Beijing's Baidu will be responsible for software and hardware construction technology-wise as well as deploying staff [to the base] for training and technical support," he said. "These are in line with [the government's] goal of developing Hong Kong into an international high-end talent hub, contributing further to the country's high-quality development." The launch ceremony was also attended by Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong, Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin and Shen Dou, Baidu's executive president and chief of Baidu AI Cloud. Shen hopes to utilize Baidu's profound accumulation of experience in the field of AI, combined with Cyberport's unique position and rich resources, to build an AI technology ecosystem based in Hong Kong with the potential to expand into the Asia-Pacific region, reinforcing the city's position as an international IT hub. The educational base, which opens next year and spans over 1,800 square meters, will offer theoretical and practical courses for local tertiary institution students and showcase cutting-edge AI applications. It is expected to benefit more than 1,000 Hong Kong students annually. Also during the ceremony, HKU associate vice president Pauline Chiu signed a cooperation agreement with Qianfan Technology directors William Shum Wai-lam and Rachel Chan. Beginning with HKU as its first partner institute, the base will host lectures on AI foundation knowledge - a total of five courses annually. It will also arrange field trips to the mainland highlighting AI industry trends as well as invite top mainland AI professionals and academics to hold seminars and talks.

Seat-sharing arrangement in J&K, other places could not be done well: Cong’s Raja New Delhi: Seat sharing agreements could not be done in a meaningful way during the Lok Sabha polls, and all secular parties, especially the Congress, need to introspect over the results of the general elections and the recent assembly poll results, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja said on Monday. Addressing a press conference here after a meeting of the party’s national council, Raja also said the Left parties were not given proper space in the INDIA bloc. “At the time of Parliament elections, the seat-sharing arrangement could not be done in a meaningful way. Some problems remained. Otherwise, the results would have been different also,” Raja said. “Then the Assembly elections –“Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra –“ the seat-sharing arrangement could not be done well. Otherwise, results could have been different. Here, our party has demanded that all parties must do serious introspection,” he said. “Particularly, the Congress party should do serious introspection,” Raja added. He said the CPI and all the Left parties are the “uncompromising political ideological forces fighting against the BJP and the RSS combine”. “But at the time of elections, the Left parties were not accommodated as they should have (been). The Left parties cannot be left out or sidelined. And in the emerging situation in the country, the Left parties are a strong, committed force against the right-wing, conservative, communal, fascist forces,” he said. “This is what our party has pointed out. This has to be taken note by all secular democratic parties, in particular the Congress party. In the coming days, we all will have to work together, fight together,” he said. The country is passing through a very critical period when the ruling BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) combine are posing a “grave threat” to the Constitution, he alleged. “We have celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, but how to uphold the constitutional values, the constitutional morality? So the situation demands the unity of secular democratic forces to save the nation, to save the Constitution,” he said. Talking about the recent Haryana and Maharashtra polls, where the BJP retained power, Raja said the Left parties were dissatisfied how smaller parties, including the Left, were not properly accomodated. “Things would have been different. Every possibility was there to defeat the BJP. Why it did not happen? So everyone should do serious introspection,” he said. He said all secular and democratic parties need serious introspection on how to work together, and how to accommodate each other. “Here, the Congress, being the largest party, it has a responsibility to be accommodative to other parties,” he added. The opposition INDIA bloc, formed ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, won 234 seats altogether, while the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats. In the subsequent assembly polls, BJP won in Haryana and Maharashtra, while the National Conference-led alliance won in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance won in Jharkhand.

Previous:
Next: lucky 888