Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its position in STERIS plc ( NYSE:STE – Free Report ) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,171 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 318 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $2,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in STERIS by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 24.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,410 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,252,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares during the period. BDF Gestion bought a new position in shares of STERIS during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,644,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in STERIS by 52.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,071 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,928,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in STERIS by 7.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $390,880,000 after acquiring an additional 120,616 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Check Out Our Latest Analysis on STE STERIS Price Performance STE stock opened at $214.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.94 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.52. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $195.47 and a 52-week high of $248.24. STERIS ( NYSE:STE – Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year. STERIS Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.05%. STERIS Company Profile ( Free Report ) STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding STE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for STERIS plc ( NYSE:STE – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for STERIS Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for STERIS and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .French government falls in historic no-confidence vote
NoneThrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 1,610 Shares of SPS Commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPSC)
Biden is again pushing to forgive billions of dollars in students loans despite the Supreme Court's ruling that he cannot do it. But why can't students pay back the loans they asked for, once they graduate and get jobs in the real world? Maybe the cost of living under Biden, coupled with making student loan payments, exceeds the money they make from the jobs they got after graduating. If so, why can't students find good jobs based on their college education? The problem is that universities no longer educate. They are fermentation tanks for social activism and indoctrination instead of learning and functional capability. We no longer hear about excellence in academics from our universities. Instead, the news is all about student protests, DEI initiatives, and examples of blatant plagiarism, none of which promotes educational excellence and academic capability. Maybe the time has come to clear the distractions and return to an environment of learning and holding both faculties and students accountable. Loran Hancock Northwest side Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star. Follow these steps to easily submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion to the Arizona Daily Star. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!
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ABOUT €10.05, that’s the amount my emergency fund made last year, was what one person told me recently. They saved hard to get to the amount they needed which was €15,000 and there was great satisfaction when they did and rightly so. Now they were more comfortable with their job security and whilst they weren’t becoming complacent about it either because they knew redundancy or an illness could happen at any time, they didn’t think they would need access to this money any time soon, at least they hoped they wouldn’t. Which is why they were wondering could they do something different with their emergency fund and put it somewhere else into something sensible, where it would earn more than €10 each year. They’ve put in the heavy lifting but now they feel as if they’re wasting the amount it can grow by if they keep it in a savings account. And they’re not wrong. However before I continue and tell you what my advice to them was, let me first very quickly tell you what an emergency fund is and why you need one because it's often overlooked. It’s an account where you save and place money into that will help cover and pay for sudden unforeseen events happening like an unexpected redundancy, car or home repairs that aren’t covered by insurance, washing machine packs in, four new tyres etc. So, it’s meant to protect you and your family from unexpected expenses that could lead to financial hardship if you’re not prepared. And financial advisors will typically suggest that people keep at least three to six months of their net monthly income in their emergency fund but these multiples could be higher, it will really depend on someone circumstances i.e. a self-employed person whose income is more irregular might be best advised to keep as much as nine months of their income in their emergency fund. And your emergency fund is money I believe that should be set apart from any other accounts you have, it's a standalone account. Anyway, back to the question that was asked of me and that was where was the best place someone could put their €15,000 emergency fund into, where it would hold its value and where it would earn some money as well? And just to let you know because I forgot to tell you, €15,000 was about four months of their monthly income. Okay, the ideal scenario for their emergency fund and anyone else’s for that matter is where; It’s accessible if you need access to it quickly, the capital is 100% protected and the interest rate is earning enough that it’s at least keeping up with inflation so it at least holds its value. And on that last point if the account your emergency money is in isn’t earning say 1.5% (I’m going to use that number as it’s about the current rate of inflation) then in real terms it's going down in value which begs the question, should you invest your emergency fund? This is a question you need to consider carefully because if you do the obvious upside is that it could earn a whole lot more in interest. And people are well aware of this because they’ve seen how well markets have performed this year i.e. the S&P 500 is up about 23% year to date. But that’s not always going to be the case and if we look at the same index in 2022, it was -18.11%. So, investing money into markets like this has a double edged sword i.e. it can go up and it can go down. And when you invest in equities or track indices like the S&P 500 your capital has a 0% capital guarantee. If the person I met invested €15,000 at the beginning of this year in an investment account that tracks the S&P500 they would have made €3,450 before taxes. And if they invested €15,000 at the beginning of 2022 they would have lost €2,716 which would have meant they lost about three weeks of their emergency fund. The problem with investing in equities and market indices is that they can dip at any given time, which can create a problem if they happen to fall at the same time you need the money. Imagine how you’d feel if the market began to nosedive and at the same time you’re given notice that your job is at risk and you look at your emergency fund balance and see it’s worth a third less than what it was before the market began to fall. READ MORE: Limerick traders make plea over 'detrimental' closure of street Having said that over time investing in equity based accounts or tracking stock markets indices will outperform basic deposit and savings accounts and outperform them by some margin at that, but the unknown of course is when an emergency strikes. It could strike as I just said when markets are down and when your fund is down and you don’t have time for it to recover because you need the money now. And that’s the trouble with investing your emergency fund which is why I would err on the cautious side where the capital guarantee trumps all other considerations. You don’t want to worry about what’s happening with your emergency money particularly when markets are going down. You want the sleep well account knowing that your money is safe and all of it will be there when you need it but it does need to hold its value nonetheless and leaving it in an account where its earning 0.10% or 0.25% isn’t going to do that for you. So as I see it you have two options and they are: Find an account that is earning at a minimum 1.5% net where the capital is guaranteed and you have immediate access to it. And does that account exist? It does. I found three accounts very quickly on The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s website where you can compare what rates are on offer from the various providers and the website is www.ccpc.ie. If you search like I did you’ll find that bunq.com are offering a gross rate of 3.36%, and raisin.ie have access to banks who are offering between 3.16% and 3.25% on accounts called, demand deposit easy access. The second option is: Invest part of your emergency fund in an equity based account You could choose a hybrid approach where say 80% of your emergency fund is in one of those 100% capital guaranteed accounts I just referred to and invest 20% in an equity based account that doesn’t carry any explicit capital guarantee. By doing this, you have the peace of mind knowing that the majority of your funds are capital guaranteed earning a rate that is at least matching or beating inflation and the remaining 20% is invested in accounts that could earn seven times more than what you’d get on deposit and if it earned seven times less, at least you’ve kept your loss low relative to the total amount you have set aside for emergency purposes. And whether you invest some or all or none of your emergency fund is a personal decision that you should consider carefully because investments can be risky but they can also be very rewarding so I’d say get advice and take your time when making a decision like this. And what’s good and works for someone else may not be the right way for you and that’s okay as well. And just to state the obvious but I will anyway, it’s never a good idea to keep your emergency money at home under your mattress or in your wardrobe or whatever you’d choose to hide it because you’re missing out on two important things (a) protection of your money against theft and (b) the potential to earn interest because what’s 100% sure is that if you keep it at home in cash you’re earning and will always earn 0%. And let me leave you with one last thought about emergency funds and this is aimed at people who don’t have one. The best advice I’ve ever heard about emergency funds is that the best time to build one is when you don’t have an emergency, not when you’re in the middle of one. The motivation to build one is that you’ll have more control and more peace of mind should something unexpected happen. And I’d say whilst you're building the fund, worry less about the interest and more about the amount you save each month because that’s what’s going to get you to the amount you need, not the interest rate. Liam Croke is MD of Harmonics Financial Ltd, based in Plassey. He can be contacted at liam@harmonics.ie or www.harmonics.ieHouse parties emerge as new trend for Christmas celebrationsNone
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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in SPS Commerce, Inc. ( NASDAQ:SPSC – Free Report ) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,132 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 1,610 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.08% of SPS Commerce worth $5,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of SPS Commerce during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in SPS Commerce by 16.8% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 13,591 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in SPS Commerce by 63.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 445 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of SPS Commerce by 14.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,076 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SPS Commerce in the third quarter worth $404,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.96% of the company’s stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades SPSC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Northland Securities downgraded shares of SPS Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of SPS Commerce in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on SPS Commerce from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on SPS Commerce from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Northland Capmk cut SPS Commerce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.63. SPS Commerce Price Performance SPSC opened at $189.13 on Friday. SPS Commerce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.74. The company has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.49 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $186.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.24. SPS Commerce ( NASDAQ:SPSC – Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The software maker reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $163.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.30 million. SPS Commerce had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SPS Commerce, Inc. will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Buying and Selling In other SPS Commerce news, CEO Chadwick Collins sold 6,839 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.69, for a total transaction of $1,160,509.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,446 shares in the company, valued at $9,238,941.74. This represents a 11.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link . 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. SPS Commerce Profile ( Free Report ) SPS Commerce, Inc provides cloud-based supply chain management solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers solutions through the SPS Commerce, a cloud-based platform that enhances the way retailers, grocers, suppliers, distributors, and logistics firms manage and fulfill omnichannel orders, optimize sell-through performance, and automate new trading relationships. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SPSC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPS Commerce, Inc. ( NASDAQ:SPSC – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for SPS Commerce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPS Commerce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
BOZEMAN, Mont.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 10, 2024-- On December 10, 2024, Destra Multi-Alternative Fund (the “Fund” or “DMA”), a closed-end fund traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DMA, declared a year end distribution of $0.3239 per share for 2024. The record date for the distribution is December 20, 2024, and the payable date is December 31, 2024. The Fund will trade ex-distribution on December 19, 2024. Pursuant to the Fund’s Dividend Reinvestment Plan (“DRP”), unless the registered owner of the Fund’s Common Shares elects otherwise by contacting the Fund’s plan agent, Equiniti Trust Company, LLC (“EQ”), all dividends declared on the Common Shares will be automatically reinvested in additional Common Shares by EQ. Common Shareholders who elect not to participate in the DRP will receive all dividends and other distributions in cash, paid by check mailed directly to the shareholder of record. Shareholders may obtain more information on the shareholder services offered to the Fund by calling EQ at the Fund's dedicated toll free number 800-591-8238. A portion of the distribution may be treated as paid from sources other than net investment income, including, but not limited to, short-term capital gain, long-term capital gain, or return of capital. As required by Section 19(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, a notice will be distributed to shareholders in the event that a portion of the distribution is derived from sources other than undistributed net investment income. The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of this distribution will depend upon the Fund’s investment experience during its fiscal year and will be made after the Fund’s year end. The Fund will send to investors a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will define how to report this distribution for federal income tax purposes. For further information regarding the Fund’s distribution, please visit www.destracapital.com . Destra Multi-Alternative Fund (NYSE: DMA) is a core alternative solution that seeks to achieve long-term performance non-correlated to the broad stock and bond markets. It invests primarily in alternative strategies and asset classes including real estate, direct private equity, alternative credit, commodities, and hedge strategies. Destra Capital Advisors LLC, based in Bozeman, MT, serves as Investment Adviser and Secondary Market Servicing agent to the Fund. Validex Global Investing serves as the Investment Sub-Adviser to the Fund. Shares of the Fund can be purchased on the New York Stock Exchange through any securities broker. Information regarding the Fund and Destra Capital Advisors can be found at www.destracapital.com . Please contact Destra Capital Advisors LLC, the Fund’s marketing, and investor support services agent, at DMA@destracapital.com or call (877) 855-3434 if you have any questions regarding DMA. NOT FDIC INSURED NO BANK GUARANTEE MAY LOSE VALUE View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241210280790/en/ CONTACT: Destra Capital Advisors LLC DMA@destracapital.com (877) 855-3434 KEYWORD: MONTANA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ASSET MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FINANCE SOURCE: Destra Capital Advisors LLC Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/10/2024 05:00 PM/DISC: 12/10/2024 05:00 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241210280790/en
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WASHINGTON — A failure to recognize a high-risk area including a rooftop within range of a presidential nominee's stage. Insufficient guidance on who was responsible for what at an immense, boisterous rally. Heavy responsibility placed on Secret Service agents with little-to-no experience in advance planning. And a fragmented communication structure and technology breakdowns that let a gunman elude law enforcement and open fire — rocking an already heated election and taking a man's life. The bipartisan House task force on the assassination attempt on President-elect Donald Trump on July 13 at the Butler Farm Show grounds cited these and other severe, systemic failures in its final report released Tuesday. The 180-page report, which is redacted to exclude personnel and other security issues and covers a second thwarted attempt on Trump's life at a Florida golf course in September, paints a damning picture of Secret Service training, planning and operations after a nearly five-month investigation helmed by Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, and Jason Crow, D-Colo. "The task force found that the tragic and shocking events in Butler, Pennsylvania were preventable and should not have happened," the report states. "There was not, however, a singular moment or decision that allowed (20-year-old Bethel Park gunman) Thomas Matthew Crooks to nearly assassinate the former president. The various failures in planning, execution and leadership on and before July 13, 2024, and the preexisting conditions that undermined the effectiveness of the human and material assets deployed that day, coalesced to create an environment in which the former president — and everyone at the campaign event — were exposed to grave danger." The most glaring concern noted by the task force aligns with what the acting Secret Service Director, Ronald Rowe, testified in an occasionally combative hearing last week: Despite close proximity to a main road, "clear sight lines to the stage and elevated position," the Secret Service — the lead protective agency helping manage more than 100 state and local supporting law enforcement personnel — failed to secure the immediately adjacent American Glass Research grounds. This allowed an unscreened crowd to gather and let Crooks — who used drones to survey the area while the Secret Service did not — climb to a roof and fire a rifle eight times into the rally, injuring and nearly killing Trump, killing former firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver. That failure was compounded "by the fact that the area was not sufficiently monitored or patrolled to deter threats," and the "Secret Service did not provide clear guidance to its state and local partners about which entity was responsible for the area," the task force said. But beyond the planning and operational failures on July 13 in Butler County, Kelly's hometown, the task force said the Secret Service must address longstanding leadership and culture issues, including around training and preparing agents for protective work. "There is a culture and practice of expecting on-the-job training to teach and prepare agents to fulfill critical roles like Security Room Lead and (protective intelligence advance)," the panel wrote. "Understanding that the operational tempo is strenuous, the Secret Service needs to prioritize periodic training on protective operations during times when agents are available, and such training should take priority over investigative activities that are unrelated to protective operations." The task force made nearly two-dozen recommendations to improve security and safety based on its findings from the Butler investigation, 11 of them focused on bolstering leadership, training and "agency resources to enhance the Secret Service's capacity to fulfill its zero-fail protective mission." The recommendations include, among others: consolidating all operational plans; more vigilance when considering coverage inside and outside security perimeters; documenting all line of sight vulnerabilities; clearer written policies on asset and resource approval based on threats; implementing a formalized process for elevating security concerns; using counter-surveillance assets for all outdoor events; ensuring state and local law enforcement representatives are in a unified security room to improve the flow of information; reviewing budget, staffing and retention; and improved communication plans among the Secret Service and its partners. The panel also suggested the Secret Service should consider separating from the Department of Homeland Security, and reducing its number of protectees, particularly as the U.N. General Assembly relies on the agency to protect foreign dignitaries — a job that could potentially "be transferred or abrogated in order to focus on the (agency's) primary duty: to protect the president and other critical U.S. leaders." After investigating the West Palm Beach, Fla., golf course attempt on Sept. 15, the task force also recommended a review of protocols for sweeping golf courses in advance and increasing reliance on K9 sweeps. However, the 13-member panel said the "events that transpired" in Florida "demonstrated how properly executed protective measures can foil an attempted assassination." As Crow and Kelly told the Post-Gazette last week, the task force says the Department of Justice "withheld information ... related to ongoing investigations,' specifically regarding the actions and motives of Crooks and Ryan Routh, the would-be assassin in Florida. The FBI, whose role in the Butler investigation is focused on Crooks, disputed that characterization in a statement to the Post-Gazette last week, noting the agency "shared an incredibly large amount of detailed information with the House task force." This included "documentation of more than 80 interviews with members of the (Secret Service) and other law enforcement agencies who responded on July 13; 17 detailed and technical laboratory reports analyzing the bullets, IEDs, Crooks' drone, DNA and other evidence; classified intelligence documents; records of communications with the (Secret Service) prior to the rally; photos of evidence; verified timeline based on evidence; dispatch log of 911 call from Crooks' parents; autopsy evidence documents; and other documents." The FBI also provided many briefings, including a classified briefing about threat intelligence — the task force found that Iranian-linked threats never reached the right personnel at Butler — and a visit by task force members to see evidence and talk with experts at FBI's Laboratory Division at Quantico. The FBI provided the information while the investigation continues "because of the exceptional circumstances presented by the attempted assassination, marking an extraordinary accommodation, far beyond what the constitutionally-required accommodation process would mandate, because we took into account the national importance of these events," the agency told the Post-Gazette. But the task force says Congress and the American public deserve more answers on Crooks in particular, including greater details from his phone, communications and online activity and who he may have been interacting with prior to the shooting. The task force recommended that Congress clarify its oversight role and the need to review records even when there is an active investigation by federal agencies. "The relevant committees may also seek to address important questions that the task force did not fully examine," the panel reported. "Foremost among them are the motivations of Thomas Crooks and Ryan Routh, which remain largely unknown. The American people (and in the case of Crooks, the victims and their families) deserve that information, and the task force expects the FBI, ATF, and DOJ to be more forthcoming in that regard going forward." (c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A 19-year-old pro-democracy activist who went from finishing secondary school in the UK to becoming one of Hong Kong’s most wanted critics has vowed that she will not be silenced by Chinese fear and suppression. Hong Kong authorities have accused Chloe Cheung, 19, alongside five other activists, three of whom are UK-based, of violating national security laws introduced in 2020 following protests the year before, which opposed China’s swelling anti-democratic influence on the city. Arrest warrants have been issued for the six activists, while a HK$1 million (£103,000) bounty has been put out for their capture. It is the second year in a row that Hong Kong authorities have issued such warrants and bounties on Christmas Eve. “Today, in my adopted UK home, I’ve endured constant threats, both online and physical. But this didn’t stop me from speaking out and now I have a bounty on my head,” Ms Cheung said. “Fear cannot restrain me. Suppression cannot silence me. I will wear this burden with pride and without fear.” Official documents accuse her of publishing articles as a “core member” of the US-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHKF), giving speeches and posting on social media “advocating separating Hong Kong from China and requested foreign countries to impose sanctions or blockade, engage in other hostile activities against China and Hong Kong”. Just a year ago, however, Ms Cheung was finishing her final year of secondary school, living in a country into which she had been forced to flee at the age of just 15 and attending local, pro-Hong Kong democracy marches. The teenage activist, who attended some of the protests back in Hong Kong in her school uniform, having gone straight from class to the marches when she was as young as 13, has been described as a “brave” and “fiercely pro-democracy” figure by those that know her. During those protests, she says she “faced tear gas and batons and bullets from the Hong Kong police” before being forced to give her name to the authorities, prompting her departure from the city. After navigating her way through secondary school here in the UK, she quickly applied to join CFHKF. “In the space of a year, she’s gone from being a teenager that participated in local Hong Kong parades and marches to a bountied individual,” says Mark Sabah, the head of UK operations at CFHKF. “She works hard. She is dedicated. She is very clever and fiercely pro-Hong Kong democracy. She’s just brilliant to have on our team. “She keeps going and going. She’s an absolutely outstanding colleague and we are completely in support of her.” Mr Sabah described the latest warrants and bounties as “shocking yet not surprising” as he urged the British government to do more to fight Chinese and Hong Kong efforts to suppress free speech abroad. Criticising the new Labour government’s approach to China - in November, Sir Keir Starmer became the first prime minister in six years to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping , where the pair reportedly spoke about future trade - Mr Sabah urged Downing Street to stop “pandering” to Beijing. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to visit China in the spring of next year for talks with vice premier He Lifeng. “On the one hand, we have the Chinese authorities, or the Hong Kong authorities, actively pursuing people who are safely living in the UK,” says Mr Sabah. “Yet in the same breath as expressing concern and saying they stand with Hong Kong, the British government are pursuing business and trade deals, as well as economic relations, with Beijing. “What needs to happen before they make the correlation that this constant appeasement and pandering is what gives the Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese Communist Party such brazen impunity to keep on doing this to people living in the UK?” Ms Cheung echoed that sentiment, calling on the government to “finally stand with the people of Hong Kong” to take “real action to protect us from transnational repression on British soil”. The other three activists now residing in the UK who were included on the latest arrest warrant list include Chung Kim-wah, 64, a commentator and former pollster, Tony Chung, 23, former head of a pro-independence group who fled to the UK last year after serving four years in prison for a national security offence, and Carmen Lau, 29, a member of the Hong Kong Democracy Council and former district councillor. These four, alongside Canada-based former actor Joseph Tay, 62, and YouTuber Victor Ho, 69, have all had bounties put out for their arrest, while an additional seven others had their Hong Kong passports revoked. The total number of exiled Hong Kongers with arrest warrants and bounties worldwide is now 19. The government had previously issued two rounds of arrest warrants and bounties for more prominent activists, including ex-lawmakers Ted Hui and Nathan Law. Former district councillor Ms Lau wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she would not “back down” from her fight to ensure a free and democratic Hong Kong. “[I] will not back down only because of an arrest warrant and a bounty,” she wrote. “And I hope to have every one of you standing with me in this fight for Hong Kong.” Megan Khoo, policy director of UK-based Hong Kong Watch, described the warrants as “clear attempts of transnational repression, designed to silence dissent and extend the reach of authoritarian control beyond Hong Kong’s borders”. She called on the UK, US, Canadian and Australian governments to “urgently respond” by imposing sanctions on the Hong Kong officials responsible and strengthening measures to counter “extraterritorial intimidation”.