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Syria’s embassy in Lebanon suspends services as Lebanon hands over former Syrian army officersAP Sports SummaryBrief at 6:18 p.m. EST
Trump's picks for key positions in his second administrationUET entrance test on 21st, 22nd
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Hyderabad: The tribal welfare department will be organising a week-long training workshop for the tribals in Telangana and from other states from January 4 to 10, at Nagarjuna Sagar. The closed-door workshop is aimed at raising awareness among tribals, including those from the Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) residing in the agency areas of Telangana and other states. It will cover various constitutional provisions designed to protect their rights, government schemes available to them, and other relevant topics. A total of 100 representatives from various tribal groups in Telangana, along with 50 tribals from other states across the country, have been invited to participate in the workshop. The workshop will feature a two-hour interactive session each day with two Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) addressing the tribal representatives. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy will deliver the closing address on December 10, the final day of the workshop. Participants will also undertake a field visit to nearby tribal hamlets to learn about their way of life, customs, and traditions. Chairman of the Scheduled Tribes Cooperative Finance Development Corporation (TRICOR), Bellaiah Naik, has stated that the workshop will be a life-changing experience for the participants, who are expected to share the knowledge gained with their communities upon their return.The lost running back to what appears to be a season-ending knee injury during to the . with a PCL sprain and is expected to miss at least six weeks of action. However, McCaffrey wasn't the only member of San Francisco's backfield to be hurt in the contest. McCaffrey's backup, , suffered an ankle injury that is expected to land him on IR along with the All-Pro. Mason, 25, was a breakout star for the early in the season. He replaced McCaffrey as the team's bell-cow back and ran for 147 yards and a touchdown in the team's season-opening win against the . Here's what to know about Mason's injury and how it will impact the 49ers' running back depth chart over the final five weeks of the 2024 NFL season. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced during a Monday news conference that Mason suffered a high-ankle sprain during San Francisco's Week 13 loss to Buffalo. It isn't clear exactly when the third-year running back was injured, but he is being placed on IR because of the sprain. As a result, Mason will be sidelined for at least four games. Just five games remain in the 2024 NFL season, so the earliest that Mason could return would be Week 18. If the 49ers fail to make the postseason, the team might decide not to bring Mason back at all and let him get healthy for the 2025 NFL season. At present, San Francisco is 5-7 and sitting in last place in the , two games behind the pole-sitting . McCaffrey and Mason aren't the only 49ers running backs on IR. The team also lost , who was expected to be McCaffrey's backup entering training camp, to a season-ending hamstring injury before the campaign began. As a result, the 49ers have only one healthy running back on their 53-man roster: rookie fourth-round pick . They will likely elevate from the practice squad to help replace McCaffrey and Mason, but those are the only two healthy running backs presently in the team's organization. With that in mind, the 49ers will likely bring in another running back to provide depth behind the duo.
OTTAWA — After being blanked 4-0 by host Canada the night before, Finland bounced back with a gritty 3-1 win over Germany during Friday's second day of competition at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa. Emil Pieniniemi, Arttu Alasiurua and Jesse Kiiskinen scored for Finland, which outshot the winless German crew 43-32. Clemens Sager scored for Germany, which lost 10-4 to the defending champion United States on Boxing Day. Finland led 1-0 after the first period and 2-1 heading into the third. Germany's goaltender Linus Vieillard stopped 40 of 42 shots directed at him, while Petteri Rimpinen stopped 31 of 32 shots for Finland. Both teams play their next games Sunday when Finland plays the U.S. and Germany faces Canada. Earlier on Friday, Slovakia bounced back from a 5-2 opening-day loss to Sweden to edge Switzerland 2-1. Jan Chovan's goal with 3:18 left in the third period snapped a 1-1 deadlock and lifted Slovakia to the victory. Daniel Jencko also scored for Slovakia. Eric Schneller scored for winless Switzerland, which lost 5-1 on Thursday to Czechia. Both teams had 29 shots on goal. Both teams play again Sunday when Slovakia faces Czechia and Switzerland plays Sweden. In later games Friday, Sweden will square off with Kazakhstan, while Canada will face Latvia. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. The Canadian PressOnline Debate Over Foreign Workers In Tech Shows Cracks In Trump World
UET entrance test on 21st, 22nd LAHORE:The last date for registration of UET test for admission in four years undergraduate programmes across Punjab, is December 9, 2024, announced university here on Friday. According to details, the prospective students will buy online tokens on payment of Rs2,500 for Non ECAT programmes, and Rs5,000 for joint registration in both ECAT and Non ECAT programmes. Students can get online tokens by visiting the admission portal (admission.uet.edu.pk), where all the information related to admissions is also available. The entrance test will be held on December 21 and 22, 2024. The interviews of successful candidates in ECAT will be held from December 30, 2024 to January 3, 2025. Interview slips of students registered in Non ECAT programmes will be released on December 23, 2024. While the first merit list will be uploaded on January 10, 2025 on the admission portal. The UET Lahore campus will have afternoon classes in four-year programmes, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cyber Security, Data Science, Computer Science, Robotics and Intelligence Systems, Applied Computing, Information Systems Technology and Gaming & Animation. Students must be successful in ECAT to get admission to these programmes. Similarly, four-year programmes of Software Engineering, Computer Engineering and Information Systems Technology at UET New Campus Kala Shah Kaku will have morning classes for successful students in ECAT. While morning classes will be provided for successful candidates in Computer Science and Computer Engineering programmes in UET Faisalabad, Rachna and Narowal campuses. Non ECAT programmes include Interior Design, BBIT, BBA and Biomedical Sciences.The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials said Friday. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they don't have a place of their own. That increase comes on top of a 12% increase in 2023, which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of COVID-19 pandemic assistance. The 2023 increase also was driven by people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with Black people being overrepresented among the homeless population. People are also reading... A man walks past a homeless encampment Oct. 25, 2023, in downtown Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong, Associated Press "No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve," HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on "evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness." Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness — one of the areas that was most affected by the arrival of migrants in big cities. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD, while it rose less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities. Almost 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, reflecting a 33% jump from last year. Disasters also played a part in the rise in the count, especially last year's catastrophic Maui wildfire, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. More than 5,200 people were in emergency shelters in Hawaii on the night of the count. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents assist state police as they order people living in a homeless encampment to move to a different designated location during a sweep ahead of a Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans. Gerald Herbert, Associated Press "Increased homelessness is the tragic, yet predictable, consequence of underinvesting in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing," Renee Willis, incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement. "As advocates, researchers, and people with lived experience have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to increase as more people struggle to afford sky-high housing costs." Robert Marbut Jr., the former executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2019 to 2021, called the nearly 33% increase in homelessness over the past four years "disgraceful" and said the federal government needs to abandon efforts to prioritize permanent housing. "We need to focus on treatment of substance use and mental illness, and bring back program requirements, like job training," Marbut said in an email. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts The numbers also come as increasing numbers of communities are taking a hard line against homelessness. People living in a homeless encampment pick up belongings Oct. 23 after Louisiana State Police ordered them to move to a different designated location during a sweep ahead of a Taylor Swift concert in New Orleans. Gerald Herbert, Associated Press Angered by often dangerous and dirty tent camps, communities — especially in Western states — have enforced bans on camping. That follows a 6-3 ruling this summer by the Supreme Court that found outdoor sleeping bans don’t violate the Eighth Amendment. Homeless advocates argued that punishing people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness. There was some positive news in the count, as homelessness among veterans continued to trend downward. Homelessness among veterans dropped 8% to 32,882 in 2024. It was an even larger decrease for unsheltered veterans, declining 11% to 13,851 in 2024. "The reduction in veteran homelessness offers us a clear roadmap for addressing homelessness on a larger scale," Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in a statement. "With bipartisan support, adequate funding, and smart policy solutions, we can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationwide. Federal investments are critical in tackling the country's housing affordability crisis and ensuring that every American has access to safe, stable housing." Several large cities had success bringing down their homeless numbers. Dallas, which worked to overhaul its homeless system, saw a 16% drop in its numbers between 2022 to 2024. Los Angeles, which increased housing for the homeless, saw a drop of 5% in unsheltered homelessness since 2023. A rat sniffs the hand of a sleeping man experiencing homelessness Dec. 18 in downtown Los Angeles. Damian Dovarganes, Associated Press California, the most populous state in the U.S., continued to have the nation's largest homeless population, followed by New York, Washington, Florida and Massachusetts. The sharp increase in the homeless population over the past two years contrasts with success the U.S. had for more than a decade. Going back to the first 2007 survey, the U.S. made steady progress for about a decade in reducing the homeless population as the government focused particularly on increasing investments to get veterans into housing. The number of homeless people dropped from about 637,000 in 2010 to about 554,000 in 2017. The numbers ticked up to about 580,000 in the 2020 count and held relatively steady over the next two years as Congress responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency rental assistance, stimulus payments, aid to states and local governments and a temporary eviction moratorium. Emergency housing resources for older Americans in need Emergency housing resources for older Americans in need Homelessness is intertwined with the cost of living, and the high cost of living is hitting older adults fairly hard. A Westat survey for the Department of Health and Human Services found that older adults are the fastest-growing cohort of the homeless population. Emergency housing for seniors can keep that number from climbing higher. Caring.com details how to access it.The number of homeless seniors isn't based solely on people remaining homeless as they age; it also includes those whose first experience with homelessness came after they turned 50. In 2023, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that 1 in 5 homeless people were over the age of 55.For seniors and other older adults, fixed incomes make it hard to battle the ever-increasing cost of expenses. Endhomelessness.org cites that 2.35 million older adults are paying over half of their limited income to rent. Based on Caring.com's July 2024 survey of seniors in the workforce, that's exactly why 1 in 15 retired seniors worry about losing their homes. Shelter use in homeless people older than 51 has gone up over 10% from 2007 to 2017, according to the HUD. But luckily, so has the number of shelters. Between 2022 and 2023, the HUD reports that emergency shelters added 28,760 more beds in emergency shelters, though this is a reduction in the amount of beds available during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.What Is Emergency Housing?Emergency homeless assistance, or emergency housing, is a temporary solution. It's designed to provide shelter while those facing housing instability figure out their next step. Emergency housing for homeless seniors gives someone the immediate ability to remain housed and safely sheltered. Local nonprofits are often involved in placing people experiencing homelessness or housing instability into emergency shelters. Low-income seniors, seniors who are low on funds and might not make rent, or seniors who need to leave their homes for other reasons can use emergency housing.How To Find Emergency Housing For SeniorsMany cities have their own emergency housing programs. There are also nationwide programs that provide emergency housing for seniors. The internet is the fastest tool for locating local emergency housing. Libraries have free internet access, for those who might not have a computer or Wi-Fi to begin their search. The list below leads to websites that include phone numbers for emergency homeless assistance.Senior Programs for Emergency Housing Crisis Hotline 2-1-1Seniors in need of immediate assistance and resources should call 2-1-1 or contact the United Way online. The 2-1-1 crisis hotline partners with United Way, which is committed to helping homeless seniors find local shelters or access transitional housing. The service can also connect seniors with other resources, including food, mental health support, or funding for health care expenses. Calling 2-1-1 is often required as a prerequisite before trying to get into a shelter or obtaining other assistance.Eligibility informationBecause 2-1-1 is for people in crisis, there are no eligibility requirements. However, some programs seniors may access through 2-1-1 do have eligibility requirements.Application informationSeniors can simply dial 2-1-1 from nearly anywhere in the U.S. to be put in touch with the programs and resources they need.Housing Choice Voucher ProgramDesigned specifically for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families, the Housing Choice Voucher Program is a federal program offering low-income housing options and rent assistance. These vouchers are available through your local public housing agency (PHA).This program enables and encourages participants to choose their own housing. Housing options don't need to be a part of subsidized housing projects, but there are limits on unit size. Typically, participants must pay 30% of their monthly adjusted income towards their rent, and the voucher program pays the remainder.Eligibility information Applicant income and family size help the PHA determine eligibility. Citizenship and eligible immigration status also play a factor. The family's income cannot exceed 50% of the median income for the county or metropolitan area where they're applying to live. Of the vouchers, 75% must go to people whose income is at or less than 30% of their area's median income.Application information Contact your local public housing agency.Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly ProgramThe Section 202 program helps expand the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for seniors. This program gives low-income seniors options that allow them to live independently, with support for cooking, cleaning, transportation, etc.Eligibility information This program is open to any very low-income household that has at least one person 62 years old or older.Application information Applicants must submit an application in response to a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) posted on Grants.gov.U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Voucher (HUD-VASH)The HUD-VASH program was created as emergency homeless assistance for veterans. Its goal is to give homeless veterans access to permanent housing through public housing authorities. Veterans receive rental assistance through the HUD Housing Choice Voucher program and additional case management services through the VA. By December 2023, the HUD had allocated nearly 112,000 vouchers to help house veterans nationwide.To help veterans achieve stability and remain housed, VA case managers may connect veterans with support services such as health care, mental health treatment, and substance use counseling. Eligibility information If you or your loved one is a low-income senior with eligible military service, you may apply. Your local VA can tell you if your service qualifies you for HUD-VASH.Application informationSenior veterans may apply online or call (877) 424-3838.Emergency Housing Resources by StateClick here to learn more about the emergency housing options for seniors available in your state.The Bottom LineLow-income seniors who aren't in assisted living or independent living communities might find themselves facing housing instability. Emergency housing for seniors can help you or your loved one seek shelter. Crisis hotlines and public housing agencies can offer support.Senior Emergency Housing FAQHow long does it take to find emergency senior housing?Finding emergency housing for seniors depends heavily on your area. The first step is to call the Crisis Hotline at 2-1-1. Finding a shelter takes less time than applying and getting approved for low-income housing voucher programs. The 2-1-1 hotline can direct you to local resources and locators.Is there a limit to how long a senior can live in emergency housing?Yes and no. The duration depends on the type of housing. Shelters have limits that vary. Some shelters allow people to stay for up to six months, though that can vary based on demand. Seniors can remain in Section 202 supportive housing as long as they meet age and income requirements.Is there additional assistance for disabled seniors facing homelessness?Yes. Many counties have financial emergency programs that help seniors handle home repairs or short-term financial crises like utility shutoff. These programs allow the senior to focus their funds on their rent or mortgage.This story was produced by Caring.com and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. ShotPrime Studio // Shutterstock What Is Emergency Housing? How To Find Emergency Housing For Seniors Senior Programs for Emergency Housing Crisis Hotline 2-1-1 Housing Choice Voucher Program Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Voucher (HUD-VASH) Emergency Housing Resources by State The Bottom Line Senior Emergency Housing FAQ Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!
Panic among spectators at soccer game kills at least 56 in the West African nation of Guinea CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Officials and witnesses say chaos erupted at a soccer game in Guinea after fans protested a referee’s call and thousands of panicked spectators tried to flee the stadium, leaving at least 56 people dead in the West African nation. Local news website Media Guinea reported that security forces used tear gas. A journalist covering the game for a local sports website tells The Associated Press many of the dead were crushed as they tried to escape through the stadium gates. The world’s latest sports crowd disaster unfurled Sunday in the second-largest city in the military-run nation. Information there is sparse and government-controlled at the best of times. It was not immediately clear how much the death toll could grow. Houston's Al-Shaair apologizes for hit on Jacksonville's Lawrence that led to concussion HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Azeez Al-Shaair took to X to apologize to Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence after his violent blow to the quarterback’s facemask led to him being carted off the field with a concussion. Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained left shoulder, Lawrence scrambled left on a second-and-7 play in the second quarter of Houston’s 23-20 win on Sunday. He initiated a slide before Al-Shaair raised his forearm and unleashed on the defenseless quarterback. In the long post, Al-Shaair says "To Trevor I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening.” Mollie Marcoux Samaan stepping down as LPGA commissioner after 3 1/2 years of record prize money Mollie Marcoux Samaan is leaving after more than three years as LPGA commissioner. In a surprise announcement Monday, Marcoux Samaan says she will step down in January, just three weeks before the LPGA starts its 75th season. Liz Moore is the chief legal and technology officer. She'll be serving as interim commissioner until a search committee can find a permanent replacement. Marcoux Samaan was the athletic director at Princeton when she took over the LPGA in May 2021. Prize money has soared during her tenure. She also has faced criticism for the LPGA not gaining in popularity during a rise in women's sports. Jets are sticking with struggling Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers will remain the New York Jets’ starting quarterback despite speculation the team could bench him in what has been a disappointing season. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said during a video call that he still believes Rodgers, who turned 41 on Monday, gives the Jets their best chance to win. Rodgers was 21 of 39 for 185 yards and touchdown passes to Davante Adams and Isaiah Davis but also had an interception returned 92 yards for a touchdown by Leonard Williams in the Jets’ 26-21 loss to Seattle on Sunday. College playoff bracket offers last dress rehearsal and one more chance to see where the SEC stands The next set of College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night under heavy scrutiny before the final bracket is set on Sunday. It will be one last chance to see just how much the selection committee loves the Southeastern Conference. The best gauge will be whether Miami, which suffered its second loss over the weekend, is placed behind any or all three SEC teams with three losses — Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, all of which are coming off wins. Whatever happens, the SEC is likely to have at least five teams in the 12-team field when the final bracket comes out. Kansas holds off Auburn for No. 1 in AP Top 25 as SEC grabs 3 of top 4 spots; UConn slides to No. 25 Kansas continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. Auburn is pushing the Jayhawks in the latest poll after winning the Maui Invitational and checked in at No. 2. Two-time reigning national champion UConn nearly fell out entirely after an 0-3 week at Maui, falling from No. 2 to 25th. The Southeastern Conference had three of the top four teams with No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky behind the Tigers. The poll featured six new teams, headlined by No. 13 Oregon, No. 16 Memphis and No. 18 Pittsburgh. Ryan Poles to remain Bears general manager and lead search for new head coach LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren said Ryan Poles will remain the general manager and serves as the point person in the search for a head coach to replace the fired Matt Eberflus. He says Poles will have the “final say” if the two have differing opinions on who should get the job. Chicago had never fired a coach during a season. But a six-game losing streak marked by questionable coaching decisions spurred the founding NFL franchise to change course. The Bears let Eberflus go Friday and replaced him on an interim basis with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. TCU, Duke climb into top 10, Notre Dame drops in women's AP Top 25; UCLA and UConn remain 1-2 TCU has its best ranking ever in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a convincing win over Notre Dame. The Horned Frogs jumped eight spots to No. 9, the first time the school has ever been in the top 10. The Fighting Irish, who were third last week, fell seven spots to 10th after losses to TCU and Utah. UCLA remained No. 1, followed by UConn, South Carolina, Texas and LSU. USC, Maryland and Duke are next. Michael Andretti's Formula 1 dream comes to bittersweet fruition without his involvement Michael Andretti has been sidelined from his namesake motorsports organization and won’t have any role with the Formula 1 program he spent the last four years desperately trying to launch. His effort to get a program partnered with General Motors into F1 was approved last week, a month after he stepped aside from his teams. F1’s decision to expand its grid for Cadillac F1 came amidst a federal antitrust investigation into why Liberty Media refused to admit Andretti Global and after Andretti partners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter claimed controlling interest of the fledgling effort. Guardiola hits 'reset' with Man City floundering in the Premier League The season starts now for Pep Guardiola. The Manchester City manager saw his team extend its remarkable winless run to seven matches and drop 11 points off the pace in the Premier League by losing 2-0 to Liverpool on Sunday. But that is all in the past for Guardiola. He says “Reset. There’s a feeling we start from here this season.” How he intends to move on from the worst run of results in his managerial career remains to be seen. It all starts Wednesday with a home game against Nottingham Forest. The midweek round of games also sees Liverpool travel to Newcastle and Arsenal host Manchester United.NEW YORK (AP) — With the end of 2024 around the corner, you might be reflecting on financial goals for 2025. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * NEW YORK (AP) — With the end of 2024 around the corner, you might be reflecting on financial goals for 2025. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? NEW YORK (AP) — With the end of 2024 around the corner, you might be reflecting on financial goals for 2025. Whether you’re saving to move out of your parents’ house or pay off student loan debt, financial resolutions can help you stay motivated, said Courtney Alev, consumer advocate for Credit Karma. “Entering a new year doesn’t erase all our financial challenges from the prior year,” Alev said. “But it can really help to bring a fresh-start mentality to how you’re managing your finances.” If you’re planning to make financial resolutions for the new year, experts recommend that you start by evaluating the state of your finances in 2024. Then, set specific goals and make sure they’re attainable for your lifestyle. Here are some tips from experts: Change your relationship with money Think about how you currently deal with finances — what’s good, what’s bad, and what can improve. “Let this be the year you change your relationship with money,” said Ashley Lapato, personal finance educator for YNAB, a budgeting app. If you feel like money is a chore, that there’s shame surrounding the topic of money, or like you were born being “bad at money,” it’s time to change that mentality, Lapato said. To adjust your approach, Lapato recommends viewing money goals as an opportunity to imagine your desired lifestyle in the future. She recommends asking questions like, “What do my 30s look like? What do my 40s look like?” and using money as a means to get there. Liz Young Thomas, head of SoFi Investment Strategy, added that it’s key you forgive yourself for past mistakes in order to move into the new year with motivation. Know your “why” When setting your financial resolutions for 2025, it’s important to establish the “why” of each, said Matt Watson, CEO of Origin, a financial tracking app. “If you can attach the financial goal to a bigger life goal, it’s much more motivating and more likely you’ll continue on that path,” Watson said. Whether you’re saving to buy a house, pay off credit card debt or take a summer vacation, being clear about the goal can keep you motivated. Watson also recommends using a tool to help you keep track of your finances, such as an app, spreadsheet, or website. Budget, budget, budget “After three years of inflation, your pay increases are likely still playing catch up to your monthly expenses, leaving you wondering where all the money is going,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. “Make that monthly budget for 2025 and resolve to track your spending against it throughout the year.” McBride said that you may need to make adjustments during the year as certain expenses increase, which would require cutting back in other areas. “Calibrate your spending with your income, and any month you spend less than budgeted, transfer the difference into your savings account, ideally a high-yield savings account,” he said. Pay down outstanding debt “Interest rates aren’t likely to come down very fast, so you’re still going to have to put in the hard work of paying down debt, especially high-cost credit card debt, and do so with urgency,” McBride said. Start by taking stock of how much debt you have now relative to the beginning of the year. Hopefully you’ve made steady progress on paying it down, but, if you’ve gone in the other direction, McBride encourages making a game plan. That includes looking into 0% balance transfer offers. Take control of your credit card interest rate “You have more power over credit card interest rates than you think you do,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “Wielding that power is one of the best moves you can make in 2025.” A 0% balance transfer credit card is “a good weapon” in the fight against high card APRs, or annual percentage rates, he said. A low-interest personal loan is an option as well. You may simply be able to pick up the phone and ask for a lower interest rate. LendingTree found that a majority of people who did that in 2024 were successful, and the average reduction was more than 6 points. Set realistic, practical goals When planning for your financial resolutions, it’s important to consider how you’re going to make your goals sustainable for your lifestyle, said Credit Karma’s Alev. “It really is a marathon, not a sprint,” Alev said. Alev recommends setting realistic, practical goals to make it easier to stick with them. For example, instead of planning to save thousands of dollars by the end of the year, start by saving $20 a paycheck. Even when your plans are achievable, there are times you’ll get derailed. Maybe it’s an unexpected medical bill or an extraordinary life event. When these situations happen, Alev recommends trying not to feel defeated and working to get back on track without feeling guilty. Don’t ‘flamingo’ or bury your head in the sand “You can’t manage what you can’t see, so set a New Year’s resolution to check your credit score monthly in 2025,” said Rikard Bandebo, chief economist at VantageScore. “Be sure to pay more than the minimum on your credit accounts, as that’s one of the best ways to boost your credit score.” Bandebo also advises student loan borrowers to make all payments on time, as servicers will begin to report late payments starting in January, and missed payments will affect borrowers’ credit scores. Automate savings, where possible Automated changes, like increasing workplace 401(k) plan contributions, setting up direct deposits from paychecks into dedicated savings accounts, and arranging for monthly transfers into an IRA and/or 529 college savings accounts all add up quickly, McBride said. Slow down Your financial goals can encompass more than just managing your money better — they can also be about keeping your money safe from scams. A golden rule to protect yourself from scams is to “slow down,” said Johan Gerber, vice president of security solutions at Mastercard. “You have to slow down and talk to other people if you’re not sure (whether or not) it’s scam,” said Gerber, who recommends building an accountability system with family to keep yourself and your loved ones secure. Scammers use urgency to make people fall for their tricks, so taking your time to make any financial decision can keep you from losing money. Focus on financial wellness Your financial goals don’t always have to be rooted in a dollar amount — they can also be about well-being. Finances are deeply connected with our mental health, and, to take care of our money, we also need to take care of ourselves. “I think that now more than any other year, your financial wellness should be a resolution,” said Alejandra Rojas, personal finance expert and founder of The Money Mindset Hub, a mentoring platform for women entrepreneurs. “Your mental health with money should be a resolution.” To focus on your financial wellness, you can set one or two goals focusing on your relationship with money. For example, you could find ways to address and resolve financial trauma, or you could set a goal to talk more openly with loved ones about money, Rojas said. —— The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. Advertisement Advertisement
India bids farewell to former prime minister Manmohan Singh with state funeral
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 2, 2024-- At AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com , Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), today announced new data center components designed to support the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and customers’ evolving needs. These capabilities combine innovations in power, cooling, and hardware design to create a more energy efficient data center that will underpin further customer innovation. These new capabilities will be implemented globally in AWS’s new data centers, and many components are already deployed in its existing data centers. To learn more, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUIrNGwUu14 . This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241201928268/en/ “AWS continues to relentlessly innovate its infrastructure to build the most performant, resilient, secure, and sustainable cloud for customers worldwide,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of Infrastructure Services at AWS. “These data center capabilities represent an important step forward with increased energy efficiency and flexible support for emerging workloads. But what is even more exciting is that they are designed to be modular, so that we are able to retrofit our existing infrastructure for liquid cooling and energy efficiency to power generative AI applications and lower our carbon footprint.” AWS has been building large-scale data centers for 18 years and GPU-based servers for AI workloads for 13 years. Today, AWS’s data centers support millions of active customers worldwide, including hundreds of thousands of customers using AWS AI and machine learning services, and tens of thousands of global customers using Amazon Bedrock to build their generative AI applications. As use of generative AI continues to grow and GPU capacity demands increase, AWS data centers are adapting to support increasingly higher power densities. Key improvements include: 1. Simplified electrical and mechanical design for high availability AWS continuously focuses on offering customers the most reliable infrastructure. Simplified electrical and mechanical designs are more reliable and easier to maintain, ensuring that customers enjoy the benefits of high reliability that AWS has offered from the beginning. AWS’s latest data center design improvements include simplified electrical distribution and mechanical systems, which enable infrastructure availability of 99.9999%. The simplified systems also reduce the potential number of racks that can be impacted by electrical issues by 89%. In a data center, electricity goes through multiple conversion and distribution systems before reaching the IT equipment. Each step naturally introduces inefficiency, energy loss, and potential failure points. As one new design example, AWS simplified the electrical distribution and in doing so, reduced the number of potential failure points by 20%. Other examples of simplifications include bringing backup power closer to the rack and reducing the number of fans that are used to exhaust hot air. AWS is using the natural pressure differential to exhaust hot air, which improves the amount of electricity available for servers. All of these changes help reduce overall energy consumption while minimizing the risk of failures. 2. Innovations in cooling, rack design, and control systems AWS has built a number of new and enhanced capabilities to offer customers the most performant, highly available, and energy efficient infrastructure possible. New data center innovations include: This design will support the next generation of hardware and high-density racks required for AI workloads, but is flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of other hardware types. AWS infrastructure offers the broadest and deepest compute platform with more than 750 Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (Amazon EC2) instances, giving customers choice of the latest processor, storage, networking, operating system, and purchase model for any workload. In addition to the flexible multimodal cooling design, AWS has developed engineering innovations in its power delivery systems, which enable AWS to support a 6x increase in rack power density over the next two years, and another 3x increase in the future. This is delivered in part by a new power shelf, which efficiently delivers data center power throughout the rack, reducing electrical conversion losses. Taken together, these innovations enable AWS to deliver 12% more compute power per site for customer workloads. These changes will reduce the overall number of data centers needed to deliver the same amount of compute capacity. 3. Increased energy efficiency and sustainability, including 46% reduction in mechanical energy consumption and 35% reduction in embodied carbon in the concrete used For many years, AWS has been a pioneer in improving energy efficiency and sustainability across its infrastructure. Research estimates AWS’s infrastructure is currently up to 4.1 times more efficient than on-premises infrastructure, and when workloads are optimized on AWS, the associated carbon footprint can be reduced by up to 99%. In 2023, Amazon achieved its goal to match all of the electricity consumed by its operations with 100% renewable energy – seven years ahead of its 2030 goal. AWS continuously reevaluates how its data centers operate and determines ways to help its infrastructure use energy more efficiently through ongoing innovation. The new components include the following upgrades for energy efficiency and sustainability: “Data centers must evolve to meet AI’s transformative demands,” said Ian Buck, vice president of hyperscale and HPC at NVIDIA. “By enabling advanced liquid cooling solutions, AI infrastructure can be efficiently cooled while minimizing energy use. Our work with AWS on their liquid cooling rack design will allow customers to run demanding AI workloads with exceptional performance and efficiency.” “As Anthropic develops our leading foundation models, having access to secure, performant, and energy-efficient infrastructure is crucial to our success,” said James Bradbury, distinguished engineer, Compute, at Anthropic. “AWS’s commitment to building cutting-edge data centers is one of the key reasons we’ve chosen them as our primary cloud provider and training partner. Their design improvements represent a significant step forward in providing secure, scalable, and efficient infrastructure to power AI models and drive innovation in this field.” “AWS’s continuous infrastructure advancements allow us to concentrate on innovating new services that help our customers make more informed financial decisions rather than the undifferentiated heavy lifting of running data centers,” said Alex Lintner, CEO of Technology, Software Solutions and Innovation, Experian. “Security and regulatory compliance are fundamental for us, and working with AWS helps to fortify our position as a trusted technology provider, supporting businesses across a variety of industries. With their energy-efficient and AI-optimized facilities, we can dedicate more resources to the rapid delivery of new data-driven products rather than data center management.” “Our customers depend on us to deliver reliable and highly secure generative AI innovation in a trusted, private environment,” said Jeff Reihl, chief technology officer, LexisNexis Legal & Professional. “Our longstanding partnership with AWS and their leading infrastructure enable us to deliver this, and also meet our goal of increasing our positive environmental impact while striving to reduce our environmental footprint.” The new data center components are built to scale across all of AWS’s infrastructure worldwide, including its 34 Regions, 108 Availability Zones, and other infrastructure offerings like AWS Local Zones. Construction on new AWS data centers with the full set of components is expected to begin in early 2025 in the United States. To learn more about AWS Infrastructure, visit https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/ . About Amazon Web Services Since 2006, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any workload, and it now has more than 240 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, media, and application development, deployment, and management from 108 Availability Zones within 34 geographic regions, with announced plans for 18 more Availability Zones and six more AWS Regions in Mexico, New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com . About Amazon Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241201928268/en/ CONTACT: Amazon.com , Inc. Media Hotline Amazon-pr@amazon.com www.amazon.com/pr KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA NEVADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: DATA MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE NETWORKS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTERNET HARDWARE SOURCE: Amazon.com , Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/02/2024 03:30 PM/DISC: 12/02/2024 03:30 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241201928268/en