CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — AJ Clayton scored 34 points as Ohio beat Portland 85-73 on Friday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — AJ Clayton scored 34 points as Ohio beat Portland 85-73 on Friday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — AJ Clayton scored 34 points as Ohio beat Portland 85-73 on Friday. Clayton added 12 rebounds for the Bobcats (2-4). Aidan Hadaway scored 13 points while going 5 of 12 from the floor, including 1 for 6 from 3-point range, and 2 for 3 from the line and added eight rebounds. Victor Searls had 11 points and finished 5 of 8 from the field. The Pilots (2-4) were led by Vukasin Masic, who posted 17 points. Portland also got 13 points and seven rebounds from A.Rapp. Max Mackinnon also recorded 10 points and seven rebounds. Clayton scored 14 points in the first half to help Ohio up 46-30 at the break. Ohio pulled away with a 7-0 run in the second half to extend its lead to 19 points. Clayton led the way with a team-high 20 second-half points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. AdvertisementNEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial. The opposition party had written to the Centre for identifying a designated place for Singh's last rites, where a memorial could be set up for him. As politics over the matter erupted, the Centre said a decision to set up a memorial has already been taken and a trust would be formed to identify the place soon. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the great son of Mother India and the first prime minister from the Sikh community has been "totally insulted" by the BJP-led Centre by performing his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. He said Singh was the prime minister for 10 years, the country became an economic superpower during his tenure and his policies are still the support system for the poor and backward classes. "Till date, respecting the dignity of all former prime ministers, their last rites were performed at authorised burial sites so that every person could have a last darshan and pay homage without any inconvenience. "Dr Manmohan Singh deserves our highest respect and a memorial. The government should have shown respect to this great son of the country and his proud community," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said by not providing an appropriate place for the former prime minister's cremation, the Centre has not done justice to the dignity of the post, his personality, legacy and the self-respecting Sikh community. She said earlier, all former prime ministers were given the highest honour and respect. "Dr Manmohan Singhji deserves this honour and a Samadhi Sthal. Today, the whole world is remembering his contributions. The government should have thought beyond politics and narrow-mindedness in this matter," she said in a post in Hindi on X. "This morning, I felt this when I saw Dr Manmohan Singhji's family members struggling for a place at the funeral site, trying to find a place in the crowd, and the general public getting troubled due to the lack of space and paying tributes from the road outside," Priyanka Gandhi added. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also took to X to say that he attended Singh's funeral at the Nigambodh Ghat. "It was difficult to see very much, beyond the backs of the heads of assorted dignitaries and close relatives of the departed soul, so it became more of an occasion to reflect on the life and legacy of the late great PM," Tharoor said, adding that he found himself seated next to Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was a memorable companion during the proceedings. "We shared a great regard for the late Prime Minister and agreed that a fitting memorial must be established by the government for Dr MMS without delay," he said, while sharing pictures of the funeral. Former Indian Youth Congress chief B V Srinivas said when former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away on August 16, 2018, his funeral took place at the National Memorial, the designated place for the cremation of former presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers. He referred to Vajpayee's memorial, "Sadbhav Atal", which is spread over seven acres and "where memories related to Atalji are present", and shared pictures of the memorial on X. "But during the tenure of the same prime minister, Narendra Modi, the last rites of former prime minister Manmohan Singh were performed at the public Nigambodh Ghat instead of the National Memorial. Because he was a Congress leader, not a BJP leader?" he asked in a post in Hindi on X. After the matter of a memorial for Singh took a political colour, the Centre clarified that a decision to build one was already conveyed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge by Union Home Minister Amit Shah after Friday's Cabinet meeting. A government statement also said the funeral could be held as the process of setting up a trust and allotting land for the memorial could take a while. Kharge had written to Modi on Friday seeking a memorial for Singh. Several sections of the society have also urged the government to confer Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour of the country, on the late economist-prime minister.
Happy Holidays! As we’ve done the past few years here at Smart Money , we’re going to look “forward” to the next year by looking back at what we’ve talked about this year. But before we get to that, I wanted to deliver a holiday gift to you... a special report featuring my Top 7 Stocks for 2025 that’s free to you just for being an important Smart Money follower. Each one of these stocks capitalizes on one of the powerful megatrends we talk about here. I hope you’ll check that out . And this year, we’ve talked about a technology so powerful that its existence could either herald the end of the world – or, at the very least, the world as we know it – or usher in the beginning of an unprecedented utopia. That development is artificial general intelligence, or AGI. As we’ve only just begun traveling down the path toward AGI, I’d like the revisit a past Smart Money from this year where I answered your most pressing questions. Updates will be provided as needed. This article is from August of this year, titled Answering Your Biggest AGI Questions ... Let’s jump right in... Scientists and other bright minds have put forth a few different timelines as to when they believe AGI will be developed. For example... The truth is that we really don’t know when AGI will become a part of our lives. However, the common denominator here is that the technology is developing fast... and will be upon us soon. AGI is going to impact several industries in ways many folks — including those on Wall Street — have never even considered. They are industries that I also believe everyone should consider investing their capital in right now. I’m talking about data centers, raw materials and metals, energy, software, semiconductor chips, robotics, and healthcare. As AI infiltrates the medical field, the U.S. healthcare industry is on track to grow faster than any other sector in the U.S. economy. Companies are converging with AI to bring about massive amounts of innovation in the healthcare industry. In the biotech sector, for example, AI could revolutionize the economics of drug discovery. First, it could boost the success rates of new therapies by prequalifying potential drug candidates more expertly than traditional trial-and-error processes could. Second, it could reduce the average expense and timeline of advancing these candidates through clinical trials by shortening the drug-development time frame. Today, without AI, it can take more than a decade and over $1 billion to bring a new drug to market. AI could impart a game-changing efficiency to the drug-development process, and thereby shower pharmaceutical companies, in particular, with a pixie dust of enormous prosperity. Collectively, the pharmaceutical industry seems to be banking on the pixie-dust scenario. For example, all 10 of the top holdings in the iShares Biotechnology ETF ( IBB ) are actively integrating some facet of AI into their drug-development processes. Many of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world are paying tens of billions of dollars to snap up promising biotech companies. You could call it a biotech gold rush. The volume of merger-and-acquisition deals in the global healthcare sector surged about 22% last year, according to data provider Dealogic, even though M&A activity across all industries dropped about 23%. I believe that the pharmaceutical industry, in aggregate, will reap handsome rewards from the expansion of AI in healthcare, especially as AGI continues to advance. Overall, I expect AGI to impart fantastic benefits to the healthcare industry. When I say “stealth AI,” I’m usually talking non-tech companies that will adopt and apply AI with the goal of reaping huge gains in efficiency, productivity, and profits. In many old-school industries, like shipping or travel, new AI- and AGI-enabled processes could boost efficiency and fatten profit margins. I consider industries like these to be future-proof, meaning they’re not going anywhere, despite whatever AI and AGI do. And when you put stealth AI to work inside a future-proof industry, you have the potential for both reliable and outsized gains. Artificial intelligence has added a powerful tailwind to platinum demand... a tailwind that AGI will kick in to high gear. At present, electronics and technology end-uses account for only 3% of total platinum demand. However, thanks to AI, the tech sector’s platinum consumption could grow by double digits for several years in a row. According to research from Metals Focus, a boom in demand for AI applications will create an echo boom in demand for the high-specification semiconductors and sensors that enable AI technologies to operate optimally. Much of this next-gen hardware contains platinum. As the World Platinum Investment Council explains... The performance of the myriad of miniature transistors and capacitors embedded into an integrated circuit is enhanced by the deposition of thin platinum films onto semiconductor wafers... These platinum films are created using a technology known as sputtering, where platinum particles are ejected and deposited onto a surface, creating a thin (only a few atomic or molecular layers thick) platinum layer. AI-driven platinum demand could add an additional kicker to any new bull market that emerges. The rise of AGI is also boosting demand for copper, because data centers use enormous amounts of copper for power and cooling systems. Even moderately sized data centers can require several thousand tons of the metal. All this makes copper a very attractive business to be in – for mining companies and investors alike. There were great questions, folks. As AGI develops, the future that lies ahead is not simply a continuation of what has been... it is a complete departure from anything we have ever known. So, I hope you’ve found these answers to your most pressing AGI questions helpful. In fact, we could be months, weeks, or even mere days away from achieving AGI. After that happens, we may reach a point of no return. And I’m tracking this information closely. In fact, you will hear more about my 1,000 day countdown to AGI soon after the new year. It’s a comprehensive look at the most important technological revolution of our lifetime. Finally, one last thing before I go... Regarding the Top 7 Stocks for 2025 free report I shared with you up top... sometimes knowing when buy a stock is just as important as knowing which stock to buy. And my colleagues at TradeSmith have developed a new way potentially double your money, by foreseeing the biggest jumps on 5,000 stocks, to the day , with 83% back-tested accuracy. And on January 8, at 10 a.m., they’ll be unveiling this financial breakthrough during a special free presentation. You can sign up for that here. In short, we’ve developed a breakthrough way to pinpoint dates of the calendar when certain stocks – like the ones in my new report – shoot up – year after year, producing one winning trade after another. Essentially, it tells you what each stock’s “green day” is. On January 8, they’ll explain exactly how this works. And if you sign up to join the guest list for that special event , you’ll receive instant free access to their system. You can try it yourself right now to see the “green day” for 5,000 different stocks. Regards, Eric Fry
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Get essential daily news for Fort Worth area Sign up to receive insightful, in-depth local stories today. 📩 Texas Wesleyan brands itself as “Smaller. Smarter.” The east Fort Worth university could add “Cheaper” to the list through a new free tuition program. The private university of around 2,500 students announced the program this week that would offer free tuition to incoming freshmen in Texas who qualify for Pell Grants, a federal grant for students with “exceptional financial need,” according to the U.S. Department of Education’s website . The cost of annual undergraduate tuition for full-time students is around $34,000, according to the university’s website . “This program is a game-changer for students in Texas who dream of a college education, especially at a small, private institution like Texas Wesleyan, that may face financial barriers,” Texas Wesleyan President Emily Messer said in a statement. “We believe in the power of education to transform lives. By eliminating tuition barriers for deserving Texas students, we’re opening doors to countless opportunities,” she added. The program will kick off in the 2025-26 academic year for incoming freshmen. Students need to be first-time college students and receive the maximum amount of a Pell Grant to qualify. The federal grant will cover the first dollar amounts of tuition, and Texas Wesleyan will foot the rest of the bill. Get essential daily news for the Fort Worth area. Sign up for insightful, in-depth stories — completely free. In order to determine Pell eligibility, applicants must complete a FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, form . Once in the program, students can renew their free tuition for up to four years, as long as they remain enrolled full-time and maintain satisfactory academic standards. “Given the extremely high cost of college and how important a degree is to people’s future earning potential, the chance to get an education for free via the combination of Pell Grants and private donations is a really big deal for students,” said Chip Lupo, a writer and analyst for WalletHub, a financial services company. “It also makes colleges that institute such programs more popular among prospective students with affordability issues.” Nearly half — 46% — of Texas Wesleyan students receive a Pell Grant, according to federal financial aid data for the 2022-23 academic year. The average award is nearly $6,000. The maximum allowed Pell Grant award for this academic year is around $7,400. Lupo said the Pell Grant program does not have a strict income cut-off, but only 6% of recipients come from families with an annual income of $60,000 or more. About 39% come from families with incomes between $20,001 and $50,000, and the majority, 51% of students, come from families with annual incomes below $20,000. College accessibility is a central concern at Texas Wesleyan and for Messer personally, as a first-generation college student. In the early days of Messer’s presidency at the east Fort Worth University, she saw the university’s role as being in the business of changing lives . The majority of students come from Tarrant County, and more than half are the first in their family to attend college. The university has many notable alumni in politics, including outgoing U.S. House Rep. Kay Granger, former State Sen. Beverly Powell, current U.S. House Rep. Marc Veasey and current Mayor Mattie Parker, who graduated from the law school before it was purchased by Texas A&M. “I would not be where I am today without Texas Wesleyan University. It played a huge role for me,” Veasey, a 1995 graduate of the school, said at the inauguration ceremony of Messer earlier this year. “I was one of those students that didn’t have a lot of money and was looking for a place where I would fit in, so I could do something with my life.” Update: This story has been updated to state that students who receive the full Pell Grant qualify for the program. Disclosure: Texas Wesleyan University has been a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here . Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus . Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org. Related Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism . Republish This Story Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License . Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). Do not copy stories straight from the front-end of our web-site. You are required to follow the guidelines and use the republication tool when you share our content. The republication tool generates the appropriate html code. You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. You can’t sell or syndicate our stories. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. If you use our stories in any other medium — for example, newsletters or other email campaigns — you must make it clear that the stories are from the Fort Worth Report. In all emails, link directly to the story at fortworthreport.org and not to your website. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. You have to credit Fort Worth Report. Please use “Author Name, Fort Worth Report” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Fort Worth Report” and include our website, fortworthreport.org . You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. You can’t sell or syndicate our stories. You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. by Shomial Ahmad, Fort Worth Report December 10, 2024EVLV INVESTOR ALERT: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Announces that Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. Investors with Substantial Losses Have Opportunity to Lead Class Action LawsuitLuigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties. Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street. The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer. But Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sharply refuted that perception after Mangione’s arrest on Monday when a customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania spotted Mangione eating and noticed he resembled the shooting suspect in security-camera photos released by New York police. “In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this, he is no hero,” Shapiro said. “The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.” Mangione’s family and upbringing Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather, Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978. The Mangione family also purchased Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore in 1986. On Monday, Baltimore County police officers blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to Luigi Mangione’s parents. Reporters and photographers gathered outside the entrance. The father of 10 children, Nick Mangione prepared his five sons — including Luigi Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione — to help manage the family business, according to a 2003 Washington Post report. Nick Mangione had 37 grandchildren, including Luigi, according to the grandfather’s obituary. Luigi Mangione’s grandparents donated to charities through the Mangione Family Foundation, according to a statement from Loyola University commemorating Nick Mangione’s wife’s death in 2023. They donated to various causes, including Catholic organizations, colleges and the arts. One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media by Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.” Mangione’s education and work history Mangione, who was valedictorian of his elite Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press. He learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication. His social media posts suggest he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends at the Jersey Shore and in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, and other destinations. The Gilman School, from which Mangione graduated in 2016, is one of Baltimore’s elite prep schools. The children of some of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent residents, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., have attended the school. Its alumni include sportswriter Frank Deford and former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington. In his valedictory speech, Luigi Mangione described his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.” Mangione took a software programming internship after high school at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis, where he fixed bugs on the hit strategy game Civilization 6, according to a LinkedIn profile. Firaxis’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said it would not comment on former employees. He more recently worked at the car-buying website TrueCar, but has not worked there since 2023, the head of the Santa Monica, California-based company confirmed to the AP. Time in Hawaii and reports of back pain From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin. “Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.” At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, including surfing, Ryan said. “He went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back,” Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym. Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. An image posted to a social media account linked to Mangione showed what appeared to be an X-ray of a metal rod and multiple screws inserted into someone’s lower spine. Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago. An X account linked to Mangione includes recent posts about the negative impact of smartphones on children; healthy eating and exercise habits; psychological theories; and a quote from Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti about the dangers of becoming “well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Police report a darker turn Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by AP. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts. He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said. Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said. ___ Associated Press reporters Lea Skene in Baltimore; Jen Kelleher in Honolulu; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Michael Kunzelman in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Sean Murphy, The Associated Press
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Greek stocks ended their rising streak on Tuesday, after six sessions of growth for the benchmark, though the profit-taking appetite of traders was quite moderate. Despite the rather high turnover, most stocks contained their losses and a few continued to grow, as the end-of-year period when traders try to close their books with the best possible balance has local prices remain firmly in positive territory this month. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,458.81 points, shedding 0.42% from Monday’s 1,464.98 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.47%, ending at 3,559.05 points, while mid-caps declined only by 0.08%. The banks index conceded 0.79%, as Piraeus dropped 2.02%, Alpha gave up 1.67%, Eurobank lost 0.22% and National slipped 0.08%. Lamda Development eased 1.93% and Helleniq Energy slid 1.89%, whereas Jumbo improved 1.68%. In total 37 stocks boasted gains, 58 posted losses and 28 remained unchanged. Turnover amounted to 142.2 million euros, up from Monday’s €141.6 million. In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.19% to close at 213.28 points.
A set of new requirements proposed by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights could bring healthcare organizations up to par with modern cybersecurity practices. The proposal , posted to the Federal Register on Friday, includes requirements for multifactor authentication, data encryption and routine scans for vulnerabilities and breaches. It would also make the use of anti-malware protection mandatory for systems handling sensitive information, along with network segmentation, the implementation of separate controls for data backup and recovery, and yearly audits to check for compliance. HHS also shared a fact sheet outlining the proposal, which would update the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule. A 60-day public comment period is expected to open soon. In a press briefing, US deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology Anne Neuberger said the plan would cost $9 billion in the first year to execute, and $6 billion over the subsequent four years, Reuters reports. The proposal comes in light of a marked increase in large-scale breaches over the past few years. Just this year, the healthcare industry was hit by multiple major cyberattacks, including hacks into Ascension and UnitedHealth systems that caused disruptions at hospitals, doctors’ offices and pharmacies. “From 2018-2023, reports of large breaches increased by 102 percent, and the number of individuals affected by such breaches increased by 1002 percent, primarily because of increases in hacking and ransomware attacks,” according to the Office for Civil Rights . “In 2023, over 167 million individuals were affected by large breaches — a new record.”Kidsafe calls for urgent action on low speed vehicle runovers
...Warns against denigrating innocent judges A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has accused the acting national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, of plotting with some others to delete the names of those on whose blood the party was built in the state years ago. The faction which is loyal to former governor of the state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, said in a press conference in Port Harcourt Monday, December 23, 2024, that Ganduje and his group in Rivers State were bent on denigrating innocent judges in the state. The press briefing which was addressed by the publicity secretary of the dissolved executive council, Darlington Nwauju, reminded Ganduje how he promised internal democracy for the APC on the 3rd August 2023, after his ratification by national executive council of the party. The faction led by Emeka Beke had obtained a court order sacking the caretaker committee that Ganduje put together, mostly made up of loyalists of Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister that is a kingpin of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Beke camp also got a court order stopping the congresses of the Ganduje-approved faction and also obtained a court ruling nullifying the inauguration of the result of the congresses, being an executive committee headed by Tony Okocha, Wike’s arrowhead in Rivers State. Now, the Beke-led APC told newsmen: “We are worried that Ganduje is doing everything possible to bully the very principles of progressivism upon which our party was founded and to even imagine the peculiarity of the Rivers State chapter of the party where tons of human beings had their lives cut short for their membership of the APC. “It is sad that there is a conspiracy to delete the memories of all our supporters who unfortunately lost their lives. They now want to rewrite the history of the party here in Rivers and ensure that justice is not served on sponsors and perpetrators of those barbaric crimes that took place in 2015, 2019 and 2023.” The statement said the APC has suffered avoidable media bashing in recent weeks and months due to the dictatorial leadership style of Ganduje who allegedly seems to be in such a hurry to rewrite history of their painful history. The camp said Ganduje managed to get the national working committee (NWC) to wipe away the elected committee and replaced them with a caretaker committee. “Choosing to make undemocratic utterances which give a black eye to internal party democracy and by so doing, arming opposition parties with points to de-market the APC while discouraging investors from investing in Nigeria as the very national chairman of the ruling party has kept telling the international community by his actions, that the party has no regard for orders of court.” Nwauju accused Ganduje of arming the supporters and loyalists of the FCT Minister (immediate past governor in Rivers State) who is in another party. He said those persons were created as caretaker committee to oust the elected people. Nwauju said the actions of Ganduje were reversed by a Port Harcourt High Court but that Ganduje and Okocha have subjected the court’s decision to media trial by those who received the necessary judicial hammer. “It may interest you to note that a similar move to illegally dissolve elected State Executives of the Benue State chapter of APC was equally set aside on November 28 2024 by a Justice, T.A. Kume, of a Makurdi High Court for similar reasons as clearly elucidated in Aprioku’s judgment which favoured elected executives of the party in Rivers State.” Nwauju went on: “Gentlemen, one of the reasons for talking to the media today is to expose the satanic lies peddled by these individuals who are obviously pretending to be democrats but their actions keep exposing their underbelly. Let it be known that a court in Benue State took a similar stand as the Port Harcourt High court by frowning at the fact that the APC willfully and barefacedly chose to throw her own constitution to the dustbin and there is no court anywhere that can encourage despotism. It is, therefore, only a higher court that can set aside the judgment orders issued by Aprioku and importantly, entering an appeal cannot also stop the enforcement of Aprioku’s judgment as beneficiaries of such order are bound by law to reap the fruits of that judgment. “Again, since the High Court judgment is on appeal and Court of Appeal fixed 4th and 12th February 2025 to hear the matter, what was (is) the rush in countering the order of Court?” Read also: Things soon to get better? Rivers APC leader appeals to suffering Nigerians, says Tinubu has them at heart Reacting to the threat by Okocha on his birthday to suspend the faction that went to court, Nwauju said Beke and the rest were the rightful officers of the party in the state. “Accusing us of collaborating with the Governor of Rivers State to embarrass the APC is bizarre. If we may ask, which of the APCs? The one they sabotaged in 2015, 2019 and 2023? Is it the same APC that they abandoned to join the SDP, jumped ship to openly campaign for the PDP and Gov Fubara? Or is it the APC they claim they belong to that is peopled 80% by supporters and loyalists of the FCT Minister? The APC all of whom Wike bought forms for? I think they should be talking about PDAPC not APC. Well, we do not understand how persons who by the clear judgment of court have no business discussing our party affairs nor stretching their luck by impersonating the executives in the state can delve into the realms of expelling the landlords of the party in the State. These individuals still talking to the press (Okocha and his friends) are not officers of our party and have never been. These chaps are supposed to be cooling off behind bars for being contemptuous of court together.” On Okocha’s accusation that the Beke camp of the APC was collaborating with Gov Sim Fubara to trouble the (Wike) APC faction, Nwauju asked to know if it is the Rivers Beke APC camp actions that also led to the November 28th 2024 nullification of the contraption Ganduje attempted to impose on the Benue State chapter of our party? He also asked to know if it is the Rivers Beke APC that is also responsible for the court cases over party executives in Enugu? “Or the deep differences within the Bayelsa, Abia, Kwara and other chapters of the APC? “Is it this alleged collaboration that also forced Ganduje’s NWC to conduct two guber primaries in Edo State and also led to the embarrassment Ganduje brought the party by congratulating the wrong candidate on February 17th 2024? “Is it this collaboration that miraculously provided the private jet that ferried Ganduje and his delegation from Abuja to PH on December 13th 2024? “Is it this collaboration that yielded the thousands of dollars distributed through the delegation to Port Harcourt on December 13th? The Beke camp accused the Wike APC and Ganduje of not knowing anything about the Constitution of the APC. “Finally, we invite Nigerians to take note of two unimpeachable facts: That the judgment delivered by the honourable justice, Sika Aprioku, of the Rivers State High Court on August 12th 2024 in favour of all elected officers of the party in the state from Ward, LGA to State still subsists and has not been vacated; and that another court presided over by Godswill Obomanu has also nullified the so-called congresses”.HONG KONG , Dec. 23, 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. 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 TelecomCrafted with care, dedication
(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been appointed to lead a subcommittee dedicated to working with President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. Known as a Republican firebrand and close ally of Trump, Greene has already set her sights on rooting out “every penny of waste and abuse.” “We’ll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda, we’ll be going into grant programs that fund things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa,” she said on a media appearance Sunday morning. The subcommittee will be under the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. “We want to make the government more efficient,” Comer said on a media appearance . “We want to work for the taxpayers, not the bureaucrats. We hate the deep state, we’ve dealt with the deep state, we’ve fought the deep state.” He added that Republicans are excited to implement the recommendations of DOGE, which, as an advisory committee, will have to work with Trump and Congress to change policies. “What Trump has ... are willing partners to make government more efficient,” Comer said of Congress. Elon Musk, CEO of X and Tesla Motors, and Vivek Ramaswamy are currently heading up DOGE. “Looking forward to working together with Congress,” Ramaswamy said on social media of Greene’s appointment . “Proper oversight of agencies and public transparency are critical.” DOGE has made it a key part of its plan to address the national debt of $36 trillion. That is $273,000 owed per taxpayer. “This trend must be reversed, and we must balance the budget,” DOGE posted . For her part, Greene has promised to “drain the swamp,” stating that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to holding government agencies like the Pentagon accountable. “Our government should steward every single cent of your hard-earned money,” Greene said. “The DOGE subcommittee will expose the waste and bring truth and transparency to the American people.” Bureaucrats and independent contractors will also be on the chopping block, in what Greene called a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make real transformational change to government to benefit the American people.” “In the private sector, if you’re not doing a good job, you get fired,” she said on social media . “But for some reason, in government, bad employees – whether they’re failing to do the job they were hired to do or working in roles that are no longer needed – never get fired. This is incredibly unfair to the hard-working taxpayers of our country, and it’s about to change.” Recently, an audit of the IRS found that its employees and contractors owe millions in taxes, all while the agency warned thousands of taxpayers that they could face jail time. “The same unelected IRS government employees and contractors, who owe $50 million in unpaid taxes, would throw Americans in jail for not paying their taxes,” Greene said of the audit . “Time to hold them all accountable.” Greene also addressed Democrats' accusations that the subcommittee will go after programs like Social Security. “No, Senator Warren, we are not going to take away a senior’s Social Security. That’s a lie,” Greene responded on social media . “We are going to investigate all areas of the federal government like CFPB, an ‘independent’ agency inside the federal government. Beholden to no one. Ran by unelected bureaucrats.”
Netanyahu's office says his security Cabinet has approved ceasefire deal with Hezbollah