Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $281,000 Stock Holdings in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)
Florida knocks No. 9 Ole Miss out of College Football Playoff contention, 24-17 in the SwampMichelle Keegan and Mark Wright have announced they are expecting their first child together Michelle Keegan and her husband Mark Wright have announced they are expecting their first child together. The former Coronation Street star, 37, and the TOWIE favourite, who married in May 2015, shared the joyous news on Instagram on Sunday night. "2025 is going to be a special one for us... [baby emoji. love heart emoji]," read the caption of a post featuring a picture of Michelle showing off her baby bump on the beach, with Mark looking on lovingly. Among the first to congratulate the couple was Mark's best friend James Argent, who commented: "I love you and I'm so happy for you both," adding that he couldn't wait to become an uncle. This announcement comes after years of speculation about when the successful pair would start a family. In 2020, Michelle revealed that her family had finally stopped asking her about plans for a baby. "I get asked about children whereas Mark wouldn't for example," she explained to Women's Health. "Why haven't I had a child? When am I going to have a child? ' I don't know what they want me to say. I don't know what the right or wrong answer is." Laughing off the family inquiries, she told them: "Not any more! ... People don't mean any harm by it, but they know what the answer's going to be.", reports the Mirror . The Fool Me Once star has voiced her objection to being constantly questioned about her plans for starting a family, describing such probes as 'horrible'. In conversation with The Mirror on the topic of baby plans, she remarked: "It's horrible. People don't know if we're trying. They don't know the background of what's happening. In this day and age, you shouldn't be asking questions like that. I'm asked purely because I'm a woman. But I'm immune to it now – it's like a reaction, and as soon as I hear it I brush it off as it's no one else's business." Back in 2018, she expressed to Women's Health her desire for a large family: "I've always been broody. I love kids, and I want four, so hopefully in the near future." Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright have been open about their family planning choices, with Michelle previously stating: "With kids, I used to want three or four. But now, I'm 31, we're not having kids any time before 32. I think we could have two or three. Twins would be great because you're getting two out of the way at once." However, in April 2023, the couple faced a wave of invasive comments on social media after sharing a photo of themselves with their premature nephew, Dustin Wright. The commentary reportedly left Michelle "furious" and "incredibly angry". The couple first met in Dubai at the end of 2012 and confirmed their relationship at the 2013 National Television Awards. Just nine months later, Mark proposed to Michelle during a trip back to Dubai. Mark Wright shared his emotions with The Mirror following his engagement, saying: "I've got now, for the first time in my life, what I've always wanted and what every boy dreams of – affection in a relationship, love, best friend, a girl I fancy... everything rolled into one." The couple then proceeded to have a fairy-tale wedding at St Mary's Church in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, celebrating afterwards at the grand Hengrave Hall. Following their opulent wedding, Michelle Keegan joined the cast of Our Girl, which took her to various exotic locations such as South East Asia and South Africa. This required the newlyweds to endure a long-distance relationship. Mark Wright, known from TOWIE, landed his ‘dream’ job in America on E!, resulting in him shuttling between Essex and Los Angeles. On the Jonathan Ross show, Michelle Keegan spoke about the struggles they faced being apart: "We were apart for about four months. It was really tough. People said how did you deal with it and stuff. Thank god for FaceTime and things like that. You're on a countdown the whole time just to get home. I had six months off when I went home, so I went to America." Having left Our Girl and the States behind in 2019, the pair settled back in Essex, spending considerable time creating their dream home before moving into their luxurious mansion. Now, the pair are welcoming their next chapter as parents in 2025.
The Race for the Trillion-Dollar Club: Who Will Break Through Next?The people that president-elect Donald Trump has selected to lead federal health agencies in his second administration include a retired congressman, a surgeon and a former talk-show host. All of them could play pivotal roles in fulfilling a new political agenda that could change how the government goes about safeguarding Americans' health — from health care and medicines to food safety and science research. And if Congress approves, at the helm of the team as Department of Health and Human Services secretary will be prominent environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine organizer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. By and large, the nominees don't have experience running large bureaucratic agencies, but they know how to talk about health on TV . Centers for Medicare and Medicaid pick Dr. Mehmet Oz hosted a talk show for 13 years and is a well-known wellness and lifestyle influencer. The pick for the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, and for surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, are frequent Fox News contributors. Many on the list were critical of COVID-19 measures like masking and booster vaccinations for young people. Some of them have ties to Florida like many of Trump's other Cabinet nominees: CDC pick Dr. Dave Weldon represented the state in Congress for 14 years and is affiliated with a medical group on the state's Atlantic coast. Nesheiwat's brother-in-law is Rep. Mike Waltz , R-Fla., tapped by Trump as national security adviser. Here's a look at the nominees' potential role in carrying out what Kennedy says is the task to “reorganize” agencies, which have an overall $1.7 billion budget; employ 80,000 scientists, researchers, doctors and other officials; and affect the lives of all Americans. The Atlanta-based CDC, with a $9.2 billion core budget, is charged with protecting Americans from disease outbreaks and other public health threats. Kennedy has long attacked vaccines and criticized the CDC, repeatedly alleging corruption at the agency. He said on a 2023 podcast that there is "no vaccine that is safe and effective,” and urged people to resist the CDC's guidelines on if and when kids should get vaccinated . Decades ago, Kennedy found common ground with Weldon , the 71-year-old nominee to run the CDC who served in the Army and worked as an internal medicine doctor before he represented a central Florida congressional district from 1995 to 2009. Starting in the early 2000s, Weldon had a prominent part in a debate about whether there was a relationship between a vaccine preservative called thimerosal and autism. He was a founding member of the Congressional Autism Caucus and tried to ban thimerosal from all vaccines. Kennedy, then a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, believed there was a tie between thimerosal and autism and also charged that the government hid documents showing the danger. Since 2001, all vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market and routinely recommended for children 6 years or younger have contained no thimerosal or only trace amounts, with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine. Meanwhile, study after study after study found no evidence that thimerosal caused autism. Weldon's congressional voting record suggests he may go along with Republican efforts to downsize the CDC, including to eliminate the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which works on topics like drownings, drug overdoses and shooting deaths. Weldon also voted to ban federal funding for needle-exchange programs as an approach to reduce overdoses, and the National Rifle Association gave him an “A” rating for his pro-gun rights voting record. Kennedy is extremely critical of the FDA, which has 18,000 employees and is responsible for the safety and effectiveness of prescription drugs, vaccines and other medical products — as well as overseeing cosmetics, electronic cigarettes and most foods. Makary, Trump’s pick to run the FDA, is closely aligned with Kennedy on several topics . The professor at Johns Hopkins University who is a trained surgeon and cancer specialist has decried the overprescribing of drugs, the use of pesticides on foods and the undue influence of pharmaceutical and insurance companies over doctors and government regulators. Kennedy has suggested he'll clear our “entire” FDA departments and also recently threatened to fire FDA employees for “aggressive suppression” of a host of unsubstantiated products and therapies, including stem cells, raw milk , psychedelics and discredited COVID-era treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. Makary's contrarian views during the COVID-19 pandemic including the need for masking and giving young kids COVID vaccine boosters. But anything Makary and Kennedy might want to do when it comes to unwinding FDA regulations or revoking long-standing vaccine and drug approvals would be challenging. The agency has lengthy requirements for removing medicines from the market, which are based on federal laws passed by Congress. The agency provides health care coverage for more than 160 million people through Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, and also sets Medicare payment rates for hospitals, doctors and other providers. With a $1.1 trillion budget and more than 6,000 employees, Oz has a massive agency to run if confirmed — and an agency that Kennedy hasn't talked about much when it comes to his plans. While Trump tried to scrap the Affordable Care Act in his first term, Kennedy has not taken aim at it yet. But he has been critical of Medicaid and Medicare for covering expensive weight-loss drugs — though they're not widely covered by either . Trump said during his campaign that he would protect Medicare, which provides insurance for older Americans. Oz has endorsed expanding Medicare Advantage — a privately run version of Medicare that is popular but also a source of widespread fraud — in an AARP questionnaire during his failed 2022 bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania and in a 2020 Forbes op-ed with a former Kaiser Permanente CEO. Oz also said in a Washington Examiner op-ed with three co-writers that aging healthier and living longer could help fix the U.S. budget deficit because people would work longer and add more to the gross domestic product. Neither Trump nor Kennedy have said much about Medicaid, the insurance program for low-income Americans. Trump's first administration reshaped the program by allowing states to introduce work requirements for recipients. Kennedy doesn't appear to have said much publicly about what he'd like to see from surgeon general position, which is the nation's top doctor and oversees 6,000 U.S. Public Health Service Corps members. The surgeon general has little administrative power, but can be an influential government spokesperson on what counts as a public health danger and what to do about it — suggesting things like warning labels for products and issuing advisories. The current surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, declared gun violence as a public health crisis in June. Trump's pick, Nesheiwat, is employed as a New York City medical director with CityMD, a group of urgent care facilities in the New York and New Jersey area, and has been at City MD for 12 years. She also has appeared on Fox News and other TV shows, authored a book on the “transformative power of prayer” in her medical career and endorses a brand of vitamin supplements. She encouraged COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, calling them “a gift from God” in a February 2021 Fox News op-ed, as well as anti-viral pills like Paxlovid. In a 2019 Q&A with the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation , Nesheiwat said she is a “firm believer in preventive medicine” and “can give a dissertation on hand-washing alone.” As of Saturday, Trump had not yet named his choice to lead the National Institutes of Health, which funds medical research through grants to researchers across the nation and conducts its own research. It has a $48 billion budget. Kennedy has said he'd pause drug development and infectious disease research to shift the focus to chronic diseases. He'd like to keep NIH funding from researchers with conflicts of interest, and criticized the agency in 2017 for what he said was not doing enough research into the role of vaccines in autism — an idea that has long been debunked . Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz and Matt Perrone and AP editor Erica Hunzinger contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saints quarterback Derek Carr was willing to risk his health to improve New Orleans’ chances of playing meaningful football in mid-December. Now the Saints, who’ve remained mathematically alive in the playoff race by winning three of four, might have to play without Carr again — and it didn’t go well the last time. Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi declined on Monday to rule out Carr for any of New Orleans' final four games because of his injured non-throwing hand or his concussion . Both injuries occurred when he tried to leap for a first down and crashed hard to the turf during the fourth quarter of New Orleans' 14-11 victory over the reeling New York Giants on Sunday. “We’re not going to rule him out just yet,” Rizzi said. “We have to see in the next day or two what the healing process is like and see if he can function. “The good news it’s not his throwing hand,” Rizzi said. “The bad news is we’re obviously dealing with an injury here that we have to kind of play it by ear.” Rizzi noted that Carr must clear the concussion protocol first. After that, he said, the Saints can see how well Carr can operate with his hand injury. “It's been done before,” Rizzi said when asked about the prospect of an NFL QB playing with an injured non-throwing hand. “It appears at moment that it's non-surgical, which is a big aspect of it. ... That's why we're going to discuss the options.” Last season, Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert played with a fractured finger on his non-throwing hand . Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen has played part of this season with an injured non-throwing hand . If Carr can't play, his replacement will be either second-year pro Jake Haener or rookie Spencer Rattler. Rattler started three games earlier this season when Carr had an oblique injury — all losses by New Orleans, which was in the midst of a seven-game skid. “We've just got to surround whomever it is and pick him up and get him rolling with the rest of us,” guard Lucas Patrick said. “It's just another step of adversity in this long season that we’ve had.” What’s working New Orleans' interior defensive line is coming off one of its better games. Defensive tackles Bryan Bresee and Khalen Saunders accounted for both New Orleans' sacks in New York. The Saints also held the Giants to 112 yards rushing — a lower opponent rushing total than in seven other games this season. What needs help The Saints' 92 yards rushing offensively was their fourth-lowest total all season and the lowest in any of their victories. Stock up Running back Kendre Miller's future is looking a bit brighter now. He has played in just three games this season because of hamstring injuries and his lack of readiness was criticized by since-fired coach Dennis Allen earlier this season. Miller also has yet to rush for more than 36 yards in a game. But against the Giants, he earned praise for the speed, strength and elusiveness he was able to show on a couple of clutch runs, including an 8-yard run for his first and only touchdown this season. Patrick said Miller deserved credit on his scoring run for staying upright and continuing to push forward — with the help of some teammates — after he was met at the 5-yard line by a Giants defender. Patrick said if Miller didn't give the extra effort and stay on his feet, his teammates would not have had the chance to help push him across the goal line. “Kendre's definitely a bright, young runner and he's exciting to block for,” Patrick said. Stock down Blake Grupe was 0 for 2 on field goal attempts, although both were from beyond 50 yards and one was blocked. Those were Grupe's first two failures from beyond 50 yards this season. Injuries In addition to Carr, reserve linebacker D’Marco Jackson left Sunday's game with an ankle injury. Key number 0 — The number of games the Saints have won when Carr does not play. They've gone 5-5 in his starts this season. Next steps The Saints are back home Sunday against Washington in what could be ex-New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore's first game with the Commanders. The game also marks the return to Louisiana of quarterback Jayden Daniels, who won the Heisman Troply last year at LSU. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Brett Martel, The Associated PressLeominster runs to win over Fitchburg
MILLIONS of Black Friday shoppers searching for bargains risk being conned by fake customer reviews. One in seven online testimonials are in fact false, according to government data. If you fall for a bogus review then you could end up wasting your money on poor or even dangerous products. Charlotte Sheridan, founder of The Small Biz Expert, which helps its clients get genuine reviews, says: “Unfortunately, there are a lot of fake reviews online, so it’s always best to delve a bit deeper, especially if you’re parting with a lot of money.” This Black Friday week, Mel Hunter reveals how to spot them. HOW DO FAKES HAPPEN? INCREASINGLY, AI -generated posts are cropping up online. Read More on Money It affects companies big and small. In 2023 alone, Amazon — which claims it has “zero tolerance” for fake reviews — blocked 250million of the posts. A new law, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, is due to come into force in April next year, banning fake reviews and making companies responsible for checking them. But in practice they can be hard to spot — and difficult to police. Most read in Money There are some tell-tale signs, though. Before you part with your money this Black Friday, sort out the real reviews from the false ones so you spend more wisely. LOOK FOR DETAIL WHEN it comes to sorting genuine experiences from those that have been made up, you need to read between the lines. Fake reviews are often vague and lacking in human detail. They might say a product is “great”, without explaining why. A review that repeats phrases from a product’s website can also be a red flag. Amy Cutmore, editor of Expert Reviews, says: “A real review is usually specific and descriptive. “For an air fryer, it might say ‘I cooked bacon in it and it came out nice and crispy’. “If a review reveals no details on the product or the use of it, be suspicious.” SPELLING MISTAKES POOR spelling should make you suspicious. It could be a sign that reviews have come from someone being paid to churn them out in bulk, and often not in their native language. Look at other review sites, too, to get a broader range of views. Charlotte says: “I would always recommend, where possible, looking at more than one platform for reviews. Whether it’s a combination of social media reviews and Google, or Trustpilot and Amazon, use more than one source.” SIZE MATTERS LOOK out for reviews that are very short, or too long. If someone has written a dubious review, they will probably keep it to just a few sentences. A bogus review, produced by AI, on the other hand, could ramble on far too long. A recommendation by a real person is more likely to fall somewhere in between. FIVE-STAR FAKES SHOPPING experts recommend skipping both five-star and one-star reviews, which is where most fakes tend to land. It may mean you miss some genuine recommendations, but you will also get a more rounded picture from three or four-star ones, where real customers weigh up the positives and negatives. Amy says: “If the review makes the product sound far too good to be true, it’s more likely to be fake feedback.” Be especially alert for five-star reviews on unbranded products. Shoppers are more than twice as likely to pick poor-quality products that have been boosted by fraudulent reviews, according to Which? RAINING REVIEWS ANOTHER sign of a dodgy write-up could be a deluge of reviews for the same product landing within just a short space of time, with long gaps between other reviews. It could happen around Black Friday or Christmas when a retailer is trying to shift stock, or around a new launch. Amy says: “This could be a sign that the seller has faked positive feedback in some way.” She recommends a tool that can help spot bogus reviews. Fakespot from Mozilla is a plug-in tool that will help single out false reviews. It can be added to a web browser for free, and it works with Amazon, eBay and Shopify , as well as other e-retail sites. POWER IN THE PROFILE DELVE a bit deeper into a reviewer’s profile. On sites including Google Reviews, Trustpilot and Amazon, you can see what other businesses or products someone has reviewed. Charlotte says: “Here there can be some obvious red flags — for example, if someone is not in the country where the business they are buying from is based. “Also, be sure to take a look at how often they review products and services. “Reviewing lots of different products within a short timeframe may also indicate a false review.” Amy says that if all the reviewer’s posts give five stars, or one, it might show they have been given an incentive to write the posts. £25? what an ice surprise! THOUSANDS of struggling households in more than a dozen postcodes are set to receive cash to help heat their homes as the cold snap takes hold. Those eligible get £25 during each seven-day period of below-zero weather in their area until March 31. The Department for Work and Pensions provides the extra cash to low-income households. To be eligible, you must receive certain benefits, such as Pension Credit, Universal Credit and Income Support, or support for mortgage interest. Those who qualify will have the funds deposited automatically into their bank accounts within 14 days of their postcode being triggered. These postcodes, which have already experienced a period of very low temperatures, are now eligible for a single cold weather payment: CA9-12, CA16-17, DG14, TD9, LA8-10, LA21-23, NE19, NE47-NE49. If you think you could have received the payment, check your bank statement for an item with your National Insurance number followed by the code “DWP CWP”. Further cold weather could lead to additional payments in other areas, and there is no maximum limit to the amount you can receive. For example, almost 500 postcodes got up to £75 last winter . See coldweatherpayments. dwp.gov.uk to check if you will be due a cold weather payment . James Flanders Users are E.ON for payout A MAJOR energy supplier will give £144 in compensation to 250,000 customers. E.ON Next – part of the E.ON Energy Group – has been asked to pay up after it failed to give final bills and refunds to prepayment meter customers . Almost a quarter of a million accounts were affected between February 2021 and September 2023, an investigation by energy regulator Ofgem found. This was due to an error within its billing system, which E.ON Next self-reported to Ofgem. Prepayment customers who changed suppliers or terminated their contract did not receive final bills within six weeks, which is required under Ofgem’s rules. This failure meant existing customers were not aware of cash left over in their accounts, the watchdog said. It was found that some 100,000 of the accounts were in credit, with an average of £51 left over. Impacted customers have been contacted to inform them about the payment, E.ON said. The company also agreed to voluntarily write off debt held by almost 150,000 prepayment meter customers who closed their accounts between February 2021 and September 2023. READ MORE SUN STORIES Beth Martin, director for consumer protection and competition at Ofgem, said: “It’s encouraging that [E.ON Next] self-reported the issue and have worked with us to resolve it.” Laura McGuireNobel recipient Geoffrey Hinton wishes he thoughts of AI safety sooner
Three years ago, Vancouver’s John Phillip Fraser was struggling to rebuild his life after falling on hard times. After securing an entry-level job at a local construction company, he faced a hurdle: the only boots he could afford were worn hand-me-downs. “There were holes in the soles,” said the 39-year-old, who immigrated to Canada from Venezuela as a child and settled in the Downtown Eastside. “My feet were always soaked and smelled like mould.” Fraser pressed on, despite his work boots being a constant reminder of his struggle. Then he heard about Working Gear, a charity dedicated to providing clothing and equipment for those who need proper workwear. Fraser visited the non-profit’s pantry, where he was welcomed by executive director Sarah Beley and outfitted with new steel-toed boots and gear donated by workwear companies such as Red Wing, Keen and Fiber. “Having clean boots and proper PPE (personal protective equipment) improved my performance, and soon after I was hired by an excavation company offering higher pay,” he said. Since then, Fraser has secured permanent housing and explored other career opportunities. “Because of this experience, I know that I will never again be that close to poverty.” Fraser’s story is one of many in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where low-income individuals and newcomers can face barriers to employment. Beley said that due to growing demand, Working Gear, which began in 2007 as a small, volunteer-driven initiative to help residents of the DTES, has evolved to support low-income workers, immigrants and refugees throughout Metro Vancouver. Of the approximately 1,700 people served this year, Beley said 40 per cent reside outside Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She added that over the last two years, Working Gear has seen a significant shift in its client base: newcomers now account for 66 per cent of clients, compared to 14 per cent previously. Clients used to require referrals from social service agencies, but many of them now walk into the shop after hearing about the organization from friends. “The one thing in common with all of our clients is they don’t have family or a community around,” Beley said. “Whether a youth who has aged out of foster care, a person who just got out of prison, or a newcomer from Ukraine or Africa, they just don’t have that support.” This was the case for Stephen Sijenyi, who immigrated to Vancouver and sought help from Working Gear in 2018. “I went from Kenya, where I was celebrated by a large group of family and friends, to feeling like I wasn’t trusted by others in Canada — whether because of my clothes or my immigrant status,” the 42-year-old said. “I didn’t have friends, I didn’t have anyone who I could turn to and ask for help.” Sijenyi needed work and safety gear, including steel-toe boots and waterproof pants for his first job as a labourer at a coffee recycling plant. “When I walked in, I went from facing adversity to being welcomed with open arms — it felt like family,” said Sijenyi, who made some of his first Vancouver friends at the organization. Five years later, Sijenyi owns his own business, has two children, and a large network of friends he considers family. He regularly returns to the organization as one of 60 volunteers who are mostly former clients. “I couldn’t be living the life I am today without them.” sgrochowski@postmedia.com • For 106 years, The Province’s Empty Stocking Fund has been dedicated to making the holidays brighter for B.C. residents who are less fortunate. With the generosity of our readers and supporters, the fund gives money to 25 B.C. community organizations that provide food hampers and gifts to children, needy families and single people. Donations can be made by: Scan the QR code here. Online at: https://theprovince.com/esf By mail to: The Province Empty Stocking Fund 968 East Cordova St., Vancouver, B.C., V6A 1M6 By calling: 604-253-6911European countries suspend Syrian asylum decisions after Assad's fall
Disparities in EV charging provision risk drop-off in UK transition, study warns