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Eight years and $10 billion later, GM has decided to pull the plug on its grand robotaxi experiment. The automaker's CEO, Mary Barra, made the surprise announcement late on Tuesday, arguing that a shared autonomous mobility service was never really in its "core business." It was too expensive and had too many regulatory hurdles to overcome to make it a viable revenue stream. Instead, GM would pivot to "privately owned" driverless cars — because, after all, that's what the people really wanted. "Customers like to drive," Barra said in a call with investors. "And there's times they don't like to drive." If some of this sounds familiar, Ford essentially made the same decision two years ago when it pulled its funding for Argo AI, the autonomous driving startup it had financed since 2017. It cited as one of its reasons a belief that partial autonomy — often described as Level 3 or Level 3-plus — will have more near-term payoffs. Automakers are tapping out of the robotaxi business Automakers are tapping out of the robotaxi business. With all the money being spent on electric vehicles, the auto industry has decided to cut its losses on autonomous mobility. Only one transformational, prohibitively expensive, once-in-a-generation shift at a time. "I think this is more a recognition that autonomous vehicle technology is going to take a decade or more to provide driverless rides at a national scale," said Phil Koopman, an AV expert from Carnegie Mellon University. "GM decided that they would rather make money selling private cars while waiting for the technology to mature than continue to invest billions of dollars standing up robotaxi businesses city by city." Turmoil behind the scenes To be sure, there's been a lot of technological progress. Not too long ago, Cruise had driverless cars ferrying passengers across San Francisco. The company even said it was on the cusp of winning government approval to deploy its steering wheel- and pedal-less Origin shuttles in a... Andrew J. Hawkins
COLUMBUS, Ga. , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated AFL today announced that its Board of Directors has declared the first quarter dividend of $0.58 per share, payable on March 3, 2025 , to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 19, 2025 . This represents a 16.0% increase over the previously declared fourth quarter dividend. Commenting on the announcements, Aflac Incorporated Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos said: "I am pleased with the Board's action to increase the first quarter 2025 dividend. We treasure our record of 42 consecutive years of dividend increases, and our dividend track record is supported by the strength of our capital and cash flows. As an insurance company, our primary responsibility is to fulfill the promises we make to our policyholders. At the same time, we are listening to our shareholders and understand the importance of prudent liquidity and capital management. We remain committed to maintaining strong capital ratios on behalf of our policyholders and balance this financial strength with tactical capital deployment." Aflac Incorporated AFL , a Fortune 500 company, has helped provide financial protection and peace of mind for nearly seven decades to millions of policyholders and customers through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Japan . In the U.S., Aflac is the No. 1 provider of supplemental health insurance products. 1 In Japan , Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of cancer and medical insurance in terms of policies in force. The company takes pride in being there for its policyholders when they need us most, as well as being included in the World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for 18 consecutive years (2024), Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies for 23 years (2024) and Bloomberg's Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year (2023). In addition, the company became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2021 and has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (2023) for 10 years. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/espanol. Investors may learn more about Aflac Incorporated and its commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability at investors.aflac.com under "Sustainability." 1 LIMRA 2023 U.S. Supplemental Health Insurance Total Market Report The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. The company desires to take advantage of these provisions. This document contains cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other statements made by company officials in communications with the financial community and contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "goal," "objective," "may," "should," "estimate," "intends," "projects," "will," "assumes," "potential," "target," "outlook" or similar words as well as specific projections of future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements. The company cautions readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements: difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy, including inflation defaults and credit downgrades of investments global fluctuations in interest rates and exposure to significant interest rate risk concentration of business in Japan limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate differing interpretations applied to investment valuations significant valuation judgments in determination of expected credit losses recorded on the Company's investments decreases in the Company's financial strength or debt ratings decline in creditworthiness of other financial institutions the Company's ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates, brokers, employees, and distribution partners deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems and on successful execution of revenue growth and expense management initiatives interruption in telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems, or a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to the Parent Company inherent limitations to risk management policies and procedures operational risks of third-party vendors tax rates applicable to the Company may change failure to comply with restrictions on policyholder privacy and information security extensive regulation and changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities competitive environment and ability to anticipate and respond to market trends catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, as a result of climate change, epidemics, pandemics (such as COVID-19), tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, war or other military action, terrorism or other acts of violence, and damage incidental to such events ability to protect the Aflac brand and the Company's reputation ability to effectively manage key executive succession changes in accounting standards level and outcome of litigation or regulatory inquiries allegations or determinations of worker misclassification in the United States Analyst and investor contact - David A. Young , 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667 or dyoung@aflac.com Media contact – Ines Gutzmer , 762.207.7601 or igutzmer@aflac.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aflac-incorporated-announces-16-0-increase-in-the-first-quarter-2025-dividend-302320084.html SOURCE Aflac Incorporated © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has advised that after consultation with key stakeholders, a decision was taken to adjust the dates for the administration of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Six exam. This is due to the recent disruptions caused by the inclement weather conditions that Jamaica has been experiencing, and to provide additional preparation time to students who have been impacted. The revised dates for administration of the tests are: Ability Test, Thursday, February 20, 2025; Performance Task Tests - Wednesday, March 19, 2025 (Language Arts), and Thursday, March 20, 2025 (Mathematics); Curriculum-Based Tests - Wednesday, April 30, 2025 (Language Arts and Science), and Thursday, May 1, 2025 (Mathematics and Social Studies). The Ministry, in a bulletin, said it recognises the challenges faced by students, educators and parents during these trying times, and has, therefore, taken proactive measures to facilitate the best possible outcomes for the learners. School administrators are being urged to encourage teachers and parents to maximise the additional time given to ensure adequate preparation of the students for this assessment. The Ministry has given its commitment to provide the support necessary to ensure the best performance by all students. We want to hear from you! Email us at star@gleanerjm.com and follow @thejamaicastar on Instagram and on X @JamaicaStar and on Facebook: @TheJamaicaStarRural communities push back on clean-energy projects
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — De'Vondre Campbell's decision to quit on his team in the middle of a game overshadowed the bigger issues for the San Francisco 49ers. An offense that was one of the most dynamic in the NFL during a run to the Super Bowl last season has been just ordinary for most of 2024 and was downright bad in a 12-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night that just about ended San Francisco's playoff hopes. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.OUSTING SARA House of Representatives Secretary General Reginald Velasco (left) on Monday receives from former Sen. Leila de Lima the impeachment complaint that civil society groups filed against Vice President Sara Duterte. At right is Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña, who endorsed the complaint. —Lyn Rillon MANILA, Philippines — Citing five of the six grounds for impeachment in the 1987 Constitution, 16 individuals from various civil society and advocacy groups as well as relatives of the victims of the bloody drug war filed on Monday a complaint in the House of Representatives for the ouster of Vice President Sara Duterte. All but treason was listed as a ground for Duterte’s impeachment in the 33-page complaint, former Sen. Leila de Lima, the group’s designated spokesperson, pointed out. The chamber’s secretary general, Reginald Velasco, formally received the impeachment complaint at 4:30 p.m. and assured the petitioners that it would be acted on, although he initially said that Congress would not have enough time to undertake the process. READ: Marcos: VP Duterte unimportant; impeach rap waste of time Among those who filed the complaint in their personal capacity were former presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles; Catholic priests Flaviano Villanueva and Robert Reyes; nuns Susan Santos Esmile and Mary Grace de Guzman; political science lecturer Francis Joseph Aquino Dee; Gary Alejano, Maria Yvonne Cristina Jereza and Eugene Louie Gonzalez, all of the Magdalo group; Alice Murphy of the Urban Poor Associates; Sylvia Estrada Claudio, former dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Social Work and Community Development; singer Lea Navarro; and Randy Francisco delos Santos, uncle of drug war casualty Kian delos Santos. Duterte’s office said requests for comment on the impeachment complaint had been relayed to the Vice President. De Lima cited the following as grounds for Duterte’s impeachment: culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes. It cited nine articles under culpable violation of the Charter and graft and corruption; four articles under bribery and illegal wealth accumulation; two for betrayal of public trust, particularly abandoning duties during Super Typhoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and leaving for Germany amid a crisis as well as her failure to condemn Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea; and nine articles for other high crimes. De Lima pointed out that also included in the 24 articles was Duterte’s failure to account for P612.5 million in confidential funds from the last quarter of 2022 to the first three quarters of 2023, both in the Office of the Vice President and of the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as secretary. “There’s also the ground of [her] threats, rants during the press conference on Oct. 18 and the second in November 2024 because these are actually betrayal of public trust because these are also high crimes, the threats in her latest rants or her meltdown,” De Lima said, adding that another article of impeachment was Duterte’s alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City when she was mayor. She pointed out that another article involved P7 billion in unliquidated cash advances as well as alleged rigged bidding for laptops and electronic devices at DepEd during Duterte’s tenure. Also included in the complaint were Duterte and her family’s alleged receipt of hundreds of millions of pesos from drug personalities and her reported coddling, defense and enabling of televangelist Apollo Quiboloy’s crimes. The former lawmaker stressed in Filipino that “this (impeachment complaint) is really the decision of these private individuals, coming from various groups, who filed because we did not want to join any move of people in the government, including the President.” LOYALTY TO PEOPLE Leaders of civil society groups who filed an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte (right) say their decision to proceed with the ouster move is meant to show their loyalty to the people. —Lyn Rillon/Niño Jesus Orbeta She was referring to President Marcos’ advice last week to put off impeachment proceedings against Duterte. The National Security Council (NSC), for its part, on Monday backed the President’s call. In an interview over government television, NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the agency shared the position that any impeachment bid against Duterte would distract the nation from the more important issues it needed to confront. But Malaya said the NSC was “alarmed [by] and condemns” the insistence of members of the Makabayan bloc. “What the NSC sees here is how the Makabayan bloc pushes the very firm Maoist Joma Sison ideology of stirring conflict among the powers-that-be” to create an “impression of instability,” he said. But Akbayan party list Rep. Percival Cendaña, who endorsed the impeachment complaint, said in Filipino: “The loyalty of our civil society leaders is to the people. Progressive forces who want to hold Duterte accountable cannot be dictated upon.” “As to the timeline, we leave it to the leadership of Congress but this comes with a reminder that we are duty-bound in the House to give this complaint a fair day in court,” the lawmaker pointed out. Earlier on Monday, Velasco said that once an impeachment complaint is filed, it is forwarded to the Speaker, who then submits it to the House committee on rules. The panel then refers it to the plenary session for formal submission to the justice committee. He said that the entire process would take 130 days but the House must initially act on the complaint within 10 session days after receipt. “So after filing, we won’t have enough time because we only have nine session days remaining until Dec. 18” when Congress goes on break, Velasco told reporters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . The House acts as the sole prosecutor at an impeachment trial in the Senate, which has the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. —with a report from Melvin GasconA, and Inquirer Research
Fastenal Co. stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitorsWASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump doesn't think much of Joe Biden's foreign policy record. The Republican president-elect frequently casts the outgoing Democratic president as a feckless leader who shredded American credibility around the world during his four-year term. But a funny thing happened on Trump's way back to the White House: The Biden and Trump national security teams have come to an understanding that they have no choice but to work together as conflicts in Gaza , Syria and Ukraine have left a significant swath of the world on a knife's edge. It's not clear how much common ground those teams have found as they navigate crises that threaten to cause more global upheaval as Trump prepares to settle back into the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. “There is a deep conviction on the part of the incoming national security team that we are dealing with ... and on our part, directed from President Biden, that it is our job, on behalf of the American people, to make sure this is a smooth transition,” Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a weekend appearance at a forum in California. “And we are committed to discharging that duty as relentlessly and faithfully as we possibly can.” To be certain, Trump and his allies haven't let up on their criticism of Biden, putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of Biden and Democrats for the series of crises around the globe. The president-elect says Biden is responsible for the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, arguing that policies under his watch led to Hamas and Russia becoming emboldened. And shortly before Syria's Bashar al-Assad's government collapsed last week, Trump blamed Biden's old boss, former President Barack Obama, for failing to enforce his own “red line” in 2013 after Assad deployed chemical weapons that killed hundreds of civilians, and laying the groundwork for Islamic militants to establish a beachhead in the country. But amid the hectoring of Biden, Trump team officials acknowledge that the Biden White House has worked diligently to keep Trump's circle apprised and help ensure there is a smooth handoff on national security matters. “For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other, they’re wrong, and we are — we are hand in glove," Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for national security adviser, said in a Fox News interview last month. “We are one team with the United States in this transition.” While Trump rarely has a good word for the Democratic administration, there's an appreciation in Trump world of how the Biden White House has gone about sharing critical national security information, according to a Trump transition official who was not authorized to comment publicly. The coordination is precisely how lawmakers intended for incoming and outgoing administrations to conduct themselves during a handover when they bolstered federal support for transitions. It's already the most substantive handoff process since 2009, aides to Biden and Trump acknowledged, surpassing Trump's chaotic first takeover in 2017 and his wide refusal to cooperate with the incoming Biden team in 2021. Trump's pick to serve as special envoy to the Middle East , Florida real estate developer Steve Witkoff, consulted with Biden administration officials as he recently traveled to Mideast to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. Sullivan, who was to travel to Israel on Wednesday for talks with Netanyahu, has in turn kept Waltz in the loop about the Biden administration's efforts at getting a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza before Trump's inauguration. Biden administration officials say that the two national security teams have also closely coordinated on Ukraine and Syria, though they have provided scant detail on what that coordination has looked like. “Let me put it this way: Nothing that we’re doing and nothing that we’re saying are coming as a surprise to the incoming team,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. "They will decide for themselves what policies they might want to keep in place, what approaches they might want to continue and which ones they won’t." Trump made clear during his campaign that he would move to end the war in Ukraine quickly once he came to office. He called on Russian leader Vladimir Putin earlier this week to act to reach an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine . But the Biden White House has begun gently — and publicly — making the case for how continued support for Ukraine lines up with Trump's priorities. On Saturday, Sullivan pointed to comments made by Trump on social media to buttress the case that Biden’s push for continued support of Ukraine falls in line with the incoming president’s thinking. Trump earlier that day had noted that Assad’s rule was collapsing because Russia “lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.” “Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success,” Trump said in the posting on Truth Social. Sullivan underscored that Biden and Trump are in agreement that there should be no American boots on the ground in Syria and that the war in Ukraine was a major factor in Assad’s fall. “I was a little bit struck by it — earlier in the post, he said part of the reason this is happening is because of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Sullivan said of Trump. “And I think he even referenced the sheer scale of the casualties that Russia has suffered in Ukraine, and for that reason, they’re not in a position to defend their client, Assad. And on that point, we’re in vigorous agreement.” Two days later in Washington, Sullivan made the case that Trump should bolster the little-known U.S. International Development Finance Corporation that was created during the Republican’s first term. The push for reauthorizing the foreign aid agency comes as Trump has promised to make massive cuts to the federal bureaucracy. Trump signed into law the agency's authority -- tucked into a five-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration — to provide $60 billion in loans, loan guarantees and insurance to companies in developing nations. Sullivan called the agency an effective tool for private-public partnerships, before allowing that “maybe I shouldn’t be the one” making the case “since I’m leaving, but I will give my advice anyway.” “It was created as we’ve all noted, under the Trump administration,” Sullivan said in remarks at the agency’s annual conference. “It has been strengthened under the Biden administration. And as we look to DFC reauthorization next year, it has to remain a bipartisan priority.” After Assad's government fell, the Biden administration issued a warning to Iran not to speed up its nuclear program after one of its closest allies was toppled, declaring “that’ll never happen on our watch.” The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic, hinted at coordination on the matter with the Trump team. The official said there had been “good discussions” with the incoming administration on the matter and there was an expectation the same policy would carry over. Biden has also approved a new national security memorandum that is meant to serve as a road map for the incoming Trump administration as it looks to counter growing cooperation between China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the White House announced Wednesday. Biden administration officials began developing the guidance this summer. It was shaped to be a document that could help the next administration build its approach from Day 1 on how it will go about dealing with the tightening relationships between the United States’ most prominent adversaries and competitors, according to two other senior administration officials. One of those officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, sought to assure the incoming Trump team that the Biden White House effort “isn't trying to box them in or tilt them toward one policy option or another.” Instead, the official said, it's about helping the next administration build “capacity” as it shapes its policies on some the most difficult foreign policies it will face.