Pelican Press

Netflix moves afterparty after Chiltern Firehouse fire Netflix moves afterparty after Chiltern Firehouse fire Reuters Netflix has been forced to move its Bafta Film Awards afterparty after the original venue was evacuated due to a fire. Scores of firefighters took more than five hours to tackle the blaze on Friday at the Chiltern Firehouse, a five-star hotel in Marylebone in central London. The streaming giant will now hold its event on Sunday night at The Twenty Two, a luxury hotel in London’s Mayfair. An investigation has been launched over the fire, which led to the evacuation of 100 guests. London Fire Brigade (LFB) said no injuries were reported, but the venue will remain closed until further notice. The Bafta Film Awards are being held at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday. Pope selection drama Conclave leads the Bafta field with 12 nominations, followed by Emilia Pérez, The Brutalist and Anora. After the ceremony, which will be hosted by David Tennant, actors, producers, directors and others within the industry will flock to a number of afterparties being held around the capital. The main Bafta afterparty will take place at the Southbank Centre. But Netflix is hosting its own party to recognise its talent. The US media firm has multiple nominations, including for Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez. It had planned to hold the event at the Chiltern Firehouse – a well-known celebrity hotspot which has previously hosted A-listers including Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp. BBC News However, the hotel’s owner Andre Balazs said the venue will “remain closed until further notice” following Friday’s fire. “We are grateful to confirm that no one was hurt, and our guests and staff safely evacuated,” he added. Fire crews from Euston, Soho, Paddington, West Hampstead, Kensington, Chelsea, and surrounding fire stations were deployed after first being called just before 15:00 GMT, with videos on social media showing firefighters using a crane to douse flames as they engulfed the top of the building. The fire service said the blaze started in ducting and spread from the ground floor to the roof of the four-storey hotel, and was under control by shortly after 20:00. The cause is under investigation. Located on Chiltern Street, the hotel occupies the site of a Victorian fire station built in 1889. The Chiltern Firehouse opened in 2013 as a 26-suite hotel and 200-seater restaurant. Source link #Netflix #moves #afterparty #Chiltern #Firehouse #fire Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Should You Buy Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) For Its Upcoming Dividend? Should You Buy Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) For Its Upcoming Dividend? Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 2 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company’s books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company’s books on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase Ford Motor’s shares on or after the 18th of February, you won’t be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 3rd of March. The company’s next dividend payment will be US$0.30 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.75 to shareholders. Last year’s total dividend payments show that Ford Motor has a trailing yield of 7.9% on the current share price of US$9.48. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it’s also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn’t going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether Ford Motor can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow. View our latest analysis for Ford Motor Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. That’s why it’s good to see Ford Motor paying out a modest 41% of its earnings. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Fortunately, it paid out only 36% of its free cash flow in the past year. It’s encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don’t drop precipitously. Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. NYSE:F Historic Dividend February 15th 2025 Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it’s easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That’s why it’s comforting to see Ford Motor’s earnings have been skyrocketing, up 163% per annum for the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing very quickly, and the company is paying out a relatively low percentage of its profit and cash flow. This is a very favourable combination that can often lead to the dividend multiplying over the long term, if earnings grow and the company pays out a higher percentage of its earnings. Story Continues Another key way to measure a company’s dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, Ford Motor has increased its dividend at approximately 4.1% a year on average. It’s good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved – although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth. Should investors buy Ford Motor for the upcoming dividend? It’s great that Ford Motor is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It’s disappointing to see the dividend has been cut at least once in the past, but as things stand now, the low payout ratio suggests a conservative approach to dividends, which we like. Ford Motor looks solid on this analysis overall, and we’d definitely consider investigating it more closely. On that note, you’ll want to research what risks Ford Motor is facing. For example, we’ve found 2 warning signs for Ford Motor (1 shouldn’t be ignored!) that deserve your attention before investing in the shares. A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Source link #Buy #Ford #Motor #Company #NYSEF #Upcoming #Dividend Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Here are the agencies purging federal workers – The Hill Here are the agencies purging federal workers – The Hill Here are the agencies purging federal workers The HillThere is help for probationary employees who were terminated Federal News Network Source link #agencies #purging #federal #workers #Hill Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

BBC risks becoming ‘****** propaganda mouthpiece’ BBC risks becoming ‘****** propaganda mouthpiece’ The former director of BBC Television has warned that the broadcaster risks becoming a propaganda mouthpiece for ******. Danny Cohen said BBC coverage of the Gaza conflict had repeatedly drawn an “appalling false equivalence” between the release of Israeli hostages held in terrible conditions by ****** and the freeing of ************ prisoners by Israel. Mr Cohen said the BBC had also underplayed the suffering endured by the hostages freed as part of the ceasefire deal, while at the same time emphasising the privations it says were endured by the Palestinians prisoners. He also accused the corporation of failing to mention that many of the ************ prisoners were guilty of terror crimes, including bombings and knife attacks. The report coincided with the latest round of hostage releases on Saturday which came after fears the ceasefire deal could collapse. In his report analysing the BBC’s coverage of the release of hostages taken by ****** on October 7 2023, Mr Cohen stated: “In their rush to gloss over the undeniable torture, starvation and beatings that hostages have endured and their determination to highlight claims of poor conditions in Israel’s jails, the BBC is repeatedly drawing offensive false equivalence between victims of war crimes and hundreds of convicted violent offenders. “The BBC is at risk of becoming a ****** propaganda mouthpiece. They have repeatedly given a free pass to terrorists who have committed violent racist *******. It will be very hard for many in the Jewish community to ever forget it.” Mr Cohen says the BBC has underplayed the suffering endured by the Israeli hostages In his analysis of the BBC’s coverage of the ceasefire deal’s arrangement for Israeli hostages to be released in exchange of prisoners, Mr Cohen claimed that the broadcaster’s reporters had failed to point out the crimes committed by jailed ************ fighters. He said that instead, the BBC had gone out of its way to highlight the scenes of joy at the men being reunited with their families and their apparently emaciated appearance after years spent in Israeli jails. During its coverage of the release of nearly 200 ************ prisoners on Feb 8 the BBC failed to describe any of them as terrorists, according to the report, even though half had been serving life sentences for *******. Mr Cohen said a BBC News website story a few days earlier did not mention that a freed ****** member it quoted expressing joy at his release had been held for his part in a 2018 gun attack which killed two civilians. The report also accused the BBC of focusing on Palestinians freed from administrative detention without trial, while making only “passing reference” to the 733 convicted for violent offences who had been freed. These include ****** member Mohammad Abu Warda, who has been serving 48 life sentences for organising a 1996 suicide bus bombing which killed 45 people. Critics pointed out that in the first two hours of coverage of Saturday’s hostage release on BBC News, ****** personnel were referred to as “armed militants”, “gunmen”, “members” and “local health officials” but not as terrorists and neither was the group described as a proscribed terrorist organisation. During its coverage of the releases the BBC has had to apologise on a number of occasions for describing the ************ prisoners as “hostages”. ************ prisoners gesture from a bus after being released by Israel on Saturday – Hatem Khaled/Reuters Relatives of those killed by ************ gunmen have joined criticism of the BBC’s coverage. Among them is Hillel Fuld, whose brother Ari was killed by 17-year-old Khalil Jabarin, one of the freed prisoners, during a knife attack at West Bank shopping centre in September 2018. Mr Fuld wrote on X: “There is zero attention being paid to the families whose lives these ‘prisoners’ ruined. Let’s not forget who these people are. They are murderers who destroyed families.” Mr Cohen’s report also accused the BBC of downplaying the ordeal suffered by the Israeli hostages since they were captured by ****** gunmen on October 7. He stated: “While BBC reporters and presenters have frequently claimed ************ prisoners have emerged looking thin and questioned conditions in Israeli jails, their coverage of the first wave of female hostages released last month focused on how ‘healthy’ they looked. “Presenters talked about hostages smiling and waving to the crowd, making little mention of the horrors they had endured, even though the treatment of women hostages by ****** was well known.” Mr Cohen said in one case presenters failed to mention the horrific circumstances in which freed hostage Naama Levy had been kidnapped, with no reference to the footage of her being dragged into a ****** truck, covered in blood and her hands tied – images which became symbolic of the horror of the Oct 7 attacks. Hostages Iair *****, 46, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Sasha Troufanov, 29, were released on Saturday after 498 days in exchange for 369 ************ prisoners held in Israeli jails – Ramadan Abed/Reuters The report pointed the finger at a number of senior BCC correspondents, including Laura Kuenssberg and Sebastian Usher, its Middle East regional editor, for equating the ordeal suffered by ******’s hostages with what they claimed in reports were “appalling” and “particularly hard” conditions in Israeli jails. During Saturday’s coverage Mark Lowen, a BBC correspondent, said about the hostages: “They are then reunited with their families, it’s all very emotional of course and then also later on that day you have similarly emotional scenes later on in Gaza where Palestinians who have been held in Israeli jails are released… “The most serious offenders will be deported away from Gaza but there will be joy and heartbreak there as well from the families as they see their loved ones and for those still waiting for others to be released in the coming weeks of the ceasefire deal.” Mr Cohen said: “Taking hostages is a war crime. Torture, ******* abuse and starvation of those hostages is a war crime. There is no equivalence between the horrors hostages have endured and the administrative detention of Palestinians or the decades long imprisonment of murderous and violent terrorists.” He added: “I strongly urge the BBC to radically rethink its coverage, to stop drawing these offensive comparisons and remind its audience that ****** is not providing ‘well-ordered’ hostage releases, but once again showing the world what a barbarous and brutal terror group looks like.” The BBC has rejected the report’s findings, pointing to its recent coverage of the trauma suffered by the freed hostages. Sources said the corporation corrected and apologised for any mistakes in terminology made during live broadcasting. A BBC spokesman said: “We have studied this report and we do not accept its premise. The examples it gives are of the BBC’s factual reporting and observation of events, and of appropriate challenge in interviews. “The BBC has reported extensively on the Israeli hostages and their experiences, including interviews with their families. It has been clear about the Palestinians’ status as prisoners, and has reported on their crimes and also on the fact that some have been detained without charge.” Source link #BBC #risks #****** #propaganda #mouthpiece Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

She thought she was having indigestion. Doctors found a near-fatal artery blockage. – CBS News She thought she was having indigestion. Doctors found a near-fatal artery blockage. – CBS News She thought she was having indigestion. Doctors found a near-fatal artery blockage. CBS News Source link #thought #indigestion #Doctors #nearfatal #artery #blockage #CBS #News Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Meta Betting on AI-Powered Humanoid Robots Meta Betting on AI-Powered Humanoid Robots PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Meta is betting big on humanoid AI-powered robots, Bloomberg reports. The company has reportedly formed a new division within its Reality Labs unit, which developed the Meta Quest VR headset, which will initially focus on developing hardware for robots that can assist with physical tasks like household chores. The unnamed new division will be led by Marc Whitten, former CEO of General Motors’ self-driving car division Cruise, and it will look to hire 100 engineers in 2025. The company has reportedly already begun talks with robotics companies like ******** firm Unitree Robotics and US startup Figure AI. But rather than directly launching a branded robot, like Tesla’s Optimus, Meta plans to develop AI systems, sensors, and software for robots that will then be manufactured and sold by a range of companies, much like how smartphone manufacturers all over the world use Google’s Android operating system. Meta is allegedly aiming for its upcoming LLaMA language model to become “a foundation for robotics researchers around the world.” Though Meta isn’t aiming squarely at the consumer market, Bloomberg reports that Meta still plans on building hardware, using existing components, and will build prototypes for testing purposes. However, the sources said that Meta hasn’t ruled out the option of one day launching a consumer-facing robot. Rather than working separately from its AR and VR projects, Meta executives reportedly hope that the division will be able to leverage data collected from the firm’s augmented and virtual reality devices to spur advances in robotics. This shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, Meta has been open about its plans to use data collected from its Quest VR headsets to improve its products. But robotics aficionados shouldn’t get their hopes up, at least in the short term. A source with knowledge of the project told Bloomberg that it “could be years” before Meta’s platform is ready to power third-party robotics. It’s not just Meta turning its eye toward humanoid robotics. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone maker is “exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robots for its future smart home ecosystem, though the products are still early proof-of-concept (POC) stage internally.” Meanwhile, Nvidia has also been bullish on the future of robotics and physical AI. At CES 2025 last month, CEO Jensen Huang predicted the market for humanoid robotics could soon hit $38 billion in the coming decades, saying that “the ChatGPT moment for general robotics is just around the corner.” Source link #Meta #Betting #AIPowered #Humanoid #Robots Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Labord's chameleon: The color-changing lizard that drops dead in 4 months – Livescience.com Labord's chameleon: The color-changing lizard that drops dead in 4 months – Livescience.com Labord’s chameleon: The color-changing lizard that drops dead in 4 months Livescience.com Source link #Labord039s #chameleon #colorchanging #lizard #drops #dead #months #Livescience.com Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Timeless Kylie Minogue stuns fans as she kicks of her Tension World Tour at RAC Arena in Perth Timeless Kylie Minogue stuns fans as she kicks of her Tension World Tour at RAC Arena in Perth Expectations were high but the results were even higher as Kylie Minogue kicked off her Tension Tour at RAC Arena. Source link #Timeless #Kylie #Minogue #stuns #fans #kicks #Tension #World #Tour #RAC #Arena #Perth Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Winds, low water pressure hamper firefighters as fire engulfs OKC home overnight Winds, low water pressure hamper firefighters as fire engulfs OKC home overnight Shortly before midnight Friday, the Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a residential structure fire on the city’s northeast side. The home in the 100 block of NE 16th Street, which firefighters believed to be vacant, was fully engulfed in flames spurred on by strong winds upon fire crews’ arrival, Battalion Chief Derak Stewart of the OKCFD said. Oklahoma City firefighters work just before midnight Friday to prevent flames from a residential structure in the 100 block of NE 16th Street from spreading to neighboring homes. “As far as the fire intensity, once we arrived, it was on a level of one out of 10, it was a 10. It was maximum level, if you will,” Stewart said. “When crews arrived, we had a fully involved residential structure with flames showing on all sides and then coming out the roof.” Firefighters were unable to enter the structure due to the severity of the fire, and instead worked from the outside to fight the flames and save the adjacent homes, Stewart said. Oklahoma City firefighters work from above to ensure a fire at a residential structure is completely extinguished just before midnight Friday in northeast Oklahoma City. “We had to do a defensive operation and knock down the fire from the exterior, and then for some structural collapse issues, we weren’t gonna put any firefighters inside this building,” Stewart said. “There was two residential structures, one on each side of the fire structure, and we were able to keep fire from getting into those structures.” The home to the west of the fire-engulfed structure did receive external damage, but crews were able to prevent the flames from entering that home and causing additional damage, Stewart said. Multiple trucks responded to the scene, including a brush pumper to assist in preventing embers from spreading to other surrounding properties, Stewart said, adding that Oklahoma Gas & Electric was also on site to assist with downed powerlines north of the blaze. Neighbors watch as Oklahoma City Fire Department crews battle a fire just before midnight Friday in northeast Oklahoma City. Javier Curry, a resident and neighbor who lives across the street said he believed the house was abandoned. Recently however, the home had been occupied by people experiencing homelessness and this was the second time he and other neighbors had noticed smoke at the property. “I guess to keep warm they had started a fire,” Curry said. “The first time it was nothing big, it was just smoke, and then this is the first big incident we’ve had.” No official cause of the fire had been determined Friday night, nor had a damage estimate been calculated. Stewart said crews will work on confirming that no one was inside the property. No firefighters were injured in the fire and no civilian injuries have been reported. Oklahoma City firefighters work just before midnight Friday to prevent flames from a residential structure in the 100 block of NE 16th Street from spreading to neighboring homes. “Fire crews put in tremendous effort here to get this fire knocked down and to also keep it from extending to those exposures. A lot of fire and these houses are pretty close together. It was a very, very tough firefight, at the beginning to keep that fire from spreading to other structures,” Stewart said. “The strong winds […] they were not helping that much.” Stewart said in addition to weather issues, crews had to contend with low-water pressure issues. “Fire crews had to navigate some low water pressure in the area, which we caught multiple hydrants and brought in some extra water,” Stewart said. “As far as why the water pressure was lower, I have no idea why, necessarily, at this point, but it’s something that we always look at and we’re always trying to improve.” This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Overnight fire engulfs, destroys home in northeast Oklahoma City Source link #Winds #water #pressure #hamper #firefighters #fire #engulfs #OKC #home #overnight Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Unclear how long the Pope will stay in hospital, ******** says – CNN Unclear how long the Pope will stay in hospital, ******** says – CNN Unclear how long the Pope will stay in hospital, ******** says CNNVideo Pope Francis in the hospital ABC NewsPope Francis cancels events after being admitted to hospital The GuardianPope Francis spends ‘restful night’ at Gemelli Hospital ******** News – EnglishPope Francis will remain in hospital, ******** says Fox News Source link #Unclear #long #Pope #stay #hospital #******** #CNN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Crowds gather to welcome freed Palestinians prisoners Crowds gather to welcome freed Palestinians prisoners Israel released 369 ************ prisoners on Saturday, according to the ************ Prisoners’ Media Office. This comes after ****** released three more hostages, marking its sixth hostage release since the the ceasefire with Israel began in January. Loved ones were seen hugging freed prisoners as they arrived in Khan Younis in buses and ************ prisoners were hoisted on people’s shoulders as they disembarked buses following their release. Source link #Crowds #gather #freed #Palestinians #prisoners Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Across Both Galactic Wars, the Enemies of Super Earth in Helldivers 2 Have Become What They Were Desperately Trying to Avoid Across Both Galactic Wars, the Enemies of Super Earth in Helldivers 2 Have Become What They Were Desperately Trying to Avoid Helldivers 2 features a surprisingly intricate lore behind its cast and the overall game world. In recent months, the political views of Super Earth and its defenders have been of particular focus, which can be attributed to some sort of propaganda. Super Earth loves its propaganda, and it has routinely used (and abused) it to shift the opinion of the masses in its favor. Ironically, it would appear that due to their recent aggressions Super Earth has managed to turn fiction into reality – with regard to its sworn enemies. Fiction turns to reality in Helldivers 2 The Terminids were once peaceful creatures minding their own business | Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios Long-time players of Helldivers 2 may be familiar with bits and pieces of the game’s overall lore and would agree that Super Earth is the bad guy in the story. In short, Super Earth is responsible for the first galactic war, spreading propaganda so vile against other factions that it resulted in a war. Each faction was forced into a war they were never interested in, and each ‘claim’ made by Super Earth is actually a representation of their real sins. Helldivers has always been satirical in nature, and these themes reflect very well in the game world. The Cyborgs gave up their humanity to survive and became the very bloodthirsty machines Super Earth made them out to be. Similarly, the Terminids used to be peaceful once – until they were harvested for e-710, wherein they jumped in to defend themselves. The Illuminate were ready to peacefully settle with Super Earth, but they were relentlessly attacked until they decided to resort to violence. Super Earth has itself to blame here | Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios All of this is Super Earth’s own doing, and they are themselves to blame for their current deplorable situation. After all, they are in the midst of a second galactic war which they likely have little chance of winning. Even its citizens might begin to revolt and stop enlisting in the war – given how high the casualty rate is. The entire situation screams irony, and Super Earth has made its own enemies and dug its own grave. In fact, Helldivers 2 might be heading toward a critical development point in its ‘story’ which could have some interesting results. Helldivers 2’s lore is hitting a critical point, with many developments in place Peace was fleeting for Super Earth | Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios By the end of the first galactic war and the events of Helldivers 1, Earth seemed to have won the war, ushering in peace and prosperity for a while. This was not meant to last forever though, and a century later, old foes came back from the grave to haunt them again. Helldivers 2 begins with a second conflict, with the now bloodthirsty factions out for revenge, and thus the second intergalactic war begins. Despite an initially strong start, Super Earth seems to be on the back pedal – making very few victories with millions of casualties. To make matters worse, all invasions happened simultaneously, and its people have grown tired of the war. Things are reaching a breaking point, and Super Earth may face an immediate crisis on their hands, which to be honest is not something they can manage to walk out of this time. Source link #Galactic #Wars #Enemies #Super #Earth #Helldivers #Desperately #Avoid Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Alan Robson obituary: university leader cultivated more than degrees Alan Robson obituary: university leader cultivated more than degrees Alan Robson used to delight in telling colleagues about his time doing national service in the army, where his sergeant described him as both the worst soldier ever and the one most determined to succeed. Source link #Alan #Robson #obituary #university #leader #cultivated #degrees Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

****** frees 3 hostages, Israel releases hundreds of prisoners as fragile ceasefire holds ****** frees 3 hostages, Israel releases hundreds of prisoners as fragile ceasefire holds ******-led militants released three male Israeli hostages Saturday and Israeli forces freed hundreds of prisoners in return, in the latest indication that a fragile ceasefire that had teetered in recent days is holding. Militants in the southern Gaza Strip paraded the three hostages — Iair *****, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli Sagui Dekel Chen, 36; and Russian-Israeli Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29 — before a crowd before releasing them. They were transported to Israel to be reunited with their families and to receive medical evaluation in a hospital. All had been abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community that was hard-hit in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. They appeared pale and worn, but seemed in better physical condition than the three men released last Saturday, who emerged emaciated from 16 months of captivity. A tense dispute had jeopardized the nearly four week-old truce in recent days and threatened to renew the fighting. U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to remove more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has cast even more doubt on the future of the ceasefire. But ****** said Thursday it would move ahead with the release of more hostages after talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials. The group said the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles” to ensure Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into Gaza. As with previous exchanges, the hostage release was heavily choreographed, with the captives made to walk onto a stage and speak into microphones before the crowd. Dozens of masked, armed ****** fighters lined up near the stage festooned with ************ flags and banners of militant factions. In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, a huge cheer went up as the hostages were transferred to the Red Cross. “Iair, Sagui and Sasha are on their way home!” an announcer said. In return for the hostages’ release, Israel began releasing 369 ************ prisoners and detainees. A bus carrying the first released prisoners arrived in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia and were greeted by a cheering crowd of relatives and supporters. Some appeared gaunt, and the ************ Red Crescent emergency service said four were immediately taken for medical treatment. Most of those released were transported to Gaza, where a large crowd greeted them in Khan Younis, the same town where the hostages had been released hours earlier. It is the sixth swap since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19. Before Saturday, 21 hostages and over 730 ************ prisoners were freed during the first phase of the truce. Who are the hostages and prisoners being released? ***** was abducted along with his brother, Eitan *****, who had been staying with him at the time. Eitan, 37, remains in captivity and is not on the list of hostages expected to be released in the ceasefire’s first stage. “Now, we can breathe a little. Our Iair is home after surviving hell in Gaza,” his family said in a statement. “Now, we need to bring Eitan back so our family can truly breathe.” Dekel Chen had been working outside when militants stormed the kibbutz. His pregnant wife, Avital Dekel Chen, hid in a safe room with their two daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later. Speaking to Israeli media Saturday, she said she was overwhelmed with happiness to see Sagui back in Israel, where he will meet his youngest daughter, Shachar, for the first time. Troufanov, whose father was killed during the Oct. 7 attack, was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The three women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanov was informed of his father’s death after his release, shortly before being reunited with his family, who said they were “overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude” as he crossed into Israeli territory. The ************ prisoners being released included 36 serving life sentences for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Among the most prominent is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of militant leader and iconic ************ political figure Marwan Barghouti. Israel sentenced Ahmed Barghouti to life on charges that he dispatched suicide bombers during the Second Intifada, or ************ uprising, in the early 2000s to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians. He was arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in 2002. Twenty-four of those serving life sentences were to be exiled abroad, while 12 returned to the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. The other 333 were returned to Gaza, from where they had been detained. As part of the ceasefire, Israel has committed to releasing over 1,000 of those detained from Gaza provided they had not participated in the Oct. 7 attack. Concerns are high about the remaining hostages’ condition Of the 251 people abducted during the Oct. 7 attack, 73 remain in Gaza, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers. Concern has been growing about their condition, particularly after the release of three last Saturday, who emerged looking emaciated and frail. One of them, 65-year-old Keith Siegel, said Friday in a video message addressed to Trump that his captors treated him worse as the 15-month war intensified, kicking him, spitting on him and holding him without water or light. The truce remains very fragile The ceasefire appeared dangerously close to collapse in recent days. ****** had said it would delay the release of the hostages after accusing Israel of not adhering to their agreement by not allowing in enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble. Israel said it would resume fighting Saturday unless hostages were freed. While the immediate crisis may have been averted, the truce faces a much ******* challenge with the deal’s first phase set to conclude in early March. There have not yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which ****** would release all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war. At its height, the fighting displaced 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have since returned to their homes as the ceasefire took hold, though many found only rubble, buried human remains and unexploded ordnance. The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. Trump’s plan increases uncertainty Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region has thrown the truce’s future into further doubt. The idea has been welcomed by Israel’s government. But it has been strongly rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries. Human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law. Trump proposed that once the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would then redevelop it as the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of destroying ****** and implementing Trump’s plan. The militant group remains in control of the territory after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. ****** may be unwilling to release any more hostages if it believes the war will resume. The captives are among the only bargaining chips it has left. Source link #****** #frees #hostages #Israel #releases #hundreds #prisoners #fragile #ceasefire #holds Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Consumer watchdog agency called ‘vicious’ by Trump seen as a ‘hero’ to many it aided – The Associated Press Consumer watchdog agency called ‘vicious’ by Trump seen as a ‘hero’ to many it aided – The Associated Press Consumer watchdog agency called ‘vicious’ by Trump seen as a ‘hero’ to many it aided The Associated PressSensitive Bank Data Set for Deletion in CFPB Purge, Ex-Aide Says Bloomberg Source link #Consumer #watchdog #agency #called #vicious #Trump #hero #aided #Press Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

US retailer lists RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT starting at $649 and $749 — March 6 launch date confirmed US retailer lists RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT starting at $649 and $749 — March 6 launch date confirmed AMD has finally confirmed that it will announce the RX 9070 and 9070 XT GPUs at the end of the month. However, it has kept mum on details like specs and when stocks will drop in retailers. Few listings have been available online, but popular hardware leaker momomo_us shared several XFX listings on Twitter, pointing to March 6 as when the RDNA 4 GPUs will hit the market. The screenshots supposedly come from Amazon, although we cannot find the listings ourselves. Nevertheless, we see five RX 9070 and 9070 XT entries from XFX, with prices ranging from $649.99 to $849.99. The first listing also says, “This item will be released on March 6, 2025.” This seemingly confirms the date AMD’s RDNA 4 GPUs will become available. We have no confirmation of whether the prices are from Amazon or Amazon Canada, but it seems to be the former. After all, if the 9070 XT was to compete against the RTX 5070 Ti, it must be priced within the same MSRP of $750—something that we see with the XFX Swift RX 9070 XT. Of course, add-in-board partners are free to jack up the prices of these GPUs, much like we see with many Nvidia RTX 50-series options, but it’s still nice to see a card or two going for MSRP. Swipe to scroll horizontally GPU Price Memory Max Boost Clock XFX Mercury RX 9070 XT OC Magnetic Air Edition $849.99 16GB GDDR6 Up to 3,100MHz XFX Mercury RX 9070 XT OC Gaming Edition $819.99 16GB GDDR6 Up to 3,100MHz XFX Quicksilver RX 9070 XT Gaming Edition $769.99 16GB GDDR6 Up to 2,970MHz XFX Swift RX 9070 XT Triple Fan Gaming Edition $749.99 16GB GDDR6 Up to 2,970MHz XFX Swift RX 9070 OC Triple Fan Gaming Edition $649.99 16 GB GDDR6 Up to 2,700MHz We will finally see the RX 9070 series in a couple of weeks. We initially thought the company would launch these GPUs at CES 2025; however, they were completely absent from the live stream, and AMD Chief Gaming Solutions Architect Frank Azor said the company ran out of time to showcase them. The February 28 launch is also just in time for the company. We’ve already seen several listings for the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti, which is thought to be a direct competitor to the RX 9070 XT and will be available on February 20. However, Nvidia reportedly delayed the RTX 5070 to early March to coincide with the arrival of AMD’s next-generation RDNA 4 GPUs. We hope that AMD does not have the same GPU shortage problems that Nvidia RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards are currently experiencing. That way, gamers looking to build a capable mid-range rig could get a modern graphics card without paying through the nose and dealing with scalpers. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #retailer #lists #starting #March #launch #date #confirmed Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Weinstein sues brother for duping him over massive loan Weinstein sues brother for duping him over massive loan Jailed and disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein alleges in a new lawsuit that his brother, Bob Weinstein, and other executives at their now-defunct film company duped him into guaranteeing a multi-million-dollar loan in 2016, but diverted funds for their own personal use while setting the stage for his downfall. Harvey Weinstein, 72, filed the claims on Thursday in a long-running civil case in New York City involving a lender accusing him of defaulting on the $45 million ($A71 million) loan. He is currently detained while awaiting a retrial on sex crimes charges in New York. “Harvey Weinstein was deceived by those closest to him, and secured a $US45 million dollar loan under the pretence of saving The Weinstein Company,” Imran Ansari, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, said in a statement. “While Harvey personally guaranteed the loan, others within The Weinstein Company enriched themselves and strategically undermined him, leaving him ‘holding the bag’ of debt while ‘lining their pockets’ when the company was in crisis.” An attorney for Bob Weinstein, Brian Kohn, replied with a brief statement on Friday saying, “Harvey’s allegations are entirely without merit,” in an email to The Associated Press. Former Weinstein Co chief operating officer David Glasser, now chief executive of 101 Studios, known for its production of Paramount’s popular series Yellowstone, is also named in Harvey Weinstein’s lawsuit, but is yet to comment on the matter. Harvey Weinstein alleges that his brother, Glasser and others duped him into guaranteeing the loan by saying the money would help the financially struggling company. Instead, his lawsuit says, they diverted millions of dollars from the company for improper purposes, leaving it short on cash and Harvey Weinstein liable for repaying the loan. The lawsuit, filed in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan, says Weinstein was made to suffer “severe and outrageous financial and reputational harm”. It also makes several allegations of financial misconduct, accusing Bob Weinstein of withdrawing at least $US6 million ($A9.4 million) from company accounts under false pretences, to give himself priority over creditors including AI International. It also alleges Glasser approved and received $US5 million ($A7.9 million) in excessive bonuses and unauthorised financial transactions, and used company funds to pay his father $US1 million ($A1.6 million) despite no legitimate business reason. “It was shocking to discover the fraudulent transactions that went on after I left the company. I now believe that a number of these executives played a big part in my demise,” Harvey Weinstein said in a statement provided by a spokesperson. According to Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and Glasser settled their liability for the loan with AI International for about $US15 million ($A24 million) due to “bad faith negotiations,” leaving Harvey Weinstein responsible for the remaining $US30 million ($A47 million) plus interest. Harvey Weinstein’s lawsuit seeks to shield him from any financial liability for the loan, as well as punitive damages for alleged fraud and financial misconduct and his legal fees. Harvey Weinstein, who also co-founded the film company Miramax, was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as Pulp Fiction and The Crying Game. In 2017, he became the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement, which erupted when women began going public with accounts of his predatory behaviour. He has long maintained that any ******* activity was consensual. Source link #Weinstein #sues #brother #duping #massive #loan Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Isolated Indigenous man returns to tribe in the Amazon rainforest after brief contact Isolated Indigenous man returns to tribe in the Amazon rainforest after brief contact BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe who approached a riverine community in Brazil’s Amazon returned voluntarily to his people less than 24 hours later, Brazilian authorities said. The encounter occurred around 7 p.m. local time Wednesday in Bela Rosa, a community along the Purus River in the southwestern Amazon. Footage obtained by The Associated Press shows him barefoot and wearing a small loincloth, seemingly calm and in good health as he carried two logs. Locals believe the man was asking for fire. Smartphone video of the encounter showed one resident trying unsuccessfully to show the man how to use a lighter. Officials from Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, arrived soon after and took him to a nearby facility. Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. Funai said in a statement Friday that the young man returned to the forest on Thursday afternoon. It added that a team of health professionals was sent to assess if the young man had been exposed to any disease to which isolated Indigenous tribes have no immunity. They also said surveillance has been established to prevent people from reaching the isolated tribe’s location. As a policy, Brazil does not actively seek contact with these groups but instead establishes protected and monitored areas, such as Mamoriá Grande, near where the encounter occurred. —— The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Source link #Isolated #Indigenous #man #returns #tribe #Amazon #rainforest #contact Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The 3DBenchy is Back | Tom’s Hardware The 3DBenchy is Back | Tom’s Hardware Last January, the 3D printing community’s favorite benchmarking boat sailed into controversy when Printables.com began enforcing the 3DBenchy’s original licensing terms. Widely used to test 3D printers and filament alike, the Benchy was released by Creative Tools in 2018 under the Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0 license. This license prohibits the distribution of derivative works, ensuring the model’s precise dimensions remain untouched. Creative Tools had been turning a blind eye to the massive amount of technically ******** remixes, allowing the community to have fun modding boats into memes, game tokens, and art. Creative Tools was acquired by NTI Group in 2024 and unwittingly became the new owner of the popular little tugboat. When an undisclosed third party started reporting the remixes license violation to Printables, people immediately assumed the new owners were flexing their muscles – and intellectual property rights – to ruin everyone’s fun. (Image credit: 3DBenchy.com) NTI Group acquired Creative Tools to expand its presence in the gaming, film, and visual effects (VFX) industries. The company said in a press release it had no interest in monetizing 3DBenchy and did not ask Printables to remove the files. After seeing how important the file was to the 3D printing community, the company worked with 3D Benchy’s original designers, Daniel Norée and Paulo Kiefe, to transition the model to the public domain, ensuring it remains accessible and moddable for everyone. As a public domain, the 3DBenchy can be printed, altered, and shared files without the need to credit Creative Tools. It also means anyone can sell their Benchy prints and modded files or incorporate the boat into new projects. Soozafone’s All Terrain Assault Benchy is now legal. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The website www.3dbenchy.com has been restored, and the 3D Benchy social media accounts were turned over to Kiefe and Norée. The boat’s new guardians have agreed to keep the file publicly available to all. 3D Benchy will turn 10 on April 9, 2025. Kiefe and Norée hinted at a special surprise to mark the occasion, and ask that Benchy’s fans “keep your periscopes locked onto 3DBenchy.com” for updates. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #3DBenchy #Toms #Hardware Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Crypto, Trump, GOP leadershipo gang up on FDIC over debanking Crypto, Trump, GOP leadershipo gang up on FDIC over debanking A US Postal Service worker outside a Signature Bank branch in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley wants everyone to know what happened to his crypto company in 2023 during the Biden administration. “Our story is pretty ridiculous,” McCauley told CNBC in an interview after testifying at a Senate hearing, titled, “Investigating the Real Impacts of Debanking in America,” earlier this month. “We had a bank that we had a growing relationship with for a number of years, who basically on a dime, decided to turn off our bank account.” No explanation. No warning. After two years working with the bank, access was cut off. He didn’t name the bank and an Anchorage spokesperson said the company is declining to provide it. McCauley’s peers across the crypto industry have shared similar sagas about being locked out of the U.S. financial system, losing access to payroll, checking accounts and payment processing. Industry leaders call it “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” an alleged coordinated effort by regulators during the Biden presidency to pressure banks into severing ties with crypto. The 1.0 version, they say, occurred when the Obama administration went after banks that backed gun manufacturers and payday lenders. With the word “debanking,” crypto execs and investors have found immediate allies among top Republicans in both houses of Congress and in the White House, who are ready and willing to investigate any potential malfeasance that occurred when Democrats were in charge. President Donald Trump has coopted the agenda for political gain. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, he accused JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America of politically motivated debanking, claiming major financial institutions have shut out conservatives under pressure from regulators. The banks denied the claim and Trump hasn’t provided any evidence to back it up. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) has tied himself closely to Trump and, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, used his opening remarks at the hearing on Feb. 5, to echo the president’s sentiment. “It is incredibly alarming and disheartening to hear stories about financial institutions cutting off services to digital asset firms, political figures, and conservative-aligned businesses and individuals,” Scott said. Nathan McCauley, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anchorage Digital Bank, during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images For crypto industry leaders like McCauley, Republican leadership in Washington has provided a platform to publicly air their grievances. McCauley, whose company is a federally chartered crypto bank, recounted Anchorage’s abrupt loss of banking services in June 2023. He said that while his company has faced numerous challenges, the environment has been even worse for less-established startups. “You can only imagine what was happening to the smaller entrepreneurs who didn’t have the resources to be able to marshal in order to keep their bank accounts open,” McCauley told CNBC. In his testimony to Scott’s committee, McCauley said that after losing access to its banking services, Anchorage had to lay off 20% of its workforce, including 70 U.S. employees. To this day, clients are unable “to send wire transfers to third parties,” he said. The high-profile hearings so early in Trump’s second administration underscore the sudden influence of the crypto industry, which was instrumental in getting its favored candidates elected across the country in November. Crypto exchange Coinbase was one of the top corporate donors in the 2024 election cycle, giving more than $75 million to a group called Fairshake and its affiliate PACs, including a fresh pledge of $25 million to support the pro-crypto super PAC in the 2026 midterms. Ripple doled out around around $50 million. Coinbase and Ripple were both involved in protracted legal battles with the SEC under former Chairman Gary Gensler. Returning the favor Trump is paying them back in a variety of ways. His executive order on crypto promises “fair and open access” to financial services. And Trump appointed venture capitalist David Sacks, a longtime ally of Elon Musk, as the White House’s first AI and crypto czar. Meanwhile, the SEC has already signaled a rollback of rules that previously kept banks from holding bitcoin on their balance sheets, and the FDIC is under pressure to revise guidelines that made it harder for banks to serve digital asset companies. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 6, along with Fred Thiel, CEO of bitcoin miner MARA Holdings. In a hearing titled “Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Biden Administration’s Efforts to Put Crypto in the Crosshairs,” they described aggressive pressure from U.S. regulators to effectively push banks to cut ties with crypto firms. “No one wants to see anyone denied basic banking services on the basis of their political views or whether they happen to work in an industry that might be out of favor with the current administration,” Grewal told CNBC. “There are concerns across the political aisle and across the Congress that banking services have in the past been weaponized in order to run roughshod over those who may be out of favor.” The FDIC last week released hundreds of pages of internal records obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The documents show that the regulator sent “pause letters,” urging banks to rethink their relationships with crypto clients. Nic Carter, founder of Castle Island Ventures, has spent months chronicling revelations in the Choke Point investigation. He said the FDIC records show that banks were being pressured to avoid crypto clients even in the absence of clear laws. “Ultimately, the smoking gun is the communications between the regulators and the banks themselves,” Carter said As part of its probe, the House committee is investigating claims that bank executives and financial regulators secretly blacklisted crypto firms. Thiel, in his testimony, said that the “discriminatory banking and financial policies threaten the digital asset ecosystem” and that “banks and payment processors are effectively deciding which industries can exist and grow within the U.S. economy.” Closure of Silvergate, Signature Among the Choke Point incidents that most caught the ire of crypto investors were the forced closures of Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank in 2023, following the meltdown at Sam Bankman Fried’s FTX months earlier. Silvergate and Signature were the leading FDIC-insured banks for crypto firms. Silvergate Capital, the bank’s parent, acknowledged in its bankruptcy filing last year that there had been a “rapid contraction” of it business in early 2023, but said it had “stabilized” and was able to “meet regulatory capital requirements” and “had the capability to continue to serve its customers.” Silivergate attributed its insolvency to “increased supervisory pressure on Silvergate and other banks focused on servicing crypto-asset businesses.” Signature Bank was seized by regulators in March 2023. Former Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, a Signature board member, claimed that the FDIC shut it down specifically “to send a very strong anti-crypto message.” The FDIC arranged a ***** of Signature’s assets, excluding $4 billion in crypto-related deposits. Mike Lempres, who was chairman of Silvergate and previously spent two years as Coinbase’s legal chief, wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal this week that the “federal government is finally changing course after four years of vilifying cryptocurrencies and using legally dubious policies to force companies to bend to its will.” While the crypto industry at large is rallying around that message, many in Congress are focused on making the case that banks were targeting conservatives for their political views. Carter said lawmakers are trying to reach a wider audience because “most regular folks don’t care about crypto.” “I think this was a political choice made by the folks in Congress and the administration that are going after debanking, was to tack on the conservative stuff as well,” Carter said. “So it became an issue with a much broader appeal.” For Trump, there’s more to gain from crypto than just political points. There’s potentially lots of money involved. Before he was even back in office, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had already launched meme coins that instantly added billions of dollars in paper value to the family’s net worth, in addition to the tens of millions of dollars the projects earned in trading fees. A week into his term, Trump launched Truth.Fi, a financial arm of Trump Media, promising ETFs, cryptocurrency investments, and “Patriot Economy” assets — all custodied with $250 million at Charles Schwab. Musk, meanwhile is at the center of the Trump administration and has his own project underway. He’s positioning his social media platform X as an alternative online bank, enabling users to move funds between traditional bank accounts and their digital wallets to make instant peer-to-peer payments. The good vibes are being expressed across the industry. “it’s a brand new day for crypto in America,” said David Marcus, the former head of crypto at Meta and current CEO of infrastructure startup Lightspark, in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” last week. What’s happening under Trump, he said, is “quite a polarity flip of atmosphere and energy for our entire industry.” WATCH: Lightspark CEO David Marcus on the new era for crypto Source link #Crypto #Trump #GOP #leadershipo #gang #FDIC #debanking Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump approaches the first-month mark in his second term, he has moved with dizzying speed and blunt force to reorder American social and political norms and the economy while redefining the U.S. role in the world. At the same time, he has empowered Elon Musk, an unelected, South African-born billionaire, to help engineer the firing of thousands of federal employees and potentially shutter entire agencies created by Congress. Those efforts have largely overshadowed Trump’s crackdowns on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border, and his efforts to remake social policy by wiping out diversity, equity and inclusion programs and rolling back transgender rights. Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. The president has also imposed scores of new tariffs against U.S. trade partners and threatened more, even as economists warn that will pass costs on to U.S. consumers and feed inflation. Here’s a look at the first four weeks: Mass f ederal firings begin The Trump administration fired thousands of workers who were still in probationary periods common among new hires. Some had less than an hour to leave their offices. Those potentially losing jobs include medical scientists, energy infrastructure specialists, foreign service employees, FBI agents, prosecutors, educational and farming data experts, overseas aid workers and even human resources personnel who would otherwise have to manage the dismissals. At the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created to protect the public after the 2008 financial crisis, employees say the administration not only wants to cut nearly the entire workforce but also erase all its data from the past 12 years. The administration agreed to pause any further dismantling of the agency until March 3, under a judge’s order. While Trump promised to turn Washington upside down, his moves could have far-reaching implications for thousands of federal employees around the country and drive up the unemployment rate if large numbers of layoffs happen at once. Legal challenges mount Court challenges to Trump’s policies started on Inauguration Day and have continued at a furious pace since Jan. 20. The administration is facing some 70 lawsuits nationwide challenging his executive orders and moves to downsize the federal government. The Republican-controlled Congress is putting up little resistance, so the court system is ground zero for pushback. Judges have issued more than a dozen orders at least temporarily blocking aspects of Trump’s agenda, ranging from an executive order to end U.S. citizenship extended automatically to people born in this country to giving Musk’s team access to sensitive federal data. While many of those judges were nominated by Democratic presidents, Trump has gotten unfavorable rulings from judges picked by Republican presidents, too. Trump suggested he could target the judiciary, saying, “Maybe we have to look at the judges.” The administration has said in the meantime that it will appeal, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt railed against the orders slowing the president’s agenda, calling each “an abuse of the rule of law.” The administration has notched a few wins, too, most significantly when a judge allowed it to move forward with a deferred resignation program spearheaded by Musk. The economic outlook worsens Amid the policy upheaval, the latest economic data could prompt some White House worries. Inflation rose at a monthly rate of 0.5% in January, according to the Labor Department. Over the past three months, the consumer price index has increased at an annual rate of 4.5% — a sign that inflation is heating up again after having cooled for much of 2024. Trump told voters he could lower inflation, and do so almost immediately after taking office. But Leavitt, while blaming Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, acknowledged the latest inflation indicators were “worse than expected.” More trouble signs came when the Commerce Department reported that retail sales slumped 0.9% on a monthly basis in January. A drop that large could signal a weakening in consumer confidence and economic growth. The Federal Reserve’s report on industrial production also found that factory output slipped 0.1% in January, largely due to a 5.2% drop in the making of motor vehicles and parts. These could all be blips, which means the monthly data in February will really matter. The ‘fair trade’ Trump wants isn’t necessarily fair After previously imposing tariffs on China and readying import taxes on Canada and Mexico., Trump rolled out what he called the “big one.” He said his administration would put together new tariffs in the coming weeks and months to match what other countries charge. Other nations hardly find Trump’s approach fair. From their vantage point, he is including items other than tariffs such as value added taxes, which are akin to sales taxes. That means the rates could be much higher than a standard tariff in Europe. On top of that, Trump plans separate additional tariffs on autos, computer chips and pharmaceuticals, in addition to the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that he announced on Monday. It is not clear whether these trade penalties are mainly negotiating tools or ways for Trump to raise revenues. So far, he has suggested that they are both. Congress watches its authority erode. But there are signs of pushback Congress finds itself confounded by the onslaught as its institutional power — as the Constitution’s first branch of government with its unmatched authority over federal spending — is being eroded in real time. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he finds the work of Musk’s team “very exciting.” Johnson said Trump is “taking legitimate executive action.” But even among congressional Republicans there were small signs of protest emerging — letters being written and phone calls being made — to protect their home-state interests and constituents as funding for programs, services and government contracts is being dismantled. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., urged the Homeland Security Department not to issue blanket deportations for Venezuelan migrants who fled their country and now call the Miami-area home. “I’m not powerless. I’m a member of Congress,” he said. Democratic lawmakers have joined protesters outside shuttered federal offices, arguing Trump and Musk had gone too far. Democrats suggested legislation to protect various programs, and even filed articles of impeachment against the president over his plans to bulldoze and redevelop Gaza. Trump wants a new world order With his phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin this past week, Trump is hoping he initiated the beginning of the end of the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. The leaders agreed to have their teams “start negotiations immediately.” After getting off the phone with Putin, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss getting both sides to the negotiating table. The Putin call is a monumental development in a war that has left hundreds of thousands dead or seriously wounded. But the way ahead remains complicated. Zelenskyy said he will not meet with Putin until a plan for peace is hammered out by Trump. Trump has gotten blowback when European leaders sharply criticized him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for suggesting that NATO membership was not in the cards for Ukraine. The White House faces a further quandary with Zelenskyy wanting the U.S. and other countries to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, and Zelenskyy insisting that he and Trump iron out an agreement on the contours of any peace deal. ___ Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Munich and AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. Source link #Trump #moves #dizzying #speed #todo #list #warning #signs #month Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

From Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida to NBA All-Star Game coach: Inside Mark Daigneault’s rise From Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida to NBA All-Star Game coach: Inside Mark Daigneault’s rise SAN FRANCISCO — Mark Daigneault arrived at the University of Florida 15 years ago in search of a master’s degree without any guarantees of a firm job while on campus. Billy Donovan, now head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was near the tail end of his legendary run in Gainesville, Fla., having led the Gators to back-to-back NCAA championships. Three of his assistants, Larry Shyatt, Rob Lanier and Richard Pitino, departed that offseason. Donovan back-filled those spots with experienced candidates but needed extra help within the program. One of his best friends, Providence College teammate Ryan Ford, had become close with Daigneault during their time coaching together at Holy Cross. He linked the two. Donovan essentially hired Daigneault as a low-level staffer who, per NCAA rules, wasn’t even allowed on the court during practice. “He just started kind of as a volunteer,” Donovan said. “Just did a lot of different projects. Practice plans. Did film work with individual players. He just worked his tail off.” That, more than anything, is the spark that delivered Daigneault — the reigning NBA Coach of the Year, the current coach of the league-best 44-10 Oklahoma City Thunder and the still relative unknown who will step into an extra burst of spotlight this weekend as an All-Star coach — to this increasingly incredible stage. He’s already considered one of the NBA’s best head coaches a couple weeks shy of his 40th birthday. Daigneault likes to tell people that, if you replayed his life 100 times, this outcome only happens once. The Thunder was still in its infant Oklahoma City days back then. General manager Sam Presti had just nailed the Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden picks in three consecutive drafts. Bradley Beal was one of the next high-level prospects on Presti and the Thunder’s radar. So, Presti spent a bunch of time in Gainesville scouting both Beal and, as it turned out, a Florida program that clearly impressed him. Oliver Winterbone, who now represents Presti and Daigneault at Wasserman after five years in the Thunder front office, was a Florida staffer back then, intent on making the jump to the NBA. Every time Presti came to town, Winterbone set up time to meet for coffee, a meal or a quick conversation. Daigneault joined when he could, never dreaming of an NBA future but always curious about Presti’s perspective on leadership, culture-building, the industry or whatever else. Daigneault often took handwritten notes. The two Massachusetts natives connected. In April 2015, Presti made the seismic choice to hire Donovan away from Florida, replacing Scott Brooks for what would be Durant’s final season with the Thunder, an earthquake shake-up in the coaching community. Eight months prior, in August 2014, Presti had already hired away Winterbone and Daigneault from Florida, bringing Winterbone into the front office and tapping Daigneault as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue, the team’s G League affiliate. It can now be considered among Presti’s more impactful master strokes, considering Daigneault’s decade-long rise to the top of the profession. Daigneault was initially hesitant to accept. His future wife, Ashley Kerr, was a gymnastics coach at Florida. They were settling into Gainesville. The G League wasn’t as glamorous or respected as it would become, but Presti’s nudging and belief was enough. He’d just elevated Darko Rajaković (the current Toronto Raptors head coach) into a full-time NBA assistant. There was a path to develop and ascend in the organization. Alex Caruso was on Daigneault’s third G League team. He remembers Daigneault preaching much of the same day-to-day habits then as he does now. They remained close enough over the years that they’d grab dinner when in the same city. What strikes Caruso most is the continuity. After his NBA career exploded with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls the last several seasons, he rejoined the Thunder as a high-profile trade acquisition this past summer and signed a four-year extension. Upon return, he noticed the same faces in elevated positions. “Our assistant coach, David Akinyooye, was my film guy, my chart guy during my time with the Blue,” Caruso said. “Kevin Hyde, one of our strength coaches, was our strength coach in the G. Wilson (Taylor), our equipment manager, has been here for the longest time. That’s part of the organization’s philosophy. They find people that fit how they want to attack each day in their version of excellence in the workplace and promote them.” The G League season starts later and doesn’t stretch as long as the NBA’s. So, Daigneault, during his five-year head coaching stint with the Blue, served as a de facto assistant for the Thunder during the playoffs and training camp. That freed him to watch postseason games during the Durant and Westbrook days in the back with Presti, picking his brain. Tragedy struck in February 2016. Monty Williams’ wife died in a car ****** near the Thunder’s arena. Williams, then Donovan’s lead assistant, stepped away from the team. Daigneault was elevated to a temporary assistant as that Thunder team advanced to Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Daigneault received a full-time elevation to the Thunder’s bench before the 2019-20 season, the same time Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort joined the franchise. Daigneault was an influential voice in the team’s developmental plan. “My first day in OKC, my first workout was with Coach Mark,” Dort said. “He told me about his path. That was really the first coach I got to know. As a young player, that small stuff matters.” Dort gave an example. He was undrafted and out of the rotation for more than a month his rookie season. But in early December, during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, his number was finally called for an NBA debut. “Billy was the head coach, but Mark was the first one that came and grabbed me on the bench,” Dort said. “He’s been real with me from the get-go. For some reason, I remember that moment. It’s so weird. I wonder if he was the one that told (Donovan), ‘Yo, let’s try Lu.’ I still don’t know to this day.” Luguentz Dort and Mark Daigneault (David Sherman / NBAE via Getty Images) The Thunder hit fast forward on its rebuild that summer, trading away Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder and handing the keys to a young Gilgeous-Alexander. Donovan and the Thunder parted ways. He landed in Chicago. Chris Paul remembered Presti calling him that summer as OKC mulled its next hire. Presti asked Paul his opinion on Daigneault, and Paul gave a thumbs-up. In his lone season with the Thunder, he was impressed with Daigneault’s acumen. Presti told a story about Daigneault at a 2022 news conference. Presti used to tag along for one Blue road trip every season and, during this particular story, he was at a Best Western in Sioux Falls. Jannero Pargo was the NBA veteran on the team. Daniel Hamilton was the younger prospect. Presti was with both at a sports bar. “They were talking, and, somehow, Mark came up,” Presti said. “Jannero said, ‘Hey, you’d better listen to Mark. He is going to be an NBA coach one day.’ That was years ago, and that was my first time I was like, ‘So, he sees what I see. OK.’” Presti hired Daigneault as head coach of the Thunder in November 2020. They didn’t win much during his first two seasons, but those on the inside of the growth process — Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Daigneault, others — will say that the adaptability, culture and style of play that sprouted into a contender was cultivated back then. Other coaches took notice. “I liked the humility on the sidelines, the patience that he showed when they were going through it,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who struck up a friendship with Daigneault. “I liked the fact that the organization was really wedded to him and gave him all the support he needed. I just think the way OKC handled things, the way Mark handled things, you could see they were building something for the long haul. I like the way they went about their business, and I like the way Mark goes about his business.” Dort said he was pumped to learn that Daigneault was taking over the head job. He didn’t have a conversation with Presti about it, but it was his preferred outcome. Dort said he didn’t know Daigneault’s tactical acumen until he saw him in the head seat. “This is going to sound a little selfish, but I remember my career high in Utah a couple of years ago,” Dort said. “I was going early, and then, he just drew like three or four different plays for me to get the ball. And it was all different, and it all worked. And I was like, ‘S—. yeah, he’s actually crazy with it.’” Daigneault will spend the weekend in San Francisco as the All-Star head coach representative for the West. When he returns to his normal duties, his Thunder are eight games better than the next-closest conference competitor, a near lock to clinch the conference’s top seed for a second straight season. “It’s crazy how life works,” Donovan said. “I remember when he was sitting there, and we were having camp (at Florida), and he’s waiting to meet me. He’s 24, 25 years old, just wants a job, and he’s willing to work for free. And if you just said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be an NBA head coach and coaching the All-Star game.’ Nobody would’ve believed that, right? So, I just think it speaks to him and the people in Oklahoma City and the players and his staff. I’m just really happy for him because he’s a great guy.” (Top photo of Daigneault: Soobum Im / Getty Images) Source link #Billy #Donovans #staff #Florida #NBA #AllStar #Game #coach #Mark #Daigneaults #rise Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

These red flags can trigger an IRS tax audit, experts say These red flags can trigger an IRS tax audit, experts say Maria Korneeva | Moment | Getty Images As millions of taxpayers file returns, many worry that certain claims could boost their chances of being picked for an IRS audit. After an infusion of funding, the agency said it aimed to more than double the audit rate for the wealthiest taxpayers. But the IRS’ future priorities are unclear amid changing leadership and a Republican-controlled Congress and White House. Still, some areas can be “low-hanging fruit for the IRS,” said Mark Baran, managing director at financial services firm CBIZ’s national tax office. More from Personal Finance Your tax return could be ‘flagged for audit’ without these key forms Nearly 1 in 5 eligible taxpayers miss this ‘valuable credit,’ IRS says ‘Where’s my refund?’ How to check the status of your federal tax refund Regardless of your income, you shouldn’t round numbers or estimate expenses on your return, Baran said. “You’re really playing the audit lottery and increasing your risk,” he said. Here are some other common IRS red flags for audit, according to some tax experts. Underreported income The IRS often finds missing income via so-called “information returns,” or tax forms, which employers and financial institutions send to taxpayers and the agency. For example, these could include Form W-2 for wages, 1099-NEC for contract or gig economy work or 1099-B for investment earnings. IRS software compares these tax forms to your return, and it can be “flagged for audit” when there’s a mismatch, explained Elizabeth Young, director of tax practice and ethics for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA. High deductions compared to earnings Another area for IRS scrutiny can be high tax breaks compared to your income, Baran said. The agency has a program that compares your return to others in a similar tax bracket, he said. The software uses an algorithm to determine whether your deductions are higher than average. For example, if your charitable deduction is 30% to 50% of your adjusted gross income, that could prompt “another set of eyes,” Baran said. Earned income tax credit Another common target is the earned income tax credit, or EITC, a refundable tax break for low- to moderate-income workers, experts say. “There are people who claim it improperly for one reason or another,” said Syracuse University law professor Robert Nassau, director of the school’s low-income tax clinic. “It can be confusing,” with eligibility based on earnings, residency and family size. Higher earners are more likely to face an audit, but EITC claimants have a 5.5 times higher audit rate than the rest of U.S. filers, partly due to improper payments, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. ‘Substantiation’ can protect from audits While there are red flags, IRS audits are still relatively rare. Through fiscal year 2023, the IRS examined 0.44% of individual returns filed for tax years 2013 through 2021, according to the latest IRS Data Book. When audits involve “mistakes or innocent omissions,” they are typically conducted via so-called “correspondence audits,” which happen by mail, Baran said. More than 77% of fiscal year 2023 audits occurred via correspondence, the IRS reported. The remaining were face-to-face “field” audits. Either way, filers with “substantiation really should not fear,” said Baran, noting the importance of receipts and other records to support claims on your return. “The IRS knows when somebody is prepared and they will move on,” he said. Source link #red #flags #trigger #IRS #tax #audit #experts Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Inside U.S. hockey’s rise in goal — the weekend of meetings that changed everything Inside U.S. hockey’s rise in goal — the weekend of meetings that changed everything A decade ago, some of the brightest minds in American goaltending locked themselves in a hotel room in Ohio and didn’t come out until they had rewritten the way goalies were being developed in the United States. It happened inside a suite at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Columbus in May 2015. The group gathered around a table in the living room portion of the suite. On one side sat Mike MacMillan, national coach-in-chief at USA Hockey. Across from him were longtime goaltending coaches Steve Carroll, Billy Switaj and Kevin Reiter, and longtime scout, coach and TV analyst Dave Starman. “Those two days are one of my favorite moments of my entire hockey life,” Starman told The Athletic. “We needed goaltending to be narrowed. It was just too broad. There was a lot going on and we figured if we don’t start to get this under one umbrella, so we have a set formula on how we want to develop goalies, we’re not going to do it well.” In those 48 hours, the group rewrote the coaching education curriculum for goalies and developed what would eventually become the American Development Model (ADM) for goaltending. Their biggest focus was educating youth coaches around the country on how to design drills that better serve their goalies, even if they have no goaltending expertise of their own. Fast forward 10 years, and the United States is producing elite goalies like they’re coming off a factory conveyor belt. The United States entered the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament this week in Boston and Montreal with three stars to choose from in net, and plenty of other talented netminders who didn’t make the cut. Connor Hellebuyck, who stopped 20 of 21 shots in the tournament-opening win over Finland, leads the way. He’s having a historically great season for Winnipeg, with 35.89 goals saved above expected (no other goalie has more than 27), on track to become the first goalie since Martin Brodeur in 2008 to win three Vezina Trophies. At 26, Jake Oettinger has already cemented himself among the league’s elite in Dallas. In an era in which most teams are turning to goalie tandems, Oettinger is proving to be a workhorse capable of carrying his team on a nightly basis. Jeremy Swayman burst onto the scene over the last two seasons for the Bruins, signing an eight-year, $66 million contract in October. Jake Oettinger helps USA Hockey’s strength in goal at the 4 Nations Face-Off. (Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images) Any of those three is good enough to start for several other national teams, as could a handful of other American goalies who won’t be making the trip. Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko was the runner-up to Hellebuyck in last year’s Vezina voting. Joey Daccord is having an excellent season in Seattle, as are Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz in Toronto. The last generation of American goaltenders — headlined by Jonathan Quick, Ryan Miller and Craig Anderson — took a step in the right direction, but the current generation is on a different level, and the next wave of American goalies could be even better. Dustin Wolf, age 23, is living up to the hype in his rookie season in Calgary. The California native is having one of the better debut seasons we’ve seen from a goalie in the last decade. Spencer Knight (23), Drew Commesso (22), Jacob Fowler (20) and Trey Augustine (19) are all elite goalie prospects at various stages of development. How did we reach this point? It starts with coaching at the grassroots level, which improved greatly after that 2015 meeting in Columbus. “The big thing was educating coaches,” Reiter explained. “You don’t have to be a goalie coach, but you need to be educated enough to give the goalies some type of feedback, and think about them and incorporate them when you’re coming up with your practice plan.” Reiter and others observed typical practices and realized the vast majority of drills were not beneficial for the goalies. The netminders faced shot after shot with little to no rest or instruction. The rapid-fire nature of most drills actually builds poor habits for the goalie, who must abandon tracking rebounds to get ready for the next shooter in line. They also don’t force the goalie to make reads, so they will often cheat to get in position for the shot they know is eventually coming. None of that translates to real-game situations. “We were focused on the 12-14-year-olds because that was the retention age that we lost good goalies, because they felt like they weren’t getting enough good coaching to justify the financial investment,” Starman said. “The way that we wanted coaches to teach the position, mentally, physically and emotionally, were the building blocks not only for the kids, but for the coaches who were coaching them.” Because goaltending differs greatly from every other position in hockey, most coaches without experience in the position avoid teaching it. The group at USA Hockey came up with a plan to teach coaches around the country how to help their goalies and broke it into levels that eventually became the bronze, silver and gold coaching certification program. It was two days of constant debate in that hotel room, with each coach playing his own role. “For all the right reasons, Billy Switaj is a little bit of a contrarian,” Starman recalled. “He’s also very detailed. No matter what ideas we came up with, it would always circle back to Billy who would say, ‘Wait a minute, are we thinking about this?’” Switaj goaltended at Boston College in the early 1980s, then went on to become the head coach for Kent State from 1989 to 1994, and is now the Mid-American District Coach-In-Chief for USA Hockey. “Steve Carroll brought a lot of historical perspective,” Starman said of Carroll, who has more than 30 years of goalie coaching experience. “Every time we talked about changing something, Steve would go over the potential ramifications.” “MacMillan and I are like the odd couple,” Starman said with a laugh. “We think alike, act alike, but the smallest thing can send us off on a tangent. I would say Mike and I probably wasted a good couple of hours just trying to prove the other person wrong.” The group discussed how to teach ******* goalies versus smaller goalies because the styles obviously needed to be different. They settled on the fundamentals of goaltending: Stance, skating, positioning, save selection, rebound control and recovery — each connected to the biggest key, play-reading. “We felt like, when we walked out of that room we had done something really significant,” Starman said. “Like we had laid the framework for what was coming next. We really felt like we put the skeleton in for people to build around as this thing evolved. We knew it wasn’t the end of the discussion, but that we had restarted the process that needed to be restarted.” Immediately after, they organized two large coaching clinics, one in Minnesota and the other in Buffalo. Both were well attended and started the momentum that has carried through to today. “It was a huge success,” Starman recalled. “It showed us two things. Number one, we can make this work. Number two, there are a lot of coaches out there that want to learn this information, because they might not have an ex-goalie in their program.” Plenty of people who weren’t in that hotel room also helped build USA Hockey’s goaltending development into what it has become. Phil Osaer brought expertise and pushed the program forward as manager of goaltending for USA Hockey before joining the Tampa Bay Lightning, and eventually the Detroit Red Wings as the head of goaltending scouting and development. Steve Thompson took over as manager of goaltending for USA Hockey in June 2019, and has emphasized youth development and magnified the spotlight on goalies within the organization. David Lassonde is in his fifth season as goaltending coach for the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) and has helped the program to several gold medals. Finally, you won’t speak to anyone at USA Hockey without them raving about the work of Ron “Digger” DeGregorio, who has helped shape American hockey for more than 40 years, is currently the co-chair of the USA Hockey Board of Directors and is in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. “Without Ron’s support, ability to fundraise and energy, none of this happens,” Starman said. “Ron, to me, is like the Wizard of Oz. The man behind the curtain. He has done so much for the growth of goaltending development in the United States.” These development overhauls put American goalies on the right track from a younger age. The USNTDP has vaulted the elite goalies to another level. The program started in 1996 and has produced more than 400 NHL draft picks and nearly 100 first-round picks. It has consistently produced top players throughout its history, but with its purchase and renovation of the 9,800-square-foot workout facility in Plymouth, Mich., in 2015, the program reached new heights. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Jack, Quinn and Luke Hughes and many others have come through the USNTDP. The program has also produced plenty of goalies, including Oettinger who played there from 2014-16. He is representing the U.S. at the 4 Nations Face-Off this week and credits the USNTDP for his development. “If I wouldn’t have made that team I don’t know where I’d be today,” Oettinger said of the program. “I feel like it just propelled me so much, and I needed that badly. I was so raw before I made that team. That opened my eyes to everything about goaltending. I had goalie coaches and stuff growing up, but just the training I got when I was there — on ice and off ice — learning about nutrition and just growing up, was huge.” Oettinger was coached by Reiter at the USNTDP, who scouted and recruited him from Lakeville North High School in Minnesota. “I remember watching him in the Minnesota state championship game as a freshman, and just how cool, calm and composed he was,” Reiter said. “He’s on the bench grabbing some water during the TV timeouts. You watch the kid on the other end who was a senior, but he’s down in his butterfly moving all around, you could tell he was nervous. Jake was so calm.” Oettinger and Reiter worked together nearly every day for two years. “He had such a big impact on my career; I owe him so much,” Oettinger said. “Prior to that, I was just playing hockey. I had no rhyme or reason to what I was doing, or why. As much as goaltending is about instincts, you need a game plan and I had none. That was the first time I really worked on, ‘When the puck is here, I need to be here,’ or watched video. I felt like I was exposed to a whole new side of goaltending, and just jumped in head first.” Oettinger transformed from a raw goalie relying on reactions and athleticism to one of the most technically proficient netminders in the world. His positioning and angles are second to none, making tough saves look easy on a nightly basis in the NHL. He believes the environment at the USNTDP, and the subsequent years playing college hockey, could be one of the main reasons the country is producing elite goalies. Compared to the typical development path of a ********* goalie, who plays major junior hockey in the CHL, Oettinger can see how the American model might allow for more growth. “The CHL is hard on goalies, I think,” Oettinger said. “It’s high-scoring, and I just think the way the U.S. does it with the super-focused development for two years, and then you get to go to college and have all the time in the world to work on your game, is just a better way about it, at least in my opinion.” Jake Oettinger gives credit to his time with the USNTDP. (Courtesy of USA Hockey) While the USNTDP obviously wants to win games, the focus is far more on the development side compared to major junior hockey, where coaches’ jobs are on the line if they don’t produce results. “I think it’s kind of nice to not have the pressure of being in the CHL,” Oettinger said. “You’re 16 years old, it’s not going well and next thing you know you’re not playing at all. At USNTDP, you feel like you can learn from your mistakes in games, then have all this time to work on my game for a year, get my feet underneath me, and go from there. That year was all about getting better, getting stronger, maturing and growing up.” The extended runway that Americans often get means fewer talented goalies will be lost in the shuffle. The best goalie at age 14 doesn’t always end up being the best goalie at 18, and there are plenty of examples of late bloomers who ended up being elite goalies. Look no further than Hellebuyck, who never went through the national program. He spent a season after high school proving himself in the North American Hockey League, then went on to the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he was a fifth-round pick by Winnipeg in 2012. If he were to have grown up on a more rushed, win-now development path, things may have gone differently. Hellebuyck, Oettinger and Swayman give the United States a wealth of options in net for the first best-on-best international hockey tournament in years. Looking at the career trajectories of the younger goalies, the options may look even better for the 2026 Olympics. It’s clear, American goaltending has never been in a better place. On a recent road trip to Toronto, Oettinger ate dinner with his former USNTDP goalie partner, Woll. The two reminisced and marveled at how far they’ve all come. “We were just talking about how crazy it is that me, him and Swayman were the three goalies for our World Juniors team (in 2018), and now we’re all starters in the NHL,” Oettinger said. “It’s just crazy, and it’s awesome.” (Top photo of Connor Hellebuyck: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images) Source link #U.S #hockeys #rise #goal #weekend #meetings #changed Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Russia’s Putin could be NATO’s ‘Man of the Year’: Senator Graham Russia’s Putin could be NATO’s ‘Man of the Year’: Senator Graham Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles during his meeting with workers, while visiting the AvtoVAZ automobile plant, January 28, 2025, in Togliatti, Russia. Contributor | Getty Images News | Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin has done more to strengthen and unite NATO than member states have done, U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “If I were nominating somebody to be the NATO Man of the Year, it’d be Putin,” Graham said as he participated in a MSC panel that included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen. “He’s done more to help NATO than we have. We have two new members [Sweden and Finland]. We’re talking about spending more, not less. So he’s made a serious miscalculation,” Graham said. Graham, a long-standing ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine should include the proviso that, should Russia invade Ukraine again in future, Ukraine would be granted automatic and immediate membership of the NATO military alliance. “I do believe that if he understood ‘you do this again, your worst nightmare of Ukraine being in NATO is a certainty’ [then that] would be a deterrent,” Graham, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget, said. (L-R) Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen, US Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget Lindsey Graham and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attend a panel discussion at the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany on February 15, 2025. Thomas Kienzle | Afp | Getty Images Graham’s comments come as debate rages over the substance of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, which Trump announced last week, and what a deal could entail. European NATO members were left stunned by the president’s announcement and have voiced concerns over seemingly being left out of the negotiations by Washington. Separately, NATO chief Mark Rutte commented on Saturday that European members of the military alliance had to stop complaining about being sidelined when it comes to peace talks and discussions on Ukraine’s future. “Get into the debate, not by complaining …. but by coming up with concrete ideas,” he told the MSC. The NATO chief also confirmed that the alliance would reach a new agreement for defense spending targets when members meet in June for a summit in the Hague, Netherlands. ‘Game-changer’ minerals deal? The Trump administration has suggested to Ukraine that the U.S. be granted 50% ownership of the country’s rare earth minerals, and signaled an openness to deploying American troops there to guard them if there’s a deal with Russia to end the war, according to an NBC News report citing anonymous U.S. officials. Rather than pay for the minerals, the ownership agreement would be a way for Ukraine to compensate Washington for the billions of dollars in military aid that it has provided to Kyiv over the course of the war, two of the officials said, NBC News reported on Saturday. Sen. Graham backed the potential minerals deal, calling it a potential “game-changer” for Ukraine and a “nightmare” for Putin as he addressed delegates at the MSC. “This minerals agreement between the United States and Ukraine is a game changer, because President Trump can go to the American people [and] say ‘Ukraine is not a burden, it’s a benefit.’ They’re sitting on top of trillion dollars worth of minerals that all of us can benefit from by lining with the West,” he said. U.S. Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget Lindsey Graham speaks during a panel discussion at the 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany on February 15, 2025. Thomas Kienzle | Afp | Getty Images “I told President Trump, it may be the old Soviet Union, it may be the Russian Empire, but I do know he’s going after the money. Don’t let him steal what Ukraine has to enrich himself, because that’s like defunding the police. So if this minerals agreement happens it’s a nightmare for Putin, because we have something to defend that we didn’t have before,” he added. Graham urged European allies to support such a deal, saying: “So you better be pulling for this minerals agreement.” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signalled his willingness to enter an agreement when it comes to Ukraine’s rare earths deposits, stating last week that he was ready to “do a deal” with the U.S. over minerals in return for aid. Source link #Russias #Putin #NATOs #Man #Year #Senator #Graham Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]