Breakout star Tien ends Aussie hopes at Delray Beach
Breakout star Tien ends Aussie hopes at Delray Beach
Learner Tien proved one of the break-out stars of the season’s first grand slam in Melbourne – and has continued his impressive progress by finishing off the *********** men’s hopes at the Delray Beach Open in the US.
The 19-year-old Californian Tien provided one of the recent *********** Open’s best stories when he outstayed three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev in the early hours to win an epic five-setter before going on to become the youngest man since Rafael Nadal to reach the fourth round.
In his first match since that breakthrough, Tien, invited as a wildcard to the hardcourt tournament in Florida, carried on where he’d left off by defeating the in-form Sydneysider Adam Walton 6-4 6-3 in their first-round clash on Wednesday.
Now up to No.82 in the rankings, the teenager largely controlled affairs against the Queenslander Walton, who had been hoping to land his first tour-level win of the season after prevailing in a Challenger tournament in Brisbane at the start of the month.
Walton had started brightly, breaking the youngster’s delivery twice to move into a 4-2 lead in the opening set before Tien reeled off four games in a row to take the stanza.
Dominating Walton’s second serves, the youngster turned the ****** in the second set, earning another break to go 4-2 ahead and seal the match in just under an hour-and-a-half.
It meant the four-strong *********** contingent had all departed in the first round of the ATP 250 event. Aleksandar Vukic and Rinky Hijikata were both defeated on Tuesday, while James Duckworth withdrew before his match because of illness.
Tien, a finalist at the 2024 NextGen ATP Finals, will face fourth seed Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the next round.
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Trump freezes U.S. law banning bribery of foreign officials
Trump freezes U.S. law banning bribery of foreign officials
Supporters of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) praise it as an important anti-bribery statute that keeps corporations honest when doing business outside the U.S. By contrast, the law’s detractors say it unfairly hobbles American companies, giving an advantage to foreign players.
On Monday, President Trump took a side. “It sounds good on paper but in practicality, it’s a disaster,” he said while signing an executive order freezing enforcement of the 1977 law. “It’s going to mean a lot more business for America.”
Mr. Trump can’t overturn the law, but as head of the executive branch he can change the way it is enforced and shift resources to other Justice Department priorities.
His order puts in place a 180-day “pause” to all investigations under the FCPA while they are being reviewed. He also ordered no new ones be opened during that *******. The order also says it will halt other Justice Department “actions” under the law, which might mean ongoing prosecutions though that is unclear.
President Trump said the pause is also necessary to give his administration time to come up with new “reasonable” guidelines on how to enforce the law that don’t put U.S. companies at a disadvantage in striking foreign deals.
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The consequences could be dramatic, depending on Mr. Trump’s next move, experts say.
If he halts many prosecutions, essentially defanging the law, it could help U.S. businesses win deals abroad. However, doing so could also tarnish America’s image as a safe place to do business, and also send a green light to corrupt autocrats ruling over impoverished people to get even richer. France, Britain, Japan and other wealthy countries could also in turn weaken their own anti-bribery laws so their companies can make payments, too.
“We are facing a Wild West situation,” said Mark Pieth, a criminal law professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland and anti-bribery law expert. “It will be everyone against everyone.”
Specifically, Mr. Trump said the law is being enforced in “excessive, unpredictable” ways that U.S. companies are competing on an uneven “playing field” with foreign rivals. He also said the law was “draining resources” from law enforcement and harming U.S. national interests because companies were being held back from deals that would give the U.S. access to deep water ports, critical minerals and other assets.
Duncan Levin, a criminal defense attorney, said he expects Mr. Trump to essentially kill the law by neglect.
“He can’t get rid of the law, but he can refuse to enforce it,” said Levin, who has represented high profile defendants Harvey Weinstein and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. “I don’t think this is just a pause.”
What is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?
The FCPA is a federal law that makes it ******** for U.S. companies and individuals to make payments to foreign government officials “to secure any improper advantage” in order to win or retain business. It was enacted in the 1970s to address concerns of global corruption after investigators at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission found hundreds of American companies making questionable or ******** payments to foreign officials to win business. The law doesn’t require that the bribe is actually paid, but only offered.
Over the past nearly 50 years, prosecutions under the law have brought to light a long and varied list of bribes.
Last year, the military contractor RTX, formerly Raytheon, paid more than $300 million to settle charges it had allegedly bribed officials in Qatar by using a sham contract and other devices to hide its tracks.
In 2019, Walmart paid $282 million to settle charges from a seven-year investigation into allegations it won approval to open stores in Mexico, India and Brazil by bribing local officials, including one contact called the “sorceress” who had an uncanny ability to make permitting problems disappear.
Who enforces the FCPA?
The FCPA is jointly enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which handles civil enforcement of bribery-related acts, and the Department of Justice, which is responsible for civil and criminal enforcement for the law.
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29:44
Only criminal cases carry the threat of prison time, according to the National Whistleblower Association, adding that the burden of proof is lower for civil cases. In criminal bribery cases, punishment for conviction is imprisonment of up to 20 years, and companies face fines double their profits from the illicit deal.
Why is the FCPA important?
The FCPA was enacted to protect U.S businesses from global corruption costs as a result of bribery.
By prohibiting companies from unfair advantages through the ******** payment of foreign officials, and by requiring that companies covered by the law to keep accurate records of payment transactions and devise and maintain an adequate internal accounting controls, the FCPA protects U.S. businesses from global corruption costs stemming from bribery and helps ensure fair competition.
Criticisms against the FCPA
President Trump said the law is being enforced in “excessive, unpredictable” ways that U.S. companies are competing on an uneven “playing field” with foreign rivals. He also said the law was “draining resources” from law enforcement and harming U.S. national interests because companies were being held back from deals that would give the U.S. access to deep water ports, critical minerals and other assets.
Since the FCPA was enacted nearly 50 years ago, U.S. businesses have complained that it was hurting more than helping and unfair because bribes were commonplace in some countries. Then under U.S. pressure, allies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development started enacting their own laws, especially after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and African and Asian countries formerly in the ********** orbit opened their borders to business.
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06:49
Eventually, 40 wealthy countries adopted anti-bribery laws based on the FCPA, according to University of Basel’s Pieth, including the ability to prosecute foreign companies operating in their countries for acts committed in a third country.
Therein lies another danger of Mr. Trump weakening the FCPA, according to Pieth.”If a U.S. company bribes because Trump is giving them the green light, the French and the British will jump on that company,” he said. “It will be a mess.”
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Are Women Becoming Wealthier Than Men? Rachel Cruze Weighs In
Are Women Becoming Wealthier Than Men? Rachel Cruze Weighs In
Since the dawn of capitalism, women have made less money than men. In 2023, women’s earnings were 83.6% of men’s. Though the gender gap has significantly narrowed over the decades, it remains a long way from closing. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, it will be another 134 years before we reach gender parity.
Find Out: 3 Signs You’ve ‘Made It’ Financially, According to Financial Influencer Genesis Hinckley
Read Next: 4 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000
Given the current state of pay disparity between men and women, it’s, at first glance, a bit confusing that financial expert Rachel Cruze posted a video on her YouTube channel called “Are Women Becoming Wealthier than Men?” But note that she’s making an important distinction. She’s not asking if they’re making more at work (we know they aren’t, overall). She’s asking if they’re accruing more wealth, and that’s a different game — one that points to how women are working with what they earn and, if the answer is “yes,” then we can infer that though women are earning less than men, they’re making more out of those earnings.
A major point to consider here is that of the Great Wealth Transfer. This is the passing down of wealth from the baby boomer generation to younger generations. It’s projected to total $84 trillion though roughly 2045. Both men and women stand to vastly augment their wealth through this financial phenomenon — but it’s looking like women are positioned to benefit from this more than men.
“Younger generations are expected to inherit the wealth of the generations that came before them,” Cruze said. “That wealth is passed on primarily to women, because in a marriage, women tend to live longer.”
Learn More: Are You Rich or Middle Class? 8 Ways To Tell That Go Beyond Your Paycheck
Globally, women have lower financial literacy rates than men, but we’re seeing this gap shrink among younger generations, particularly Gen Z.
“The great thing about what we’re seeing with all these stats with women is that more and more they’re getting the opportunity and actually stepping into the space and doing an incredible job,” Cruze said.
We’re not yet at a point where we can say definitively that women are wealthier than men. Instead, we’re at a point where we can say that women are in a better-than-ever place when it comes to inheriting or building wealth.
Women (or anybody) keen on becoming wealthier, should get in line with what Cruze calls the seven baby steps.
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Start with an emergency fund of at least $1,000.
Pay off all consumer debt.
Grow your emergency fund to cover three to six months’ expenses.
Invest 15% of your income toward retirement.
If a parent, save for your kids future education (but don’t put this before saving for your retirement).
Aim to pay your mortgage off early.
Build wealth and be charitable.
This may as well be the eighth baby step: enlisting the expert help of a financial advisor or certified financial planner to help you meet your money goals and beyond.
“Even if you feel fully educated on building wealth, it’s always important to talk with a pro to really get the ins and outs of your money,” Cruze said. “Especially if you’re getting a large sum of money, sit down with someone and say, ‘Hey, over the ******* of my life, here’s where my finances are’ or ‘Here’s where I want them to be and what does it look like to get there?’”
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State of Play | February 12, 2025 [English]
State of Play | February 12, 2025 [English]
State of Play is back tomorrow, February 12! Tune in live for news and updates on great games coming to PS5. The show celebrates a creative and unique selection of exciting games from studios around the world.
The 40+ minute show begins February 12 at 2pm PT / 5pm ET | 11pm CET / February 13 at 7am JST on YouTube and Twitch, and will be broadcast in English and Japanese.
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Hegseth says Ukraine cannot expect return to old borders, NATO membership – Reuters
Hegseth says Ukraine cannot expect return to old borders, NATO membership – Reuters
Hegseth says Ukraine cannot expect return to old borders, NATO membership ReutersHegseth Says Return to Ukraine’s Prewar Borders Is ‘Unrealistic’ The New York TimesHegseth rules out NATO membership for Ukraine and says Europe must be responsible for country’s security CNNUK Says It Supports Trump’s Desire to End Ukraine War, Focused on Boosting Kyiv’s Position U.S. News & World Report
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Google will use machine learning to try and tell if a user is under 18
Google will use machine learning to try and tell if a user is under 18
Google will start testing a feature this year that uses machine learning to weed out children trying to access adult content on YouTube. The “machine learning-based age estimation model” will try to predict whether a user is under 18 and, if so, apply appropriate age filter settings to their account. The announcement came amid a flurry of Google child safety announcements as the US Senate considers a bill that would ban pre-teens from social media.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan first mentioned the ML age restriction feature on Tuesday in his letter about the platform’s “bets” for the coming year. “We’ll use machine learning in 2025 to help us estimate a user’s age — distinguishing between younger viewers and adults — to help provide the best and most age-appropriate experiences and protections,” he wrote.
A YouTube spokesperson clarified to Engadget that the model will make its predictions using data like the types of info the person searches for, the categories of videos they watch and the age of their accounts. For example, if someone frequently searches for info about mortgage lending or taxes, that probably points to the person being over 18. Ditto for an account that’s over 20 years old.
If the ML model predicts that someone is underage, YouTube will apply its standard protections to deliver a more age-appropriate experience. Of course, the platform blocks explicit (and otherwise age-restricted) videos from under-18 users. Google’s underage restrictions also include its SafeSearch Filter, which (as its name suggests) blocks explicit content from search results.
YouTube told Engadget it will begin testing the filtration tool by the end of this year. The platform plans to roll it out globally in 2026. Although YouTube’s CEO first announced the feature, Google will test the feature in other areas, too. However, we don’t yet know where else the new ML feature will pop up. Google isn’t alone in trialing such a feature.
Google isn’t alone in trialing such a moderation feature. Last year, Meta said it would use an “adult classifier” tool to identify underage Instagram users posing as adults.
Google
Google also said on Wednesday that School Time, a feature previously only available as a smartwatch app on the Fitbit Ace LTE and Galaxy Watch for Kids, will roll out to Android phones and tablets. Part of Google’s Family Link parental controls app, School Time will let parents determine what phone features and apps their children can use during school hours. Parents can choose which apps remain active (like, say, learning-friendly apps) while allowing messages and calls from certain contacts. The idea is to minimize screen time and help kids focus on their work while still green-lighting emergency contacts.
Along similar lines, the Android Family Link app will let parents approve or deny contacts to add to their children’s devices. (This is another feature making its way over from the Galaxy Watch for Kids.) Parents can then limit calls and texts to only approved contacts. However, that feature isn’t quite here yet: Google says it will roll out “in the coming months.”
Finally, this spring, parents using Google parental control features can add tap-to-pay to their children’s Android phones. (Google said this was coming last year.) Parents will be able to approve a payment card, add or remove further cards and view the child’s transactions. Google says the feature will also work for things like gift cards and concert tickets.
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England v Scotland: Alex Mitchell says England want to end Calcutta Cup ‘hurt’
England v Scotland: Alex Mitchell says England want to end Calcutta Cup ‘hurt’
England are intent on ending their four-year “hurt” against Scotland when the old rivals meet in the Six Nations, says scrum-half Alex Mitchell.
Scotland have won the last four Calcutta Cup matches and Mitchell says English motivation is high to deny Gregor Townsend’s side a record fifth consecutive victory.
England will welcome Scotland to the Allianz Stadium on 22 February in high spirits following their last-gasp win over France, which curtailed a run of seven defeats against Tier One nations.
“We are hurting for the last four years at not getting a result [against Scotland],” Mitchell told BBC Sport.
“This Six Nations campaign is still up for grabs so it’s a massive game for us.
“We know Scotland are a quality opposition with some quality individuals so we can’t take them for granted.
“We know we have to just put a performance out there.”
Mitchell was influential in England’s late recovery against Les Bleus, moving the attack from a wearied rolling maul at the line-out to a buoyant midfield, where Elliot Daly glided through the French defence to score the winning try.
The Northampton Saints scrum-half, 27, says he noticed an opportunity amid the forwards arm-wrestle, which Daly exploited.
“The France defence was changing the whole time,” Mitchell added.
“They had two defenders and then one as [Damian] Penaud was doing a really good job behind the maul covering both sides.
“We noticed a mismatch in the open so we shot that way and scored. You have a split second to try and make the right decision and luckily we did.”
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A whole new world of tiny beings challenges fundamental ideas of life
A whole new world of tiny beings challenges fundamental ideas of life
Theodor Diener had a problem. It was 1967, and he and a colleague had successfully isolated the infectious agent causing potato spindle tuber disease, which devastates crops. But it wasn’t like anything they recognised. Although they called it a virus, it didn’t behave like one.
It took Diener four years to demonstrate that the mysterious entity was something even simpler than a virus: a single “naked” molecule that could infect the cells of potato plants and thereby reproduce. He suggested calling it a viroid. It was the smallest replicating agent ever identified. At a stroke, Diener had expanded our understanding of life in the microscopic world.
You might think that such a dramatic discovery would go, er, viral. Yet hardly anyone noticed. Apart from a few other plant pathologists, the scientific world largely forgot about viroids for half a century. So obscure were they that, in 2020, when Benjamin Lee at the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda, Maryland, was advised to try looking into viroids, he had never even heard of them.
Since then, thanks to Lee and others, there has been an explosion of discoveries. We now know of thousands of viroids and viroid-like entities, with exotic names like obelisks, ribozyviruses and satellites. They appear to be everywhere, in a huge range of organisms and microorganisms. We have no idea what most of them are doing, including whether they are benign or dangerous. But these simplest-possible replicators raise fundamental questions about what it means to be alive. They may even date back to the origins of…
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Late spot kick sinks Atalanta in Champions League
Late spot kick sinks Atalanta in Champions League
Club Brugge have scored with a disputed penalty kick in added time to beat Atalanta 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.
Atalanta defender Isak Hien was judged to have raised a hand into the face of Brugge forward Gustaf Nilsson, his teammate in the Sweden national team, as they chased a loose ball on Wednesday night.
After Turkish referee Umut Meler showed yellow cards to Hien and a teammate for protesting, Nilsson got up to win the game by sending Atalanta goalkeeper Rui Patricio the wrong way with his spot kick.
Brugge had led on former Barcelona forward Ferran Jutgla’s shot in the 15th minute and Atalanta levelled in the 41st on Mario Pasalic’s header. Atalanta host the second leg next Tuesday.
It was a meeting of teams that finished 24th and ninth, respectively, in the new 36-team single standings format — in theory the biggest mismatch of the eight knockout playoffs being played on back-to-back midweeks. The top eight teams in the standings last month advanced direct to the round of 16 in March, leaving Nos. 9 to 24 to compete for the other eight places.
Brugge led in the 15th by punishing Atalanta — winner of the second-tier Europa League last season — for casually passing the ball across the defence.
Teenage winger Chemsdine Talbi intercepted and crossed for Jutgla to control the ball and fire in the opening goal. It was a first goal for Jutgla, who went scoreless through the eight-game league phase.
Atalanta tied minutes before halftime on a glancing header by Croatia veteran Pasalic connecting with a cross by Davide Zappacosta.
Brugge kept Atalanta forward Charles De Ketelaere quiet on his return to the club he joined as a seven-year-old until leaving in 2022 for Italy, first to Milan. Atalanta were missing winger Ademola Lookman for the fourth straight game this month because of a knee injury.
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Quail-sized feathered dinosaur may be the earliest known bird
Quail-sized feathered dinosaur may be the earliest known bird
Illustration of the Jurassic bird Baminornis zhenghensis, showing the fossilised bones
ZHAO Chuang
A fossil from China that’s 150 million years old may be the world’s earliest known bird. The discovery shows that the short tails characteristic of modern birds evolved much earlier than previously thought.
Birds evolved from theropods, a group of dinosaurs that included tyrannosaurs and velociraptors, during the Jurassic *******. Archaeopteryx, discovered in 1961, has long been considered one of the earliest birds in the fossil record. But its position on the evolutionary tree is debated because, despite having feathered wings, Archaeopteryx is more similar to non-avian theropods in having a long, reptilian tail.
The new fossil was found in Zhenghe County in Fujian province in November 2023 and has been given the species name Baminornis zhenghensis. Only the trunk, forelimb, pelvis and part of the hindlimb are preserved.
Baminornis lived at the same time as Archaeopteryx but it has a short tail like those of modern birds, pushing back the date of this evolutionary innovation by 20 million years.
“A short tail is widely regarded as aerodynamically beneficial, and the reduction of the tail constitutes the most dramatic change during the dinosaurs-bird transition,” says Min Wang at the ******** Academy of Sciences in Beijing, a member of the team that analysed the fossil.
Weighing 140 to 300 grams, Baminornis was much smaller than Archaeopteryx – about the size of a quail – and it would have looked more like modern birds than Archaeopteryx did, says Wang.
Some parts of its body, such as its hands, retained the ancestral morphology of dinosaurs, while its pectoral and pelvic anatomy were similar to modern birds. “This demonstrates that different body regions evolved independently,” Wang says.
“In light of all this, I would say Baminornis is probably the oldest unambiguous record of birds.”
It is thought that Archaeopteryx could fly only for short bursts, like a pheasant, but Wang and his colleagues say Baminornis’s features suggest it was a better flyer than its famous contemporary.
Patrick O’Connor at Ohio University says the new find is an “amazing fossil,” illustrating “the mosaic of dinosaur and bird features in some very early representatives of the bird-like theropods”.
“These first, very dinosaur-like birds, which are represented by a wonderful diversity of shapes, sizes, and peculiar anatomies are not included among modern birds,” O’Connor says. “You will see these referred to as stem birds or ‘early bird-like dinosaurs.’”
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Whitmer floats extending minimum wage, sick leave negotiations
Whitmer floats extending minimum wage, sick leave negotiations
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday floated extending negotiations over pending court-ordered changes to Michigan’s minimum wage and paid sick leave policies slated to take effect Feb. 21, saying she wants a bipartisan deal as lawmakers continue to debate the policies.
Whitmer’s plan comes as Michigan lawmakers continue to debate legislation to preempt a Michigan Supreme Court ruling in July that essentially reinstates two minimum wage and sick leave initiatives from 2018 watered down by the GOP-controlled Legislature using a tactic the court determined was ********.
Whitmer press secretary Stacey LaRouche reiterated the governor’s frustration with the actions GOP lawmakers took several years ago and said the governor hopes to see lawmakers from both parties come together to craft new minimum wage and sick leave policies.
“The administration has heard concerns about implementation of the new law, and the governor has made it clear that she is open to a bipartisan deal that protects servers and wait staff, while also providing certainty to small businesses and helping Michigan remain competitive,” LaRouche said in a statement. “Today, the governor called Speaker (Matt) Hall and Senate Majority Leader (Winnie) Brinks and encouraged them to keep working toward a bipartisan deal. If they are unable to reach an agreement by this week, she also encouraged them to pass a short-term extension through July 1.”
Hall in a statement Wednesday gave a status update on negotiations. “I have come to the table in good faith, trying to meet Senate Democrats halfway,” Hall said. “I will continue bringing people together for a solution that provides economic opportunity and gives our local workers the protections they deserve.”
House Republican plan would keep status quo for tipped workers
Whitmer’s call comes as the Michigan Senate’s Regulatory Affairs Committee took up a pair of bills introduced by Democrats on paid sick leave and minimum wage Wednesday. Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Michigan House last month passed separate bills crafted by Republicans on those policies.
House Bill 4001 passed in the House Jan. 23 and would increase the minimum wage this year to $12.00 an hour instead of $12.48 as ordered by the court. The bill also would preserve a tipped minimum wage of 38% of the regular minimum wage for workers, such as servers and bartenders, who receive gratuities from customers. The court’s order would eventually eliminate the tipped minimum wage by 2030. Currently, under the tip credit system, if customers’ tips don’t ensure such workers make the minimum wage, their employers pay the difference.
House lawmakers also passed House Bill 4002, which would exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees from guaranteeing the paid sick leave in the court’s order, which requires businesses with 10 or more workers to provide up to at least 72 hours of paid sick leave annually.
Senate Democrats would raise, but not eliminate, tipped minimum wage
The Democratic bills introduced in the Democrat-led Senate take a different approach.
Senate Bill 8 would increase the minimum wage to $12.48 this year, $13.73 in 2026 and then $15 an hour in 2027, tying subsequent increases to inflation. It would gradually raise the tipped minimum wage until it hits 60% of the regular minimum by 2035.
Senate Bill 15 would require businesses with more than 25 employees, versus 10, to allow workers to accrue up to 72 hours of paid sick time, as a minimum. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would be classified as small businesses and have to allow workers to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick time and another 32 hours of unpaid sick time.
Michigan Legislature: Senate opens debate on looming changes to paid sick leave in Michigan
The Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs voted 6-4 Wednesday afternoon to advance SB 15 to the full chamber for consideration, although bill sponsor Sen. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, said another substitute will be introduced on the Senate floor to make some technical changes to the bill.
The committee did not vote on reporting SB 8, but will meet again Thursday afternoon to consider the minimum wage legislation, said committee chair Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield.
To send changes on those policies to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her approval, lawmakers must pass the same version of the bills. They also could pass legislation to keep Michigan’s current minimum wage and sick leave policies in tact and leave the door open to negotiations over both items for the future.
This story was updated to add new information.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at *****@*****.tld or 313-296-5743.
Contact Arpan Lobo: *****@*****.tld
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer seeks bipartisan deal on minimum wage, sick leave
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Donald Trump offers Vladimir Putin a way back in from the cold
Donald Trump offers Vladimir Putin a way back in from the cold
A single phone call will not magically end the war in Ukraine.
Talks may now get under way. Exactly when and how they will conclude isn’t clear.
But President Vladimir Putin has already scored something of a diplomatic victory simply by holding this telephone conversation.
After all, three years ago he was out in the political wilderness.
Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine had turned him into a pariah.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemning Russia for its “unlawful use of force against Ukraine.”
Russia was hit by thousands of international sanctions. The following year the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Kremlin leader.
As for the President of the United States – then Joe Biden – he left no doubt of what he thought of his Russian counterpart, condemning Putin as a “murderous dictator” and a “pure thug”.
After Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there were no more telephone calls between Putin and Biden.
Fast forward to 2025.
A change of president has brought a change of style, a change of language – and a totally different US approach to Russia.
Trump says he wants to “work together, very closely” with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. He hopes they will be “visiting each other’s nations”.
Clearly, so does Vladimir Putin, who invited Trump to Moscow.
If that visit goes ahead, it will signify a major shift in US-Russian relations. An American president has not visited Russia for more than a decade.
In many ways Putin has got already got what he wants: the chance to negotiate directly with the United States on Ukraine, possibly over the heads of Kyiv and Europe – as well as the opportunity to put himself at the top table of international politics.
It remains unclear, though, how far Putin will be willing to compromise.
Russian officials claim Moscow is ready for talks but always refer back to Putin’s so-called peace proposal of June 2024, which reads more like an ultimatum.
Under that plan Russia would get to keep all the Ukrainian territory it has seized, plus some more land still under Ukrainian control.
On top of that, Ukraine would not be allowed to join Nato and western sanctions against Russia would be scrapped.
As one Russian newspaper put it earlier this week: “Russia is ready for talks. But on its terms.
“If you drop the diplomatic language, essentially that is called an ultimatum.”
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How a moth uses an optical illusion to disguise itself as a leaf
How a moth uses an optical illusion to disguise itself as a leaf
The fruit-sucking moth bears an uncanny resemblance to a leaf
Bridgette Gower
A moth found in northern Australia and South-East Asia has an astonishing camouflage trick: it creates an optical illusion to look like a three-dimensional leaf, complete with a raised midrib, when it is actually smooth.
“If I gave you a specimen now, you wouldn’t believe it was flat,” says Jennifer Kelley at the University of Western Australia in Perth. “When we showed it to people, they were very confused by it. It really does not look flat.”
The fruit-sucking moth (Eudocima aurantia) resembles a leaf to fool predators, especially birds, into thinking it isn’t food. Although it was first described in 1877, until now this likeness was thought to be caused by pigments and the shape of its body.
In fact, the moth uses extremely sophisticated physics to give the impression it is a leaf, says Kelley.
A close-up view of a fruit-sucking moth’s wing
Jennifer Kelley et al. 2025
“The scales of the moth’s wings are nanostructures,” says Kelley. These produce mirror-like reflections that create the illusion of highlights on a smooth, curved surface, she says. This is a form of structural colouration, the same mechanism that produces iridescence, such as the colours of the rainbow on a bubble.
“It’s literally pretending to be 3D by just having these mirror-like structures in the special places on its wings to create the shiny spots that trick our brains,” she says. “It’s a completely unique use for structural colouration. Even though the moth has been sitting in the museum for hundreds of years, literally nobody noticed.”
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Egypt, Qatar intensify efforts to save Gaza ceasefire
Egypt, Qatar intensify efforts to save Gaza ceasefire
Egypt and Qatar are intensifying efforts to save the Gaza ceasefire deal, calling for the immediate start of reconstruction.
The ceasefire has looked increasingly fragile since ****** said this week it was postponing the release of any more Israeli hostages held in Gaza, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
US President Donald Trump has warned Palestinians that “hell will break loose” if Israeli hostages are not released on Saturday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will resume “intense fighting” if ****** does not meet the deadline.
Egyptian sources told Reuters that Qatar and Egypt were in discussions with ****** and Israel to prevent the cancellation of the ceasefire deal and to ensure its completion.
A ****** delegation has arrived in Cairo to continue ceasefire talks, the ************ militant group said in a statement.
Egypt and Qatar alongside the United States brokered the deal that took effect on January 19 after more than a year of extensive diplomatic efforts.
Egyptian President Abdelfatah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II called for the “immediate” start of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday “without displacing the ************ people” to counter Trump’s plan.
In a phone call, the two leaders “stressed the importance of the immediate reconstruction process in Gaza without displacing the ************ people from their land,” in addition to “put an end to the practices of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians in the West Bank,” according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.
The note also read that both Al Sisi and Abdullah II “expressed their interest in working closely with US President Donald Trump to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East region” but insisted that this co-operation would not include the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
They expressed support for Trump’s “leadership” yet focused on peace in the region “through the establishment of a ************ state based on the borders of January 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, by the relevant United Nations resolutions.”
The Egyptian and Jordanian leaders stressed the need to “fully implement the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, continue to release hostages and detainees, and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid” into the enclave at a time of heightened tensions over the possible collapse of the pact and the resumption of war.
Trump is proposing that the US take over Gaza and turn it into a real estate project called the “Riviera of the Middle East”, expelling Palestinians to neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Egypt, which has been widely rejected and condemned by the international and Arab community.
Israel launched its offensive on Gaza after ******-led gunmen killed some 1,200 people and seized more than 250 as hostages in an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies.
The war has killed more than 48,000 of the nearly two million Palestinians who live there, Gaza authorities have said.
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Crytek lays off 15% of its staff
Crytek lays off 15% of its staff
Crytek has opened up that it has laid off 15% of its staff following the “complex, unfavorable market dynamics” that have been rocking the industry for the past few years. Hunt: Showdown 1896 will continue as planned.
Crytek shared a statement on Twitter, sharing that with Crysis on hold, and being that way since Q3 2024, its focus shifted to Hunt: Showdown 1896, as well as moving staff to that project. Unfortunately, it’s reached a point where it can’t remain financially stable as it was before.
The 15% of staff, which makes up around 400 employees, will be provided severance packages and career assistance services. Frankly, this isn’t too surprising, a lot of game developers have been slashing jobs in huge numbers, especially in recent years following massive hiring surges during the 2020 pandemic.
Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger Editor-in-Chief
Gabe has been a gamer since he was young, playing games like Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Guitar Hero, and whatever looked cool on GameFly. Ever since 2018, he’s been infatuated with the inner workings of the gaming and entertainment industries, covering a wide range of topics from video games to TV and film. Starting as a contributor for PSX Extreme, he’s worked his way up to its Managing Editor. Using what’s he learned over the years, he founded Smash Jump to remind everyone to smash jump.
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Dancing turtles help us understand how they navigate around the world
Dancing turtles help us understand how they navigate around the world
Some turtles flap about when a magnetic field suggests they are about to be fed
Goforth et al., Nature (2025)
Baby loggerhead turtles “dance” when they are expecting food, a behaviour that researchers have used to investigate their navigation abilities. By learning to associate a magnetic field with a food, this cute display has helped indicate that the sea turtles have two distinct geomagnetic senses to help them navigate during their epic ocean journeys.
“The turtle dance is a strange pattern of behaviour that emerges quickly in young captive sea turtles when they figure out that food comes from above,” says Ken Lohmann at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “They would get very excited and raise their heads up out of the water and come swimming over, and often if the food wasn’t dropped in immediately, they would begin to flap their flippers and spin around.”
Lohmann and his colleagues realised that there might be a way to use this behaviour to reveal how turtle navigation works. They put juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in tanks surrounded by coil systems that created magnetic fields in the water, replicating those in their natural habitats.
The juveniles spent an equal amount of time in two magnetic fields, but were only fed in one of them. Soon, when they were in a magnetic field they associated with food, the turtles started to dance in anticipation, a learned behaviour reminiscent of Ivan Pavlov‘s famous dog experiment. “We demonstrated that the turtles can learn to recognise magnetic fields,” says team member Kayla Goforth at Texas A&M University.
The researchers then reproduced a magnetic field near the Cape Verde islands, an area where loggerheads tend to turn south-west when migrating. The team demonstrated that the juvenile turtles also did this. Then the researchers trained other turtles to associate the Cape Verde field with food.
One of the ideas about how some animals sense magnetic fields is that there is a complex set of chemical reactions, possibly taking place in the eye, that are influenced by Earth’s magnetic field.
To try to affect any such system, the team used an additional magnetic field that oscillates at a radio wave frequency, which should interfere with that cascade of chemical reactions.
Regardless of whether the oscillating field was turned on, the turtles could detect the underlying Cape Verde magnetic signature and would dance, which suggests their map sense isn’t dependent on this chemical reception mechanism. But the oscillating field did make them turn in random directions, rather than south-west.
Scientists tested for this behaviour via a series of experiments in tanks
Goforth et al., Nature (2025)
“This is good evidence that there are actually two different magnetic senses in the turtles: one that is used for the map sense, one that is used for the compass sense,” says Lohmann. “The simplest explanation would be that the magnetic map sense does not depend on this chemical magnetoreception process, but the magnetic compass sense does.”
“The magnetic map sense is a positional sense, kind of like a GPS, and their compass sense tells them which way to go,” says Goforth. “This is probably how they’re getting back to important ecological locations such as feeding grounds and nesting areas.”
“It’s a new way of thinking about how turtles are using the magnetic field to navigate,” says Katrina Phillips at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “What’s really fascinating is we still don’t understand how they’re even perceiving the magnetic field. So, this is getting at what is going on mechanistically.”
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A Navy jet crashed off the coast of San Diego. 2 crewmembers were rescued.
A Navy jet crashed off the coast of San Diego. 2 crewmembers were rescued.
A U.S. Navy jet crashed Wednesday morning off the coast of San Diego and the two crewmembers were rescued, authorities said.
The two occupants of the E/A-18G Growler were first picked up by a fishing vessel called Premiere, then transferred to a nearby Customs and Border Protection vessel, said Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Christopher Sappey.
The crewmembers were taken to an area hospital, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. They are in stable condition, Sappey said.
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The Coast Guard has two vessels now safeguarding the Growler wreckage in the San Diego Harbor, Sappey said. Further details of the ****** weren’t immediately available.
The Growler is a two-seater jet that specializes in electronic warfare.
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NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, February 13 (game #347)
NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, February 13 (game #347)
Looking for a different day?
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Wednesday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, February 12 (game #346).
Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #347) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… It’s in the cards
NYT Strands today (game #347) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
IRATE
SOAPY
TWIN
GANG
REAR
*****
NYT Strands today (game #347) – hint #3 – spangram
What is a hint for today’s spangram?
• Mark the occasion
NYT Strands today (game #347) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: top, 4th column
Last side: bottom, 3rd column
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #347) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Strands, game #347, are…
BIRTHDAY
BABY
WEDDING
SYMPATHY
CONGRATS
LOVE
SPANGRAM: GREETINGS
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and one of the biggest days of the year for makers, creators and purveyors of GREETINGS cards.
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I get why you would send a card to someone you wanted to be in a relationship with. However, in order to make the most from their biggest shot at turning a profit outside of Christmas, companies such as Hallmark have convinced us that we need to tell our partners we love them in card format – even if we see them every day and can tell them our feelings in a way that’s much more personal than sending them a folded piece of paper with a picture of a train beside the words “I CHO-CHOSE YOU”.
The alternative view is that greetings cards are a nice thing and who wouldn’t want a card telling them they’re loved and worth sticking with, despite it all. Signed The Romance Grinch.
How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 12 February, game #346)
TRAIN
TOOK
GIRL
TOWN
SMALL
LONELY
WORLD
MIDNIGHT
SPANGRAM: JOURNEY
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.
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Strongest evidence yet that Ozempic and Wegovy reduce alcohol intake
Strongest evidence yet that Ozempic and Wegovy reduce alcohol intake
People report lower alcohol cravings when on semaglutide
Shutterstock/David MG
Semaglutide really does seem to help people who are addicted to alcohol reduce their intake, according to the first randomised clinical trial of the drug for this purpose.
Sold under brand names including Wegovy and Ozempic, semaglutide works by mimicking a gut hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), hence the technical term for it is a GLP-1 receptor agonist. The drug was first used to treat type 2 diabetes, but because it reduces appetite, Wegovy has now also been licensed for weight loss in eight countries. Semaglutide has also shown hints of helping an extraordinary number of medical conditions.
When it comes to alcohol use, a 2024 study of 84,000 people linked injecting Ozempic or Wegovy with a lower risk of alcoholism. Promising as that result was, it showed correlation rather than causation.
But now, Christian Hendershot at the University of Southern California and his colleagues have completed the first randomised clinical trial of semaglutide’s effect on alcohol use disorder, a type of study that can tease out causation.
Their trial involved 48 people in the US who had been diagnosed with the condition, of whom 34 were women and 14 were men. Half received weekly low-dose injections of semaglutide for nine weeks and the rest had placebo injections.
Those on semaglutide consumed fewer drinks per drinking session and had reduced weekly alcohol cravings compared with those on placebo.
“We didn’t have any evidence of significant adverse effects or safety concerns with the medication in this population and we found overall that across several different drinking outcomes it reduced the quantity of alcohol that people consumed,” says Hendershot.
“The results are promising,” says Rong Xu at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio. “Despite the small sample size, this randomised clinical trial highlights the therapeutic potential of semaglutide in treating alcohol use disorder.”
Ziyad Al-Aly at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, says the study adds “yet another piece of evidence that GLP-1RAs [GLP-1 receptor agonists] may be helpful in addiction disorders”.
Larger studies are needed to corroborate the work, he says, and to answer questions about whether people increase their drinking if they come off semaglutide and what its longer-term effects might be, especially given concerns around loss of bone and muscle mass.
The study should be treated as promising initial evidence, says Hendershot, but more research is needed. People shouldn’t start taking semaglutide for alcohol problems, he says.
“This is the first study like this and people are excited about it, but we do have approved and effective medication for alcohol use disorder, so until more research has been done, people are advised to pursue existing medications that are out there and approved right now,” says Hendershot.
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US to swap Marc Fogel for Russian cybercrime kingpin Alexander Vinnik: Official – ABC News
US to swap Marc Fogel for Russian cybercrime kingpin Alexander Vinnik: Official – ABC News
US to swap Marc Fogel for Russian cybercrime kingpin Alexander Vinnik: Official ABC NewsAccused Russian money launderer is being released in exchange for Marc Fogel CNNU.S. to send cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik to Russia in prisoner swap for Marc Fogel CBS NewsPresident DonalD J. Trump Brings Marc Fogel Home The White HouseU.S. Is Releasing Russian Cybercriminal to Moscow, Officials Say The New York Times
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Apple brings its TV streaming service to rival Android platform
Apple brings its TV streaming service to rival Android platform
Britt Lower and Adam Scott in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Source: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is now available on Android devices as the iPhone maker on Wednesday released its video streaming service for Google’s mobile computing platform.
It’s unusual for Apple to release Android apps. The company typically focuses on software for its own iOS and MacOS platforms, but Wednesday’s release is the latest sign that Apple won’t be limiting the growth potential of its Services division by keeping popular services like Apple TV+ exclusive to its own devices.
More people have iPhones than Android phones in the U.S., but globally, Android claims a 72% market share, according to Statcounter. Releasing Android apps significantly expands Apple’s market.
Apple’s Services business is its second largest behind iPhone sales, and Services hit a $100 billion per year revenue rate last year. In addition to subscriptions like iCloud, the unit also includes sales from advertising, search deals with Google, AppleCare warranties and payment fees from Apple Pay.
Apple TV+ is among Apple’s most popular services, and it’s best known for shows like “Ted Lasso” and “Severance.” It also broadcasts Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games.
The company has never released viewership numbers for Apple TV+, but Nielsen estimates say it accounts for a small fraction of total American TV watching. It costs $10 per month in the U.S. and is included in several bundles alongside iCloud storage, Apple Music and other subscriptions.
Besides a few niche apps, Apple doesn’t have a long track record of making Android apps. Its last significant services app for the Google platform was a decade ago when the company released its Apple Music streaming service for Android.
The Apple TV+ app is available to download through the Google Play app store, and users will be able to pay with their Google accounts. Apple did not disclose a revenue-sharing arrangement with Google, but both companies typically take about 15% of billings from streaming services through their app stores.
Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO
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