Pelican Press

Brave de Minaur downed by Alcaraz in Rotterdam final Brave de Minaur downed by Alcaraz in Rotterdam final Alex de Minaur has suffered the sinking feeling once again of losing a big ATP final to a top-10 opponent as he succumbed to Carlos Alcaraz in three sets despite a typically courageous fight in the Rotterdam Open championship match. The *********** No.1, who apparently had been feeling a bit under the weather all week at the Dutch event, still stretched the world No.3 in Sunday’s showdown before succumbing 6-4 3-6 6-2. It was the second successive year ‘******’ had been beaten in the indoor hard-court final, having been defeated in 2024 by the sport’s other young rocket man, Jannik Sinner. It meant de Minaur had fallen short once again in his bid to become the first *********** to win the prestigious tournament since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004. Even more frustratingly for him was the knowledge that, for a sixth time, he had missed out in his bid to defeat one of the game’s elite in a tournament final. In previous finals against top-tenners Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alcaraz, Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev, he had also come off second-best. And though he has won nine titles in all, defeating one of the big boys in a high-category ATP 500 tournament final keeps eluding him. De Minaur couldn’t hide his disappointment at the victory presentation as he told the packed Rotterdam Ahoy Arena: “It’s been a lot of improvements in my game over the last couple years, and I’m going to keep on pushing for more. “It’s been two years now with this runner-up trophy – I’m hoping I’ll get my hand on the winner’s one day.” He had high praise for his conqueror, though, as he turned to Alcaraz and told him he had been “too good” again. Source link #Brave #Minaur #downed #Alcaraz #Rotterdam #final Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Scientists Discover “Zombie” ******* That Seizes Control of Spiders, Suggest It Be Used for Human Medicine Scientists Discover “Zombie” ******* That Seizes Control of Spiders, Suggest It Be Used for Human Medicine Zombie Spiders While filming a TV documentary inside an old Victorian gunpowder store in Northern Ireland, scientists made an intriguing discovery: cave spider “zombies” that were infected by a “Last of Us”-like *******. In a study published last month in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution, as spotted by Live Science, scientists detailed the discovery of a “novel species” of ******* that infects “cave-dwelling, orb-weaving spiders,” called Gibellula attenboroughii — a name in honor of British biologist and natural historian David Attenborough. The scientists concluded that the “infected spiders exhibit behavioral changes similar to those reported for zombie ants,” referring to an insect-pathogenic ******* that forces infected ants to leave their canopy nests and head to areas that are more suitable for fungal growth. The way G. attenboroughii spreads is just as chill-inducing. The study authors suggest the ******* forces the infected spiders to crawl to more open areas where air currents can then disperse the spores — a fascinating new discovery fit for a dystopian TV series. Assuming Control Study lead author and Center for Agriculture and Bioscience International researcher Harry Evans told Live Science that the spores penetrate the spider to infect the insect’s equivalent of blood, compelling it to find open space. Then, a neurotoxin kills the spider once it reaches a spot in the open. An antimicrobial substance also preserves the corpse, allowing the ******* to absorb its nutrients. The cycle then repeats with the ******* growing long — and terrifying-looking — structures out of the spider’s body. Despite the frightening optics, Evans told Live Science the substances the ******* produces could be a “medical treasure chest” with a range of possible applications in human medicine, including antibiotics. More generally, the discovery highlights how much there’s still to cover in the wild world of “zombie” fungi. “There’s a lot more fungi to find,” Evans told Live Science. “The fungal kingdom could be up to 10, 20 million species, making it the biggest kingdom by far, but only one percent have been described.” More on fungi: Obscure ******* Shows Signs of Rudimentary Intelligence Source link #Scientists #Discover #Zombie #******* #Seizes #Control #Spiders #Suggest #Human #Medicine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Box Office: ‘Dog Man’ Stays No. 1 in Quiet Super Bowl Weekend, ‘Love Hurts’ Fumbles – Variety Box Office: ‘Dog Man’ Stays No. 1 in Quiet Super Bowl Weekend, ‘Love Hurts’ Fumbles – Variety Box Office: ‘Dog Man’ Stays No. 1 in Quiet Super Bowl Weekend, ‘Love Hurts’ Fumbles VarietyNo Box Office Touchdowns This Super Bowl Weekend: ‘Dog Man’ Drops -62%; Few Falling In Love With ‘Heart Eyes’ & ‘Love Hurts’ – Sunday AM Update Deadline‘Love Hurts’ Review: A Valentine Full of Action The New York Times‘Dog Man’ Leads Super Bowl Weekend With $13.7 Million Yahoo Entertainment Source link #Box #Office #Dog #Man #Stays #Quiet #Super #Bowl #Weekend #Love #Hurts #Fumbles #Variety Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Eyes on by-election count as Libs wrest seat off Greens Eyes on by-election count as Libs wrest seat off Greens Political watchers are turning their gaze to a by-election count after the Liberals wrested an inner-city seat from the Greens. Source link #Eyes #byelection #count #Libs #wrest #seat #Greens Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Transcript: Rep. Ilhan Omar on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 9, 2025 Transcript: Rep. Ilhan Omar on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 9, 2025 The following is the transcript of an interview with Rep. Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Feb. 9, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Good to have you here. You have spoken quite a bit this week about what USAID meant in your life, particularly when you were living in a refugee camp for four years, and USAID you talked about helping to keep you alive. We know this week, a federal judge will come to some kind of hearing and decision, perhaps, on what happens to all those government workers. Are the courts the main line of defense here? MINNESOTA REP. ILHAN OMAR: Yeah. I mean, what we are witnessing is a constitutional crisis. We are seeing an executive branch that has decided that they are no longer going to abide by the Constitution in honoring Congress’ role in the creation of the agencies in their role in deciding where money is allocated, and so the only recourse we have since our congressional leadership, the speaker will not stop the executive is through the judiciary. And this is you know, when you think about the checks and balances that we have, the courts are the only recourse we have at the moment, and we have seen and when we talk about the illegality of what the executive is doing, we have seen every single executive order that has been challenged in the courts was found to be ********. And that, I think, should give faith to the American people, that our courts are working as they should. The checks and balances are working. What is not working is the way that the executive is behaving and the congressional leadership that is failing the American people. MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, some of these court cases are ongoing, so we’ll have to see where- where they end up– REP. OMAR: But, the ones that have already been adjudicated. Every single executive order has been halted at the moment by an order. MARGARET BRENNAN: Many of them Republican judges who have also made that decision– REP. OMAR: Yes. Trump-appointed judges. MARGARET BRENNAN: It was interesting to hear Congressman McCaul indicate that when it came to breaking up an agency that was enshrined in law, that maybe there is some resistance there. Senator Hagerty, however, thought that Congress would be supportive of dismantling USAID after I read that- that description of the statute. It seems, though, that- that Democrats don’t have a lot of leverage here to push this argument forward in Congress. Do you think you do? REP. OMAR: Well, they don’t have the numbers in order to dismantle through Congress. That’s why they are going through this ********- that’s why they’re going through this ******** route. We know that USAID has support, not just with Democrats, but with Republicans. I can’t see McCaul taking a vote to dismantle USAID, you know so- so we know that the votes are not there to dismantle the Department of Education. We know that the votes are not there to grant security clearances for them accessing treasury and so every single process that they are going through in implementing Trump’s agenda is, at the moment, ********, and they know they don’t have the support for it in Congress. That’s why they’re not bringing it through Congress. MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s interesting that the first place to focus is such a small portion of federal spending to look at- at- at aid, but when you look at the popularity, Secretary Rubio was right in saying that it’s getting harder to defend foreign aid because it’s not popular. We saw the Chicago Council on Global Affairs surveyed American opinions on foreign policy, and they found a growing number want to reduce economic and military aid to other countries. So how do you convince the public that your point of view is the right one? Because it sounds like they’re sliding the other way. REP. OMAR: Well, foreign aid, I think, throughout the history of our country, has not been popular with the American people because we don’t have that many conversations about what it does, how much of it, it accounts for in our budget. A lot of people hear the millions, billions, and they don’t fully have a concept of what that actually means, the lives it touches, and how important it is, both the soft power that we have as a country, how it keeps us competitive around the world, how it buys us goodwill. We can have the conversation, but when you just say foreign aid to a lot of people, they’re thinking that we’re sending bombs to other countries, which people like me and others oppose. MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, an allegation we heard earlier in the program. I want to ask you about something President Trump said this week alongside the Israeli Prime Minister. It took many by surprise. Take a listen. DONALD TRUMP: The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. MARGARET BRENNAN: The president said Palestinians would be permanently removed. How do you think this is heard and understood around the world? REP. OMAR: Well, that’s just plain out ethnic cleansing and genocide. That’s what he’s talking about. The ************ people will remain in Gaza, and there is no support around the world for the ludicrous suggestion that he is making– MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, he’s saying, give him a choice to leave open the gate. REP. OMAR: Yeah, I’m pretty sure most of the people in Gaza would love to remain in their homeland and be where they were born. MARGARET BRENNAN: Congresswoman, we have to leave it there for today, but I appreciate you– REP. OMAR: Thank you MARGARET BRENNAN: –coming in. We’ll be right back with a lot more. Face the Nation. Stay with us. Face The Nation Transcripts More More Source link #Transcript #Rep #Ilhan #Omar #Face #Nation #Margaret #Brennan #Feb Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

He Isn’t Who Anyone Would Have Imagined as a Credible Foe to Trump and Musk’s Assault on America. Yet Here He Is. He Isn’t Who Anyone Would Have Imagined as a Credible Foe to Trump and Musk’s Assault on America. Yet Here He Is. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Maybe because the vast majority of them have now either fallen from grace or are remembered as embarrassing signs of the times, it’s easy to forget that the first Trump administration minted a steady stream of so-called resistance celebrities, people whose very public refusal to kowtow to President Donald Trump transformed them into folk heroes among a brand of online progressives. It’s all, we know, going to look a little different this time around, but this week has given us what may be our first peek at what this sort of figure could look like the age of Trump 2.0: Everybody, say hello to Brian Driscoll. Driscoll is the acting director of the FBI, and last week the New York Times minted him an “improbable symbol of quiet resistance” in the new Trump administration. Emphasis on the improbable—in what sounds like a particularly slapstick detail out of an old Hollywood screenplay, Driscoll is said to have landed in the top spot accidentally, after the White House listed his name in the wrong spot online and declined to correct it. What won him the admiration of the bureau’s rank-and-file has been his apparent willingness to defend them from the Justice Department, which has requested the names of all employees who investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection. Not bad for a guy who only has the job on a technicality. Driscoll has been an FBI agent since 2007, which has earned him a long résumé of missions and a reputation as “unflappable” among his peers. Looks-wise, as the Times told it, Driscoll “does not possess the typical G-man bearing of his predecessors, with a bushy mustache and his face framed by long curls.” That’s one way of putting it. Another would be to point out that he looks impishly charming in the government portrait that accompanies the article, so much so that you could easily imagine losing a half-hour debating what actor would play him in a movie—John Bernthal, with a dash of Matthew McConaughey’s roguish energy? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves there. First and foremost because, well, it seems like there’s still a decent chance this guy could get fired tomorrow! But in the meantime, FBI agents are reportedly trading memes that valorize Driscoll: “In one, he is depicted as a saint grasping the handbook for agents running investigations. In another, he glances upward, encircled by the words ‘What Would Drizz Do?’ ” I guess now isn’t the time to try to convince FBI agents that they should be making their own memes rather than relying on A.I., but they really should; won’t anybody think of the environment? Beyond the bureau, it’s unclear whether Driscoll is catching on as a resistance star with a wider swath of the population. Mia Farrow posted about him on Bluesky, earning thousands of reposts and likes, though I am not sure that christens him the Matt McGorry of 2025 just yet. Have we lost our appetite for this kind of figure? Are we all facing a collective hangover from the type of atmosphere last time around that saw us elevating people like Alyssa Milano to political heroes? Or are we all holding our breath waiting to see if he gets canned? I get that it’s embarrassing to look back on all the Avenattis and Krassensteins and God knows who else, but I don’t think we should deprive ourselves of resistance celebrities completely—we’ve got to entertain ourselves somehow. And as far FBI mustache man goes, well, there is a certain appeal right now to imagining the halls of the bureau filled with handsome cartoons like him ready to defend the republic. Source link #Isnt #Imagined #Credible #Foe #Trump #Musks #Assault #America Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Israel completes withdrawal from key road dividing Gaza as part of ceasefire deal – CNN Israel completes withdrawal from key road dividing Gaza as part of ceasefire deal – CNN Israel completes withdrawal from key road dividing Gaza as part of ceasefire deal CNNHamas says Israeli army withdraws from Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor YahooLIVE: Israel kills 3 Palestinians in Gaza City, steps up West Bank raids Al Jazeera EnglishMiddle East crisis live: Israeli military completes withdrawal from Netzarim Corridor The Guardian Source link #Israel #completes #withdrawal #key #road #dividing #Gaza #part #ceasefire #deal #CNN Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Rohit ton flattens England as India clinch ODI series Rohit ton flattens England as India clinch ODI series India have claimed an unassailable 2-0 series lead against England after captain Rohit Sharma’s rapid hundred secured their four-wicket victory in the second one-day international in Cuttack. Not even a floodlight failure that stopped play for half an hour on Sunday could affect Rohit, who hit seven sixes and 12 fours in his 119 off 90 ****** as the hosts chased down a 305-run target in 44.3 overs. Earlier, England’s 304 all out, with one delivery left in their innings, appeared a strong total, also vindicating their decision to bat first at Barabati Stadium. Ben Duckett (65) and Joe Root (69) smashed half-centuries and England looked poised for a big total when cruising at 3-219 in the 39th over. They already had a flying start after Duckett and Phil Salt (26) combined in a rollicking 81-run opening stand. Duckett raced to a 36-ball fifty but Ravindra Jadeja struck in his first over, dismissing the opener. Harry Brook (31) could not capitalise on the start but with Root and skipper Jos Buttler (34) in the middle, England looked primed to launch a late assault. India, however, fought back with the ball removing both the set batters and England suddenly slumped to 272-7 in the 48th over. Liam Livingstone (41) produced a 32-ball cameo to take England past the 300-mark before he and Mark Wood were run out in successive deliveries. For India, Jadeja claimed 3-35, took a catch and fired a throw from the deep that led to Adil Rashid being run out. Rohit, who has been struggling for runs both in Tests and ODIs, led India’s reply with a barrage of boundaries – the sweet sound of bat whacking the ball announcing his return to form. Rohit began with a streaky four against Gus Atkinson before finding the middle of his bat and racing to a 30-ball 50. At the other end, Shubman Gill (60) took the aerial route only once and hit nine fours in his fluent knock. Jamie Overton yorked Gill to end the rapid 136-run opening stand and Rashid dismissed Virat Kohli caught behind for five, but Rohit went on a rampage. Rohit brought up his 32nd ODI hundred in style, hitting Rashid for a six. Rashid then took a brilliant tumbling catch to dismiss Rohit, who mishit a full toss from Livingstone. Shreyas Iyer scored a fluent 44 but his run-out, soon followed by the dismissals of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, meant India could not take anything for granted. Axar Patel, who made 41 not out, dashed any English hopes of a series-levelling victory. England’s Jacob Bethell missed the match with a hamstring injury, which makes the batting allrounder uncertain for the Champions Trophy, with England having drafted in Tom Banton in as cover. The teams move to Ahmedabad for the final ODI on Wednesday, with India already having won the preceding T20 series between the sides 4-1. Source link #Rohit #ton #flattens #England #India #clinch #ODI #series Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump Orders NASA to Purge All Mentions of Women in Leadership On Its Websites Trump Orders NASA to Purge All Mentions of Women in Leadership On Its Websites [Redacted] As President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI agenda comes to bear on NASA, we’re getting a revealing look at what his administration considers to be too woke: women. In a directive sent out just days after Trump’s inauguration, NASA personnel were commanded to excise all mentions of anything “specifically targeting” women on the space agency’s public websites, 404 Media reports. “Per NASA HQ direction, we are required to scrub mentions of the following terms from our public sites by 5pm ET today,” the directive reads. “This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request.” The list of verboten terms includes “DEIA,” “accessibility,” “indigenous people,” “environmental justice,” and finally: “anything specifically targeting women,” such as “women in leadership, etc.” Speaking anonymously to 404, a NASA employee confirmed that leadership were serious about the changes. “We were absolutely required to scrub all DEI related or DEI adjacent topics and terms from all external websites by 5pm the 22nd,” the employee said. Face of Change To lead the agency down this path, Trump hand picked Janet Petro as the space agency’s acting head — a nomination that’s reportedly surprised even NASA officials — which makes her the first woman to serve as the agency’s adminstrator. “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” Petro wrote in a memo about the agency’s termination of diversity programs. That’s funny, because when Petro was the director of the Kennedy Space Center, she said this in a 2021 interview: “At NASA and Kennedy Space Center, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility has been paramount to mission success. The entire NASA leadership team stands behind this commitment,” Petro said. “KSC has embraced the link between diverse teams and innovation,” she added. You could argue that Petro’s hand was forced, but the fact that she accepted the job knowing full well what Trump’s agenda was, not to mention her about-face on the issue, suggests she’s doing it all with mercenary intent. On its surface, these policies might seem to contradict some of Trump’s campaign rhetoric. As part of his anti-woke crusade, Trump has frequently vowed to “protect women” by, among other things, cracking down on transgender rights. So is this what protecting women looks like — minimizing any outward gestures about their presence at NASA and elsewhere in government? Apparently yes. Call it hypocritical, but it’s also just plain old paternalism. More on Trump: Trump Admin Orders Deletion of Information About Climate Change From Government Websites Source link #Trump #Orders #NASA #Purge #Mentions #Women #Leadership #Websites Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Egypt announces emergency Arab summit after Trump's Gaza plan infuriates key allies – CNBC Egypt announces emergency Arab summit after Trump's Gaza plan infuriates key allies – CNBC Egypt announces emergency Arab summit after Trump’s Gaza plan infuriates key allies CNBCEgypt announces emergency Arab summit after Trump’s Gaza plan infuriates key allies The Associated PressEgypt to host emergency Arab summit to discuss ‘serious’ ************ developments ReutersArab League confirms support for Jordan and Egypt, rejects displacement of Palestinians Arab News Source link #Egypt #announces #emergency #Arab #summit #Trump039s #Gaza #plan #infuriates #key #allies #CNBC Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Man arrested after ‘serious incident’ in north Dublin Man arrested after ‘serious incident’ in north Dublin A man has been arrested after a “serious incident” in north Dublin, Irish police have said. PA News is reporting that several people are believed to have been stabbed during the incident. The man was arrested in the Stoneybatter area of the city on Sunday and is currently being detained at a police station. Police remain at the scene but said there is no “ongoing risk to the public at this time”. Source link #Man #arrested #incident #north #Dublin Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Australia’s blueprint for subcontinent success Australia’s blueprint for subcontinent success With their rout of Sri Lanka, Australia have created a blueprint for success on the subcontinent ahead of a legacy-defining tour to India in 2027. Stand-in captain Steve Smith felt Australia’s visit to Galle could “probably not” have gone better than it did as the curtain came down on the second Test on Sunday. The tourists handed their hosts their biggest-ever Test loss – by an innings and 242 runs – in the first match and followed that up with a nine-wicket rout in the second. It marked Australia’s first series win in Sri Lanka since 2011, and their first whitewash on the subcontinent since a 2006 visit to Bangladesh. But perhaps more importantly, the series stood in as a trial run for Australia’s next trip to the subcontinent in 2027, when they will target a first series win in India since 2004. Veteran Nathan Lyon notably said between Tests that Australia’s status as a great team would hinge on their ability to beat England and India away from home, and Smith felt the squad was on their way to mastering subcontinent conditions. “We’ve learnt so much about playing in the subcontinent and we put all that into play in the last two games. It’s been great to witness,” Smith said. “The guys did it as well as I’ve seen an *********** team do it in the subcontinent since I’ve been playing.” Australia had won only one of their previous five matches in Sri Lanka but came better prepared for the turning surfaces on the back of their Dubai training camp. The confident tourists completely outbatted their rivals. Australia made five centuries, with an unbeaten 85 from No.7 Kusal Mendis representing the hosts’ best individual score. Smith felt the key had been allowing players to attack bowlers in their own ways. While Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey swept to their hearts’ content as the top-scorers in the first and second Tests respectively, Smith used his hands to find gaps in the field. His trademark cover drive was on full show making 141, and then 131, as player of the series. “Everyone’s got different methods but it’s a method that works for them,” Smith said. “We’re just far better equipped to play in these conditions and understand them a lot more than we used to.” Remaining adaptable also worked to Australia’s benefit, even if it led to some tough selection calls. There was no space in the XI for Sam Konstas despite his solid first two Tests at home as Travis Head was preferred at the top for his track record against spin. When the surface looked likely to make life hard for the batters in the second Test, selectors made a risky call to drop front-line spinner Todd Murphy for batting allrounder Cooper Connolly – previously uncapped at Test level. “You’ve got to attack every surface how it needs to be played on,” Smith said. “That’s what we’ve done really well. We obviously left out Todd for this one, which was unfortunate for him, but we wanted a little bit of extra batting.” Each player was adaptable, too, with Smith even trying his hand at the reverse sweep on the turning deck in the second Test. Elsewhere, Beau Webster employed both pace and spin when thrown the ball at different times in the series. “We had a really well-balanced squad, plenty of options available for whatever we wanted to go with,” Smith said. “Everyone that played did a good job.” Source link #Australias #blueprint #subcontinent #success Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Hostages' families urge Netanyahu to extend ceasefire after release of three frail-looking Israelis Hostages' families urge Netanyahu to extend ceasefire after release of three frail-looking Israelis Hostages’ families urge Netanyahu to extend ceasefire after release of three frail-looking Israelis Source link #Hostages039 #families #urge #Netanyahu #extend #ceasefire #release #fraillooking #Israelis Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Winter Storm Predicted to Bring More Snow in New York, Boston and Northeast – The New York Times Winter Storm Predicted to Bring More Snow in New York, Boston and Northeast – The New York Times Winter Storm Predicted to Bring More Snow in New York, Boston and Northeast The New York TimesNew Week, New Winter Storms To Blanket Northeast, Midwest With Snow, Ice, Including New York, Washington, D.C. The Weather ChannelA wintry 1-2 punch: 2 storms to blanket much of nation in ice, snow USA TODAYWinter storm dumps snow and ice on Northeast and Midwest The IndependentVideo Storm slams Northeast and Midwest, bringing snow and dangerous ice ABC News Source link #Winter #Storm #Predicted #Bring #Snow #York #Boston #Northeast #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump says Musk will find billions in Pentagon waste Trump says Musk will find billions in Pentagon waste US President Donald Trump says he expects Elon Musk to find billions of dollars of fraud and abuse at the Pentagon during an audit that the billionaire will lead. “I’m going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. … Then I’m going to go, go to the military. Let’s check the military,” Trump said in a Super Bowl interview with Fox News, an excerpt of which was aired on Sunday morning. “We’re going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse,” Trump said of the largest federal department. The Pentagon’s budget is approaching $US1 ($A1.6) trillion per year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorising $US895 billion ($A1.4 trillion) in defence spending for the fiscal year ending September 30. Musk, who the White House says is a special government employee, has been tasked by Trump to lead an effort to slash the size of the US federal workforce. As part of that initiative, Musk aides have sought access to confidential information in computer systems at various government agencies. Critics say the efforts are likely ********, risk exposing classified information and in practice are gutting entire agencies without congressional approval. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz suggested in a separate interview on Sunday that the Pentagon’s shipbuilding processes could be an area of particular interest for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. “There is plenty to look into in shipbuilding, which is an absolute mess,” Waltz said in an interview on NBC. Source link #Trump #Musk #find #billions #Pentagon #waste Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

We Think Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Can Manage Its Debt With Ease We Think Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) Can Manage Its Debt With Ease Some say volatility, rather than debt, is the best way to think about risk as an investor, but Warren Buffett famously said that ‘Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.’ So it seems the smart money knows that debt – which is usually involved in bankruptcies – is a very important factor, when you assess how risky a company is. As with many other companies Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt? Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can’t easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. In the worst case scenario, a company can go bankrupt if it cannot pay its creditors. However, a more usual (but still expensive) situation is where a company must dilute shareholders at a cheap share price simply to get debt under control. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. When we think about a company’s use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together. Check out our latest analysis for Autodesk The chart below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that Autodesk had US$2.29b in debt in October 2024; about the same as the year before. However, because it has a cash reserve of US$1.71b, its net debt is less, at about US$573.0m. NasdaqGS:ADSK Debt to Equity History February 9th 2025 We can see from the most recent balance sheet that Autodesk had liabilities of US$4.47b falling due within a year, and liabilities of US$3.05b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of US$1.71b and US$702.0m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total US$5.10b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables. Since publicly traded Autodesk shares are worth a very impressive total of US$64.7b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. Having said that, it’s clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. Carrying virtually no net debt, Autodesk has a very light debt load indeed. In order to size up a company’s debt relative to its earnings, we calculate its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) divided by its interest expense (its interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio). Story Continues Autodesk has a low debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.41. And remarkably, despite having net debt, it actually received more in interest over the last twelve months than it had to pay. So it’s fair to say it can handle debt like a hotshot teppanyaki chef handles cooking. Also positive, Autodesk grew its EBIT by 20% in the last year, and that should make it easier to pay down debt, going forward. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. But ultimately the future profitability of the business will decide if Autodesk can strengthen its balance sheet over time. So if you’re focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts. Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So it’s worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. Happily for any shareholders, Autodesk actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT over the last three years. There’s nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders’ good graces. Autodesk’s interest cover suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14’s goalkeeper. And the good news does not stop there, as its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow also supports that impression! Considering this range of factors, it seems to us that Autodesk is quite prudent with its debt, and the risks seem well managed. So the balance sheet looks pretty healthy, to us. There’s no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet – far from it. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we’ve spotted with Autodesk . If, after all that, you’re more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay. 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 #Autodesk #NASDAQADSK #Manage #Debt #Ease Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Apple’s New iPhone SE Will Kick Off Pivotal Year for Product Line – Bloomberg Apple’s New iPhone SE Will Kick Off Pivotal Year for Product Line – Bloomberg Apple’s New iPhone SE Will Kick Off Pivotal Year for Product Line BloombergApple Leak Reveals iPhone SE Release Date ForbesiPhone SE 4 vs. iPhone 17: Let’s compare the rumored specs Tom’s GuideNew Apple products will launch next week, here’s what’s coming 9to5MaciPhone SE (4th gen) renders show up on a case manufacturer’s website GSMArena.com Source link #Apples #iPhone #Kick #Pivotal #Year #Product #Line #Bloomberg Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

High winds, large waves expected with possible cyclone High winds, large waves expected with possible cyclone Residents along a 350km stretch of coast are being warned to prepare for a possible tropical cyclone, with heavy rain, wind and large waves. Source link #High #winds #large #waves #expected #cyclone Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Report: Avalanche Working on Hogwarts Legacy DLC, Sequel; “Refreshed Version” on the Way Report: Avalanche Working on Hogwarts Legacy DLC, Sequel; “Refreshed Version” on the Way Though it’s indeed quite a time since the initial release of Hogwarts Legacy, the game keeps engaging its players in the wizardry world. In case the game falls short of the fascinating content, players step in. Likewise, a player has captured stunning 360-degree photospheres of in-game locations. Source link #Report #Avalanche #Working #Hogwarts #Legacy #DLC #Sequel #Refreshed #Version Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Want to Invest in Quantum Computing? 1 Stock That Is a Great Buy Right Now. Want to Invest in Quantum Computing? 1 Stock That Is a Great Buy Right Now. Quantum computing is a hot topic these days. Six months ago, the four largest pure play stocks in this market added up to a total market value of $1.9 billion. Today, their combined market value has soared to $15 billion. And that’s not even a peak value — the tally topped out at $19.2 billion on Jan. 6. But I’m not here to recommend the stocks in this quartet. These four names may become quantum computing giants in the long run, but they seem more likely to run out of gas and crumble along the way. Their business results are largely immaterial so far, and those beefy stock valuations appear to be based on unrealistic assumptions of rapid progress in quantum computing technologies. Quantum Computing Specialist Market Cap Revenues (TTM) Net Losses (TTM) Price-to-Sales Ratio (TTM) IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) $8.8 billion $37.5 million ($171.6 million) 233 Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) $3.1 billion $11.9 million ($60.6 million) 258 D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS) $1.8 billion $9.4 million ($73.8 million) 191 Quantum Computing (NASDAQ: QUBT) $1.3 billion $0.4 million ($27.9 million) 3,208 Data collected from FactSet via Finviz.com on Feb. 7, 2025. TTM = trailing 12 months. I wish the best of luck to these quantum computing experts and their investors. However, I would much rather invest in more mature business titans that also have an interest in quantum computing technologies. Getting the research right is a sink-or-swim issue for the pure play sector experts, while larger companies can treat this potentially game-changing technology as a minor side gig. And if the quantum revolution isn’t coming over the next few years, I can still enjoy gains from their main lines of business instead. So let’s move on to the company that inspired the recent market surge — Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL). The quantum computing mania in recent months started with a breakthrough by the Google Quantum AI group. Their new Willow chip showed a promising step forward in error correction, suggesting that future products might be able to overcome noisy results by using more so-called qubit processing units. The headline-writing part of that progress report was Willow’s ability to run a benchmark process in less than five minutes. A digital supercomputer would take 10 septillion years to achieve the same result. It should be said that the benchmark test was tailor-made to make quantum computers look good. The random circuit sampling (RCS) test essentially simulates a moderately complex quantum computing process in a way that’s very hard to do with classical computers. Story Continues “It checks whether a quantum computer is doing something that couldn’t be done on a classical computer,” the Google team explained. “Any team building a quantum computer should check first if it can beat classical computers on RCS.” So the actual quantum computing functions of the Willow chip did some quantum computing, which would be ridiculously hard to emulate with old-school technologies. I’m more impressed by the boosted error correction, honestly. But many investors saw this announcement as a sign of quantum computers running laps around normal computers right now. Jumping to conclusions may be great exercise, but it can be dangerous to your stock portfolio. Meanwhile, the Google Quantum AI team keeps doing their research. The error-correction function was step two in a six-step roadmap where the next advancement should be long-lived qubits with even better error handling. That will take years. The final signpost on that map is a large error-corrected quantum computer with millions of qubits instead of hundreds. The group hasn’t set a deadline for this game-changing development, but other rumblings in the quantum computing sphere suggest that it should be about 20 years away. Alphabet’s Google is far from the only technology titan working on advanced quantum computing research. They’re taking different paths forward. IBM (NYSE: IBM) has more quantum-related technology patents than anybody. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is focusing on making quantum computing systems usable via today’s cloud computing platforms. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is building optimized software libraries for quantum-based software development. Any of these tech giants strike me as better quantum computing investments than the smaller upstarts discussed above. But none of them can compete with Alphabet’s bargain-bin valuation today. For instance, its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio stops at 6.5. So if you’re looking for a future quantum computing heavyweight that also happens to be a great buy right now, Alphabet seems to tick both boxes. Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $795,728!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 926% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 175% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list. Learn more » *Stock Advisor returns as of February 7, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, International Business Machines, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, International Business Machines, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Want to Invest in Quantum Computing? 1 Stock That Is a Great Buy Right Now. was originally published by The Motley Fool Source link #Invest #Quantum #Computing #Stock #Great #Buy Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Meta staff torrented nearly 82TB of pirated books for AI training — court records reveal copyright violations Meta staff torrented nearly 82TB of pirated books for AI training — court records reveal copyright violations Facebook parent-company Meta is currently fighting a class action lawsuit alleging copyright infringement and unfair competition, among others, with regards to how it trained LLaMA. According to an X (formerly Twitter) post by vx-underground, court records reveal that the social media company used pirated torrents to download 81.7TB of data from shadow libraries including Anna’s Archive, Z-Library, and LibGen. It then used this information to train its AI models. The evidence, in the form of written communication, shows the researchers’ concerns about Meta’s use of pirated materials. One senior AI researcher said way back in October 2022, “I don’t think we should use pirated material. I really need to draw a line here.” While another one said, “Using pirated material should be beyond our ethical threshold,” then they added, “SciHub, ResearchGate, LibGen are basically like PirateBay or something like that, they are distributing content that is protected by copyright and they’re infringing it.” Then, in January 2023, Mark Zuckerberg himself attended a meeting where he said, “We need to move this stuff forward… we need to find a way to unblock all this.” Some three months later, a Meta employee sent a message to another one saying they were concerned about Meta IP addresses being used “to load through pirate content.” They also added, “torrenting from a corporate laptop doesn’t feel right,” followed by laughing out loud emoji. Aside from those messages, documents also revealed that the company took steps so that its infrastructure wasn’t used in these downloading and seeding operations so that the activity wouldn’t be traced back to Meta. The court documents say that this constitutes evidence of Meta’s unlawful activity, which seems like it’s taking deliberate steps to circumvent copyright laws. However, this isn’t the first time an AI training model has been accused of stealing information off the internet. OpenAI has been sued by novelists as far back as June 2023 for using their books to train its large language models, with The New York Times following suit in December. Nvidia has also been on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed by writers for using 196,640 books to train its NeMo model, which has since been taken down. A former Nvidia employee blew the whistle on the company in August of last year, saying that it scraped more than 426 thousand hours of videos daily for use in AI training. More recently, OpenAI is investigating if DeepSeek illegally obtained data from ChatGPT, which just shows how ironic things can get. The case against Meta is still ongoing, so we will have to wait until the court releases its decision to say if the company committed direct infringement. And even if the writers win this case, Meta, with its huge financial war chest, will likely appeal the decision, meaning we will have to wait for several months, if not years, to see the final court judgment. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Meta #staff #torrented #82TB #pirated #books #training #court #records #reveal #copyright #violations Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump’s AI ambition and China’s DeepSeek overshadow an AI summit in Paris Trump’s AI ambition and China’s DeepSeek overshadow an AI summit in Paris Omer Taha Cetin | Anadolu | Getty Images The geopolitics of artificial intelligence will be in focus at a major summit in France where world leaders, executives and experts will hammer out pledges on guiding the development of the rapidly advancing technology. It’s the latest in a series of global dialogues around AI governance, but one that comes at a fresh inflection point as China’s buzzy and budget-friendly DeepSeek chatbot shakes up the industry. U.S. Vice President JD Vance — making his first trip abroad since taking office — will attend the Paris AI Action Summit starting Feb. 10, while China’s President Xi Jinping will be sending his special envoy, signaling high stakes for the meeting. Here’s a breakdown: Summit basics Heads of state and top government officials, tech bosses and researchers are gathering in Paris for the two-day summit cohosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event aims to address how to harness artificial intelligence’s potential so that it benefits everyone, while containing the technology’s myriad risks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is attending, along with officials and CEOs from 80 countries, including ******* Chancellor Olaf Scholz, ********* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft President Brad Smith and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who attended the inaugural 2023 summit at former codebreaking base Bletchley Park in England, and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng have been invited, but it’s unclear if either will attend. Panel talks and workshops at the Grand Palais venue on Monday will be followed by a dinner at the Elysee presidential palace for world leaders and CEOs. Leaders and company bosses are expected to give speeches at Tuesday’s closing session. What’s at stake? More than two years after ChatGPT’s debut, generative AI continues to make astounding advances at breakneck speed. The technology that powers all-purpose chatbots is transforming many aspects of life with its ability to ***** out high-quality text, images or video, or carry out complex tasks. The 2023 summit in the U.K. resulted in a non-binding pledge by 28 nations to tackle AI risks. A follow-up meeting hosted by South Korea last year secured another pledge to set up a network of public AI safety institutes to advance research and testing. AI safety is still on the agenda in Paris, with an expert group reporting back on general purpose AI’s possible extreme dangers. But this time organizers are expanding the discussion to more countries, and widening the debate to a range of other AI-related topics. Like previous editions, this summit won’t produce any binding regulation. “The summit comes at a time when many are trying to position themselves in the international competition,” Macron told reporters, according to La Provence newspaper. “It’s about establishing the rules of the game. AI cannot be the Wild West.” The deliverables Organizers are working on getting countries to sign a joint political declaration gathering commitments for more ethical, democratic and environmentally sustainable AI, according to Macron’s office. But it’s unclear whether the U.S. would agree to such a measure. Another big goal is securing an agreement for a public-interest partnership for AI. Paris seeks to raise 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) for the public-private partnership involving governments, businesses and philanthropic groups that will provide open-source access to databases, software and other tools for “trusted” AI actors, Macron’s office said. Macron’s team wants to shift the focus away from the race to develop better-than-human artificial intelligence through sheer computing power and, instead, open up access to data that can help AI solve problems like ******* or long Covid. “We now have this incredible opportunity to figure out not only how we should mitigate the potential harms from artificial intelligence, but also how we can ensure that it’s used to improve people’s lives,” said Martin Tisné, the summit’s envoy for public interest AI. Trump’s team U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken of his desire to make the U.S. the “world capital of artificial intelligence” by tapping its oil and gas reserves to feed the energy-hungry technology. Meanwhile, he has moved to withdraw the U.S. — again — from the Paris climate agreement and revoked former President Joe Biden’s executive order for AI guardrails. Trump is replacing it with his own AI policy designed to maintain America’s global leadership by reducing regulatory barriers and building AI systems free of “ideological bias.” The U.S. position might undermine any joint communique, said Nick Reiners, senior geotechnology analyst at the Eurasia Group. “Trump is against the very idea of global governance,” Reiners said. “It’s one thing to get countries to agree that AI should have guardrails and that AI safety is something worth caring about. But they’ve widened the scope to talk about the future of work and the environment and inclusivity and so on — a whole range of concepts. So it’s hard to imagine getting a widespread agreement on such a broad range of subjects.” China’s role ******** leader Xi is sending Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who’s been elevated to the role of Xi’s special representative. It’s a big step up from the 2023 Bletchley meeting, when the ******** government sent the vice minister of science and technology. It signifies that Xi wants China to play a ******* role in global AI governance as Trump pulls back, Reiners said. DeepSeek ‘s release last month stunned the world because of its ability to rival Western players like ChatGPT. It also escalated the wider geopolitical showdown between Beijing and Washington over tech supremacy. Trump said DeepSeek was a “wake-up call” for the U.S. tech industry and his AI advisor David Sacks accused DeepSeek of training its model on stolen OpenAI data. The DeepSeek chatbot app now faces investigations, and in some cases, bans in the U.S. and a number of other countries over privacy and security concerns. Yet the rise of DeepSeek, which built its open source AI model at a fraction of the cost and with fewer chips, also puts China’s interests in line with France’s. French organizers said “the summit aims at promoting an ambitious French and European AI strategy” as advances in the sector have been led by the U.S. and China. Macron hopes to make room for others, including French startup Mistral, which also uses an open source AI model. “DeepSeek is being seen as a kind of vindication of this idea that you don’t have to necessarily invest hundreds of billions of dollars in in chips and data centers,” Reiners said. Transatlantic tensions Another showdown could involve Brussels, which has long been a thorn in the side of U.S.-based Big Tech companies, cracking down with antitrust penalties against the likes of Google, Apple and Meta. Trump lashed out at last month’s World Economic Forum with “very big complaints” about the EU’s multibillion-dollar fines, calling them a tax on American companies. More recently, the EU’s artificial intelligence regulation has met resistance from the companies. The European Union recently unveiled a non-binding “code of practice” for its AI Act but Meta’s top lobbyist said the company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, won’t sign up. The EU guidelines, intended to standardize how the AI Act’s regulations are applied across the 27-nation bloc, are “unworkable” and the continent’s regulatory environment is “pushing Europe to the sidelines,” Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan told a Brussels event. Source link #Trumps #ambition #Chinas #DeepSeek #overshadow #summit #Paris Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Chiefs vs. Eagles predictions, betting lines, odds: 2025 Super Bowl Sunday picks by NFL expert on 33-17 run – CBS Sports Chiefs vs. Eagles predictions, betting lines, odds: 2025 Super Bowl Sunday picks by NFL expert on 33-17 run – CBS Sports Chiefs vs. Eagles predictions, betting lines, odds: 2025 Super Bowl Sunday picks by NFL expert on 33-17 run CBS SportsEagles vs. Chiefs: Super Bowl predictions and pick against the spread Bleeding Green NationWhat time does the Super Bowl actually start? NewsNation NowWhere you can watch the 2025 Super Bowl live today CBS NewsKansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles meet in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX Fox News Source link #Chiefs #Eagles #predictions #betting #lines #odds #Super #Bowl #Sunday #picks #NFL #expert #run #CBS #Sports Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Six Nations: Sir Chris Hoy delivers match ball before Scotland v Ireland Six Nations: Sir Chris Hoy delivers match ball before Scotland v Ireland Watch as six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy receives an emotional ovation as he delivers the match ball at Murrayfield before Scotland face Ireland in the Six Nations. Hoy was diagnosed with terminal ******* in September 2023. READ MORE: I’m more grateful for each day – Sir Chris Hoy Available to *** users only. Source link #Nations #Sir #Chris #Hoy #delivers #match #ball #Scotland #Ireland Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Monkey triggers nationwide power outage in Sri Lanka Monkey triggers nationwide power outage in Sri Lanka A monkey has caused a nationwide power outage in Sri Lanka. The primate came in contact with an electrical grid transformer in the southern suburbs of Colombo, officials say. “An incident in which a monkey came in contact with a grid transformer caused the outage,” Sri Lankan power and energy minister Kumara Jayakody told local media. He said that the mishap disrupted the electrical grid, triggering a nationwide power outage that lasted for several hours before power was restored. The outage began around 11:30 am local time and continued until 5:30 pm. Authorities are investigating how a transformer failure at a single substation could have led to a nationwide power disruption. While monkeys occasionally cause local grid issues, it is rare for such incidents to result in a prolonged nationwide blackout. Sri Lanka has faced severe power crises in recent years, particularly during the peak of its economic crisis in 2022. Widespread blackouts were among the key issues that fuelled mass protests, ultimately leading to the ousting of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022. Although economic conditions have improved following Sri Lanka’s $US3 billion ($A4.8 billion) bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund in 2023, the country remains vulnerable amid ongoing economic uncertainty. Source link #Monkey #triggers #nationwide #power #outage #Sri #Lanka Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]