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Trudeau hits back against Trump with 25% levy Trudeau hits back against Trump with 25% levy Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, in a move that marks the beginning of a trade war between the neighbouring countries. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set out “far-reaching” tariffs of 25%, affecting 155bn ********* dollars’ worth ($106.6bn; £86bn) of American goods ranging from beer and wine, to household appliances and sporting goods. The move matches US President Donald Trump 25% levy on ********* and ******** imports to the US – and an additional 10% on China – over his concerns about ******** immigration and drug trafficking. Trudeau said he would “not back down in standing up for Canadians”, but warned of real consequences for people on both sides of the border. “We don’t want to be here, we didn’t ask for this,” he said at a news conference late on Saturday. The ********* prime minister added that tariffs on 30bn-worth US goods would come into force on Tuesday and another 125bn in 21 days to give ********* firms time to adjust. Trudeau’s response targets items including American beer, wine, bourbon, fruits and fruit juices, vegetables, perfumes, clothing and shoes, as well as household appliances, sporting goods and furniture. Lumber and plastics will also face levies and non-tariff measures are also being considered are related to critical minerals and procurement. Economists have warned the introduction of the import taxes by the US, and the response from Canada, as well as Mexico and China, could lead to prices rising on a wide range of products for consumers. A tariff is a domestic tax levied on goods as they enter a country, proportional to the value of the import. The prospect of higher tariffs being introduced on imports to the US has been concerning many world leaders because it will make it more expensive for companies to sell goods in the world’s largest economy. Christopher Sands, director of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, told the BBC that ****-for-tat tariffs between the US and Canada were “mutually assured destruction” and they would impact people’s lives very quickly. He said there would be no adjustment time as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had recently proposed: “Just a massive hit that’s going to make a lot of people’s lives a lot tougher, very quickly.” But the taxes are a central part of Trump’s economic vision. He sees them as a way of growing the US economy, protecting jobs and raising tax revenue – and in this case, pushing for policy action. Canada, Mexico and the US have deeply integrated economies, with an estimated $2bn (£1.6bn) worth of manufactured goods crossing the borders daily. Canada is America’s largest foreign supplier of crude oil. According to the most recent official trade figures, 61% of oil imported into the US between January and November last year came from Canada. While 25% has been slapped on ********* goods imported to the US, its energy faces a lower 10% tariff. The White House said on Saturday the implementation of tariffs was “necessary to hold China, Mexico, and Canada accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the United States”. But Trudeau pushed back on the suggestion the shared border posed a security concern, saying less than 1% of fentanyl going into the US comes from Canada. He added less than 1% of ******** migrants entered the US through the border and that tariffs were “not the best way we can actually work together to save lives” Trump has indicated he is ready to escalate the duties further if the countries retaliate to his tariffs, as Canada has done. Prior to the tariffs announcement, Canada has pledged more than $1bn to boost security at its shared border with the US. Trudeau said on Saturday had not spoken to Trump since he had taken office. Mark Carney, the former head of Canada’s and England’s central banks, told BBC Newsnight on Friday that the tariffs would hit economic growth and drive up inflation. “They’re going to damage the US’s reputation around the world,” said Carney, who is also in the running to replace Trudeau as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party. Source link #Trudeau #hits #Trump #levy Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Rubio brings back Cuba Restricted List, slaps sanctions on remittance provider Rubio brings back Cuba Restricted List, slaps sanctions on remittance provider By Jasper Ward and Dave Sherwood WASHINGTON/HAVANA (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would once again restrict financial transactions with many Cuban military- and government-linked entities, just weeks after the Biden administration had sought to roll those sanctions back. Rubio said the Trump administration would re-create the “Cuba Restricted List,” which prohibits certain transactions with companies under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of, the “repressive” Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel, he said. Trusted news and daily delights, right in your inbox See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. Biden had eliminated the restricted list, while at the same time taking Cuba off a U.S. terrorism blacklist and making it more difficult for individuals to file lawsuits in U.S. courts over property seized following Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Trump has since reversed all of the Biden measures, signaling a tough new stance on the **********-run island and long-time foe of the United States. Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez slammed the Rubio announcements, calling them “unjustifiable.” “Toughening criminal measures against the Cuban people will lead to greater shortages, separation and increased emigration,” Rodriguez. Cuba had earlier this month announced it would release more than 500 prisoners in a deal with the ******** after Biden softened sanctions on the island in early January. But it has since halted the liberations, human rights groups say, leaving Biden’s deal with Cuba in limbo as the Trump administration ramps up sanctions. Rubio on Friday also placed Orbit S.A., a Cuban-based company authorized to process remittance transactions with Western Union, back on the restricted list, a move likely to complicate money transfers between the large Cuban-American population and their island-based relatives. (Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington and Dave Sherwood in Havana; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast.) Source link #Rubio #brings #Cuba #Restricted #List #slaps #sanctions #remittance #provider Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Justin Baldoni Accuses Blake Lively, New York Times of 'Colluding' in Amended $400 Million Lawsuit – Rolling Stone Justin Baldoni Accuses Blake Lively, New York Times of 'Colluding' in Amended $400 Million Lawsuit – Rolling Stone Justin Baldoni Accuses Blake Lively, New York Times of ‘Colluding’ in Amended $400 Million Lawsuit Rolling StoneJustin Baldoni Escalates Blake Lively Legal Battle by Launching Website, Leaking New Texts from Ryan Reynolds PEOPLEBlake Lively and Justin Baldoni get March 2026 trial date for her ‘It Ends With Us’ lawsuit The Associated PressJustin Baldoni Shares Notes From Intimacy Coordinator Meeting Us WeeklyWhoa, Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds Just Made A Surprise Move To Dismiss Justin Baldoni’s Defamation Claim Yahoo Life Source link #Justin #Baldoni #Accuses #Blake #Lively #York #Times #039Colluding039 #Amended #Million #Lawsuit #Rolling #Stone Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Destiny 2 Might Just Get a Beyond Light Weapon Refresh Soon, and Players Have a Fusion Rifle to Thank For It Destiny 2 Might Just Get a Beyond Light Weapon Refresh Soon, and Players Have a Fusion Rifle to Thank For It With Episode Revenant coming to an end, Destiny 2 players are looking ahead to the upcoming Episode Heresy. Despite the criticism surrounding the current update structure, gamers are hyped to see what’s coming next for the live-service title. Destiny 2 is making waves in the gaming community. (Image via Bungie) Bungie has given us a lot of information about the next Episode and how it’s going to transform the game in ways no one could have imagined. However, it seems like the next Episode might also give a much-needed refresh to a Beyond Light weapon. Destiny 2 might be bringing changes for Coriolis Force Destiny 2‘s next Episode might bring some massive changes. (Image via Bungie) If you’ve forgotten already, back in Beyond Light expansion for Destiny 2, Bungie brought a bunch of new additions, including a weapon called Coriolis Force. What was special about this Fusion Rifle was its Aggressive Frame archetype. It was the only Aggressive Frame fusion rifle in the entire game at that point. Recently, Bungie revealed that it is planning to bring tons more Aggressive Frame Fusion Rifles in the upcoming Heresy episode. This means that Coriolis Force won’t be the only one of its kind anymore. It would be a great way to expand the available options for all gamers interested in this archetype. However, if one takes a close look at the wording Bungie has used, it seems like the developers are planning to bring a refresh for all of Europa’s weapons, and that includes Coriolis Force as well. If these changes do end up making it the final build, it would mean huge changes for the game. It’s not surprising that Bungie is considering a refresh for Coriolis Force and all Europa weapons, considering the fact that they are all a poor perk pool. These are crucial in making your weapons effective, and gamers feel that the current perks on Europa weapons are pretty underwhelming. A major refresh for these weapons is desperately needed. Destiny 2 must revert a major change in the upcoming Episode All vaulted content needs to come back in the game. (Image via Bungie) Let’s be honest; one of the biggest controversies popped up in Destiny 2 when the Beyond Light expansion was released, and Bungie decided to “vault” the majority of the older content up until the Forsaken expansion. This was done to make the game lighter and improve its state. Gamers weren’t happy at all, and they felt that all the content that they’d paid for being removed was unfair. Some gamers still want everything they’ve lost, and it’s clear that the next update needs to make up for this issue. It might be hard to bring back everything that’s gone missing from the game at once. However, Bungie can kick things off by bringing some destinations and then pushing old campaigns every once in a while, maybe every four to five months. This would allow the game to generate hype and win back all the lost trust from the gaming community. Let’s hope Bungie takes this chance. With that said, are you excited for the next Destiny 2 Episode? Let us know in the comments below. Source link #Destiny #Light #Weapon #Refresh #Players #Fusion #Rifle Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Welsh government won’t give cash to struggling universities Welsh government won’t give cash to struggling universities Getty Images Cardiff University confirmed plans to cut 400 full-time jobs amid a funding shortfall earlier this week There will be no extra cash to help struggling Welsh universities, the Welsh government’s higher education minister has warned. Vikki Howells said it was up to the universities to balance the books. This week Cardiff University announced plans to axe 400 jobs. Ms Howells said she was speaking to the *** government about reforming funding for the sector. The minister told BBC Politics Wales higher education was going through a “challenging” time but this was mostly beyond Welsh government’s control. She said: “There wouldn’t be any additional Welsh government funding available, unless we were looking to cut back from other areas such as the NHS, education, or public services that we all rely on. “We’ve added an additional £10m after the autumn budget to take the funding to £200m.” She said Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor, Wendy Larner, told her she hoped “significantly” fewer than 400 jobs would go. “She’s really hoping to avoid compulsory redundancy, but I would urge all staff to work with their unions,” Ms Howells said. Ms Howells added she was looking at reforming higher education funding with the *** government. The minister for higher education says there will not be any additional Welsh government funding available “We will be taking part in their work to look at how we can reform the higher education sector across the ***, so that we can look at issues such as migration, international students, competition law and crucially also HM Treasury rules, which govern student finance arrangements,” she said. She said she had had a “positive” conversation with *** government higher education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith. “I am determined to put the needs of Wales first in the work I do,” Ms Howells said. BBC Politics Wales is on BBC One Wales on Sunday 2 February at 10:00 GMT Source link #Welsh #government #wont #give #cash #struggling #universities Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Monett district promotes high school principal to assistant superintendent Monett district promotes high school principal to assistant superintendent Isaac Sooter, a longtime high school principal, has been named assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in Monett. Sooter has been principal of Monett High School since mid-2023. He was previously the high school principal in Reeds Spring and Marshfield. “Serving as the principal of Monett High School has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career, and I am deeply grateful for the support, collaboration, and dedication of our students, staff, and community,” said Sooter, in the release. Isaac Sooter “This new role is an opportunity to continue serving Monett schools in a broader capacity, and I am committed to building on the strong foundation that has been established. I look forward to working alongside our incredible team to ensure Monett schools continues to thrive and provides a student-focused, future-driven education.” He will step into the role July 1, following the retirement of Melissa Huff. “Dr. Sooter has demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication to student learning during his time in Monett,” said Mark Drake, the superintendent, in a news release. “We are excited to have him step into this role and continue serving our students, staff, and community. More: In Missouri, rural districts with national forest land grapple with federal funding loss In 2011, Sooter was named New Principal of the Year in southwest Missouri by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals. His longest administrative stint was in Reeds Spring, where he was assistant principal for three years and principal for nine years. Sooter has a bachelor’s degree from Evangel University, a master’s degree from William Woods University, a specialist degree and a doctorate from Lindenwood University. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Monett promotes principal Isaac Sooter to assistant superintendent Source link #Monett #district #promotes #high #school #principal #assistant #superintendent Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

China threatens countermeasures to combat Trump tariffs – Financial Times China threatens countermeasures to combat Trump tariffs – Financial Times China threatens countermeasures to combat Trump tariffs Financial TimesView Full Coverage on Google News Source link #China #threatens #countermeasures #combat #Trump #tariffs #Financial #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Homes and shops without water overnight after mains burst in Glasgow Homes and shops without water overnight after mains burst in Glasgow Homes and shops have been left without water overnight while some streets remain flooded after a water mains burst in the south side of Glasgow. Scottish Water confirmed properties in the G41, G42, G43 and G44 postcode areas faced disruption to their water supply following the burst, which happened at about 16:30 on Saturday. The areas affected include Shawlands and Strathbungo. Police Scotland said Pollokshaws Road was closed from Albert Drive to Cumberland Street, while there was also flooding on Cumberland Street, Eglington Street and Maxwell Drive. Scottish Water said engineers and emergency teams had worked through the night and expected to have repairs completed by 10:00 on Sunday. Road users and the public were advised to avoid the area. A statement by Scottish Water said: “Complex valve operations have been completed to re-route water through different parts of our network and bring all customers back into supply although, this may be at reduced pressure. “Further network adjustments are being carried out in an effort to boot this pressure and restore normal water supplies. “Customers who requested bottled water will be contacted to ensure their supplies are restored.” The company also warned customers that while repair work continued, “you may continue to experience low pressure, and/or discoloured water. “If you experience discoloured water, please run your cold kitchen tap only at half pressure until the water runs clear.” Source link #Homes #shops #water #overnight #mains #burst #Glasgow Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Miracle On The Hudson’ Pilot Has Just 3 Words For Trump’s DC ****** Response ‘Miracle On The Hudson’ Pilot Has Just 3 Words For Trump’s DC ****** Response Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, the now-retired captain known for his heroic role in the “Miracle on the Hudson,” let out a deep sigh when asked Thursday about President Donald Trump’s remarks on the midair collision that left 67 people dead in Washington, D.C. this week. “Not surprised. Disgusted,” said Sullenberger after several seconds of silence when MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell asked about the president and cautioned that he didn’t want to draw the pilot into “politics.” The reaction from Sullenberger — who safely landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River in 2009, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard — comes after Trump blamed diversity hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration for the deadly collision. Sullenberger, in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post encouraging voter participation in the midterm elections, noted that he was a registered Republican “for the first 85 percent of my adult life” but added that he’s “always voted as an American.” He’d go on to endorse Joe Biden in his 2020 campaign and, in an ad with VoteVets and the anti-Trump GOP group The Lincoln Project later that year, declared that Trump “failed us so miserably” in the “highest calling of leadership.” “Now it’s up to us, to overcome his attacks on our very democracy, knowing nearly a quarter million Americans won’t have a voice, casualties of his lethal lies and incompetence,” he said in the 2020 ad. He’d later go on to serve as the U.S. representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization under Biden. On Thursday, Sullenberger told O’Donnell he was “immediately devastated” when he heard the “shocking” news of the D.C. ******. “It hit me deeply, intensely. The loss of those lives, those precious lives,” he said. “I can imagine the families of those who are lost and the grief they must feel and they’re looking for some reason, some explanation that has yet, is not available to us, one day will be.” Sullenberger, who referred to National Transportation Safety Board the “gold standard” of accident investigation, said the probe is a “long process” as he noted that it took 16 months for the final report on the 2009 ****** to be written. He added that the NTSB investigation may require listening to a cockpit voice recorder, looking at a digital flight data recorder or “old-fashioned detective work.” “But they will follow the truth, they will follow the facts wherever they lead,” he said of the NTSB. “And we can have great confidence that the results will be found, they will be made public and as we always do after such a tragedy, the entire industry will learn these terrible lessons that we learned at great cost.” Related… Source link #Miracle #Hudson #Pilot #Words #Trumps #****** #Response Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Trump Signs Orders Imposing Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China – The New York Times Trump Signs Orders Imposing Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China – The New York Times Trump Signs Orders Imposing Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China The New York TimesFebruary 1, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news CNNFact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Imposes Tariffs on Imports from Canada, Mexico and China The White House Source link #Trump #Signs #Orders #Imposing #Tariffs #Canada #Mexico #China #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Ireland ‘should have had parallel inquiry’ Ireland ‘should have had parallel inquiry’ A former Irish government minister is concerned vital evidence may not be seen by the public inquiry into the 1998 Omagh bomb. Charlie Flanagan believes Ireland should have established its own parallel inquiry. Twenty-nine people, including a woman expecting twins, were killed in the Real IRA attack, which was carried out from the Irish Republic. Dublin has promised to help the *** inquiry into whether the bombing could have been prevented. It has pledged that, if required, it will pass legislation to address co-operation. But that has yet to occur and relatives of some of those murdered remain concerned. The public inquiry, which opened on Tuesday, seeks to determine whether the bombing could have been prevented by *** state authorities. The inquiry cannot compel anyone from outside the *** to give evidence, such as current or former members of An Garda Siochána (Irish police). The intelligence picture – north and south – is a key area for the inquiry. Mr Flanagan, formerly Ireland’s minister for justice and minster for foreign affairs, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that a parallel inquiry would have been “imminently desirable”. He added: “I accept fully what (Taoiseach) Micháel Martin and (Tánaiste) Simon Harris have consistently said about the Irish government co-operating fully with the inquiry. “But I think an opportunity has been lost by not having a parallel process.” Mr Flanagan said an Irish inquiry could have worked “a tandem” with the one in the ***. “My fear now is that there will be gaps. “While the Irish government says it will not be found wanting, my concern is we will not be able to square that circle on compellability and that vital evidence may not be forthcoming,” Mr Flanagan said. Source link #Ireland #parallel #inquiry Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Why Digital Turbine (APPS) Is Skyrocketing So Far In 2025 Why Digital Turbine (APPS) Is Skyrocketing So Far In 2025 We recently published an article titled Why These 15 AI Stocks Are Skyrocketing So Far In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Digital Turbine (NASDAQ:APPS) stands against the other AI stocks. AI stocks were hit hard by DeepSeek’s announcement, but it seems to be that DeepSeek is only causing more optimism in the long run for many AI companies. This is because cost has been a big problem for AI companies, and if they can make progress on this front, it will let AI companies make much more powerful models with the existing hardware they have. DeepSeek is open source, so most AI companies can learn from its efficiency and integrate it. Moreover, companies and VCs are still willing to put money into AI companies and are doubling down on their bets. This likely means that AI companies will be able to make even more progress in the long run. The real action has been spreading into many AI companies beyond the familiar names. Plus, we’re seeing the rise of agentic AI. These stocks crushed the market last year, and despite the DeepSeek catalyst this year, they are still doing well. Methodology For this article, I screened the top-performing AI stocks year-to-date. Stocks that I have covered recently will be excluded from this list. I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here). A row of mobile phones, highlighting the company’s mobile growth platform. Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q3 2024: 19 Digital Turbine (NASDAQ:APPS) is a mobile growth platform. It has pre-installed app services and content monetization for device manufacturers and carriers. It also has products for advertisers and publishers. The stock has gained significantly in 2025 due to its announcement of a program that aims to achieve over $25 million in annual cost savings. This includes a focus on alternative app ecosystems through its acquisition of ONE Store International. Digital Turbine will be able to diversify its revenue and reduce its reliance on legacy products. It has also partnered up with Xiaomi. In Q2 FY2025 (ended September 30, 2024), Digital Turbine reported $118.7 million in sales, down 17% year-over-year. It also reported a $25 million GAAP net loss, though this was an improvement over the $161.5 million loss in the same quarter the previous year. Non-GAAP adjusted net income came in at $5 million. Story Continues Adjusted EBITDA was $15.3 million, down 45% year-over-year but up 6% sequentially. It had a cash balance of $32 million as of the quarter’s end. The consensus price target of $2.38 implies 5.4% downside risk. APPS stock is up 42.6% year-over-year. Overall APPS ranks 11th on our list of the AI stocks that are skyrocketing so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of APPS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than APPS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: Why These 15 Stocks Are Skyrocketing in 2025 and 10 Hottest Smid-Cap Stocks So Far In 2025 Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Source link #Digital #Turbine #APPS #Skyrocketing Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Mavs approached one other team about Luka Doncic trade? – Hoops Hype Mavs approached one other team about Luka Doncic trade? – Hoops Hype Mavs approached one other team about Luka Doncic trade? Hoops HypeNBA world reacts to shocking trade that sends Luka Dončić to the Lakers NBA.ComLeBron James responds to reports of rift with Anthony Davis: ‘You a fkn lie’ FOX SportsLuka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade the first in history involving two reigning All-NBA players Hoops Hype Source link #Mavs #approached #team #Luka #Doncic #trade #Hoops #Hype Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Woman dies in *********** flood as thousands flee homes Woman dies in *********** flood as thousands flee homes A woman has died in Australia and thousands have been forced to flee their homes after torrential rainfall has caused flooding in northern Queensland. Authorities are warning that flood waters could rise up to second-storey level in a situation they described as dangerous and life-threatening. More than 700mm (26in) of rain has fallen on parts of the North Queensland in the past 24 hours and there is concern that “record rainfalls” will continue into Monday, according to Queensland State Premier David Crisafulli. Meteorologists say these could be the worst floods in the region in more than 60 years. Crisafulli said conditions were unlike anything northern Queensland had experienced “for a long time”. “It’s not just the intensity, but it’s also the longevity of it,” he told *********** broadcaster ABC. Thousands of people living in the city of Townsville were told to leave their homes by midday on Sunday while authorities brought in 100,000 sandbags to block floodwater. Parts of the road between Townsville and the tourist centre of Cairns have been cut off, hampering efforts to get rescue teams and sandbags to the area. Source link #Woman #dies #*********** #flood #thousands #flee #homes Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Springbok teaches Aussie Manu valuable lesson in Japan Springbok teaches Aussie Manu valuable lesson in Japan Two-time NRL premiership winner Joseph Manu didn’t have to look far for inspiration in terms of what he needs to do if he is to master his new code. Manu’s sixth game of rugby union ended in defeat when Verblitz lost to the Yokohama Eagles in Japan Rugby League One on Saturday. The Eagles were led to their 24-20 victory by Springbok midfielder Jesse Kriel, who gave his novice opponent a lesson, scoring one try and playing a hand in setting up two others. Although Verblitz have been boosted by the arrival of Michael Hooper, the game came too soon for the ex-Wallaby skipper to be involved, as he resumes his career after a two-year break. Verblitz are eighth on the 12-team table. Saitama Wild Knights are unbeaten and warmed up for next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash against Brave Lupus by overrunning Samu Kerevi’s Urayasu D-Rocks, 53-26. Despite Kerevi providing some touches of class in his first appearance since the second round, D-Rocks were no match for last year’s beaten finalists and remain winless. Brave Lupus, who have lost just once in their past 15 matches, prepared for the grand final rematch with a comfortable 35-12 win over Mie Heat on Sunday. All ****** Brodie Retallick scored a try, but also received a yellow card, in the Kobe Steelers’ 44-15 stroll against ****** Rams Tokyo. The Kobe skipper went off for a professional foul, but later burst through some flimsy defence on a 30-metre run for his fifth try of the season. Dave Rennie’s men are sixth after back-to-back wins, but level on points with Shizuoka Blue Revs, who suffered a surprise 33-14 defeat at home to Tokyo Sungoliath. The visitors scored the final three tries, including one by ex-Queensland Reds second-rower Harry Hockings, after former NRL player Valynce Te Whari had opened the scoring for the Blue Revs. The one-time Dolphins winger ran 95 metres for the fourth try of his maiden Japanese season. Despite a poor goal-kicking display in the absence of Wallaby Bernard Foley, Spears Funabashi Tokyo-Bay were untroubled by Sagamihara Dynaboars, winning 40-12 to move into the top four. Source link #Springbok #teaches #Aussie #Manu #valuable #lesson #Japan Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Inside the grueling effort to recover the bodies of all 67 victims from the mangled wreckage of DC plane collision Inside the grueling effort to recover the bodies of all 67 victims from the mangled wreckage of DC plane collision Families were waiting at the airport to welcome home loved ones when their plane, just minutes from landing, collided midair with a military helicopter in a fiery explosion, plunging 67 lives full of promise into the cold, inky waters of the Potomac River. The frantic search for survivors started under the cloak of icy darkness. By morning, the mission had turned into a slow and somber search for the remains of everyone on board. At least 42 bodies, 38 of which have been identified, have been recovered from the murky depths of the Potomac, with near-zero visibility in the frigid water, sharp pieces of debris, and the mangled metal of the wreckage hampering the search effort. Amid heated political speculation on the cause of Wednesday night’s collision and grief-stricken stories from heartbroken loved ones, hundreds of rescue personnel continue to search relentlessly for the remains of every person lost. “They’re getting home and they’re crashing and falling into really deep sleeps, and then getting up and going back to work and doing it again,” David Hoagland, president of the Washington, DC, Firefighters Local 36, told CNN. “However long it takes, they’re going to be there.” Days later, dangerous and difficult conditions persist, hindering the careful and deliberate efforts of crews working to recover the bodies of victims trapped deep within the wreckage, beyond the reach of divers. The recovery effort has been extensive, involving nearly every dive team in the area, including the US Coast Guard, the FBI’s Washington Field Office dive team, DC Fire and the International Association of Fire Fighters. Here’s how their efforts are unfolding. Heavier equipment needed to remove remaining bodies The mangled wreckage in the Potomac River has made the recovery effort especially difficult for dive teams, who have struggled to access parts of the plane’s fuselage. These sections will need to be removed to retrieve the remaining bodies, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said. “Things have kind of slowed down this weekend because they’re waiting on a lot more heavier salvage equipment that’s going to be showing up sometime in the next 24 to 36 hours,” Hoagland told CNN on Saturday. “They’re going to be setting up for a pretty complicated operation where they’re going to be removing plane parts from the water on Monday.” The wreckage of the American Airlines jet broke apart, according to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. The fuselage was found upside down in three sections in the river, which is about 8 feet deep in some areas. Divers have been using specialized underwater hydraulic rescue tools capable of cutting metal to try to recover as many victims as possible, Hoagland said. Asked if authorities are confident about the location of the remaining bodies, Donnelly said, “We think we know where they are,” but “we won’t know until we’re done.” “I believe that when we remove the aircraft, that that will help us resolve this number,” he said. “If it doesn’t, we will continue the search.” First responders salute as two ambulances carrying the flag-draped bodies of service members killed in a midair collision depart a temporary emergency disaster site at Buzzard Point in Washington, DC, on Friday. – Andrew Harnik/Getty Images A US Coast Guard boat equipped with a crane was used on Friday to hold the door of the US Army ****** Hawk helicopter, allowing for the retrieval of the bodies of all three service members, followed by the “dignified transfer of their remains,” Hoagland said. The wreckage of the helicopter was located about 300 yards from the plane debris, according to Hoagland. Most of Friday’s recovery operations focused on the ****** Hawk military helicopter involved in the collision. Recovery teams are planning to bring a larger crane to the Potomac River ****** site to help reach victims in a section of the wreckage divers can’t access, a law enforcement source told CNN. The crane, previously used to remove parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after its collapse last March, will be employed to cut and lift pieces of the airplane. This will allow divers to safely recover additional victims who are pinned inside and extremely difficult to access. “With these really large marine salvage cranes and vessels, as you can imagine, these things are not very seaworthy,” Hoagland said. “They can’t move very fast because they’ve got giant cranes on them, so it’s slow sail to get up the bay and then into the river to get up to DC.” Rescue teams are also on the water using technology like sonar scanning to continue their search and deploy divers. Additionally, crews will search sewer lines and conduct aerial operations as dive teams work in targeted areas, according to Donnelly. Dangerous, difficult, and risky conditions When a direct line to Reagan National Airport rang that Wednesday night, Hoagland said Local 36 first responders expected a routine report of a flight in distress. Instead, they heard: “******! ******! ******!” he recalled. As union members rushed to a pier to board a fireboat, burning debris rained down over the Potomac. First responders arrived to find wreckage submerged in the shallow water and almost immediately started finding victims, Hoagland said. Some passengers were still strapped to their seats, but removing them proved difficult as sharp pieces of debris tore the wetsuits worn by first responders. “They had a lot working against them. They had the current in the river. They had jet fuel all over in the water with them. They had debris. They had ice,” Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, told CNN on Thursday. “Like I said, the swift current was a challenge, searching the fuselage – there’s a lot of sharp objects in the cockpit – so it was a very difficult and risky and dangerous rescue attempt.” At one point, there were close to 50 divers in the water responding to the incident, he said. “One thing that was a blessing was the civilian dinner boat in DC did a trip up the Potomac yesterday, which actually broke the ice that allowed the smaller boats to respond to the actual ****** last night,” he said. On the night of the ******, emergency crews battled icy, choppy waters, Chief Donnelly said. “The water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in. If you can imagine, the river is a large ****** spot at night with no lights on it, except for a few buoy lights,” Donnelly said. DC Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly Sr. speaks during a news conference at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday. – Al Drago/Getty Images On Friday, search crews continued to exercise caution as weather conditions posed challenges for recovery efforts, Donnelly said. Divers faced intense mud and near-zero visibility, despite the aircraft resting in only a few feet of water. “That’s actually part of the challenge, is that you’re half swimming, half walking while you’re working. This is very strenuous for our divers or rescue swimmers that are in the water,” Donnelly said, referring to the silt at the bottom. On Saturday, calmer weather — with sunshine and fewer winds — helped with visibility, but ice and debris remained critical hazards, Hoagland told CNN. He added that officials are still in the process of mapping the debris field. “Now that it’s a recovery operation, it’s much more important to preserve evidence so they can investigate the ******, so they’re going to go about it systematically, methodically and intentionally,” Hoagland said. “They’re doing a good job of cataloging and mapping everything by sonar and figuring out where everything is, but it’s a tedious, long effort.” With the operation shifted from a rescue to a recovery mission, responders are adopting an approach that prioritizes safety, according to Kelly. For instance, responders will not perform dangerous night dives. An emergency response team with DC Fire and EMS and DC Police load diving equipment on a boat to continue working the scene of airplane wreckage in the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday, – Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Mental health counselors available to assist first responders struggling First responders and emergency personnel, who have been working around the clock for days — first desperately searching for survivors, and now tragically recovering remains — are exhausted, Hoagland said, but remain resilient. “Everybody just really wants to see things through,” Hoagland told CNN. “We’re looking out for each other, and everybody’s getting breaks.” Recovering the bodies and remains of the victims, especially the children, has been both harrowing and exhausting, Hoagland said, a process that will likely leave a lasting emotional and mental impact on first responders. To support first responders dealing with the trauma of what they’re witnessing on the scene, the International Association of Fire Fighters has deployed teams of former firefighters trained as mental health counselors to assist with ongoing recovery efforts. “If somebody’s really just having a tough time and they need to hit the pause button, they can talk to them and help them decompress and process all the trauma they might be experiencing,” Hoagland said. Gravelly Point Park, a popular spot for plane watchers, has now become the site of a makeshift morgue. When a body is located and successfully retrieved, Hoagland said, it is placed in a body bag and onto a boat. “This is a tragedy,” Donnelly said. “We are in a business where we deal with the loss of life or people being hurt and one person is bad, and it’s hard — and 67 is a lot.” NTSB to start investigation after recovery mission is complete The US Coast Guard investigates aircraft wreckage on the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on Thursday. – Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/US Coast Guard/Getty Images The National Transportation Safety Board will allow first responders to complete their work before beginning its investigation into the deadly collision, the board’s chair said on Thursday. NTSB Chair Jennifer L. Homendy described it as an “all hands on deck event.” The NTSB had a full crew on the scene on Thursday, with about 50 people at the ****** site and additional personnel ready to assist at the agency’s headquarters and labs across the country. But first, “we allow the responders to do their important safety mission, which in this case was search and rescue and recovery,” she said. “We stand back to allow them to do their important safety mission.” Homendy emphasized that the NTSB will “leave no stone unturned in this investigation” and that it would be a “whole of government effort.” CNN’s Ray Sanchez, Chelsea Bailey, Gabe Cohen, Emma Tucker, Rashard Rose, Elise Hammond and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Source link #grueling #effort #recover #bodies #victims #mangled #wreckage #plane #collision Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Book Review: ‘Something Rotten,’ by Andrew Lipstein Book Review: ‘Something Rotten,’ by Andrew Lipstein Things are complicated further when Mikkel, immoral as he may be, reports a story that exposes a conservative politician as a pedophile. What does this mean for Reuben, who’s developing a view of virtue and manhood derived from his admiration for a man seemingly characterized by his “depravity”? Reuben ruminates on this deeply, even undertaking an audio project in which he purports to interview Mikkel on “cross-cultural ideas of masculinity.” Decoding Reuben’s (or Lipstein’s) thesis on this topic would take a term paper the likes of which this English major thankfully left behind years ago, but attempting to untangle its threads is part of the fun of the novel: Reuben, like the privileged and morally unmoored men of Lipstein’s previous two novels, “Last Resort” and “The Vegan,” is exhaustingly self-involved, and endlessly self-analyzing. If his revelations sometimes feel a little glib (“the right and the left were just counterweights to each other in the same tired, morally facile system”), Reuben’s plight feels urgent all the same. The real fun of “Something Rotten,” though, lies in the concentric deceptions that Reuben and Cecilie both uncover and perpetrate. At heart, this is a book about deceit, about double-crossing and discovering the difference between abstract and tangible truth. I’ll not spoil the vertiginous plot turns, but suffice it to say, by the time Reuben declares, “I’m just going to be true to myself,” you’re as convinced that this is as solid a credo for living a virtuous life as you are when Polonius presents the idea to Laertes and tells him to give it a whirl. The name Reuben means “behold, a son,” and “Something Rotten” asks us to behold many of them, each with a complicated father or father figure of his own. Mikkel is a deadbeat dad of sorts to Jonas and Reuben, but Reuben’s own biological father, absent and unknown, looms large over the proceedings, as do the fathers of Cecilie and her Danish friends. The jacket of the book depicts a close-up photo of a squalling baby. This could be Reuben and Cecilie’s son, the focus of his parents’ hopes and anxieties. It could be an allusion to Reuben, after Mikkel gets him to shave his head. Or it could be a proxy for any of us, unthinking and needy and crying out over some minor need unmet, blissfully unaware of all the pain and complication to come. SOMETHING ROTTEN | By Andrew Lipstein | Farrar, Straus & Giroux | 340 pp. | $28 Source link #Book #Review #Rotten #Andrew #Lipstein Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Russia, Seeking to Salvage Military Bases, Goes Hat in Hand to Syria Russia, Seeking to Salvage Military Bases, Goes Hat in Hand to Syria The time had come to bend the knee — or at least bend to reality. A delegation of Russian diplomats arrived last Tuesday in a caravan of white SUVs for a summit in Damascus and an unenviable assignment: lay the groundwork for Russia to keep its military bases in Syria, less than two months after rebels had toppled Moscow’s preferred strongman, Bashar al-Assad. To do so, the delegation would need to win over a people the Russian military had bombed ruthlessly, helping Mr. al-Assad, for years. Awaiting them was Ahmed al-Shara, who had survived a decade of Russian airstrikes to emerge as Syria’s new interim leader. He stood in the presidential palace and faced the Kremlin’s envoys for a long-awaited reckoning. The talks that ensued, the first between Moscow and Damascus since the end of the nearly 14-year war, ended unresolved. But they marked the beginning of potentially drawn-out negotiations about what role, if any, Russia will play in postwar Syria, having lost its bid to keep Mr. al-Assad in power. The meeting demonstrated the kind of geopolitical horse-trading that has begun in the aftermath of Syria’s civil war — with the potential to remake the Middle East. World powers are jockeying for influence, as Syria’s fledgling leadership tries to win legitimacy, security and aid through disciplined and stony-eyed realpolitik. “I think the general air in Damascus is, ‘We Syrians don’t need a fight with anyone at this point, including our former enemies,’” said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “So de-escalation and pragmatism are the names of the game.” Still, it was the Russians who were asked to make concessions. Mr. al-Shara emphasized that any new relations with Moscow “must address past mistakes,” and requested compensation for the destruction Russia caused, his government said in a statement. He also demanded that Moscow hand over Mr. al-Assad and his top associates to face justice, according to two officials in the caretaker government with knowledge of the meeting. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, a former spy who prizes loyalty, almost certainly would not agree. Asked the day after the meeting whether Mr. al-Shara requested Mr. al-Assad’s extradition, Mr. Putin’s spokesman declined to comment. Mr. al-Shara otherwise appeared surprisingly amenable to cooperating with Russia, as opposed to Iran, Mr. al-Assad’s other key ally, which the new authorities in Damascus have said is no longer welcome in Syria. In an interview with the BBC in late December, Mr. al-Shara cited Syria’s “longstanding strategic relations” with Moscow and said he was “not in a hurry to get Russia out of Syria, as some people imagine.” He noted, in a separate interview with Saudi state television, that Russia has supplied the Syrian military’s arms for decades and provides experts who run Syria’s power plants. The implication: Damascus may need Russia in the future. “They are absolutely desperate for legitimacy and international support,” Mr. Lister said of Syria’s new leaders. “Causing any big international rupture would be the worst thing they could consider doing.” Beyond possible deliveries of oil and grain from Russia, what Mr. al-Shara needs is for Moscow not to play spoiler in his effort to reconstruct Syria and build a government, said Hanna Notte, an analyst at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. “This is a country that is now, politically speaking, being built from the ashes,” she said. She pointed out that the Russians are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and could impede Mr. al-Shara in many ways, should they decide not to be “politically benevolent.” Mr. al-Shara himself has noted Russia is considered the world’s second-most powerful military, and said his newly formed government isn’t in a position to oppose major powers. At the meeting, where Russia was represented by its top Middle East envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, neither side appeared to be in a rush to make any big decisions. What the rest of the world, and in particular the United States, European Union, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, demand from Syria’s new leaders could also influence Russia’s fate. In recent weeks, a flurry of diplomats from those and other countries have arrived in Damascus to meet Mr. al-Shara. Russia wants to keep its naval base on the Mediterranean at Tartus, which dates to the Soviet era. It also seeks to maintain the Hmeimim Air Base outside Latakia, which Moscow has used as a supply and stopover hub for expeditionary operations in Africa. So far, the new Syrian authorities haven’t said no, and Russia has stayed put, despite moving materiel off the bases. Syria’s pragmatic rhetoric has been reciprocated in Moscow. After years of defending the Assad regime on the battlefield and at the United Nations, Russian leaders have spun the loss of their longtime ally as a win and extended an olive branch to the new authorities, whom Moscow had long denounced as terrorists. “I would call it improvised opportunism,” Ms. Notte said. “It is a pretty remarkable pivot.” Mr. Putin, speaking in December at his annual news conference, said Russia had won, rather than lost, in Syria, because Moscow had prevented the country from becoming a terrorist enclave. He said he had yet to even see Mr. al-Assad, though he committed to meeting him at some point. It is unclear if they have met since. The Russian leader offered the use of Russia’s bases to deliver humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, who just weeks before had been weathering Russian airstrikes. He would keep Russia’s presence there, he said, only if Moscow’s interests coincided with those of the political forces that had taken control. At the United Nations, the Russian ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, said in January that those forces were “behaving quite competently.” The friendship between Russia and Syria, he emphasized, is “not connected to any regime.” The navy suit and tie Mr. al-Shara wore to the meeting with the Russian envoys belied his past as an Al Qaeda fighter turned Islamist rebel leader. So did his nonconfrontational rhetoric in the run-up to the talks, and his professed willingness to make nice with former foes, including the United States. Mr. al-Shara welcomed a top State Department delegation in December, despite having once spent time in Iraq imprisoned by U.S. forces and having been designated a terrorist by the U.S. government with a $10 million bounty. (Washington withdrew the bounty after the talks.) Mr. al-Shara needs sanctions relief from the United States, as well as Washington’s support on the Security Council, for Syria to begin an economic recovery and access international aid. The United States also still has troops on the ground, backing Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria that Mr. al-Shara doesn’t control. He has stated his desire to keep the country whole, which would include that territory, where Washington backed local forces to destroy the Islamic State. European officials have visited Damascus and offered a path to sanctions relief but have made clear that they would disapprove of the retention of a Russian military presence in the country. How the Trump administration will approach the question is unclear. In December, as the Assad regime fell, Mr. Trump said on social media that the war in Syria was “not our fight” and that the United States should have nothing to do with it. The question of Mr. al-Assad’s fate adds to the delicate nature of the negotiations between Moscow and Damascus. Mr. al-Shara is still trying to establish legitimacy among the Syrian people and disparate Syrian groups, and striking a deal with Russia while it is harboring the strongman who killed so many Syrians could undercut his standing. That is one reason delaying any commitment to Moscow could make sense. Mr. Lister described the request for Mr. al-Assad as a maximalist opening demand, characteristic of early-stage negotiations. “It hits the mark in terms of laying down the principle: ‘We may be willing to be pragmatic today, but we have not forgotten history,’” Mr. Lister said. “Russia’s complicity in all manner of war crimes in Syria is not something Syrians will be forgetting anytime soon.” Inside Syria, Mr. al-Shara is still pursuing remnants of the Assad regime’s force to consolidate control; Moscow could make that task more difficult. Though the loss of the bases in Syria would dent Russia’s power in the region, Moscow potentially has other options. The Kremlin’s backing of the military ruler of eastern Libya could offer an alternative location for a Russian naval base on the Mediterranean. Already, Russia has been using Libyan air bases for flights. The status of the Russian bases in Syria may not be resolved soon. “I think that both sides benefit from delaying the negotiations on the fate of the bases,” said Anton Mardasov, a Russian military affairs expert focusing on Syria. “Moscow can thus preserve its image, since it has already managed to hold out as long as possible and not leave immediately after the fall of the Assad regime, and Damascus can for now negotiate the lifting of sanctions” Source link #Russia #Seeking #Salvage #Military #Bases #Hat #Hand #Syria Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

3 Romance Novels We Recommend 3 Romance Novels We Recommend What are three popular tropes that romance novels use? Jennifer Harlan, a New York Times books editor, recommends three romance novels that show off those tropes at their best. Source link #Romance #Novels #Recommend Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Horoscope for Sunday, February 2, 2025 – Chicago Sun-Times Horoscope for Sunday, February 2, 2025 – Chicago Sun-Times Horoscope for Sunday, February 2, 2025 Chicago Sun-TimesHoroscopes Today, February 2, 2025 USA TODAYYour Daily Singles Horoscope for February 02, 2025 Yahoo LifeLove and Relationship Horoscope for February 2, 2025 Hindustan TimesDaily Horoscope: Today’s astrological predictions for February 2, 2025 for each zodiac sign The Times of India Source link #Horoscope #Sunday #February #Chicago #SunTimes Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

WA police urgently searching for Dwayne Napoli who removed his electronic monitoring device in Como WA police urgently searching for Dwayne Napoli who removed his electronic monitoring device in Como Police are urgently searching for Dwayne Napoli who removed his electronic monitoring device in Como on Sunday. Detectives from the rapid apprehension squad are urgently seeking the public’s assistance to find 21-year-old Dwayne Napoli, who removed his electronic monitoring device. He is described as 170cm tall, dark skin, medium build, with dark brown long curly/shaggy hair and brown eyes. He was last spotted wearing a blue shirt, ****** pants and carrying a ****** backpack. If sighted, members of the public are advised not to approach Mr Napoli but to call police immediately on 131 444 and quote CADtask 093057. Anyone with information relating to his recent movements or whereabouts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.crimestopperswa.com.au People reporting information may remain anonymous if they wish. Camera IconDetectives from the Rapid Apprehension Squad are urgently seeking the public’s assistance for information relating to the whereabouts of 21-year-old Dwayne Napoli. Credit: WA Police/Supplied Source link #police #urgently #searching #Dwayne #Napoli #removed #electronic #monitoring #device #Como Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

N.L. farmers focus on mental health and sustainability at industry event N.L. farmers focus on mental health and sustainability at industry event Chad Bouma is a psychological support manager for the ********* Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing. He says “we can do better” in terms of mental health supports for farmers, but programs are rolling out. Chad Bouma is a psychological support manager for the ********* Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing. (********* Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing) The Agriculture Industry Symposium heard about just how difficult it can be as a farmer in Newfoundland and Labrador, and how isolation plays heavy on the mental health of those who do the job. The event, held at the Delta Hotel in St. John’s, Chad Bouma is a psychological support manager for the ********* Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing, a non-profit organization that researches mental health and provides support programming for those working in the industry. “Farmers represent a very unique group of industry people because a lot of farmers obviously are rural,” he said in an interview on CBC Radio’s On The Go. “Even just the access to services is one of the biggest barriers that they face.” Bouma said issues that arose during the symposium range from the fear of potential U.S. tariffs on the agricultural industry, to the sense of isolation that many feel working in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. That isolation naturally presents barriers to mental health care, Bouma said. The ********* Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing has partnered with the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture (NLFA) to improve access to mental health resources, Bouma said. A program called AgriCare provides 24/7 over-the-phone access to crisis support and agriculturally-informed counselling. It also provides resources for physical and financial wellbeing. Farmers are often seen as “do-it-all people” who pick themselves up by their bootstraps, said Bouma, so many are hesitant to ask for help. Andy Wright has run Wright’s Family Farms in Pasadena for the past six years. Andy Wright is the vice-president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture and runs Wright’s Family Farm in Pasadena. (Lindsay Bird/CBC) Farming is not just an industry to its workers, but a lifestyle, he said. “They don’t know how to ask for help because they don’t even know what they’re recognizing or what they’re experiencing,” Bouma said. NLFA vice-president Andy Wright said mental health is a “unique challenge” in agriculture. He’s said he’s proud that the tide is starting to turn for the better. ‘Cultivating tomorrow’ The theme of this year’s symposium is around “Cultivating Tomorrow: Regeneration and Resilience.” Wright says he’s optimistic about that. “There’s a lot of opportunity here if we learn to look after what we have,” he said. Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s farmer Anita Walsh, who owns Windy Heights Farm, said now is a perfect time for the province to become self-sustaining in its agriculture. “I think we need to get back on the bandwagon and do what we should be doing for us,” Walsh said. Walsh says the province’s farmers can shift toward a more sustainable mindset, and “use the resources that we have, and then build what we don’t have in order to be able to grow [crops] hopefully year-round.” The mandate of the NLFA is “farmers helping farmers,” said Wright. “The people you associate with are so heartwarming and beautiful.” Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page. Source link #N.L #farmers #focus #mental #health #sustainability #industry #event Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lakers trade Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic in blockbuster with Mavericks – The Washington Post Lakers trade Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic in blockbuster with Mavericks – The Washington Post Lakers trade Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic in blockbuster with Mavericks The Washington PostLuka Doncic trade: What factors led to Lakers and Mavericks making the most shocking deal in NBA history? CBS SportsNBA world reacts to shocking trade that sends Luka Dončić to the Lakers NBA.ComIn Luka Dončić, Lakers land the future ‘alpha’ they didn’t believe they had The AthleticLuka Dončić to the Lakers: How the NBA All-Star Draft predicted another shocking trade Yahoo Sports Source link #Lakers #trade #Anthony #Davis #Luka #Doncic #blockbuster #Mavericks #Washington #Post Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

West Coast Eagles draftee Bo Allan firms for round one debut as Andrew McQualter says spots up for grabs West Coast Eagles draftee Bo Allan firms for round one debut as Andrew McQualter says spots up for grabs Prized West Coast draftee Bo Allan is being lauded for an impressive pre-season and is firming for a debut in the Eagles’ round one clash with Gold Coast. Source link #West #Coast #Eagles #draftee #Allan #firms #debut #Andrew #McQualter #spots #grabs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Facial recognition in policing is getting state-by-state guardrails Facial recognition in policing is getting state-by-state guardrails Michigan resident Robert Williams was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit because a facial recognition system incorrectly suggested that he was the suspect seen in security camera footage. (Courtesy of the ACLU) In January 2020, Farmington Hills, Mich., resident Robert Williams spent 30 hours in police custody after an algorithm listed him as a potential match for a suspect in a robbery committed a year and a half earlier. The city’s police department had sent images from the security footage at the Detroit watch store to Michigan State Police to run through its facial recognition technology. An expired driver’s license photo of Williams in the state police database was a possible match, the technology said. But Williams wasn’t anywhere near the store on the day of the robbery. Williams’ case, now a settled lawsuit which was filed in 2021 by the American Civil Liberties Union and Michigan Law School’s Civil Rights Litigation Initiative, was the first public case of wrongful arrest due to misuse of facial recognition technology (FRT) in policing. But the case does not stand alone. Several more documented cases of false arrests due to FRT have come out of Detroit in the years following Williams’ arrest, and across the country, at least seven people have been falsely arrested after police found a potential match in the depths of FRT databases. Williams’ lawsuit was the catalyst to changing the way the Detroit Police Department may use the technology, and other wrongful arrest suits and cases are being cited in proposed legislation surrounding the technology. Though it can be hard to legislate technology that gains popularity quickly, privacy advocates say unfettered use is a danger to everyone. “When police rely on it, rely on them, people’s lives can be turned upside down,” said Nate Wessler, one of the deputy directors of the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the national ACLU. How are police using FRT? Facial recognition technology has become pervasive in Amercians’ lives, and can be used for small, personal tasks like unlocking a phone, or in larger endeavors, like moving thousands of people through airport security checks. The technology is built to assess a photo, often called a probe image, against a database of public photos. It uses biometric data like eye scans, facial geometry, or distance between features to assess potential matches. FRT software converts the data into a unique string of numbers, called a faceprint, and will present a set of ranked potential matches from its database of images. When police use these systems, they are often uploading images from a security camera or body-worn camera. Popular AI company Clearview, which often contracts with police and has developed a version specifically for investigations, says it hosts more than 50 billion facial images from public websites, including social media, mugshots and driver’s license photos. Katie Kinsey, chief of staff and tech policy counsel for the Policing Project, an organization focused on police accountability, said that she’s almost certain that if you’re an adult in the U.S., your photo is included in Clearview’s database, and is scanned when police are looking for FRT matches. “You’d have to have no presence on the internet to not be in that database,” she said. The use of FRT by federal law enforcement agencies goes back as long as the technology has been around, more than two decades, Kinsey said, but local police departments began using it in the last 10 years. Usually, police are using it in the aftermath of a crime, but civil liberties and privacy concerns come from the idea that the technology could be used to scan faces in real time, with geolocation data attached, she said. Kinsey, who often meets with law enforcement officers to develop best practices and legislative suggestions, said she believes police forces are wary of real-time uses. Boston Police attempted to use it while searching for the suspects in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, for example, but grainy imaging hindered the technology in identifying the culprits, Kinsey said. Wrongful arrests FRT’s role in wrongful arrest cases usually come from instances where police have no leads on a crime other than an image captured by security cameras, said Margaret Kovera, a professor of psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an eyewitness identification expert. Before the technology was available, police needed investigative leads to pin down suspects — physical evidence, like a fingerprint, or an eyewitness statement, perhaps. But with access to security cameras and facial recognition technology, police can quickly conjure up several possible suspects that have a high likelihood of a match. With millions of faces in a database, the pool of potential suspects feels endless. Because the technology finds matches that look so similar to the photo provided, someone choosing a suspect in a photo array can easily make a wrong identification, Kovera said. Without further investigation and traditional police work to connect the match chosen by the technology to a crime scene, the match is useless. “You’re going to up the number of innocent people who are appearing as suspects and you’re going to decrease the number of guilty people,” Kovera said. “And just that act alone is going to mess up the ratio of positive identifications in terms of how many of them are correct and how many of them are mistaken.” In the seven known cases of wrongful arrest following FRT matches, police failed to conduct sufficient followup investigation, which could have prevented the incidents. One man in Louisiana spent a week in jail, despite being 40 pounds lighter than a thief allegedly seen in surveillance footage. A woman who was eight months pregnant in Detroit was held in custody for 11 hours after being wrongfully arrested for carjacking, despite no mention of the carjacker appearing pregnant. When Williams was arrested in January 2020, he was the ninth-best match for the person in the security footage, Michael King, a research scientist with the Florida Institute of Technology’s (FIT) Harris Institute for Assured Information, testified in the ACLU’s lawsuit. And detectives didn’t pursue investigation of his whereabouts before making the arrest. Detroit police used the expired license image in a photo array presented to a loss-prevention contractor who wasn’t present at the scene of the crime. The loss prevention contractor picked Williams as the best match to the security cameras. Without further investigation of Williams’ whereabouts in October 2018, Detroit Police arrested him and kept him in custody for 30 hours. The lawsuit says Williams was only informed after several lines of questioning that he was there because of a match via facial recognition technology. As part of the settlement, which Williams reached in the summer of 2024, Detroit Police had to change the way it uses facial recognition technology. The city now observes some of the strictest uses of the technology across the country, which is legislated on a state-by-state basis. Police can no longer go straight from facial recognition technology results to a witness identification procedure, and they cannot apply for an arrest warrant based solely on the results of a facial recognition technology database, Wessler said. Because there can be errors or biases in the technology, and by its users, guardrails are important to protect against false arrests, he said. Emerging laws At the start of 2025, 15 states — Washington, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine — had some legislation around facial recognition in policing. Some states, like Montana and Utah, require a warrant for police to use facial recognition, while others, like New Jersey, say that defendants must be notified of its use in investigations. At least seven more states are considering laws to clarify how and when the technology can be used — lawmakers in Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and West Virginia have introduced legislation. Like all AI technologies, facial recognition can have baked-in bias, or produced flawed responses. FRT has historically performed worse on groups of ****** faces than on white, and has shown gender differences, too. AI is trained to get better over time, but people seem to think that simply by involving humans in the process, we’ll catch all the problems, Wessler said. But humans actually tend to have something called “automation bias,” Wessler said — “this hardwired tendency of people to believe a computer output’s right as many times as you tell somebody the algorithm might get it wrong.” So when police are relying on facial recognition technology as their primary investigative tool, instead of following older law enforcement practices, it’s “particularly insidious” when it goes wrong, Wessler said. “I often say that this is a technology that is both dangerous when it works and dangerous when it doesn’t work,” Wessler said. Kinsey said in her work with the Policing Project, she’s found bipartisan support for placing guardrails on police using this technology. Over multiple meetings with privacy advocates, police forces, lawmakers and academics, the Policing Project developed a legislative checklist. It outlines how police departments could use the technology with transparency, testing and standards strategies, officer training, procedural limits and disclosure to those accused of crimes. It also says legislation should require vendors to disclose documentation about their FRT systems, and that legislation should provide ways to address violations of their use. The Policing Project also makes similar recommendations for congressional consideration, and while Kinsey said she does believe federal guidelines are important, we may not see federal legislation passed any time soon. In the meantime, we’ll likely continue to see states influencing each other, and recent laws in Maryland and Virginia are an example of a broad approach to regulating FRT across different areas. Kinsey said that in her meetings with police, they assert that the technologies are essential to crime solving. She said she believes there is space for FRT, and other technologies used by police like license plate readers and security cameras, but that doing so unfettered can do a lot of harm. “We think some of them can absolutely provide benefits for solving crime, protecting victims,” Kinsey said. “But using those tools, using them according to rules that are public, transparent and have accountability, are not mutually exclusive goals. They can actually happen in concert.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Source link #Facial #recognition #policing #statebystate #guardrails Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]