Sewage Surveillance Might Be a Powerful Tool to ****** Antimicrobial Resistance, New Study Reveals
Sewage Surveillance Might Be a Powerful Tool to ****** Antimicrobial Resistance, New Study Reveals
Research from Virginia Tech has highlighted sewage surveillance as a powerful tool in addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This method, tested across numerous countries, appears more effective than individual testing, particularly in tracking resistant bacteria in communities facing limited resources. The study was published in Nature Water and it suggest that by monitoring sewage, public health teams can obtain a broad view of AMR presence, helping to reduce the impacts on vulnerable communities.
As per the latest research, antimicrobial resistance, where bacteria survive against standard antibiotic treatments, is increasingly challenging to control. In the US alone, waterborne ********* affect more than 7 million people annually, with costs exceeding $3 billion. Researchers such as Dr. Leigh-Anne Krometis from Virginia Tech’s biological systems engineering department and Dr. Alasdair Cohen and Dr. Julia Gohlke from population health sciences are aiming to implement sewage testing in rural communities, where issues with waterborne ********* are particularly acute.
Addressing Socioeconomic Disparities
As per a report by Science Daily, the study also draws attention to links between AMR and socioeconomic conditions. By analysing samples from 23 countries, researchers found that socioeconomic factors like healthcare accessibility often influence AMR levels. Samples were compared using data from the World Bank, with notable findings that AMR levels tended to be more consistent within individual countries than across different nations.
Future Directions in Public Health Monitoring
Virginia Tech’s Fralin Life Sciences Institute, with support from the National Science Foundation’s Research Traineeship, is advancing research to apply sewage surveillance technology on a larger scale. The program, led by Dr. Marc Edwards, an environmental engineer, aims to improve public health response tools by identifying early indicators of AMR in at-risk communities. Findings from sewage monitoring could offer communities targeted responses to localised outbreaks, potentially mitigating the impact of AMR on the most affected populations.
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Google App for Android Said to Get an AI-Powered Conversational Search Feature
Google App for Android Said to Get an AI-Powered Conversational Search Feature
Google is said to be working on an artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will let users get real-time responses and ask follow-up queries. As per a *****, the new feature is called conversational search, and it is being added to the Google app for Android. With this, when users ask a voice query, the app is said to show real-time responses as well as allow them to ask follow-up questions. The feature was first spotted in the beta version of the Google app.
Google App Said to Get AI-Powered Conversational Search Feature
In an X (formerly known as Twitter) post, tipster AssembleDebug shared a demo video of the feature. Explaining it, he said that the conversational search feature in the Google app can continuously listen to the user’s voice and one can ask follow-up questions directly without needing to tap the mic icon over and over.
Recently, Android Authority also found evidence of the feature in the Google app beta version 5.43.36.28, where several strings of code detailed its functioning. The strings revealed that the conversational search feature is powered by AI, and the mode can be activated by tapping the microphone button. Once activated, it can reportedly continuously listen to the user, waiting for any follow-up queries. This way, the user does not have to tap on the button over and over again.
In the demo video, the tipster was able to activate the feature directly by using the Google Search widget for Android. This likely means that the conversational search can be accessed both by going to the Google app as well as the Search widget. Notably, there is no word on when this feature will be released for beta testers or the global user base.
Separately, a report claimed that Google has released a standalone Gemini app for iOS. It is reportedly similar to the Android app and even comes with the Gemini Live, the two-way voice conversation feature, built into it. However, several users have claimed that the app is not available in their region or country.
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Pravind Jugnauth accepts ‘huge defeat’
Pravind Jugnauth accepts ‘huge defeat’
The prime minister of Mauritius has accepted that his coalition, L’Alliance Lepep, has suffered a “huge defeat” following Sunday’s parliamentary election.
“The population has decided to choose another team,” Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth told journalists on Monday.
Jugnauth was seeking a second five-year term, but his main rival, Navin Ramgoolam, leader of the Alliance of Change coalition, looks set to become the next leader of the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Mauritius is known as one of *******’s most stable democracies but this election was tainted by a phone-tapping scandal with leaked recordings of public figures posted online.
In response, the government issued a social media ban until after the election, although this led to an outcry and the decision was reversed within 24 hours.
Final results are yet to be released but Ramgoolam’s party looks set to win.
“We must respect this choice… and we wish the country and the population good luck,” said Jugnauth.
The vote comes after a historic agreement in which the *** gave up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
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Pokemon TCG Pocket ***** Reveals New Packs, an Expansion and More
Pokemon TCG Pocket ***** Reveals New Packs, an Expansion and More
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s leaks have revealed more details, including a new booster pack arriving next month, an expansion scheduled for January 2025, and more.
A report via CentroLeaks on X (formerly Twitter) suggests that a new Pokemon TCG Pocket Booster pack will potentially arrive on December 16, 2024. The pack is named A1a and will seemingly be a “special booster pack,” similar to the Genetic Apex expansion, which is currently available. The new expansion, A2, will be released on January 29, 2025.
Moreover, the Pokemon TCG Pocket leaks also reveal new card types, event dates, and other information. A new card rarity may arrive soon; the dates haven’t yet been revealed. A Rare Picks event will also be taking place in the Wonder Pick section of the game.
Coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket leaked event dates, the first one is seemingly scheduled for November 21 and could potentially be a ****** Friday event. Another event, Mass Outbreak, will run between November 21 and 28. Then, between November 28 and December 12, a Drop Event will take place. There’s also a store update scheduled for November 30.
From December 5-19, the Bulbasaur & Magnemite Event Part 1 will be hosted along with Bulbasaur & Magnemite in the store. The event’s second part will occur between December 12 and 19. Then, on December 16, the rumoured A1a pack will be released. Lastly, the potential A2 expansion will arrive on December 29. The post explicitly states that these dates are subject to change.
In other news, Pokemon TCG Pocket has already crossed 30 million downloads, earning over $12 million within the first four days. What are your thoughts on the Pokemon TCG Pocket leaks? Let us know in the comments or our new community forum!
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NetApp boosts AFF, StorageGrid and E-series hardware with 60TB drives
NetApp boosts AFF, StorageGrid and E-series hardware with 60TB drives
NetApp has upgraded its AFF A- and C-series flash storage arrays while also boosting capacity and performance in StorageGrid object storage and E-series storage area networks (SANs), mostly as a result of new 60TB arrays plus central processing unit (CPU) and backplane enhancements.
AFF A- and C-series – performance and capacity-oriented respectively – get new-generation CPUs, reworked peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) connectivity, and are now fully modular to allow component upgrades in place while the chassis ********. With 60TB drives, capacity is now boosted also.
Storage is via the Ontap operating system and can be file, block or object. While that is the case, NetApp also has its ASA block storage array, which it upgraded in September. Dedicated object storage capacity comes in its StorageGrid line, of which more below. AFF arrays come with full cloud connectivity for backup, tiering and migration.
The arrays in the performance-oriented A-series are the A20, A30 and A50. NetApp claims they are now 41%, 96% and 153% quicker than their predecessor products, A150, A250 and A400.
These new arrays replace existing ones at the lower end of the AFF range. They complement the A70, A90 and A1k at the high end that go to nearly 4PB raw and more than 15PB useable in the A1K, with nearly 200PB possible in a cluster configuration.
In the QLC flash-equipped C-series, the new arrays are the C30, C60 and C80. Maximum capacity in the largest of these is nearly doubled over its predecessor, the C800 – from 7.4PB to 14.7PB – while at the other end, the new C30 goes to 2.2PB compared with the older C250, which went to 1.5PB.
Possible capacities in the C-series can go to just over 700PB in a cluster of C80 arrays.
Grant Caley, *** and Ireland solutions director at NetApp, said: “Since the advent of flash storage, the bottleneck of disk performance is no longer the factor for platform refreshes. Now it is about controller performance to that storage. So, capacities aren’t changing significantly, but controller performance is.”
Also, NetApp’s StorageGrid object storage arrays – the offspring of E-series hardware and Bycast object storage software – get an upgrade centred on 60TB arrays with more than 2PB possible in 3U possible in its SGF6112 product. An upgrade to StorageGrid software also allows for workloads in a cluster to be segregated into nodes for data only and metadata, plus 5,000 buckets per tenant possible.
While object storage is possible in NetApp’s Ontap-equipped hardware, StorageGrid targets dedicated object storage use cases.
“Dynamic policy management allows the customer to decide on security, lifecycle, etc, in a much larger platform than object in Ontap, which is aimed at transient storage of object data or where it is managed by an application, such as backup,” said Caley.
E-series SAN arrays
Meanwhile, the company’s E-series SAN arrays – the only ones in the product line that don’t use the Ontap OS – also get 60TB drives and a CPU refresh, to provide two new platforms. These are the E4012 and E4060, which go to 264TB and 1.3PB raw capacity respectively. Those go to 2.1PB and 6.6PB raw with expansion shelves.
E-series hardware is SAN-only, and aimed at customers that want affordable, basic storage capacity. Caley said the E-series target is “simple SAN”.
“It has snapshots and replication but is aimed at video surveillance, backup, archive storage,” he said. “It is for extreme performance or density, not data management, and has Infiniband, so it can be used for HPC storage.”
Besides array hardware upgrades, NetApp also announced a raft of enhancements to the software ecosystem surrounding it. These included Kubernetes data protection in Trident that includes snapshots, backup and restore, disaster recovery, and workload migration, available on-premise and in the cloud.
Trident’s data protection features are now also available where it works with Red Hat’s OpenShift environment, where there are also new collaborations between NetApp and Cisco in FlexPod converged offerings for OpenShift configurations aimed at virtualisation and artificial intelligence.
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Six ******* in strikes on Ukraine as Russia denies Trump call
Six ******* in strikes on Ukraine as Russia denies Trump call
At least six people have been ******* and 21 others injured in Ukraine following the latest series of air strikes by Russia.
Five of the deaths happened in the southern city of Mykolaiv, while one person was ******* in Zaporizhzhia, according to the authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that at least seven people, including two children, were hurt when an apartment building was hit with a missile in his home city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.
Russia, meanwhile, says it destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones near the western regions of Kursk and Belgorod. No deaths have been reported.
“Every day, every night, Russia unleashes the same *******,” Ukrainian President Zelensky wrote on X following Monday’s strike.
“More and more civilian sites are being targeted. Russia only wants to continue the war, and each of its strikes negates any claims of diplomacy from Russia.”
Zelensky made another appeal for more weapons from Ukraine’s allies and asked for “stronger global support” to stop Russian aggression.
Both countries on Saturday launched their largest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war.
Russia’s defence ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including some approaching Moscow, which forced flights to be diverted from three of the capital’s major airports.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 145 drones towards every part of the country on Saturday night, with most shot down.
The barrages came after it was reported, initially in the Washington Post, that US president-elect Donald Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir ****** on Thursday and told him not to escalate the Ukraine war.
The Kremlin on Monday denied that such a conversation had taken place.
Donald Trump has spoken to Zelensky since his election win last week, with a source telling the BBC that the conversation lasted “about half an hour”.
Zelensky has previously warned against conceding land to Russia and has said that without US aid, Ukraine would lose the war.
Trump has promised to end the conflict but has yet to outline how he intends to do so.
While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday spoke to Russian state media of “positive” signals from the incoming US administration, others believe the returning president will not abandon Ukraine.
They include *** Defence Secretary John Healey, who has said he expects the US “to remain alongside allies like the ***, standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes to prevail over ******’s invasion”.
Meanwhile, reports of Russian advances in Ukraine continue. Moscow’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Kolisnykivka in the Kharkiv region.
Russian troops reportedly made their largest territorial gains in October since March 2022, according to analysis of Institute for the Study of War data by the AFP news agency.
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****** Ops 6 Veterans are Switching off Cross-Play for a Mind-numbingly Less Toxic Multiplayer Experience
****** Ops 6 Veterans are Switching off Cross-Play for a Mind-numbingly Less Toxic Multiplayer Experience
Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 has just been released. After completing the Modern Warfare trilogy, Activision is now looking to revive its ****** Ops series. The last game in the series, ****** Ops Cold War, didn’t get a favorable reception from the fans, which is why all the honors lay on the shoulders of the recently launched title.
Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 was released on October 25, 2024. | Credit: Activision.
However, things are not going very well for BO6, as the game is heavily criticized for the new movement mechanics and launch maps. The game’s TTK/TTD is also terribly inconsistent. There’s another aspect of the game that is also disrupting the console players’ gameplay, and that is cross-play. But is it really the case?
Console Players Are Preferring to Turn Cross-Play Off in Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6
Console players have the liberty to turn off the cross-play option in ****** Ops 6. | Credit: Activision.
The recently launched ****** Ops 6 supports cross-play across PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 4 and 5. No matter which platforms players are playing on, as long as their friends are on their friends list, they can join each other’s party to play both Zombies and Multiplayer.
However, things haven’t been this simple since the launch of the game. As per the console players, toxicity was ever-increasing day by day due to the availability of crossplay. Players from all the platforms were queued together, and things were getting out of hand.
Also, there were complaints from console players about the infestation of cheats by the PC players. Thanks to Activision, they have given the option to turn off cross-play on consoles (sorry PC players). But it actually made the gameplay experience extremely dull and boring.
This fan thinks that turning off the cross-play system is just a ‘placebo effect’ and doesn’t have any practical significance as there were zero skill level differences.
This player might have turned cross-play off, but he still wanted his console counterpart to play with him, but not with the players on PC.
In crossplay lobbies, controllers always have an extra edge over the PC players.
This fan too thinks turning off the cross-play isn’t a feasible solution.
If console players think they can get rid of PC players by turning off the cross-play option, there will still be PC players who are on Game Pass. Also, as SMBB is there, you will still be matched with the players of the same skill set to evenly balance out the battle. So, you see, console players have to work more on improving their skill sets rather than whining about cross-play.
Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 Doesn’t Have to Follow the Path of Apex Legends
Aim Assist is of no use when there is omnimovement. | Credit: Activision.
Recently Apex Legends has nerfed the aim assist by 25% for controllers on PC in crossplay lobbies (0.4>0.3). This Aim Assist nerf only affects controller players on PC and players cross-playing into PC lobbies from Xbox and PS consoles. Console lobbies are unaffected by the change, as there is no alteration in Aim Assist in the console version.
Aim Assist nerf in Apex Legends Season 22:
Aim assist strength reduced by 25% for controllers on PC in crossplay lobbies. (0.4 > 0.3) pic.twitter.com/iKLMCvZ2mj
— Apex Legends News (@alphaINTEL) August 1, 2024
Aim assist in PC felt like cheat code to play. PC players have complained several times that they were on the backfoot several times against controllers. With the crossplay lobbies, many professional players even made the switch from mouse and keyboard to controllers. That’s why players voiced out their opinions to remove the aim assist feature completely.
However, this mechanic is needed to bridge the gap between two inputs. Previously, it was just too strong to balance out. Now, after the nerf, everything should be fine. Crossplay lobbies sometimes face these kinds of disparity issues, unless it’s Valorant.
However, it’s highly unlikely that the ****** Ops 6 is going to follow the same path. The main reason for not nerfing Aim Assist is the Omnimovement in the recently launched COD title.
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Vivo X200 Series Global Launch Date Tipped; Expected to Arrive Later This Month
Vivo X200 Series Global Launch Date Tipped; Expected to Arrive Later This Month
The Vivo X200 series, which includes the Vivo X200, X200 Pro, and X200 Pro Mini, were launched in China in October. They are powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipsets and run on Android 15-based OriginOS 5. The smartphones are equipped with Zeiss-backed triple rear camera units, alongside Vivo’s V3+ imaging chips on the Pro models. The lineup is expected to be introduced in global markets soon. The company’s official Malaysia page previously teased an imminent launch. A tipster has now hinted at the probable global launch date of the Vivo X200 handsets.
Vivo X200 Series Global Launch (Expected)
The Vivo X200 series may launch globally on November 22, according to an X post by tipster Paras Guglani (@passionategeekz). However, he did not specify the region or markets that the lineup could debut in. Previously, the launch of the Vivo X200 series was teased by Vivo Malaysia.
An earlier report claimed that the Vivo X200 series could arrive in India by November end or the first week of December. Notably, the Vivo X100 and X100 Pro were introduced in India in January this year, after its initial China launch in November 2023.
Vivo X200 Series Features
The global variants of the Vivo X200 phones are expected to be similar to their ******** counterparts. All three handsets in the lineup are powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipsets and run on Android 15-based OriginOS 5. They carry Zeiss-backed 50-megapixel triple rear camera units.
Vivo X200, X200 Pro, and X200 Pro Mini support 90W wired fast charging, with the Pro options also offering 30W wireless charging support. The base model has a 5,800mAh battery, while the Pro and Pro Mini variants carry 6,000mAh and 5,700mAh cells, respectively.
The price of the Vivo X200 starts at CNY 4,300 (roughly Rs. 51,000) for the base 12GB + 256GB option. The Vivo X200 Pro and Vivo X200 Pro Mini begin in the country at CNY 5,999 (roughly Rs. 63,000) and CNY 4,699 (roughly Rs. 56,000) for their respective 12GB + 256GB variants.
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Up Late: Anthony Albanese will be fine, he loves the ********* President
Up Late: Anthony Albanese will be fine, he loves the ********* President
In tonight’s show, Harvey looks at the bizarre Google search by Trump voters and explains how WA **** owners are beating the Cook Government’s firearms crackdown.
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"Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition" is coming physically to consoles on January 28th, 2025
"Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition" is coming physically to consoles on January 28th, 2025
“THQ Nordic are today very happy and excited to announce that a remastered and enhanced version of Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition is coming to stores on January 28th, 2025, and is also available for pre-order now.” – THQ Nordic.
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Intel admits ‘self-inflicted wounds’ with Core Ultra 200S CPUs not performing as well as expected – but promises fixes are coming
Intel admits ‘self-inflicted wounds’ with Core Ultra 200S CPUs not performing as well as expected – but promises fixes are coming
Intel acknowledges Arrow Lake CPUs underperformed at launch
A full and detailed audit is going to take place as to why this happened
Fixes for the issues are coming, promising significant performance gains
Intel’s Core Ultra 200S processors have got off to a shaky start, it’s fair to say, and Team Blue has acknowledged this – and pledged that fixes are coming.
The new Arrow Lake desktop CPUs – comprising of the Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 5 245K – have been greeted with a lukewarm reception, particularly for gaming performance, and reviews have been rather varied in the benchmark results they’ve uncovered in this respect.
Robert Hallock, who is VP of marketing at Intel, spoke to Hot Hardware, and said the company takes full responsibility for the initial launch performance of Core Ultra 200 chips being under par compared to Intel’s own expectations (and prerelease hype).
Hallock told the tech site that “our wounds with Arrow Lake not hitting the performance we projected were self-inflicted.”
The Intel marketing guru added: “I can’t go into all the details yet, but we identified a series of multifactor issues at the OS level, at the BIOS level, and I will say that the performance we saw in reviews is not what we expected and not what we intended. The launch just didn’t go as planned. That has been a humbling lesson for all of us, inspiring a fairly large response internally to get to the bottom of what happened and to fix it.”
Hallock underlined that while he couldn’t give specifics, Intel plans to conduct a full audit and will present an itemized list of Arrow Lake problems, explaining every single glitch, along with its performance cost, and what the company is going to do to fix these issues.
Intel’s Hallock On Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200S Processor Performance Fixes – YouTube
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Analysis: Intel’s continued run of bad form in 2024
Intel is being refreshingly honest, or Hallock is, rather, which is good to see – and something of a growing theme of late for Team Blue, we’ve noticed. With all the problems Intel has been running into in recent times – throughout this year – this appears to be the decided tactic to try to rebuild trust with the computing public.
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Will it be enough? The trouble is that the perception is increasingly becoming one of Intel stumbling from one blunder to another, at least with its desktop CPUs (laptop chips are a different kettle of silicon, and Lunar Lake has landed as a major success, in the main).
We’ve had all the messiness around 13th and 14th-gen desktop CPUs being wonky and unstable (and while that’s finally been put to bed, some folks may still be worried), and now with the 15th-gen on the desktop, there’s a new set of problems at launch. And anecdotally, across various forums, we’ve noticed a fair few complaints from folks who’ve upgraded to the Arrow Lake platform (the CPU has a new socket, requiring a new motherboard) hitting various teething issues which sound unpleasant to say the least.
All in all, with continued issues seeming to crop up around Intel’s desktop processors, creating a general air of uncertainty, these products will hardly be inspiring confidence in the PC community. Intel needs to come back with a strong response here, and a full, transparent audit on Arrow Lake will be a good start – hopefully with the issues fixed down the line, as promised.
We should temper expectations, of course, and it’s not likely that this will be some kind of miracle cure for the performance of the Core Ultra 200S range. However, it promises to deliver a ‘significant’ boost on the gaming front. Also, Hot Hardware’s tweaking of a Core Ultra 9 285K flagship – comprising of memory tuning, Windows configuration adjustments, and disabling some CPU features – reportedly did witness impressive results, at least for some PC games. As ever, gains may vary based on the individual game, and, of course, the configuration of your PC.
However, fundamentally, Arrow Lake still ******** more about pushing forward with efficiency than generational performance leaps when it comes to gaming, and that obviously isn’t going to change with some patching work. Here, the predecessor flagship, the Core i9-14900K (or indeed the 13900K) is still likely to remain a better bet, particularly considering pricing (with previous-gen price tags dropping), as was shown in the gaming tests during our review of the new Core Ultra 9 285K.
Furthermore, all this is compounded by the release of AMD’s peppy new Ryzen 9800X3D on the PC gaming front (when stock issues settle down for that CPU, which is a sizeable caveat currently).
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LAX security popped open student’s suitcase, found her clothes soaked in *****, officials say
LAX security popped open student’s suitcase, found her clothes soaked in *****, officials say
A student was arrested at LAX after security found her pink suitcase was filled with what federal authorities allege was more than a dozen white T-shirts that had been soaked in liquid methamphetamine.
The U.K. student, Myah Saakwa-Mante, had stopped off in Los Angeles for two days and returned to Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 2 to check in for a Qantas Airlines flight. Her ultimate destination was Brisbane, Australia.
She told federal agents she was on her way to meet her boyfriend for the first time.
After an initial security screening flagged Saakwa-Mante’s luggage as “potential” contraband, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers opened the suitcase and found jeans, shoes and a Louis Vuitton bag. “The officers also noticed a white powder residue that was loose in the suitcase and was visible on their ****** gloves,” according to an affidavit summarizing the incident.
Suspicious, the officers unzipped the suitcase’s lining and found a stack of 13 white T-shirts “that were wet and appeared to be caked with a white powdery substance,” according to the affidavit.
Authorities intercepted Saakwa-Mante at her gate before her flight departed, and she briefly spoke to federal officials. Saakwa-Mante, who is listed in court records as about 20 years old, confirmed to agents that she owned the suitcase and outlined the global jaunt to meet her boyfriend.
Although she admitted to purchasing the white T-shirts from Target — and had the receipts to prove it — she “claimed to have no knowledge” of the white powder that was caked onto the wet shirts, the affidavit states.
Officers field-tested the substance on the T-shirts and confirmed it was methamphetamine. The total amount of the ***** is unclear; the agent’s affidavit contains an estimate of “several kilograms” of the ***** were soaked in the T-shirts.
In his affidavit, Special Agent Omar Yasin of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations opined that the methamphetamine “was originally in a powder form,” then diluted with a solvent and blended with the shirts. “Over time in a room temperature or cold environment, the solution would evaporate and then the powdered methamphetamine would separate from the shirts,” resulting in the powdery residue, the agent wrote.
After her arrest, Saakwa-Mante was charged in U.S. District Court with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine with an intent to distribute. Authorities seized two of her phones and asked a federal judge for permission to search the devices as part of their investigation, according to a ********* complaint filed Nov. 4.
On Nov. 5, Saakwa-Mante appeared in federal court in downtown L.A. It was unclear whether she entered a plea. Her court-appointed attorney, deputy federal public defender Rebecca Harris, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Saakwa-Mante has been held in custody since her arrest, with prosecutors arguing that there was “a serious risk” that she could flee the country. Her attorney has moved for her release before trial, and a hearing is scheduled Tuesday over the request.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Wondering why the M4 Mac mini’s power button is on the bottom? Apple says it’s because people ‘hardly use it’
Wondering why the M4 Mac mini’s power button is on the bottom? Apple says it’s because people ‘hardly use it’
The new M4 Mac mini’s power button is placed underneath the chassis
It’s not the only strange design choice made by Apple recently
Apple VP Greg Joswiak states that it’s due to the reduced size of the Mac mini
The new M4 Mac mini will be Apple’s smallest Mac ever and wields plenty of power, but not without a few odd design choices – and one that seems to have particularly upset some users is that the power button has been moved to the bottom of the tiny PC.
However, Apple seems ready to defend its decision. As noted by IT Home (in ********), a video posted on the ******** social media platform Bilibili shows Apple’s VP Greg Joswiak address the matter when questioned, revealing the reasoning behind the design choice – it was simply down to the reduced size of the Mac mini and the idea that “you pretty much never use the power button on your Mac”.
Joswiak also said “I can’t remember the last time I turned on my Mac,” which suggests that Apple’s official position is that most users should leave the system in sleep mode instead. While this is certainly an option for Mac mini owners, it may not sit well with some users (especially considering most traditional desktop PCs and their prominent power button positions).
(Image credit: gizmochina)
Will this impact the M4 Mac mini in any capacity?
There’s no doubt that the new placement of the power button is a bit of an odd choice, and we noted as much in our M4 Mac mini review, but it’s nowhere near as strange as what we’ve seen with the new Magic Mouse’s charging port still on the bottom and brand-new M4 Macs omitting Wi-Fi 7. Besides a minor change to how you power on your M4 Mac mini, this shouldn’t impact your experience in any significant manner.
Considering the reduction of the Mac mini’s size coming from the 2023 M2 chip version, this seems to be a small but worthy sacrifice – if placing the power button in a more convenient area meant losing out on the smallest Mac ever, then I stand by Apple’s decision here.
Despite this, I must say that leaving your Mac mini (or any of the best computers, for that matter) in sleep mode constantly probably isn’t the best idea – while it may be more convenient to ***** right back into your tasks, it isn’t ideal for saving power (even if it isn’t using much in sleep mode) and periodically shutting down and restarting your devices is good for their performance as it enables you to apply any updates and refreshes your system cache.
While some of the design choices made in the new Mac mini may be worthy of scratching your head at, the power that the M4 chip provides in performance across the board and a price tag starting at just $599 (£599 / AU$999) still leaves this being one of the best Macs ever made.
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ETF world sees new cash flood into funds seen winning from Trump trades
ETF world sees new cash flood into funds seen winning from Trump trades
With the elections over, the ETF world is buzzing about how the Trump presidency will affect the business. How are hopes for tax cuts, fewer regulations and more tariffs influencing what ETFs investors will be buying in 2025? Two corners of the market receiving particular attention are banks and energy. “ETFs tied to sectors that typically thrive under *********** policies, such as financials and energy, could see increased investor demand,” Tom Lydon, former vice chairman of VettaFi and an influential figure in the ETF community, said in a recent post. “For example, during Trump’s previous administration, deregulation in the energy sector boosted oil and gas stocks, benefiting energy ETFs.” John Davi, who uses ETFs extensively as CEO of Astoria Portfolio Advisors, agrees. “We think the biggest beneficiaries of a red sweep will be in banks, small caps, industrial (cyclicals in general), crypto and the non Mag 7 stocks,” he told CNBC. Potential Trump ETF beneficiaries Gavi, who also manages several ETFs tied to specific sectors, cited ETFs specializing in banks ( Invesco KBW Bank ETF , or KBWB), smallcaps (iShares Russell 2000 ETF , or IWM), industrials ( Invesco S & P 500 Equal Weight Industrials Portfolio , or RSPN), cyclicals ( AXS Astoria Real Assets ETF , or PPI), Non Mag 7 stocks ( Astoria US Equal Weight Quality Kings ETF , or ROE) and bitcoin ( Bitwise Bitcoin ETF , or BITB), as likely beneficiaries of Trump policies. Matt Bartolini, head of Americas ETF Research at State Street Global Advisors, is especially positive on banks. The SPDR Regional Bank ETF (KRE) received more than $1.3 billion of new investor cash the day after the election, meaning 36% of the fund’s current assets came in on a single day. Bartolini said in an an email that the prospect of diminished government oversight is a key driver. “Lesser regulation on capital controls may increase return on equity for banks, as they may have more relaxed balance sheets in terms of capital hold backs,” he said. “At the same time, the other fiscal policies suggest may be inflationary at a time when the Fed is seeking to cut rates. This could lead to steeper yield curves and wider net interest margins, another positive for [profit] growth.” Though energy ETFs have had outflows this year, that could reverse. “With the potential for increased permitting around drilling, among other supportive actions and potential subsidies, the firms most exposed to the spot price of oil and its impact on their earnings may benefit,” Bartolini noted. “This means broad exposure to oil and gas explorers and producers that feature a mid-and small-cap bias beyond the bellwether giants ( XOP ).” Treasury ETFs can be “tricky” One area where there is disagreement is Treasuries and bonds in general. There have been notable inflows into large bond ETFs in the past month, particularly the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF (BND), two of the world’s largest bond ETFs, and longer-term funds like iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT). However, inflows have been flattish in funds with shorter-dated securities. “We have been pretty vocal on buying more equities and moving out of [Treasury] bills,” Gavi said, citing stronger U.S. economic data, a good U.S. earnings season and the Fed’s willingness to reduce interest rates to further stimulate an already healthy economy. Edward Rosenberg, managing director and head of ETFs at Texas Capital, described the fixed income ETF market as “tricky.” Based on recent moves in fixed income, “the newly-elected president is creating some worry in the bond market. However, with the fed cutting rates causing short bonds to get a very small bump in price, money markets and the ultra-short bond ETFs could benefit because they could see continual price bumps with each” rate reduction. Crypto ETFS having big year and getting ******* Since launching in January, crypto ETFs have attracted roughly $70 billion in assets, one of the most successful ETF launches ever. Options have been available since October. Bitcoin ETFs including the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest bitcoin ETF by assets under management, have seen significant inflows since October. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has insisted most crypto currencies are securities that fall under the purview of the SEC, but that may change under a new regime. There will likely be a ******* push for broad legislation in Congress that would give much of the power to regulate crypto to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission instead of the SEC, and more crypto ETFs are likely. “We have gone through four years of a very very difficult regulatory environment, and that is all about to change,” Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, a crypto investment firm, said on CNBC last week. Also more likely: a downtick in rulemaking and enforcement cases against crypto companies. Cathie Wood is back One big winner so far has been ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood. Todd Sohn, head of ETFs at Strategas, called Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) a “Trump-like proxy.” ARKK 1M mountain ARK Innovation ETF, 1 month Not only is Tesla her largest holding, but she has also been a beneficiary of the bitcoin rally, since a good part of ARK Innovation is held in Coinbase and Robinhood, which stand to gain from any bitcoin rally. ARKK Innovation ETF (ARKK) (largest holdings) Tesla 14.2% Roku 9.4% Coinbase 8.9% Roblox 6.7% Palantir 5.2% Robinhood 4.8% What’s still not clear is if Wood can regain the adherents she has lost. Shares outstanding in the flagship ARK Fund have gone from to roughly 120 million today from 208 million at the end of 2022, with only a modest uptick in the past week. Downside risks The downside risks are that “tariffs and protectionism are inflationary,” Davi said. That could leave ETFs that track exposure to international markets like China ( iShares MSCI China ETF , or MCHI) and Mexico ( iShares MSCI Mexico ETF , or EWW) vulnerable to selloffs. It could also expose consumer discretionary ETFs ( Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund , or XLY) which rely on imported goods, facing potentially higher costs. Rosenberg at Texas Capital acknowledges that certain ETF sectors, like industrials ( Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ETF , or VIS; iShares U.S. Industrials ETF , or IYJ), “could be hurt by more tariffs.” State Street’s Bartolini also acknowledges industrials could be hurt by increased tariffs but notes they “are cyclical and pro-growth. Large U.S. international trade firms would be most impacted. Domestic transportation stocks that can benefit from the re-shoring wave could benefit, however.” Note: Matt Bartolini, Head of Americas ETF Research at State Street Global Advisors, and John Davi, founder and CEO of Astoria Portfolio Advisors, will be guests on ETF Edge today at 1:15 PM ET. ETFEdge.CNBC.com.
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When do states have to certify 2024 election results? Here’s a full list of dates
When do states have to certify 2024 election results? Here’s a full list of dates
Analyzing the 2024 election process
Will there be any legal challenges before 2024 election certification process?
07:26
With 2024 presidential election results in from all 50 states, now each individual state still must certify their election results and send them to Congress to be counted to make President-elect Donald Trump’s victory official.
The numbers shared on election night and days that followed are not yet certified. That certification process can take days or weeks, depending on the state.
First, votes are confirmed, to make sure that all valid votes are counted. This stage involves reconciling the number of mail, early, overseas and Election Day ballots cast with the number of registered voters — a process also known as canvassing. Many states also do a post-election audit to verify that voting equipment used during the election counted the votes correctly. In extremely close races, a recount may be required, potentially extending the process.
Finally, once those steps are complete, the vote is certified. Each state has a different deadline for when its election officials must issue a written statement attesting to the validity of the results.
After that, Electoral College members gather in each state capital in mid-December to cast their state’s electoral votes for president and vice president. This year, that’s set for Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Those ballots are sent to the president of the Senate and the archivist, and then counted by Congress on Jan. 6.
Here is each state’s deadline to certify its election results for the 2024 presidential election, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and state officials.
Dates may change if there are recounts in the state, and some deadlines were tentative or not yet specified.
November 7
November 12
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Vermont
November 13
November 14
November 19
November 20
November 21
November 22
November 23
November 25
Kentucky
Maine
Michigan
Tennessee
Utah
November 26
Idaho
Indiana
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
North Carolina
November 27
November 30
Alaska
Arkansas
Hawaii
Massachusetts
December 1
December 2
Arizona
Colorado
District of Columbia
Iowa
Kansas
Nebraska
Virginia
December 4
December 5
Maryland
New Jersey
Washington
West Virginia
December 6
December 7
December 8
December 9
December 12
Not specified
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
More
Kerry Breen
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
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How Europe could try to get around future Trump tariffs
How Europe could try to get around future Trump tariffs
A ship carries shipping containers through Upper Bay in New York, U.S., September 30, 2024.
Caitlin Ochs | Reuters
Donald Trump’s U.S. election win has left Europe scrabbling to work out how it will be able to contain or counter highly probable tariffs on its exports to the U.S. once the president-elect enters the White House.
Ahead of his decisive election win last week, Trump had already threatened to revive a trade war that began during his first term in office, stating in his election campaign that he would raise tariffs on ******** goods by 60-100%, and would impose a blanket 10% to 20% tariff on all U.S. imports.
Trump sees the protectionist move as a way to boost U.S. jobs and growth, but the policy would undoubtedly open up a new front in trade tensions with two of the country’s largest trading partners, the EU and China. Critics of the proposed tariffs say the policy could lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers.
While Trump has a reputation for unpredictability, meaning his rhetoric sometimes fails to materialize in terms of policy, analysts agree that the president-elect appears undeterred when it comes to trade tariffs, having opined on how the term itself is “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”
That leaves Asia and Europe having to quickly consider ways to mitigate the future impact of export tariffs, and whether to retaliate or to try to negotiate a get-out deal. Economists caution that it’s uncertain whether Trump’s tariffs on Europe will be “as damaging as feared,” as ING economists stated in a note last Friday, or whether they will simply be “a bargaining chip designed to unlock wider foreign policy deals.”
Nonetheless, there have been calls in Europe for the bloc to prepare retaliatory measures now, with the director of Germany’s Ifo Center for International Economics calling on Germany — which relies heavily on trade with the U.S., particularly in terms of vehicle exports — and the EU to “strengthen their position through measures of their own.”
“These include deeper integration of the EU services market and credible retaliatory measures against the U.S.,” Ifo’s Lisandra Flach said last week. The proposed measures include the potential use of the EU’s new “Anti-Coercion Instrument” that gives the gives the region a wide range of possible countermeasures when, it says, “a country refuses to remove the coercion.”
The countermeasures include the imposition of tariffs, restrictions on trade in services and trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, and restrictions on access to foreign direct investment and public procurement. Germany and the EU could also strengthen cooperation with individual U.S. states, Flach suggested.
But economists also say that the EU could try to use the carrot instead of the stick with the U.S., suggesting there are three other ways Europe might try to stop, limit or avoid Trump’s likely tariff policy altogether.
Concessions
As a starting position with the incoming *********** administration, ********* policymakers could aim to avoid tariffs altogether, economists note, by offering to boost select ********* imports in exchange for the U.S. giving it an exemption from tariffs.
“This may include LNG [liquefied natural gas] and soybeans, both of which were part of a deal between Donald Trump and then-president of the [********* Commission] Jean-Claude Juncker in July 2018,” Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, said in a note last Friday.
********* President Donald Trump seen in between the flags of the U.S. and the ********* Union.
Didier Lebrun | Photonews | Getty Images
Analysts at Eurasia Group, led by Mujtaba Rahman, commented that a “transactional strategy” was likely to be pursued first by the ********* Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen. This would see the EU be guided by the goal of bolstering U.S. exports in key sectors such as agriculture, energy (LNG), and defense.
“The EU is likely to pledge to further expand LNG imports from the U.S. Von der Leyen may also explore closing two deals the commission had been negotiating with President Joe Biden, on the Global Arrangement for Sustainable Steel and Aluminium and an EU-US Critical Minerals Agreement. An attempt is also likely to do more via the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, which has helped foster some collaboration on digital issues, such as AI and export controls,” the analysts at Eurasia Group noted.
A geopolitical deal
Alternatively, Kenningham said the two sides could strike “a broader geopolitical deal to try to head off the tariff threat.”
“The EU could, for example, make a commitment to purchase more defence equipment from the U.S. in order to continue supporting Ukraine — although the EU would find it difficult to agree on how to raise the funds given the staunch opposition of many, including Germany, to more ****** EU borrowing.”
A deal is likely to be favorable to ********* policymakers as they look to limit the economic hit a 10% U.S. tariff would have on ********* exports. “The key point is that, while our working assumption is that there is a 10% US tariff which subtracts only 0.2% from euro-zone GDP, the outcome could be less than that if the EU is successful in reaching some kind of deal,” Kenningham said.
******* Chancellor Angela Merkel deliberates with U.S. President Donald Trump during the G-7 summit in Canada on June 9, 2018.
Jesco Denzel | Bundesregierung | Getty Images
Whether there Europe can reach consensus on how or whether to do a deal with Trump is debateable, however. Carsten Brzeski, global head of Macro at ING, said in a post-election note last week that “Trump hits Europe not only at a time of economic weakness but also one of political instability.”
“During the first Trump term, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel were a strong political axis. Today, France is struggling, and the ******* government has just collapsed. There’s not exactly a strong bulwark,” he said. “It really casts doubts about Europe’s ability to find adequate responses to Trump,” he added.
An alliance against China?
Another possibility is that Europe could agree to align its policies toward China more closely with those of the U.S., Capital Economics’ Kenningham noted.
That could mean further barriers to imports of ******** electric vehicles and other technology, as well as curbs on inward foreign direct investment from China, and increasing restrictions on exports of high-tech goods such as lithography machines.
Capital Economics’ Kenningham conceded that the EU would be “reluctant to cut ties with China too drastically,” but said policymakers may be forced to do so if faced with strong U.S. pressure.
Eurasia Group’s analysts agreed that the EU’s “most difficult policy response will likely be vis-à-vis China, given that Trump’s return would make it ******* for the EU to chart its third-way ‘decoupling’ strategy.”
“If Trump launches a trade war with China, the EU could benefit in the short term if the U.S.’s focus is exclusively on China and not the EU. Beijing would also be less likely to strongly counteract Brussels’s trade measures as it fights Trump, and the EU will likely try to make common cause with Washington in some areas, such as advanced chips,” the analysts noted.
“Ultimately, however, Trump is likely to accelerate the EU’s structurally toughening stance against China. This would present the greatest challenge to Germany, given the reluctance of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to even fully get on board with the EU’s milder de-risking strategy.”
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The Automaton Front Should Make Helldivers 2 Players Relive World War 1 Glory Days With Blood-curdling Trench Warfare
The Automaton Front Should Make Helldivers 2 Players Relive World War 1 Glory Days With Blood-curdling Trench Warfare
As the Galactic War in Helldivers 2 continues to evolve, players are constantly discovering new and innovative ways to spread managed democracy across the galaxy. While the game already offers a thrilling mix of tactical combat and strategic planning, there’s one historical warfare element that could take the ****** against the Automatons to a whole new level of intensity.
Players are turning the terrain itself into a *******. | Image Credit: PlayStation/YouTube
Remember those history lessons about World War 1’s trench warfare? Now imagine applying those same brutal, mud-soaked tactics to our ongoing battle against the mechanical menace. Some creative Helldivers have already started experimenting with this concept, and the results are as glorious as they are effective.
And let’s be honest, what better way to ****** soulless machines than by making them experience the same hellish conditions that haunted soldiers over a century ago?
Helldivers 2 Players Are Already “Digging In”
One resourceful Helldiver recently discovered that the humble grenade launcher can do more than just ***** up bugs – it can reshape the battlefield itself:
This ingenious tactic isn’t just about recreating historical warfare in Helldivers 2—it’s about using the environment to your tactical advantage. By creating deep trenches around extraction zones, players can effectively control ****** movement and create deadly choke points.
And with the Orbital Gas Strike already in our arsenal, we can fill these choke points with corrosive clouds that turn any advancing automaton into scrap metal. The bots might have advanced AI, but even they’ll “think” twice before charging through a gas-filled trench of ******.
The community has already started embracing this new strategy with typical Helldiver enthusiasm:
Comment byu/Derkastan77-2 from discussion inhelldivers2
Comment byu/Derkastan77-2 from discussion inhelldivers2
And with good reason—this kind of tactical innovation is exactly what Super Earth needs in its ****** against those pesky bots. After all, if we’re going to liberate the galaxy, we might as well do it with style and engineering prowess.
From Malevelon Creek to No Man’s Land
The future looks bright—and potentially very muddy. | Image Credit: PlayStation/YouTube
The idea of trench warfare against the Automatons isn’t entirely new to the Helldivers community. Veterans still speak in hushed tones about the infamous “****** Vietnam” that was Malevelon Creek during the game’s launch. Those early battles against the mechanical hordes taught us the value of defensive positions and strategic terrain use.
Now, players are dreaming of taking that concept even further:
Comment byu/Derkastan77-2 from discussion inhelldivers2
Imagine entire battlefields crisscrossed with trenches and foxholes, where Helldivers must navigate through muddy labyrinths while mechanical horrors lurk just over the parapet. The psychological warfare of hearing metallic footsteps approaching through the fog, not knowing if it’s a lone scout or an entire platoon of Automatons.
The potential for epic battles is endless. Imagine if Arrowhead took this concept to its logical conclusion: special missions where three different squads—that’s twelve brave Helldivers total—hold the line in a heavily fortified trench network.
Picture it: coordinated artillery strikes raining down on waves of advancing bots, while eagle-eyed snipers pick off any mechanical menace that dares to peek above ground level. It would be like the Battle of the Somme, but with more explosions and significantly more democracy.
Of course, we’d also need to adapt some classic WWI tactics for our modern war against the machines. Instead of barbed wire, we could use EMP fields. Replace sandbags with energy barriers. And instead of carrier pigeons, well, we already have those fancy orbital strikes.
What do you think about bringing trench warfare to the ****** against the Automatons in Helldivers 2? Would you like to see dedicated trench-focused maps in future updates? Share your tactical insights and war stories in the comments below!
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Bitcoin price tops $81,000 for first time amid ‘Trump pump’ | Bitcoin
Bitcoin price tops $81,000 for first time amid ‘Trump pump’ | Bitcoin
The price of bitcoin has risen above $81,000 for the first time as it benefited from traders’ hopes that Donald Trump will favour cryptocurrencies when he returns to the White House.
Bitcoin touched a record high of $81,899, before dropping back to about $81,100, a gain of about 2.7% on Monday. The price has more than doubled from about $37,000 12 months ago.
Trump has in the past called bitcoin a “scam against the dollar”, but he changed his tune on cryptocurrency during the US presidential election campaign, courting the crypto community and appearing at industry events. That has created an expectation of a relaxation of rules to make it easier for retail savers to invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – although Trump has not specified any policies.
Prices have also risen for other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and dogecoin, a meme coin previously backed by Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and owner of X who has become a vocal Trump supporter and whose wealth rose by $26.5bn shortly after the election result was confirmed.
Trump even went as far as giving his backing in September to a cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, run by his family, a move that could leave him open to criticisms over potential conflicts of interest if he moves to deregulate digital assets. His son, Donald Trump Jr, has said that cryptocurrency offers an alternative to a banking system that he alleges is tilted against conservatives.
Bob Savage, the head of markets strategy and insights at BNY Mellon, a US investment bank, said that the bitcoin price move was one of the “Trump trades” that appeared “central to judging the mood of markets” as investors try to work out the impact of the election.
Matt Simpson, a senior market analyst at City Index, described the moves on crypto markets as a “Trump pump” as traders bet that the president-elect will usher in a ******* of cryptocurrency adoption.
The price of bitcoin correlated to Trump’s vote share in opinion polls during the election campaign against the Democrats’ candidate, Kamala Harris. It was below $70,000 on election day last Tuesday, but has gained nearly a fifth in value since then.
The surge has prompted a wave of excitement among crypto investors. Interest in crypto tends to increase as prices rise. Google Trends data showed that the number of people searching online for “bitcoin” has reached its highest since early March, although it remained about half that of its peak in May 2021, when prices soared as investment banks started to take interest before slumping.
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Naeem Aslam, the chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets, a trading consultancy, said crypto traders were hoping for the price to hit $100,000 this week.
Hitting the landmark figure “would make some traders nervous as they would think that the price has gone too far and too quickly, which means that we are going to see a correction shortly,” he said. “However, the crypto community also believes that the game has totally changed for bitcoin with President Trump taking the office back.”
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Steve Borthwick: Head coach under scrutiny as England prepare to face South *******
Steve Borthwick: Head coach under scrutiny as England prepare to face South *******
After the extraordinary 42-37 defeat by Australia, Steve Borthwick’s win record as England head coach stands at exactly 50%, with 13 wins from his 26 matches in charge.
It is a middling record which stacks up unfavourably compared to his two predecessors, Eddie Jones (73%) and Stuart Lancaster (61%).
But there is context to add. Borthwick is rebuilding the team after relying on an experienced core of players at the Rugby World Cup last year.
The likes of Owen Farrell, Courtney Lawes, Manu Tuilagi, Billy Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Ben Youngs, Danny Care and Jonny May – mainstays of the past decade – are no longer available. Any rebuild takes time.
And while England have lost five of their past six matches, all of those defeats have been against top-level opposition and all have come down to a single score.
These are the caveats that explain why Borthwick retains the full support of the Rugby Football Union. As far as the RFU is concerned, Borthwick is in for the long haul and was recently handed more power than any England head coach before him.
However, the capitulation at the hands of the Wallabies will have tried the patience of even the most loyal England fans. It was England’s sixth loss in 10 matches in 2024. They are now down to seventh in the world rankings.
In the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s game, captain Jamie George spoke of the “external noise” that would accompany the defeat and the need for the squad to “stay tight and keep believing”.
With the double world champions South ******* rolling into town next week, how Borthwick and England react will be critical.
England’s two statement victories under Borthwick – Argentina at the World Cup and Ireland in the Six Nations – both came with the side written off. They will again be underdogs against the Springboks, yet there is still every chance England can push them close.
But there is plenty to fix. While the defence looked in good nick against New Zealand, it was markedly porous against the Wallabies.
Borthwick pointed to his side’s loose ball-handling and contact skills as a reason why, but the constant flux in the backroom team – something Borthwick would have been desperate to avoid – cannot be helpful.
England have had three different defence coaches in the past 12 months, with Joe el-Abd taking over at the end of September. None of this was part of Borthwick’s plan.
While George insisted England’s tactical plan is clear, the team still looks caught between two identities.
Marcus Smith has started England’s last five games – and was excellent against Australia – but plays in a different way to the more experienced George Ford, who was Borthwick’s man through the Six Nations and may well have started on the summer tour of the New Zealand if he had been fit.
Stylistically, the team switched from a kick-first gameplan at the World Cup to a more expansive approach during the spring, but the man at the heart of that revolution – scrum-half Alex Mitchell – has missed the two autumn openers.
Borthwick has put his ****** in Smith, but only up to a point, bringing Ford on in the final quarter in both games this November in an attempt to close the games out.
Boos rang around the Allianz Stadium when it looked like Smith was being taken off against the Wallabies – he was actually moved to full-back – and number eight Ben Earl admitted afterwards England were testing the patience of the supporters.
The two Test matches this month have been excruciatingly close; England have been the width of a post and a fumbled kick-off away from winning both games.
But those are the margins at the highest level, and there is no coincidence the best sides in the world manage to get over the line in similar circumstances.
And while England are not flush with caps, there is still enough experience in the set-up. Supporters will quickly tire of talk of learning lessons if the lessons are not being learned.
It was telling Borthwick took on a very different tone in his interviews after the Australia defeat compared to a week prior.
Last weekend he praised his side and stressed the quality of the All *******; this time he was visibly ****** at his side’s inaccuracy and poor decision-making, as England were hooked into a loose game that played into Australia’s hands.
With South ******* tuning up for Twickenham by battling past Scotland, Borthwick will know more than anyone how much better England will have to be if they are to compete with the best team in the world and lighten the mood around Twickenham.
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Even Samsung doesn’t know if it’s making AR glasses or a VR headset, as a new patent reveals its big XR hardware plans
Even Samsung doesn’t know if it’s making AR glasses or a VR headset, as a new patent reveals its big XR hardware plans
Samsung is working on some kind of XR hardware and, while it has yet to detail the product publicly, a newly published patent (spotted by 91mobiles) has given us our best look yet at what it’s working on – as well as teasing that Samsung is unsure what form its XR gadget should actually take.
That’s because the patent describes “electronic devices” which “may be AR glasses and/or a head-mounted device.” This suggests that at this time Samsung is either unsure what kind of XR device it should release, or that it is working on both a Samsung XR headset as well as AR glasses to compete with the likes of the Meta Orion AR glasses.
This vagueness continues throughout the patent description, with Samsung describing the device as potentially having a processor, a display for seeing virtual overlays on the real world, some communications abilities – so it can wirelessly communicate with local devices, like a controller, and the internet – and movement sensors for head tracking, among other ‘standard’ XR device specs.
A battery problem
Scanning through the translated document (the patent was initially filed in Korean) one noticeable omission is the mention of any internal battery, which could suggest the device will need to be connected to a compatible Samsung phone or battery pack to function. A phone connection would align with the approach Xreal glasses have taken, and would be a more achievable target for Samsung’s first AR glasses outing rather than a completely standalone product.
Batteries add a lot of bulk to a wearable, and would force Samsung to have to balance functionality, battery life, and comfort – a tough act considering its relative inexperience in this area of tech.
A wired connection to a phone would also increase the glasses’ reliance on a Samsung/Android device to function, which seems like something Samsung and its partner Google would want as a way to convince techies to leave the AR glasses-less Apple behind.
Connecting to a battery pack would also make sense as the likes of the Xreal glasses do ***** through a phone’s charge somewhat rapidly. A battery pack would also allow a user to rely on their phone and glasses without one drastically reducing the remaining battery life of the other.
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Still no mention of software
For me, this patent also doesn’t go into much detail on what is by far the most important feature: software. I’m fairly confident Samsung’s hardware will be at least ‘fine’ given its expertise in phones and TVs. For me the biggest question is how will it handle software.
I’ve tested a number of standalone VR headsets, and some wired AR glasses too, and my main critique is most of them don’t offer you enough things to do with them, save one. In my experience Meta’s Horizon OS is ahead by a mile thanks to its huge catalog of software, excellent exclusive apps, and clean layout.
Samsung and Google (who appears to be developing an AR android) need to seriously stick the landing. Either give us some amazing apps out the gate, or keep the price cheap and affordable (ideally do both). Exclusive AR apps would help justify a more premium price, while conversely a lower cost would help to convince people the XR device is worth trying even if it doesn’t do much at first.
We’ll have to wait and see what Samsung announces in the coming months in terms of its software and hardware. There were rumors it might show off a developer kit this year – to tie into the promise of a reveal Samsung and Google made back in July – though as the year comes to a close we might have to settle for a 2025 showcase – though even that might require some luck according to other recent leaks.
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Buy this exchange stock as postelection volatility boosts trading revenue, Deutsche Bank says
Buy this exchange stock as postelection volatility boosts trading revenue, Deutsche Bank says
Cboe Global Markets could benefit from the postelection volatility spike, according to Deutsche Bank. Analyst Brian Bedell upgraded the exchange stock to buy from hold and raised his price target to $222 from $211. This updated forecast represents an approximately 13% upside. Bedell said Cboe should maintain healthy revenue growth into at least 2025. This is supported by his belief “that equity markets may remain volatile over the intermediate term post the U.S. election results, at least episodically, driving greater use of index & volatility options & futures products.” Further product innovation and greater adoption of options usage, such as at Robinhood, should also contribute to greater organic revenue growth, Bedell added. “This includes continued synergistic growth in market data and access fees, for which management believes it can grow by 7% this year, and a 7-10% annual range ******** mgmt’s expectation over the medium term,” he elaborated. “Building on the successful growth of [zero days to expiration] index options (which now account for nearly half of CBOE’s SPX index options volume), mgmt. has added a variety of expiries & smaller trading increments, indices and ways to trade volatility.” The analyst now thinks Cboe could generate revenue growth of 8% in 2025 and 6% in 2026, up from his prior forecast of 6% and 3%, respectively. Stronger revenue growth should eventually enable positive operating leverage, allowing the company to outperform existing expectations of operating margin stability. The analyst pointed out that while Cboe shares have been the worst performing stock in his coverage in the fourth quarter, the company is also the most directly levered to equity market volatility within his exchange coverage. Bedell added that strategic management decisions could also continue to boost shares. “On expenses, we think mgmt. will be able to moderately slow the pace of expense growth in future years, having mostly built out its global architecture,” he wrote. “Operating leverage will likely still be dependent on macro-driven volume growth, though we think mgmt. may try to calibrate expense growth with organic growth, with upside potential from market volatility — which we think will be the case in at least 2025.” Shares of Cboe are roughly 10% higher on the year. CBOE YTD mountain CBOE YTD chart Analyst sentiment on the stock is tepid. Of the 18 who cover Cboe, 12 have a hold rating, LSEG data shows.
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Nina Kennedy wins back-to-back Herb Elliott medals after golden year at the top
Nina Kennedy wins back-to-back Herb Elliott medals after golden year at the top
Olympic gold medallist Nina Kennedy has capped an extraordinary 12 months by winning back-to-back Herb Elliott Medals for West Australia’s most inspiring sporting performance of the year.
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EA Survey Suggests Apex Legends Might Soon be Getting a Monthly Subscription Service
EA Survey Suggests Apex Legends Might Soon be Getting a Monthly Subscription Service
A new service sent by EA suggests that the publisher is considering a monthly subscription service for Apex Legends.
The new survey, which was sent to several Apex Legends players and then to Insider Gaming, asks participants whether they’d be interested in a “monthly subscription” that would reward subscribers with a monthly in-game currency amount, monthly rewards, and Battle Pass tiers. The subscription service could be similar to Fortnite Crew, which, at £9.99 a month, gives members exclusive skins, V-bucks, and Battle Pass tiers.
At the time of writing, EA has yet to officially announce any form of Apex Legends monthly subscription service; however, the survey does suggest that they are at least considering it. Past surveys from EA have not so subtly revealed that the questions evolve around future content and ideas that generally are released at one point or another.
To some, the news that EA is exploring more monetization options for Apex Legends is probably unsurprising, as it was announced earlier this year that the company had ******* to hit its monetization goals. Last month, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said during their investors call that the company’s goal with Apex Legends is to “innovate in the core experience.”
One such “innovation” was bringing back Apex Legends’ original map and experience from the game’s launch, relying on nostalgia to attract players.
Nonetheless, whether EA can maintain its player base with Apex Legends ******** to be seen. For those still sticking around, the strategy could be to milk more money from them before the player numbers dwindle further.
What do you think of an Apex Legends subscription service? Would you buy it? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news about the growth of India’s gaming market
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Tired of boring coffee makers? The new L’OR Barista was designed by an award-winning architect
Tired of boring coffee makers? The new L’OR Barista was designed by an award-winning architect
The new L’OR Barista was created by Italian design company Alessi
Its pleated finish is the work of designer and architect Michele De Lucchi
It goes on ***** this week for £159.99 (about $200 / AU$300)
French coffee company L’OR has unveiled a new pod-based espresso machine that will bring a touch of Italian style to your kitchen.
Capsule-based coffee makers are a handy way to enjoy espresso without the mess of weighing and grinding beans, but they sometimes look rather bland and utilitarian compared to a manual espresso machine. That’s not the case with the new L’OR Barista, which has a striking pleated-effect case created by Italian design company Alessi.
The ridged finish of the L’OR Barista by Alessi was created by artist, architect and designer Michele De Lucchi. De Lucchi, known for his experimental creations, has designed and restored buildings in Japan and throughout Europe, and has received scores of product design awards throughout his career.
(Image credit: L’OR)
Double shots
The L’OR Barista by Alessi can take standard-size coffee pods, including L’OR and Nespresso capsules. It’s also compatible with L’OR Barista XXL capsules, which contain twice as much coffee as a regular pod. This lets you easily make a double shot of espresso (ideal for cappuccinos and lattes), or pour two shots at once using the machine’s double spout.
The new machine will be available this week direct from L’OR and from John Lewis for £159.99 (about $200 / AU$300), and will roll out more widely over the coming months.
If you’re in the market for a new coffee maker but would prefer a bean-to-cup model, we’re rounding up all this year’s best ****** Friday espresso machine deals to save you time, effort, and money. For offers on capsule coffee makers and pods, take a look at our guide to the best ****** Friday Nespresso deals.
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