fc188 gaming Costco is getting rid of an entire section of its stores beginning in January across the U.S. , completely scrapping its shelves of books and limiting their sale to only certain times of the year. The decision is attributed to the high labor costs associated with manually stocking books as opposed to rolling them out on pallets. While Costco , which boasts over 600 U.S. locations and has recently tightened its membership policies, will continue seasonal book sales from September to December, the constant availability throughout the year will cease come January. Occasional book sales may still occur at Costco 's discretion during other times of the year, the Express US reported. Costco members stumble on 'manager markdown' items – but you’ll need to spot key clue to get deals Costco products shoppers likely won't see on shelves ever again Company leaders point to the frequent turnover of new book releases and the necessity to return unsold copies as the reason for unsustainable labor expenses. This strategy shift comes as a significant hit to publishers who are already grappling with stagnant print sales and the challenge of online competitors, the New York Times reported. Costco had previously ceased book sales in more remote locations such as Alaska and Hawaii and, as of June, began to scale back in its numerous other U.S. outlets. Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories. Brenna Connor, director of U.S. books at market research firm Circana, said the convenience of Costco 's book offerings, said: "It's an easy place to just grab the latest in a series you're reading or pick up a book for your kid. They are important for the book market overall." Robert Gottlieb, a literary heavyweight and the chair of Trident Media Group, said: " Costco across the country was a big outlet for books. There are now fewer and fewer places to buy books in a retail environment." DAILY NEWSLETTER: Sign up here to get the latest news and updates from the Mirror US straight to your inbox with our FREE newsletter.

Indiana aims to limit turnovers vs. MinnesotaAlgert Global LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Manitowoc Company, Inc. ( NYSE:MTW – Free Report ) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,190 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC owned about 0.24% of Manitowoc worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Manitowoc in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,813,000. Front Street Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Manitowoc by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,806,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,361,000 after buying an additional 217,389 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in Manitowoc in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,385,000. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in Manitowoc by 65.4% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 406,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,683,000 after buying an additional 160,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Manitowoc by 31.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 590,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after acquiring an additional 140,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.66% of the company’s stock. Manitowoc Price Performance Manitowoc stock opened at $10.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.63. The Manitowoc Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.50 and a 52 week high of $17.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.40 million, a PE ratio of -39.37 and a beta of 1.84. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In MTW has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Manitowoc from $13.00 to $11.30 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Manitowoc from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Manitowoc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Manitowoc from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Manitowoc from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.47. View Our Latest Report on MTW About Manitowoc ( Free Report ) The Manitowoc Company, Inc provides engineered lifting solutions in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It designs, manufactures, and distributes crawler-mounted lattice-boom cranes under the Manitowoc brand; a line of top-slewing and self-erecting tower cranes under the Potain brand; mobile hydraulic cranes under the Grove, Shuttlelift, and National Crane brands; and hydraulic boom trucks under the National Crane brand. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Manitowoc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Manitowoc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

Kosovo arrested several suspects Saturday after an explosion at a key canal feeding two of its main power plants, while neighbouring Serbia rejected accusations of staging the blast. The explosion Friday near the town of Zubin Potok, which sits in an ethnic Serb-dominated area in Kosovo's troubled north, damaged a canal that supplies water to hundreds of thousands of people and cooling systems at two coal-fired power plants that generate most of Kosovo's electricity. As security forces swarmed the area around the canal, whose concrete walls were left with a gaping hole gushing water, Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited the site and announced authorities had arrested several people. Law enforcement "carried out searches" and "collected testimony and evidence, and the criminals and terrorists will have to face justice and the law," he said. The arrests follow a security meeting late Friday, when Kurti pointed the finger at Serbia. "The attack was carried out by professionals. We believe it comes from gangs directed by Serbia," he told a press conference, without providing evidence. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic hit back Saturday, denying the "irresponsible" and "baseless accusations". "Such unfounded claims are aimed to tarnish Serbia's reputation, as well as to undermine efforts to promote peace and stability in the region," he said in a statement to AFP. Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric had earlier suggested on X that the Kosovar "regime" could itself be behind the blast, calling for an international investigation. The main political party representing Serbs in Kosovo, Serb List, also condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms". AFP journalists at the scene saw water leaking heavily from one side of the reinforced canal, which runs from the Serb-majority north of Kosovo to the capital, Pristina. However, electricity supplies to consumers were running smoothly on Saturday morning, with authorities having found an alternative method to cool the plants, said Kosovo's Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli. Repair work was ongoing, authorities said, while Kurti confirmed workers had managed to restore water flows to 25 percent capacity. The United States strongly condemned the "attack on critical infrastructure in Kosovo", the US embassy in Pristina said in a statement on Facebook. "We are monitoring the situation closely... and have offered our full support to the government of Kosovo to ensure that those responsible for this criminal attack are identified and held accountable." Turkey's foreign ministry also condemned the attack, adding: "We call on all parties to exercise restraint to avoid escalation in the region." The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission for Kosovo joined the calls for restraint. "It is important that facts are established and that those responsible are held accountable and brought to justice," it said in a statement. The force is providing security in the surrounding area and has offered logistical, explosives removal and engineering support to the Kosovo authorities, it added. The European Union's ambassador to Kosovo, Aivo Orav, joined the international condemnation, saying on X: "The incident needs to be investigated and those responsible brought to justice." Animosity between ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the end of the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move that Serbia has refused to acknowledge. Kurti's government has for months sought to dismantle a parallel system of social services and political offices backed by Belgrade to serve Kosovo's Serbs. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Saturday denounced "the act of sabotage on the critical water supply infrastructure in the Iber-Lepenc Canal" in comments on X, calling it "a serious crime that endangers the lives of Kosovo's citizens and undermines the process of normalizing relations in our region." Friday's attack came after a series of violent incidents in northern Kosovo, including the hurling of hand grenades at a municipal building and a police station earlier this week. ih/ach/giv/jhb/sbkYoung people aren’t club hopping, instead, they are doing something much more wholesome with their weekends. Instead of “let’s do shots”, they are buying cardboard cups and filling them up with frozen yoghurt on a Saturday night. Carla, a Millennial Aussie who runs the social media account Go Woke, Go Broke , posted a clip of a bunch of Gen Zers gathering at frozen yoghurt shop, Yo-Chi, over the weekend. The 34-year-old said she spotted all the young people hanging out when she was heading to the eastern suburbs of Sydney to grab some food, and she thinks Gen Z is missing out by forgoing partying. “Every Friday it is just packed, and there’s lines coming out of the shop,” she told news.com.au. “It is so different. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, there would be something on every Friday and Saturday.” She pointed out young people aren't clubbing anymore. Picture: TikTok/GoWokeGoBroke The clip kicked off a debate. Picture: TikTok/GoWokeGoBroke Carla explained that she spent her twenties at bars and clubs and certainly not yoghurt shops. “Why are the younger generation shunning pubs and clubs?” she asked. Once Carla posted the clip online, a massive conversation started about how Gen Zers don’t party like Millennials did. Some were claiming it was a really positive change and a sign the youngest drinking generation wasn’t interested in entering Australia’s infamous “piss up culture”, and others thought it was a sign that Gen Zers don’t know how to have fun. One called it a “welcome change” another said that the reason Gen Zers are eating yoghurt instead of partying is because pubs and clubs have “priced themselves” out. “This is very good to see. These frozen yoghurt or custard bars are bringing young people together and talking face-to-face,” someone praised. “A generation of self-entitled wimps,” someone else wrote. “They can’t afford to go out and drink,” another wrote. “I’m so proud of this generation,” one praised. “I’ve seen this and it makes no sense,” someone else wrote. “Pretty sad,” one claimed. Someone in their late thirties commented that they used to live at clubs back in the day and found the clip “sad”. “What is wrong with these kids?” The young people are embracing yoghurt. Picture: TikTok/GoWokeGoBroke They aren't clubbing. Picture: TikTok/GoWokeGoBroke Carla explained that she believes Gen Zers are chowing down on yoghurt instead of doing shots because of a cultural shift. Firstly, there were the lockout laws in Sydney, which ran from 2014 to 2020. These laws required venues in the CBD to have 1.30am curfews for entry and 3am last drinks at bars. Then there’s the fact that wellness culture is on the rise and clean living is a big part of the conversation for young people. Carla said that it was a “rite of passage” for Millennials to spend their youth going to bars and clubs, and that was seen as the “cool” thing to do, but Generation Z is taking a different approach. “Older generations have maintained the lifestyles of going to have a beer. The younger generation haven’t followed through,” she said. For instance, once Carla passed the packed-out frozen yoghurt shop, she walked past a pub filled mainly with Gen X and Boomer patrons. Carla said she doesn’t think this is necessarily a “bad thing”, just a change worth pointing out. “When the lockout laws came in, it killed the night-life, and this younger generation have never had it, and they don’t know what they are missing,” she said. “There’s way more focus on wellness and health now.” More Coverage 21yo exposes gross stigma that still exists Mary Madigan 21yo’s ordeal after using ‘entire inheritance’ Mary Madigan Originally published as Gen Z clip exposes big Aussie culture change Money Don't miss out on the headlines from Money. Followed categories will be added to My News. Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Banking ‘Extensive experience’: ANZ picks new boss One of Australia’s largest companies has found its new chief executive, an international banker of “calibre and extensive experience”. Read more Entertainment Katie Holmes hits back at ‘trust fund’ claims The actor made a rare comment about her ex-husband Tom Cruise, rubbishing claims a trust fund for their daughter had “kicked in”. Read more

A timeline of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the search for his killer NEW YORK (AP) — The search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer has stretched into a fifth day — and beyond New York City. Police say it appears the man left the city on a bus soon after Wednesday's shooting outside the New York Hilton Midtown. The suspect is seen on video at an uptown bus station about 45 minutes later. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Police believe that words found written on ammunition at the shooting scene, including “deny," “defend” and "depose,” suggest a motive driven by anger toward the healthcare company. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics. Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and won't rule out revenge prosecutions WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says he can’t guarantee his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers. And he's suggesting once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. The president-elect made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday. He also touched on monetary policy, immigration, abortion and health care, and U.S. involvement in Ukraine, Israel and elsewhere. Trump often mixed declarative statements with caveats, at one point cautioning “things do change.” Europe's economy needs help. Political chaos in France and Germany means it may be slower in coming BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe's economy has enough difficulties, from tepid growth to trade tensions with the U.S. Dealing with those woes is only getting harder due to the political chaos in the two biggest European countries, France and Germany. Neither has a government backed by a functioning majority, and France could take a while yet to sort things out. But some problems aren't going to wait, such as what to do about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's America First stance on trade and how to fund stronger defense against Putin's Russia. ‘Moana 2’ cruises to another record weekend and $600 million globally “Moana 2” remains at the top of the box office in its second weekend in theaters as it pulled in another record haul. According to studio estimates Sunday, the animated Disney film added $52 million, bringing its domestic total to $300 million. That surpasses the take for the original “Moana” and brings the sequel's global tally to a staggering $600 million. It also puts the film in this year's top five at the box office. “Wicked” came in second place for the weekend with $34.9 million and “Gladiator II” was third with $12.5 million. The 10th anniversary re-release of Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar” also earned an impressive $4.4 million even though it played in only 165 theaters. Federal appeals court upholds law requiring sale or ban of TikTok in the US A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok as soon as next month, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law - which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Executive of Tyler Perry Studios dies when plane he was piloting crashes in Florida ATLANTA (AP) — The president of Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios has died when the small plane he was piloting crashed on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The studio confirmed on Saturday that Steve Mensch, its 62-year-old president and general manager, had died Friday. The crash happened in Homosassa, about 60 miles north of Tampa. Photos from the scene show the plane having come to rest upside down on a road. Mensch helped advocate for Georgia’s film tax credit of more than $1 billion a year. Perry hired Mensch to run his namesake studio in 2016. Mensch died as Perry released his war drama, “The Six Triple Eight." The film was shot at the Atlanta studio. US added a strong 227,000 jobs in November in bounce-back from October slowdown WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s job market rebounded in November, adding 227,000 workers in a solid recovery from the previous month, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes had sharply diminished employers’ payrolls. Last month’s hiring growth was up considerably from a meager gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The government also revised up its estimate of job growth in September and October by a combined 56,000. Friday’s report also showed that the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.1% in October to a still-low 4.2%. The November data provided the latest evidence that the U.S. job market remains durable even though it has lost significant momentum from the 2021-2023 hiring boom, when the economy was rebounding from the pandemic recession. Stock market today: Wall Street hits more records following a just-right jobs report NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to set its own record. Treasury yields eased after the jobs report showed stronger hiring than expected but also an uptick in the unemployment rate. Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass NEW YORK (AP) — In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year spent $24.4 million to surround CEO Mark Zuckerberg with security. But the fatal shooting this week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. And experts say the task of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them is getting more difficult. One of the primary worries are loners whose rantings online are fed by others who are like-minded. It’s up to corporate security analysts to decide what represents a real threat. Days after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, police push to ID him and FBI offers reward NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly four days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still do not know the gunman’s name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing. But they have made some progress in their investigation into Wednesday's killing of the leader of the largest U.S. health insurer, including that the gunman likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene. The also found that the gunman left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Police are working with the FBI, which on Friday night announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Robbie Avila scores 19 to lead Saint Louis over winless Chicago State 85-62What you need to know about the reported Omnicom-Interpublic merger

Jimmy Carter , a one-term U.S. president who dedicated his time after the White House to widespread humanitarian work, has died at age 1. Carter, who became the oldest living ex-president after the death of George H.W. Bush in November 2018, had the longest post-presidency in U.S. history, having left the White House in January 1981. On Feb. 18, 2023, The Carter Center ― a charity founded by the former president ― announced that after a “series of short hospital stays,” Carter would begin receiving hospice care at home “instead of additional medical intervention.” On Nov. 17, the Center announced his wife Rosalynn Carter had also entered hospice care after previously being diagnosed with dementia. She died two days later. Despite being in hospice, Carter appeared at her funeral. On May 14, Carter’s grandson Jason, the chair of The Carter Center, said the former president was nearing the end of his life. “He really is, I think, coming to the end that, as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him,” he said . “And there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end. And I think he has been there in that space.” The Carters made their last public appearance together in September, when they were spotted riding in a black SUV at the Plains Peanut Festival in Plains, Georgia, seven months after the former president entered hospice care. Carter had few public appearances over the last years of his life. He and his wife skipped Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in January 2021, their first time missing the ceremonies since Carter was sworn in as the 39th president in 1977. But Carter continued to speak out about humanitarian and political issues. In January 2021, Carter joined with other former living presidents to condemn the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calling it a “national tragedy” and “not who we are as a nation.” The following year, Carter penned an op-ed for The New York Times expressing concern about U.S. democracy and called on leaders and candidates to “uphold the ideals of freedom and adhere to high standards of conduct.” He spoke out in February 2022 against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arguing the “unjust assault” threatened “security in Europe and the entire world.” Carter experienced several health setbacks in his later years. He was admitted to the hospital in November 2019 for a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain caused by several falls. He continued to face health issues that year, including a broken hip, pelvic fracture and a urinary tract infection . In August 2015, Carter revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer . He received radiation treatment for melanoma and was declared cancer-free that December, announcing four months later that he no longer needed to receive treatment. The bout with cancer forced Carter to come to terms with mortality. In a 2019 address to a church in his hometown, he said he was “ completely at ease ” with death. “I assumed, naturally, that I was going to die very quickly,” Carter told the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. “I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.” He was born James Earl Carter Jr. in Georgia in October 1924, the first of his parents’ four children. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, then served seven years in the Navy before returning to Georgia, where he operated a peanut farm, then served as state senator and governor. Carter, a Democrat, kicked off his presidential run in December 1974, choosing Walter Mondale as his running mate. In November 1976, he defeated Gerald Ford, who had become president two years earlier when Richard Nixon resigned. During his four years in the White House, Carter dealt with a national energy crisis, expanded the national park system and installed solar panels on the White House. He signed the bill that allowed for the creation of the U.S. Department of Education. Perhaps his greatest achievement, the Camp David Accords , settled hostilities between Egypt and Israel and established diplomatic relations. But it failed to live up to his hopes for serious negotiations toward Palestinian statehood. His administration was dogged by other foreign policy issues, including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage crisis . Carter was deeply unpopular by the time Republican Ronald Reagan defeated him in the 1980 election and he left office with a 34% approval rating, according to Gallup . After the presidency, Carter became a champion for international human rights. He monitored elections across the globe and devoted time to building houses for the charity Habitat for Humanity. His efforts through The Carter Center nearly eliminated Guinea worm disease, an infection that has plagued Africa for centuries. He became a self-styled international diplomat, sometimes working unofficially. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work “to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development” through The Carter Center. “He remains such a controversial figure,” Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University and a Carter biographer, told The Atlantic in 2012 . “But like it or not, he re-invented the post-presidency.” He wrote books and spoke his mind on contemporary political issues. In July 2015, for example , he said the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that allowed unlimited campaign donations had turned America into an “oligarchy.” “It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system,” Carter said. “Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president.” He also spoke out against then-President Donald Trump, telling The Washington Post in August 2018 he thought Trump was “a disaster” after previously arguing that the media were too harsh and saying he had prayed for him . Carter married Rosalynn in 1946. They had four children, 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren . The couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in 2021 with a private reception attended by former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, country artists Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, and more. Rosalynn was heavily involved in the humanitarian work her husband did after leaving the White House, and advocates for several causes on her own , including mental health and caregiving. Carter, a Baptist, was deeply religious, and told The Atlantic in July 2015 he believed he’d led “several hundred” people to Christ through one-on-one interaction. He taught Sunday school lessons every other week at Maranatha Baptist Church for decades after he left the White House. He told HuffPost Live in 2015 that he approved of same-sex marriage, saying he believed Jesus would as well. “I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else,” he said. While speaking at The Carter Center in 2019, Carter described his aspirations for the Center’s future initiatives, he said he hoped it would speak out against armed conflicts and “wars by the United States.” “I just want to keep the whole world at peace,” Carter said. Ryan Grenoble, Shruti Rajkumar and Carla H. Russo contributed reporting. Jimmy Carter Says Brett Kavanaugh 'Unfit' To Be A Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Carter: The U.S. Has 'Abandoned' Its Role As A Champion Of Human Rights Jimmy Carter Calls Trump’s First Reaction To McCain's Death 'A Serious Mistake'

Japan’s Prime Minister Cautious on the Idea of Using Bitcoin as National Reserve

‘This could go national’: NQ club for autistic kids seeing big resultsAs artificial intelligence ( ) technologies evolve, the demand for computing power - and consequently, electricity - has surged, as have concerns about its energy consumption. Now, engineers from BitEnergy AI offers a potential solution - a new method of computation which could reduce the energy needs of AI applications by up to 95%. Linear-Complexity Multiplication could apparently reducing the energy needs of AI applications by 95% by changing how AI calculations are performed, moving away from the traditional use of floating-point multiplication (FPM) in favor of integer addition. From floating-point multiplication to linear-complexity multiplication FPM is typically used in AI computations because it allows systems to handle very large or small numbers with high precision - however, it is also one of the most energy-intensive operations in AI processing. The precision FPM offers is necessary for many AI applications, particularly in areas like deep learning, where models require detailed calculations. The researchers claim despite cutting energy consumption, there is no impact on the performance of AI applications. However, while the Linear-Complexity Multiplication method shows great promise, its adoption faces certain challenges. One significant drawback is that the new technique requires different hardware to what is currently in use. Most AI applications today run on hardware optimized for floating-point computations, such as GPUs made by companies like . The new method would require redesigned hardware to function effectively. The team notes the hardware needed for its method has already been designed, built, and tested. However, this new hardware will need to be licensed and there is no telling how this hardware will be made available to the broader market. Estimates suggest alone currently consumes approximately 564 MWh of electricity daily, enough to power 18,000 US households. Some critics predict that in just a few years, AI applications could consume around 100 TWh of electricity annually, putting them on par with the energy-hungry Bitcoin mining industry. Via

The wife of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau 's brother Matthew Gaudreau has given birth to their first baby, four months after the siblings were killed in a road accident . Madeline Gaudreau shared Dec. 29 that their son had arrived. " Tripp Matthew ," she wrote on Instagram , alongside a photo of herself holding the newborn's hand. "Mommy & Daddy’s world." Matthew's wife had announced her pregnancy on social media in June, two months before her husband, a minor league hockey player, and Johnny were fatally struck by a Jeep driver while riding their bikes in New Jersey . "He was born to be a dad," Madeline had said about Matthew at the brothers' memorial service in September. "The moment we found out about our son Tripp, it consumed his every day. He was downloading apps, ordering books, finding the best diaper brand, making sure I had the best vitamins and asking for tips from John." She continued, "I will never forget the tears he had in his eyes when he first heard Tripp’s heartbeat." Madeline gave birth to baby Tripp three weeks after Matthew's 30th birthday. "Happy Birthday to the best husband and father," she wrote on her Instagram Dec. 5. "The moment I met you I instantly knew you were the one. As I celebrate you today (and everyday ) I am more and more in love with you and honored to be your wife." Madeline added, "John better have friends playing all day, double stuff Oreos and a nice glass of whiskey for you. I love you and can’t wait to kiss your face again." A post shared by Madeline Gaudreau (@mogaudreau) In October, Madeline shared photos from her baby shower , which included blue balloons, including one spelling out "Baby Tripp." Among the guests was Johnny's wife Meredith Gaudreau , who had announced her pregnancy with her and the Columbus Blue Jackets left winger's third child at the siblings' memorial. Also in October, the brothers' wives, parents and other family members attended the team's special tribute to the brothers at their season opening game. As a banner bearing Johnny's name and jersey number, 13, was raised, his and Meredith's daughter Noa , 2, was seen pointing up at the rafters at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena. "Thank you to our entire Columbus Blue Jackets family for such a beautiful night celebrating our favorite guy," Meredith, who also shares son Johnny , 10 months, with her late husband, wrote on Instagram after the game. "NWA was our second home as a family and a place I still feel close to John in. I could see in Noa's eyes that she can feel it too."Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers played to gallery with SPFL pyro charge response – would he let the ned-mobs into his house?

PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Newly married and sworn as a Naval officer, left his tiny hometown in 1946 hoping to climb the ranks and see the world. Less than a decade later, the death of his father and namesake, a merchant farmer and local politician who went by “Mr. Earl,” prompted the submariner and his wife, Rosalynn, to return to the rural life of Plains, Georgia, they thought they’d escaped. The lieutenant never would be an admiral. Instead, he became commander in chief. Years after his presidency ended in humbling defeat, he would add a Nobel Peace Prize, awarded not for his White House accomplishments but “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” The life of James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th and longest-lived U.S. president, ended Sunday at the age of 100 where it began: Plains, the town of 600 that fueled his political rise, welcomed him after his fall and sustained him during 40 years of service that redefined what it means to be a former president. With the stubborn confidence of an engineer and an optimism rooted in his Baptist faith, Carter described his motivations in politics and beyond in the same way: an almost missionary zeal to solve problems and improve lives. Carter was raised amid racism, abject poverty and hard rural living — realities that shaped both his deliberate politics and emphasis on human rights. “He always felt a responsibility to help people,” said Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of Carter's in Plains. “And when he couldn’t make change wherever he was, he decided he had to go higher.” Defying expectations Carter's path, , pitted moral imperatives against political pragmatism; and it defied typical labels of American politics, especially caricatures of one-term presidents as failures. “We shouldn’t judge presidents by how popular they are in their day. That's a very narrow way of assessing them," Carter biographer Jonathan Alter told the Associated Press. “We should judge them by how they changed the country and the world for the better. On that score, Jimmy Carter is not in the first rank of American presidents, but he stands up quite well.” Later in life, Carter conceded that many Americans, even those too young to remember his tenure, judged him ineffective for failing to contain inflation or interest rates, end the energy crisis or quickly bring home American hostages in Iran. He gained admirers instead for his work at The Carter Center — advocating globally for public health, human rights and democracy since 1982 — and the decades he and Rosalynn wore hardhats and swung hammers with Habitat for Humanity. Yet the common view that he was better after the Oval Office than in it annoyed Carter, and his allies relished him living long enough to see historians reassess his presidency. “He doesn’t quite fit in today’s terms” of a left-right, red-blue scoreboard, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the former president multiple times during his own White House bid. At various points in his political career, Carter labeled himself “progressive” or “conservative” — sometimes both at once. His most ambitious health care bill failed — perhaps one of his biggest legislative disappointments — because it didn’t go far enough to suit liberals. Republicans, especially after his 1980 defeat, cast him as a left-wing cartoon. It would be easiest to classify Carter as a centrist, Buttigieg said, “but there’s also something radical about the depth of his commitment to looking after those who are left out of society and out of the economy.” ‘Country come to town’ Indeed, Carter’s legacy is stitched with complexities, contradictions and evolutions — personal and political. The self-styled peacemaker was a war-trained Naval Academy graduate who promised Democratic challenger Ted Kennedy that he’d “kick his ass.” But he campaigned with a call to treat everyone with “respect and compassion and with love.” Carter vowed to restore America’s virtue after the shame of Vietnam and Watergate, and his technocratic, good-government approach didn't suit Republicans who tagged government itself as the problem. It also sometimes put Carter at odds with fellow Democrats. The result still was a notable legislative record, with wins on the environment, education, and mental health care. He dramatically expanded federally protected lands, began deregulating air travel, railroads and trucking, and he put human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. As a fiscal hawk, Carter added a relative pittance to the national debt, unlike successors from both parties. Carter nonetheless struggled to make his achievements resonate with the electorate he charmed in 1976. Quoting Bob Dylan and grinning enthusiastically, he had promised voters he would “never tell a lie.” Once in Washington, though, he led like a joyless engineer, insisting his ideas would become reality and he'd be rewarded politically if only he could convince enough people with facts and logic. This served him well at Camp David, where he brokered peace between Israel’s Menachem Begin and Epypt’s Anwar Sadat, an experience that later sparked the idea of The Carter Center in Atlanta. Carter's tenacity helped the center grow to a global force that monitored elections across five continents, enabled his freelance diplomacy and sent public health experts across the developing world. The center’s wins were personal for Carter, who hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm parasite, and nearly did. As president, though, the approach fell short when he urged consumers beleaguered by energy costs to turn down their thermostats. Or when he tried to be the nation’s cheerleader, beseeching Americans to overcome a collective “crisis of confidence.” Republican Ronald Reagan exploited Carter's lecturing tone with a belittling quip in their lone 1980 debate. “There you go again,” the former Hollywood actor said in response to a wonky answer from the sitting president. “The Great Communicator” outpaced Carter in all but six states. Carter later suggested he “tried to do too much, too soon” and mused that he was incompatible with Washington culture: media figures, lobbyists and Georgetown social elites who looked down on the as “country come to town.” A ‘leader of conscience’ on race and class Carter carefully navigated divides on race and class on his way to the Oval Office. , Carter was raised in the mostly Black community of Archery, just outside Plains, by a progressive mother and white supremacist father. Their home had no running water or electricity but the future president still grew up with the relative advantages of a locally prominent, land-owning family in a system of Jim Crow segregation. He wrote of President Franklin Roosevelt’s towering presence and his family’s Democratic Party roots, but his father soured on FDR, and Jimmy Carter never campaigned or governed as a New Deal liberal. He offered himself as a small-town peanut farmer with an understated style, carrying his own luggage, bunking with supporters during his first presidential campaign and always using his nickname. And he began his political career in a whites-only Democratic Party. As private citizens, he and Rosalynn supported integration as early as the 1950s and believed it inevitable. Carter refused to join the White Citizens Council in Plains and spoke out in his Baptist church against denying Black people access to worship services. “This is not my house; this is not your house,” he said in a churchwide meeting, reminding fellow parishioners their sanctuary belonged to God. Yet as the appointed chairman of Sumter County schools he never pushed to desegregate, thinking it impractical after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision. And while presidential candidate Carter would hail the 1965 Voting Rights Act, signed by fellow Democrat Lyndon Johnson when Carter was a state senator, there is no record of Carter publicly supporting it at the time. Carter overcame a ballot-stuffing opponent to win his legislative seat, then lost the 1966 governor's race to an arch-segregationist. He won four years later by avoiding explicit mentions of race and campaigning to the right of his rival, who he mocked as “Cufflinks Carl” — the insult of an ascendant politician who never saw himself as part the establishment. Carter’s rural and small-town coalition in 1970 would match any victorious Republican electoral map in 2024. Once elected, though, Carter shocked his white conservative supporters — and landed on the cover of Time magazine — by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Before making the jump to Washington, Carter befriended the family of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., whom he’d never sought out as he eyed the governor’s office. Carter lamented his foot-dragging on school integration as a “mistake.” But he also met, conspicuously, with Alabama's segregationist Gov. George Wallace to accept his primary rival's endorsement ahead of the 1976 Democratic convention. “He very shrewdly took advantage of his own Southerness,” said Amber Roessner, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on Carter’s campaigns. A coalition of Black voters and white moderate Democrats ultimately made Carter the last Democratic presidential nominee to sweep the Deep South. Then, just as he did in Georgia, he used his power in office to appoint more non-whites than all his predecessors had, combined. He once acknowledged “the secret shame” of white Americans who didn’t fight segregation. But he also told Alter that doing more would have sacrificed his political viability – and thus everything he accomplished in office and after. King's daughter, Bernice King, described Carter as wisely “strategic” in winning higher offices to enact change. “He was a leader of conscience,” she said in an interview. Rosalynn was Carter's closest advisor Rosalynn Carter, who at the age of 96, was identified by both husband and wife as the “more political” of the pair; she sat in on Cabinet meetings and urged him to postpone certain priorities, like pressing the Senate to relinquish control of the Panama Canal. “Let that go until the second term,” she would sometimes say. The president, recalled her former aide Kathy Cade, retorted that he was “going to do what’s right” even if “it might cut short the time I have.” Rosalynn held firm, Cade said: “She’d remind him you have to win to govern.” Carter also was the first president to appoint multiple women as Cabinet officers. Yet by his own telling, his career sprouted from chauvinism in the Carters' early marriage: He did not consult Rosalynn when deciding to move back to Plains in 1953 or before launching his state Senate bid a decade later. Many years later, he called it “inconceivable” that he didn’t confer with the woman he described as his “full partner,” at home, in government and at The Carter Center. “We developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business, and it continued when Jimmy got involved in politics,” Rosalynn Carter told AP in 2021. So deep was their trust that when Carter remained tethered to the White House in 1980 as 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, it was Rosalynn who campaigned on her husband’s behalf. “I just loved it,” she said, despite the bitterness of defeat. Reevaluating his legacy Fair or not, the label of a disastrous presidency had leading Democrats keep their distance, at least publicly, for many years, but Carter managed to remain relevant, writing books and weighing in on societal challenges. He lamented widening wealth gaps and the influence of money in politics. He voted for democratic socialist Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016, and later declared that America had devolved from fully functioning democracy to “oligarchy.” Yet looking ahead to 2020, with Sanders running again, Carter warned Democrats not to lest they help re-elect President Donald Trump. Carter scolded the Republican for his serial lies and threats to democracy, and chided the U.S. establishment for misunderstanding Trump’s populist appeal. He delighted in yearly convocations with Emory University freshmen, often asking them to guess how much he’d raised in his two general election campaigns. “Zero,” he’d gesture with a smile, explaining the public financing system candidates now avoid so they can raise billions. Carter still remained quite practical in partnering with wealthy corporations and foundations to advance Carter Center programs. Carter recognized that economic woes and the Iran crisis doomed his presidency, but offered no apologies for appointing Paul Volcker as the Federal Reserve chairman whose interest rate hikes would not curb inflation until Reagan's presidency. He was proud of getting all the hostages home without starting a shooting war, even though Tehran would not free them until Reagan's Inauguration Day. “Carter didn’t look at it” as a failure, Alter emphasized. “He said, ‘They came home safely.’ And that’s what he wanted.” Well into their 90s, the Carters greeted visitors at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where he taught Sunday School and where he will have his last funeral before being buried on . Carter, who made the congregation’s collection plates in his woodworking shop, still garnered headlines there, calling for women’s rights within religious institutions, many of which, he said, “subjugate” women in church and society. Carter was not one to dwell on regrets. “I am at peace with the accomplishments, regret the unrealized goals and utilize my former political position to enhance everything we do,” he wrote around his 90th birthday. Pilgrimages to Plains The politician who had supposedly hated Washington politics also enjoyed hosting Democratic presidential contenders as again. Carter sat with Buttigieg for the final time March 1, 2020, hours before the Indiana mayor ended his campaign and endorsed eventual winner Joe Biden. “He asked me how I thought the campaign was going,” Buttigieg said, recalling that Carter flashed his signature grin and nodded along as the young candidate, born a year after Carter left office, “put the best face” on the walloping he endured the day before in South Carolina. Never breaking his smile, the 95-year-old host fired back, “I think you ought to drop out.” “So matter of fact,” Buttigieg said with a laugh. “It was somehow encouraging.” Carter had lived enough, won plenty and lost enough to take the long view. “He talked a lot about coming from nowhere,” Buttigieg said, not just to attain the presidency but to leverage “all of the instruments you have in life” and “make the world more peaceful.” In his farewell address as president, Carter said as much to the country that had embraced and rejected him. “The struggle for human rights overrides all differences of color, nation or language,” he declared. “Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity and who suffer for the sake of justice — they are the patriots of this cause.” Carter pledged to remain engaged with and for them as he returned “home to the South where I was born and raised,” home to Plains, where that young lieutenant had indeed become “a fellow citizen of the world.” —- Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012. Bill Barrow, The Associated Press