Aston Villa fails in its bid to overturn Jhon Duran’s red card at Newcastle
Bowlero CFO Lavan acquires $1,506 in stock‘Failure is not an option’: Fire-torn Jasper entering new year with hope, anxiety
Winning start for Ruud Van Nistelrooy as Leicester beat West HamTrump transition signs agreement with Justice Department, paving the way for FBI background checks on Trump picks
NoneMurphy USA MUSA has outperformed the market over the past 5 years by 20.91% on an annualized basis producing an average annual return of 33.99%. Currently, Murphy USA has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion. Buying $1000 In MUSA: If an investor had bought $1000 of MUSA stock 5 years ago, it would be worth $4,297.27 today based on a price of $505.23 for MUSA at the time of writing. Murphy USA's Performance Over Last 5 Years Finally -- what's the point of all this? The key insight to take from this article is to note how much of a difference compounded returns can make in your cash growth over a period of time. This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.AP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:41 p.m. EST
NoneThe suspect, identified by police as Luigi Nicholas Mangione, had a gun believed to be the one used in Wednesday’s attack on Brian Thompson , as well as writings expressing anger at corporate America, police said. Here are some of the latest developments in the investigation: Where was the man captured? Mangione was taken into custody at around 9:15 a.m. after police received a tip that he was eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh, police said. Mangione was being held in Pennsylvania on gun charges and will eventually be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death , said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. What evidence did police find? In addition to a three-page, handwritten document that suggests he harbored “ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said Mangione also had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home and is difficult to trace. Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. Officers also found a sound suppressor, or silencer, “consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” the commissioner said. He had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, Tisch said. What do we know about Mangione? Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and that his last known address is in Honolulu. Mangione, who was valedictorian of his Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press on Monday. He learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication. His social media posts also suggest that he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends at the Jersey Shore and in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, and other destinations. The Gilman School, from which Mangione graduated in 2016, is one of Baltimore’s elite prep schools. Some of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent people, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., have had children attend the school. Its alumni include sportswriter Frank Deford and former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington. In his valedictory speech, Luigi Mangione described his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things,” according to a post on the school website. He praised their collective inventiveness and pioneering mindset. Mangione took a software programming internship after high school at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis, where he fixed bugs on the hit strategy game Civilization 6, according to a LinkedIn profile. Firaxis parent company Take-Two Interactive said Monday it would not comment on former employees. He more recently worked at the car-buying website TrueCar, according to the head of the Santa Monica, California-based company. “While we generally don’t comment on personnel matters, we confirm that Luigi Mangione has not been an employee of our company since 2023,” TrueCar CEO Jantoon Reigersman said by email. Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978. The father of 10 children, Nick Mangione prepared his five sons — including Luigi Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione — to help manage the family business, according to a 2003 Washington Post report. The Mangione family also purchased Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore in 1986. On Monday, Baltimore County police officers blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to Luigi Mangione’s parents. Reporters and photographers gathered outside the entrance. Luigi Mangione is one of 37 grandchildren of Nick Mangione, according to the grandfather's obituary. Luigi Mangione's grandparents donated to charities through the Mangione Family Foundation, according to a statement from Loyola University commemorating Nick Mangione’s wife’s death in 2023. They donated to various causes ranging from Catholic organizations to colleges and the arts. One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker's office confirmed Monday. The shooting and a quick escape Police said the person who killed Thompson left a hostel on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 5:41 a.m. on Wednesday. Just 11 minutes later, he was seen on surveillance video walking back and forth in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, wearing a distinctive backpack. At 6:44 a.m., he shot Thompson at a side entrance to the hotel, fled on foot, then climbed aboard a bicycle and within four minutes had entered Central Park. Another security camera recorded the gunman leaving the park near the American Museum of Natural History at 6:56 a.m. still on the bicycle but without the backpack. After getting in a taxi, he headed north to a bus terminal near the George Washington Bridge, arriving at around 7:30 a.m. From there, the trail of video evidence runs cold. Police have not located video of the suspect exiting the building, leading them to believe he likely took a bus out of town. Police said they are still investigating the path the suspect took to Pennsylvania. “This just happened this morning," Kenny said. "We’ll be working, backtracking his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” Kenny said. Associated Press reporters Lea Skene in Baltimore, Matt O'Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, and Cedar Attanasio in New York contributed to this report.
The artificial intelligence video generator, Sora, by OpenAI, is now made available in the U.S. – Open for anyone in the country to produce video content through text prompts. This news comes this Monday, which marks one of the many steps being taken by the company for further expansion in generative AI technologies. Sora, which was first made available by OpenAI in February, had previously been accessible only to a limited group of artists, filmmakers, and safety testers. But as of Monday, OpenAI has thrown open the platform to the public at large, albeit with some technical glitches. The users faced a lot of hassle signing up for the service throughout the day as the company’s website was not able to take on new users at times due to heavy traffic. Sora functions as a text-to-video generator, enabling users to create video clips from written descriptions. One example shared on OpenAI’s website shows how a simple prompt—”a wide, serene shot of a family of woolly mammoths in an open desert”—can result in a video featuring three woolly mammoths slowly walking across sand dunes. The tool allows for a wide range of creative possibilities, offering users the chance to explore video storytelling in new, innovative ways. “We hope this early version of Sora will enable people everywhere to explore new forms of creativity, tell their stories, and push the boundaries of what’s possible with video storytelling,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post. OpenAI’s Expanding AI Portfolio OpenAI , which is probably best known for its ubiquitous chatbot ChatGPT, has been actively expanding its portfolio of AI technologies. In addition to Sora, the company has developed a voice-cloning tool and has also integrated an image-generation tool called DALL-E into the features of ChatGPT . Leveraged by Microsoft, the company has rapidly emerged to become a leader in generative AI, and it has seen its valuation explode to nearly $160 billion. One of the newest creations from OpenAI is Sora, which has furthered its innovation on applications of artificial intelligence. Yet, public release came with scrutiny regarding the development and implications of generative AI. Before its public release, OpenAI opened it up for testing by select individuals such as tech reviewer Marques Brownlee. Brownlee’s review was also mixed, saying the results “are horrifying and inspiring all at once.” He believed that Sora did exceptionally well in generating landscapes as well as stylistic effects but admitted that the software failed to depict basic principles of physics and often caused unrealistic results. Some film directors who previewed the software also reported encountering visual defects while using it, which had them question its readiness to be used by the world. OpenAI also experienced difficulties in terms of meeting the regulatory standards, especially about the UK’s Online Safety Act and the EU’s Digital Services Act and General Data Protection Regulation, also known as GDPR. This regulatory issue is the consequence of ongoing debates on whether AI-generated content is ethical or unlawful. The AI Art Scandal OpenAI had come under controversy, wherein a group of artists criticized the firm for “art washing” its product. The group, self-named as the “Sora PR Puppets,” criticized the firm for making use of the creativity of artists in generating a good narrative of the AI tool at hand but threatening the survival of human creators. This was the case where an artist made a backdoor to obtain unauthorized access into the tool. Because of this incident, the company temporarily suspended the access of the tool. Generative AI has been a subject of critique as regards undermining traditional forms of art and expression. Most notably in the field of images and videos, such AI is said to perpetrate plagiarism and theft of human creative works. In terms of AI image and video generation, tools such as Sora, despite making good strides in this technology, still often experience “hallucinations,” incorrect or distorted output, among other errors, which defeats their purpose of reliability. Threat Of Deepfakes And Misinformation This leaves misuse as one of the big concerns about Sora and similar AI technology. Deepfakes might be misused to make disinformation or deepfake content for misleading the public. This, for instance, is evident in the manner that already some deepfakes were deployed in spreading false videos about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for a ceasefire and videos claiming that the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made scandalous comments over diversity. With the increasing sophistication of AI-generated media, the risks associated with its use have never been more significant. As Sora and similar tools gain popularity, the need for stronger regulations and safeguards to prevent misuse becomes even more urgent. ALSO READ | Nancy Mace Faces Backlash As Old Drinking Game Video Surfaces Amid Transgender Debate
Bills' letdowns on defense, special teams and clock management in loss to Rams are all too familiarGlobal Genome Sequencing Market Set For 19.1% Growth, Reaching $19.87 Billion By 2028By ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers. “This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day,” said Susie Wiles, Trump’s designate to be White House chief of staff. The announcement comes a week after the Trump transition team signed an agreement with the Biden White House to allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on. Security clearances are required to access classified information, including on ongoing operations and threats to the nation, and the Biden White House and outside experts have emphasized to Trump’s team the importance of having cleared personnel before Inauguration Day so they could be fully briefed and ready to run the government. Republican Senators have also insisted on FBI background checks for Trump’s nominees before they face confirmation votes, as has been standard practice for decades. Lawmakers have been particularly interested in seeing the findings of reviews into Trump’s designated nominee for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. “That’s why it’s so important that we have an FBI background check, a committee review of extensive questions and questionnaires, and a public hearing,” said. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine on Monday. John Thune, the incoming Senate Republican leader, said the Trump team “understands there’s going to have to be a thorough vetting of all these nominees.” AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.
South Korea lifts president’s martial law decree after lawmakers vote against itSouth Korea's parliament formally introduced a motion on Thursday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over a botched attempt to impose martial law, but his party vowed to oppose the move, throwing the process into doubt. Lawmakers could vote for the bill as early as Friday. Yoon's ruling People Power Party said it would oppose it but the party has been divided over the crisis. The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, needs at least eight ruling party lawmakers to back the bill in order for it to pass. "The Yoon Suk Yeol regime's declaration of emergency martial law caused great confusion and fear among our people," Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won told a session of South Korea's National Assembly held in the early hours of Thursday. None of the 108 ruling party lawmakers were present for the introduction of the motion, which followed an attempt by armed troops to force their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul, only to stand back when parliamentary aides sprayed them with fire extinguishers. "The people and the aides who protected parliament protected us with their bodies. The people won, and it's now time for us to protect the people," said Kim. "We need to immediately suspend the authority of President Yoon. He has committed an indelible, historic, crime against the people, whose anxiety needs to be soothed so that they can return to their daily lives". If the impeachment motion is passed and upheld by the constitutional court, Yoon would be the second South Korean president to have been impeached since massive candlelit protests against an influence-peddling scandal led to the removal of former president Park Geun-hye in 2017. Yoon's declaration of martial law late on Tuesday attempted to ban political activity and censor the media in South Korea, which has Asia's fourth largest economy and is a key U.S. ally. The shock move divided Yoon's ministers and unleashed six hours of political chaos. Demonstrators held candlelit vigils in Seoul late on Wednesday and called for Yoon's resignation. The impeachment motion against Yoon paved the way for a vote to be held in the following 24 to 72 hours. Opposition parties need a two-thirds majority to pass the impeachment bill. If it passes, South Korea's Constitutional Court will then decide whether to uphold the motion– a process that could take up to 180 days. If Yoon were to be suspended from exercising power due to parliament passing the bill, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would fill in as leader. If the embattled president resigned or was removed from office, a new election would be held within 60 days. NO SPECIFIC THREATS Yoon told the nation in a television speech late on Tuesday that martial law was needed to defend the country from pro-North Korean anti-state forces, and protect the free constitutional order, although he cited no specific threats. Within hours, South Korea's parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, unanimously passed a motion for martial law be lifted, with 18 members of Yoon's party present. The president then rescinded the declaration of martial law, around six hours after its proclamation. "There are opinions that it was too much to go to emergency martial law, and that we did not follow the procedures for emergency martial law, but it was done strictly within the constitutional framework," a South Korean presidential official told Reuters by telephone. There has been no reaction yet from North Korea to the drama in the South. Yoon was embraced by leaders in the West as a partner in the U.S.-led effort to unify democracies against growing authoritarianism in China, Russia and elsewhere. But he caused unease among South Koreans by branding his critics as "communist totalitarian and anti-state forces". In November, he denied wrongdoing in response to influence-peddling allegations against him and his wife and he has taken a hard line against labour unions. The martial law crisis rattled global financial markets and left South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index down 1.4%. Currency dealers reporting suspected state intervention to keep the won stable after overnight talks between Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong. Choi sent an emergency note to global financial chiefs and credit rating agencies late on Wednesday to say the finance ministry was working to alleviate any adverse impact from political turmoil, the ministry said. Yoon, a career prosecutor, squeezed out a victory in the tightest presidential election in South Korean history in 2022, riding a wave of discontent over economic policy, scandals and gender wars. But his support ratings have been at around 20% for months and the opposition captured nearly two-thirds of seats in parliament in an April election. Martial law been declared more than a dozen times since South Korea was established as a republic in 1948. In 1980, a group of military officers forced then-President Choi Kyu-hah to proclaim martial law to crush calls for the restoration of democratic government.
Supreme Court seems likely to uphold Tennessee's ban on medical treatments for transgender minors
(The Center Square) – Legislators in Washington, D.C., have taken a number of steps over the past few days to push for insurance and pharmaceutical reforms to be passed before the end of the year. On Wednesday, a bicameral group of Republican and Democrat lawmakers held a press conference discussing the need for pharmacy benefit manager reform to protect small pharmacies across the country and “save lives.” “Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or an independent, we all want the same thing. We want accessible, affordable, quality health care,” said Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga. “We’re not here today to just discuss one bill or to discuss just one patient’s story. We're here because there's broad, bipartisan pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, reform that is needed to save lives.” Pharmacy benefit managers are the middlemen responsible for managing the drug prices covered by health insurance plans. According to the Harvard Political Review , the problem with pharmacy benefit managers is that they “have vertically integrated with pharmacy chains and health insurers through massive conglomerates.” That then allows them to abuse their power to cut out small pharmacies and increase prices. Carter also signed a letter that was released last week calling on the Department of Justice to dig into the role pharmacy benefit managers played in the opioid epidemic. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., Deborah Ross, D-N.C., and Cliff Benz, R-Ore., all joined him in signing that letter. “The opioid crisis has devastated communities in North Carolina and across the country, and PBMs may have fueled it by prioritizing profits over people,” Ross said on social media . “That’s why I joined a letter calling on the DOJ to investigate their role and hold these bad actors accountable.” The letter looked at recent reports on the largest pharmacy benefit managers, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx which state that they “colluded and conspired to steer patients towards OxyContin in exchange for $400 million.” OxyContin is a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, a painkiller available by prescription only. This and the general “lack of transparency” is just one of the many complaints that legislators aired on Wednesday. “My colleagues who are joining me today, Democrats and Republicans ... all recognize that PBMs are decreasing the accessibility, the affordability, and therefore the quality of health care in America,” Carter said. “We have an opportunity, right now, to advance bipartisan legislation that increases reporting requirements, which would heighten transparency and shine a light on the opaque practices of these PBMs.” Carter was also joined by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who is leading the effort to get legislation passed in the U.S. Senate. “This year, we're losing about one pharmacy a day in America,” Lankford said. “We want leadership to be able to take this up and to bring it up in the end-of-year package ... Stop holding up legislation that is bipartisan, bicameral, and solving a problem that Americans need solved.”
Friendly reminder |
The authenticity of this information has not been verified by this website and is for your reference only. Please do not reprint without permission. If authorized by this website, it should be used within the scope of authorization and marked with "Source: this website". |
Special attention |
Some articles on this website are reprinted from other media. The purpose of reprinting is to convey more industry information, which does not mean that this website agrees with their views and is responsible for their authenticity. Those who make comments on this website forum are responsible for their own content. This website has the right to reprint or quote on the website. The comments on the forum do not represent the views of this website. If you need to use the information provided by this website, please contact the original author. The copyright belongs to the original author. If you need to contact this website regarding copyright, please do so within 15 days. |