fighting cockpit

fighting cockpit Justin Tucker's erratic season isn't getting any better, and it's hurting Baltimore's outlookNoneManmohan Singh, the former Indian prime minister whose economic reforms made his country a global powerhouse, has died at the age of 92, current leader Narendra Modi said Thursday. India "mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders," Modi posted on social media platform X shortly after news broke of Singh's passing. "As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people's lives." Singh was taken to a hospital in New Delhi after he lost consciousness at his home on Thursday, but could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at 9:51 pm local time, according to a statement by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, is credited with having overseen an economic boom in Asia's fourth-largest economy in his first term, although slowing growth in later years marred his second stint. "I have lost a mentor and guide," opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a statement, adding that Singh had "led India with immense wisdom and integrity." "Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the utmost pride," said Gandhi, a scion of India's powerful Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and the most prominent challenger to Modi. Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition in parliament's upper house, said "India has lost a visionary statesman, a leader of unimpeachable integrity, and an economist of unparalleled stature." President Droupadi Murmu wrote on X that Singh will "always be remembered for his service to the nation, his unblemished political life and his utmost humility." Born in 1932 in the mud-house village of Gah in what is now Pakistan, Singh studied economics to find a way to eradicate poverty in India and never held elected office before taking the vast nation's top job. He won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he obtained a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his PhD. Singh worked in a string of senior civil posts, served as a central bank governor and also held various jobs with global agencies including the United Nations. He was tapped in 1991 by then Congress prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to reel India back from the worst financial crisis in its modern history. In his first term Singh steered the economy through a period of nine-percent growth, lending India the international clout it had long sought. He also sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the United States that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs. Known as "Mr Clean", Singh nonetheless saw his image tarnished during his decade-long tenure when a series of corruption cases became public. Several months before the 2014 elections, Singh said he would retire after the polls, with Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul earmarked to take his place if Congress won. But Congress crashed to its worst-ever result at that time as the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Modi, won in a landslide. Singh -- who said historians would be kinder to him than contemporary detractors -- became a vocal critic of Modi's economic policies, and more recently warned about the risks that rising communal tensions posed to India's democracy. bjt/mlm

South Korea’s digital infrastructure is regarded as the world’s best, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT, citing findings from the OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2024. In the report, South Korea ranked first among 29 countries, including non-OECD members such as China and the European Union, in “5G base station deployment.” The country recorded 593 5G base stations per 100,000 inhabitants, significantly surpassing Lithuania (328) and Finland (251). The OECD average stood at just 100 base stations per 100,000 inhabitants. In the category of “number of 5G connections per 100 inhabitants,” the United States led with 68.4 connections, followed by South Korea with 63. Finland (58), Australia (57), and Japan (56) rounded out the top five. These rankings highlight South Korea’s continued leadership in digital infrastructure, setting a global standard for 5G technology deployment and adoption.Spotify has just released its 2024 Spotify Wrapped, the music streaming site’s annual presentation of each user’s yearly listening habits. It gives you a fun recap of your most listened to songs, artists and genres from the past year – complete with stats like how many minutes you listened and your top genre “phases” or “moments”. The tradition has seized the cultural zeitgeist throughout the whole year, with a lot of online discourse surrounding what music will top your listens for the year. In addition to the exciting way the list is presented (aesthetically pleasing tiles, interactive elements), the answer to its ability to captivate may be found in one simple idea: we inherently like understanding ourselves. But what does this mean? We can unpack this further in the psychological theories of self-concept, social comparison and social connection. Self-concept Self-concept is how we see ourselves. It develops from our experiences and our responses to these experiences. Music is one of those unique mediums that reflects what we’ve experienced (for example, a break-up) and how we feel (sadness and yearning). So, when we see a yearly list of our top artists, genres and songs, it’s like looking into a mirror that tells us who we’ve been throughout the year. This drive towards self-reflection is likely because it fulfils some of our most fundamental human needs. Remember that time when everyone was doing the Myers-Briggs personality test ? In 1943, the American psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his theory of human needs . According to this theory, humans have a need for esteem (gaining respect and recognition within our communities) and self-actualisation (realisation of one’s potential). Neither of these can occur without first an understanding of who we currently are. Sharing a list, then, is a way of saying to others, “this is me!”. But sharing your Wrapped list serves more functions than simply self-expression. It facilitates social comparison and social connection. Social comparison In 1954, American social psychologist Leon Festinger published his social comparison theory . He believed humans are naturally inclined to compare themselves to others. We constantly evaluate where we stand in relation to those around us. When you post your Wrapped list, you aren’t just saying, “this is what I listened to” or “this is who I am”. You’re also inviting others to engage in a subtle social dialogue. Seeing someone else with the same song on their list might spark a sense of connection. Seeing that you’re in the top 1% of Taylor Swift fans might make you feel even a little superior (and others a little envious). (As a side note, I hope this happens to me again this year.) Seeing someone else’s Wrapped can also inspire and validate. If a friend’s list includes a mix of genres you’ve never explored, you might feel encouraged to branch out. Or you might see someone else’s list and feel relieved you’re not the only one obsessed with an artist. Whether conscious or subconscious, these comparisons drive engagement with Spotify. Social connection Sharing our Spotify Wrapped satisfies another fundamental human need: belonging. Humans are inherently social creatures who want to feel loved and accepted. Music is one of the oldest ways we’ve connected with one another . Sharing our Wrapped lists isn’t just about showing off who we are, but about finding common ground. It’s about finding your tribe, a group of people we can feel safely connected to. This is even more important during a period in which people’s opinions are becoming more divided and for a younger generation where loneliness is becoming an increasing problem . Building on your own wrap This urge to know about yourself and to share is very human. This year, however, I challenge you to go beyond just dropping a like on someone’s story. Sure, the dopamine hit is great and is part of what keeps us coming back to this yearly ritual. But it takes more than that to meet our need for connection. This year, use Spotify Wrapped to start up a conversation with someone. Maybe about how their experiences and feelings this year led to the songs appearing on their list. You might learn something new about them and create or revitalise a meaningful connection. And that’s a wrap.

THE shock of a very right-wing Donald Trump winning a second term as President of the United States – that so-called “shining example of democracy” – made me think about what is happening in Malaysia. I remember hearing “Suara rakyat suara keramat” (the voice of the people is a sacred voice) during those days of the call for “Reformasi” led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim following the Permatang Pauh Declaration in 1998. I was then, and have been since, a strong proponent of democracy. But today, I have actually begun doubting whether we, the rakyat, actually have a “suara keramat” or a “suara keparat” (voice of a scoundrel). The idea of democracy is said to have begun with the ancient Greeks; the word itself is formed from the Greek words demos (people) and kratos (power or rule), meaning “rule by the people”. All free men participated in decision-making by voting for their representatives in assemblies – one man, one vote. Free men meant those who owned property, were not slaves, and who were willing to defend their country to the death. These were obviously educated men who knew what was at stake in their small world. And, no, women were not allowed to vote. So some 2,500 years on, we have the same idea of one person, one vote (women were finally allowed to vote just a little over a century ago). But the people who can now vote are quite different from that small group of educated men. Now voters may not be educated, may not own property, and may be too old to defend the country. Also different from the Greeks, we now have social media, through which one vote may influence thousands of other votes. I’m not so sure it is still one vote, one person anymore. Also different from the Greeks, we, the people, experience an industrial style of education without any philosophical, creative or even critical thinking. In this, we are very different from the ancient Greeks, who were known to highly value philosophy. There are three things I worry about in today’s democracy – what I consider the “sins” of a democracy. Firstly, as I have written before, the voters have no grounding in politics and how a country works. Thus, left floundering, many give in to instilled fears and choose along racial, religious and populist lines when it comes time to vote. If one is a Malay, one votes for a Malay or Malay-dominated party; the same thing happens with other races. This I call “the sin of tribal preference”. The second sin I see emerging from civil society: The idea of civil society is to be the conscience of the nation by airing views and protests – in a calm and dignified manner, mind you. What I can see now is some well-known civil society organisations (CSOs) demanding many reforms in a reckless, demeaning and unfair manner.What do I mean by unfair? Well, people who criticise the government for not carrying out reforms must understand that the government cannot act in a vacuum. CSOs must understand the context of the culture of politics and entrenched administrators as well as the views of a majority race. Politics is about managing all these views; CSOs have the luxury of only managing their own conscience and self-righteousness. Secondly, I am disgusted to see civil society using derogatory means to make their points by grandstanding on issues while shouting or writing as if ministers do not have any feelings. I have seen expressions like “the minister doesn’t seem to have a clue”, “the PM does not seem to care at all about other rakyat of different faiths” or “the PM deserves a D grade”. These criticisms fail in three important ways: Firstly, the criticism is usually unclear in scope and expectation. Change what? How to change and which part exactly? Secondly, the criticism does not take into account administrative procedures and – most importantly – party politics. Party politics among different coalition partners is a real thing and cannot be ignored, and there is, I’m sure some sort of private quid pro quo dealing going on. That is unavoidable. I am not justifying it but it is silly and naive not to understand that it exists and has to be dealt with. Finally, I feel that “grading” a prime minister is rather childish and clearly doesn’t work because grading requires the grader to have been in the position of who the grade is for; grading requires moderation from different sources. Since just one CSO takes on this task, what practical use is it? Also, I personally feel it’s rather rude. The Islamic way of advising leaders, and I believe that it is also the Asian way, is to speak privately, with carefully selected words – with hemah, or wisdom and tact. Not having their grouses splattered all over the media. The final democratic sin is one that we, the rakyat, commit when we refuse to check the facts of an issue and simply make them go viral on Internet platforms, complete with all the lies, propaganda and misinformation. When the facts of the matter are established, the damage is already done. If this country fails and falls into poverty and chaos, I would no longer blame the politicians or the administrators but point the finger back at ourselves, the rakyat, for refusing to learn to change, for allowing knee-jerk reactions and bad manners to threaten unity, and for making untruths go viral willingly and joyfully. We would have only ourselves to blame. Prof Dr Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi is Professor of Architecture at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Studies at UCSI University. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday's targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business. As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. People are also reading... The real reason Corvallis' Pastega Lights moved to Linn County City officials admit Corvallis' flag is 'bad.' Will it change? OSU football: Three takeaways from Oregon State's loss at Boise State Prosecutor: Driver on laughing gas caused double fatal in Sweet Home UPDATED: GAPS teacher strike NOT off after talks over returning to the classroom break down OSU women's basketball: Marotte takes a more aggressive approach on offense Recently made-over park sees this change after Albany got an earful Corvallis chemical manufacturer eyes Albany for expansion Agreement reached (again), GAPS teachers get new contract OSU football: Boise State's pass rush is formidable Strike to end, GAPS reaches tentative deal with Albany teachers Philomath moves forward following July Nazi flag controversy A false start: GAPS strike continues after district, teachers announce deal Court dismisses jail-related Benton County whistleblower complaint Philomath's Lumos among 6 wineries suing Pacific Power over wildfires The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company's highest-paid executives. The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at PwC and had little name recognition beyond the health care industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company's face belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before Congress. When Thompson did occasionally draw attention, it was because of his role in shaping the way Americans get health care. At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company's shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy rather than focusing on treating them once sick. “Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time. “We are cognizant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the ... family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.” Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to start denying payment for what it deemed non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the chief executive of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter addressed to Thompson. “Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care.” United Healthcare responded by delaying rollout of the change. Thompson, who lived in a Minneapolis suburb and was the married father of two sons in high school, was set to speak at an investor meeting in a midtown New York hotel. He was on his own and about to enter the building when he was shot in the back by a masked assailant who fled on foot before pedaling an e-bike into Central Park a few blocks away, the New York Police Department said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were looking at Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members. “Didn’t seem like he had any issues at all,” Kenny said. "He did not have a security detail.” AP reporters Michael R. Sisak and Steve Karnowski contributed to this report. Murphy reported from Indianapolis. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.Conor McGregor must pay woman $257,000 in sexual assault civil case

COMMENT AI use by law enforcement to identify suspects is already problematic enough, but civil liberties groups have a new problem to worry about: the technology being employed to draft police reports. The American Civil Liberties Union published a report this week detailing its concerns with law enforcement tech provider Axon's Draft One , a ChatGPT-based system that translates body camera recordings into drafts of police reports that officers need only edit and flesh out to ostensibly save them time spent on desk work. Given the importance of police reports to investigations and prosecutions and the unreliability already noted in other forms of law enforcement AI, the ACLU has little faith that Draft One will avoid leading to potential civil rights violations and civil liberty issues. "Police reports play a crucial role in our justice system," ACLU speech, privacy and technology senior policy analyst and report author Jay Stanley wrote. "Concerns include the unreliability and biased nature of AI, evidentiary and memory issues when officers resort to this technology, and issues around transparency. "In the end, we do not think police departments should use this technology," Stanley concluded. It's worth pointing out that Axon doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to thinking critically about innovations: Most of the company's ethics board resigned in 2022 when Axon announced plans to equip remote-control drones with tasers. Axon later paused the program following public blow-back. Draft One , however, has already been in the hands of US law enforcement agencies since it was launched in April. It's not clear how many agencies are using Draft One, and Axon didn't respond to questions for this story. This vulture can personally attest to the misery that is writing police reports. In my time as a Military Policeman in the US Army, I spent plenty of time on shifts writing boring, formulaic, and necessarily granular reports on incidents, and it was easily the worst part of my job. I can definitely sympathize with police in the civilian world, who deal with far worse - and more frequent - crimes than I had to address on small bases in South Korea. That said, I've also had a chance to play with modern AI and report on many of its shortcomings, and the ACLU seems to definitely be on to something in Stanley's report. After all, if we can't even trust AI to write something as legally low-stakes as news or a bug report , how can we trust it to do decent police work? LLMs, while amazingly advanced at imitating human writing, are prone to unpredictable errors [that] may be compounded by transcription errors, including those resulting from garbled or otherwise unclear audio in a body camera video That's one of the ACLU's prime concerns, especially given report drafts are being compiled from body camera recordings that are often low-quality and hard to hear clearly. "LLMs, while amazingly advanced at imitating human writing, are prone to unpredictable errors [that] may be compounded by transcription errors, including those resulting from garbled or otherwise unclear audio in a body camera video," Stanley noted. In an ideal world, Stanley added, police would be carefully reviewing AI-generated drafts, but that very well may not be the case. The report notes that Draft One includes a feature that can intentionally insert silly sentences into AI-produced drafts as a test to ensure officers are thoroughly reviewing and revising the drafts. However, Axon's CEO mentioned in a video about Draft One that most agencies are choosing not to enable this feature. The ACLU also points out privacy issues with using a large language model to process body camera footage: That's sensitive police data, so who exactly is going to be handling it? According to Axon's website, all Draft One data, including camera transcripts and draft reports, are "securely stored and managed within the Axon Network," but there's no indication of what that network entails. Despite Microsoft's insistence that police aren't allowed to use Azure AI for face recognition , that apparently doesn't apply to letting an AI write police reports, as Axon indicated in an April press release that Draft One "was built on top of Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service platform." Not exactly confidence inspiring given Microsoft's and Azure's security track record of late. "When a user (such as Axon) uploads a document or enters a prompt, both of those are transmitted to the LLM's operator (such as OpenAI), and what that operator does with that information is not subject to any legal privacy protections," the ACLU report states. "Axon claims here that 'no customer [ie, police] data is going to OpenAI,' but normally in order to have an LLM like ChatGPT analyze a block of text such as the transcript of a bodycam video, you normally send that text to the company running the LLM, like OpenAI, so I'm not sure how that would work in the case of Draft One," Stanley told The Register in an emailed statement. We've asked Axon where data is processed and stored, but again, we haven't heard back. If OpenAI isn't getting access, Microsoft may be, at the very least. The ACLU is also concerned that using AI to write police reports lacks transparency, especially if the modified version of ChatGPT used as the basis of Draft One has system prompts instructing it to behave in a certain way, which it likely does like most LLMs. "That's an example of the kind of element of an AI tool that ought to be public," the ACLU report argued. "If it's not, a police AI system could well contain an instruction such as, 'Make sure that the narrative is told in a way that doesn't portray the officer as violating the Constitution.'" We've asked Axon for a look at Draft One's system prompts. "This elasticity of human memory is why we believe it's vital that officers give their statement about what took place in an incident before they are allowed to see any video or other evidence," the ACLU stated in the report. Draft One bypasses that issue by generating a draft report primarily based on audio captured by body cameras, which officers ideally should not rely on exclusively to provide their own testimony. If an officer reviewing an AI-generated report notices, for example, that something illegal they did wasn't captured by their camera, they never need to testify to that fact in their report. Conversely, if an officer lacked probable cause to detain or arrest a suspect, but their camera picks up audio in the background that justifies their action, then post-hoc probable cause could again disguise police misconduct. "The body camera video and the police officer's memory are two separate pieces of evidence," Stanley wrote. "But if the police report is just an AI rehash of the body camera video, then you no longer have two separate pieces of evidence - you have one, plus a derivative summary of it." Along with potentially assisting police to cover up misconduct or create after-the-fact justifications for illegal actions, the ACLU also pointed out another issue identified by American University law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson: It makes them less accountable for their actions. In a paper written earlier this year covering many of the same concerns raised by the ACLU, and cited as inspiration for its report, Ferguson pointed out that making police officers write reports can serve as a disciplinary check on their use of power. Police have to justify the use of discretionary power in reports, which Ferguson and the ACLU pointed out serves as a way to remind them of the legal limits of their authority. "A shift to AI-drafted police reports would sweep away these important internal roles that reports play within police departments and within the minds of officers," the ACLU wrote. "This is an additional reason to be skeptical of this technology." At the end of the day, some police are using this technology now, though Stanley believes its use is likely confined to only a few agencies around the US. Axon isn't the only company offering similar products either, with Policereports.ai and Truleo both offering similar services. The ACLU told us it's not aware of any cases involving the use of AI police reports that have been used to prosecute a defendant, so we have yet to see these reports stand up to the legal scrutiny of a courtroom. ®Letters for Dec. 3: Protect emerging tech innovation from overregulation

Verona 0, Inter 5 AC Milan 0, Juventus 0 Parma 1, Atalanta 3 Genoa vs. Cagliari, 6:30 a.m. Como vs. Fiorentina, 9 a.m. Turin vs. AC Monza, 9 a.m. Napoli vs. Roma, 12 p.m. Lazio vs. Bologna, 2:45 p.m. Empoli vs. Udinese, 12:30 p.m. Venezia FC vs. Lecce, 2:45 p.m. Cagliari vs. Verona, 2:45 p.m. Como vs. AC Monza, 9 a.m. AC Milan vs. Empoli, 12 p.m. Bologna vs. Venezia FC, 2:45 p.m. Udinese vs. Genoa, 6:30 a.m. Parma vs. Lazio, 9 a.m. Turin vs. Napoli, 9 a.m. Fiorentina vs. Inter, 12 p.m. Lecce vs. Juventus, 2:45 p.m. Roma vs. Atalanta, 2:45 p.m. Cosenza 1, Modena 1 Carrarese 1, Pisa 0 US Catanzaro 2, Mantova 1911 2 Stabia 0, Brescia 0 Sassuolo 4, Salernitana 0 Cesena 1, Reggiana 1 Bari vs. Cittadella, 9 a.m. Cremonese vs. Frosinone, 9 a.m. Spezia vs. Sudtirol, 9 a.m. Palermo vs. Sampdoria, 11:15 a.m. Reggiana vs. Sassuolo, 2:30 p.m. Brescia vs. Bari, 9 a.m. Cittadella vs. Stabia, 9 a.m. Sampdoria vs. US Catanzaro, 9 a.m. Sudtirol vs. Cremonese, 9 a.m. Mantova 1911 vs. Modena, 11:15 a.m. Frosinone vs. Cesena, 9 a.m. Palermo vs. Spezia, 9 a.m. Pisa vs. Cosenza, 9 a.m. Salernitana vs. Carrarese, 11:15 a.m.

It is a tactical and long-term strategic error for a former prime minister to create a new, inevitably small party simply because he wants to express the clarity of his views, and this not only concerns Antonis Samaras, who was recently expelled from the ruling conservatives for questioning the government’s policies. The same was true in the case of former premier and one-time PASOK leader George Papandreou, who, with the founding of the Movement of Democratic Socialists (KIDISO) 10 years ago, trapped himself in an unnecessary failed venture. People who have led major political parties and have held the fate of the country in their hands do themselves an injustice when they slide into the realm of petty politics through moves that are almost mathematically doomed to failure. By becoming prime ministers they are part of Greece’s political history and have secured the right to make their opinions public, when and where they deem necessary. Their previous role makes it a given that their opinions are widely published, thus becoming part of the public debate, which is their goal. This writer’s view is that former prime ministers not only have the right, but the obligation, to intervene in public life. The fact that they are not subject to the restrictions of a simple member of parliament allows them to express different opinions, sometimes critical ones, and in any case to influence developments. The leadership of the party in power which is the recipient of any criticism takes it into account, to some extent. Sometimes it may even take corrective measures. This is how the interventions of a former prime minister contribute to changes and improvements, to the extent that this is needed. But that’s as far as it should go. And, of course, the way in which these interventions are done matters. Former socialist premier Costas Simitis had chosen to write the occasional opinion piece. New Democracy’s Kostas Karamanlis, after a prolonged period of silence, has recently made his own public interventions, but although it is clear that he disagrees with many things with the government he has never crossed the line, and this is acknowledged by both his supporters and opponents. This stance lends authority, instead of weakening any objections with the allowed policies. How does Samaras or his views benefit from his expulsion, which every intelligent person understood would follow after questioning the patriotism of a minister? And more than that, how will he benefit from the creation of a new party?Drop in Boxing Day footfall ‘signals return to declining pre-pandemic levels’

Consumers in the United States scoured the internet for online deals as they looked to take advantage of the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of many people's regular routines and the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday — a term coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation — has become the biggest online shopping day of the year, thanks to the deals and the hype the industry has created to fuel it. Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping, expected consumers to spend $13.2 billion Monday — a record, and 6.1% more than last year. That would make it the biggest shopping day for e-commerce for the season — and the year. Online spending was expected to peak between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday night, per Adobe — reaching an estimated $15.7 million spent every minute. For several major retailers, a Cyber Monday sale is a dayslong event that began over the Thanksgiving weekend. An Amazon Prime delivery person lifts packages while making a stop Nov. 28, 2023, in Denver. Amazon kicked off its sales event right after midnight Pacific time on Saturday. Target's two days of discount offers on its website and app began overnight Sunday. Walmart rolled out its Cyber Monday offers for Walmart+ members Sunday afternoon and opened it up to all customers three hours later, at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Consumer spending for Cyber Week — the five major shopping days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — provides a strong indication of how much shoppers are willing to spend for the holidays. Many U.S. consumers continue to experience sticker shock after the period of post-pandemic inflation, which left prices for many goods and services higher than they were three years ago. But retail sales nonetheless remain strong, and the economy kept growing at a healthy pace. At the same time, credit card debt and delinquencies are rising. More shoppers than ever are also on track to use "buy now, pay later" plans this holiday season, which allows them to delay payments on holiday decor, gifts and other items. Many economists also warned that President-elect Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs next year on foreign goods coming into the United States would lead to higher prices on everything from food to clothing to automobiles. A FedEx delivery person carries a package from a truck Nov. 17, 2022, in Denver. The National Retail Federation expects holiday shoppers to spend more this year both in stores and online than last year. But the pace of spending growth will slow slightly, the trade group said, growing 2.5% to 3.5% — compared to 3.9% in 2023. A clear sense of consumer spending patterns during the holiday season won't emerge until the government releases sales data for the period, but some preliminary data from other sources shows some encouraging signs for retailers. Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, noted that discounts from Thanksgiving onward "exceeded expectations" and online spending throughout Cyber Week is on track to cross a record $40 billion mark combined. U.S. shoppers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday, a 10.2% increase over last year, according to Adobe Analytics. That's also more than double what consumers spent in 2017, when Black Friday pulled in about $5 billion in online sales. Consumers also spent a record $6.1 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, Adobe said. Meanwhile, software company Salesforce, which also tracks online shopping, estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $17.5 billion in the U.S. and $74.4 billion globally. Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and online spending, reported that overall Black Friday sales excluding automotive rose 3.4% from a year ago. A United Parcel Service driver sorts deliveries July 15, 2023, on New York's Upper West Side. E-commerce platform Shopify said its merchants raked in a record $5 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday. At its peak, sales reached $4.6 million per minute — with top categories by volume including clothing, cosmetics and fitness products, according to the Canadian company. Toys, electronics, home goods, self-care and beauty categories were among the key drivers of holiday spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to Adobe. "Hot products" included Lego sets, espresso machines, fitness trackers, makeup and skin care. Other data showed physical stores saw fewer customers on Black Friday, underscoring how the huge crowds that were once synonymous with the day after Thanksgiving are now more than happy to shop from the comfort of their homes. RetailNext, which measures real-time foot traffic in stores, said its early data showed store traffic on Friday was down 3.2% in the U.S. compared to last year, with the biggest dip happening in the Midwest. Sensormatic Solutions, which also tracks store traffic, said its preliminary analysis showed retail store traffic on Black Friday was down 8.2% compared to 2023. Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions, noted that in-store traffic was getting spread across multiple days since many retailers offered generous discounts before and after Black Friday. "Some of the extended Black Friday promotions really ended up leading to a little bit of a softer day-of traffic than expected," Gustafson said. In 2024, staying small on purpose seems to be paying off big for small businesses. They're keeping operations small and targeting niche, highly specialized customers. And some business owners find this strategy results in more time, energy, and money to intentionally capitalize on unique, small cap opportunities. The data tells the story of growth in small businesses for the year. According to NEXT , the Small Business Administration (SBA) reports awarding 38,000 SBA 7(a) loans under $150,000: double the amount they awarded in 2020. Here are the related small-business trends paying off in 2024. Commercial real estate agent Ryan Beckenhauer of Market Real Estate in Boulder, Colorado, has noticed that small businesses are growing smaller, and that their office and warehouse spaces are starting to reflect that as they shop for business space. In commercial real estate, many small business owners gravitate toward industrial condos and other flexible spaces. These are small-scale industrial spaces with a 90:10 or 80:20 split of warehouse to office. "More individuals are leveraging skills acquired at larger organizations to venture out on their own," explains Beckenhauer. And he goes on to say that they don't need a large commercial space as they make that leap to start a business. His clients include engineers, consultants, builders and other tradespeople. Beckenhauer's clients like the flexibility of being out of an office and being close to their inventory and workshop space. "The clients want to see and touch the finishes," he says. Small business owners both rent or buy these spaces. But he's seeing his clients opt to own industrial condos to stabilize costs due to rent increases in Boulder. And because these spaces are smaller, it can be easier for new buyers to qualify for financing. Mariana Alvarez, owner of Controller Works , an online bookkeeping and advisory firm, has noticed that small business owners outsource financial support services because they don't want to increase headcount. "Outsourcing gives them the possibility of having access to the knowledge and the skills of a CFO without having to pay for the salary," she says. "They don't have to manage or deal with the workload, employment taxes , and all that comes with it," says Alvarez. Additionally, many small business owners in fields like construction are family-owned, and this makes it easier for business owners to hand off delicate financial work to a trusted person with financial experience. Every small business has recurring tasks that can benefit from some level of artificial intelligence automation . And Alvarez sees a lot of value in using AI for small business bookkeeping. She explains that you can automate the data entry on Quickbooks. "When you create rules, as long as you create the rules correctly, it pretty much does itself," says Alvarez. From there, you can lean on financial experts to help you analyze the data and make more informed decisions. She uses AI as a background resource when guiding her accounting clients. "I believe that we still need the human-to-human interaction that comes with more perspective for financial analysis," she explains. According to the SBA , 77% of consumers feel that human interaction is still required for a positive customer experience. People turn to small businesses every day for a human experience. According to Arvind Rongala, CEO of Edstellar , small business workers can show up for their customers but still use AI for routine tasks like customer queries. "This balance allows companies to scale their operations without losing the personal touch that makes them unique. It's important to remember that AI isn't there to replace the human element—it's there to enhance it," he says. "By really focusing on one very small weakness that Amazon has, I've been able to carve out a successful business by offering something different," says Lou Harvey owner of Tank Retailer , a retailer of commercial water and fuel tanks. "When you read our customer reviews, many of them actually mention me by name because of how much we focus on customer service and go the extra mile." One of Harvey's most successful business strategies this year has been to lean into his small, niche market and offer the kind of customer experience that large retailers like Amazon don't. "Any small weaknesses that Amazon has (however small those weaknesses may be) needs to become a strength of a smaller business focusing on a niche market," says Harvey. Harvey has his company's customer service phone number front and center on the website to help earn customer trust. "I prominently feature our phone number, and a real person always answers the phone (usually it's me)," says Harvey. Lucie Voves, CEO and founder of Church Hill Classics , an online, woman-owned diploma framing company that uses sustainable materials, has noticed an uptick in customers seeking services from a business on a mission. "This year, we've seen a growing inclination for consumers to actively seek out and support small businesses owned by women and minorities," says Voves. When consumers shop small, they choose to make their dollars count. "Customers are fueled by a desire to promote social impact through purchasing power," says Voves. Long gone are the days of online retailers "building it and they will come." In 2024 we've seen more small businesses than ever turn to social commerce to sell directly on social media platforms like Instagram Shopping , Facebook Marketplace , and TikTok . Small business owners are turning toward influencers, social media ads, and organic content to target their customers. Mike Vannelli of Envy Creative creates online ads for businesses, and he has seen his clients succeed on TikTok of late. "I've seen businesses, especially in retail, use TikTok's short-form video format to make their products go viral. Think of it as word-of-mouth marketing on steroids," says Vannelli. He uses the platform's algorithm to push a company's content to the right audiences, and it works because TikTok loves storytelling. "I know small brands that use behind-the-scenes videos, customer testimonials, and even playful challenges that tap into trends to humanize their products and build trust," explains Vannelli. To stand out on TikTok, he says, smaller brands need to embrace authenticity and emotional connection. Show your team, share your journey, and involve your community in content creation. This story was produced by NEXT and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.Hollywood liberals taking stock of what to do in wake of Trump victory

Schwazze Provides Update on Delayed FilingsBoxing Day shopper footfall was down 7.9% from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 5pm, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found. However, this year’s data had been compared with an unusual spike in footfall as 2023 was the first “proper Christmas” period without Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, an analyst at the retail technology company said. It found £4.6 billion will be spent overall on the festive sales. Before the pandemic the number of Boxing Day shoppers on the streets had been declining year on year. The last uplift recorded by MRI was in 2015. Jenni Matthews, marketing and insights director at MRI Software, told the PA news agency: “We’ve got to bear in mind that (last year) was our first proper Christmas without any (Covid-19) restrictions or limitations. “Figures have come out that things have stabilised, we’re almost back to what we saw pre-pandemic.” There were year-on-year declines in footfall anywhere between 5% and 12% before Covid-19 restrictions, she said. MRI found 12% fewer people were out shopping on Boxing Day in 2019 than in 2018, and there were 3% fewer in 2018 than in 2017, Ms Matthews added. She said: “It’s the shift to online shopping, it’s the convenience, you’ve got the family days that take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.” People are also increasingly stocking-up before Christmas, Ms Matthews said, and MRI found an 18% increase in footfall at all UK retail destinations on Christmas Eve this year compared with 2023. Ms Matthews said: “We see the shops are full of people all the way up to Christmas Eve, so they’ve probably got a couple of good days of food, goodies, everything that they need, and they don’t really need to go out again until later on in that week. “We did see that big boost on Christmas Eve. It looks like shoppers may have concentrated much of their spending in that pre-Christmas rush.” Many online sales kicked off between December 23 and the night of Christmas Day and “a lot of people would have grabbed those bargains from the comfort of their own home”, she said. She added: “I feel like it’s becoming more and more common that people are grabbing the bargains pre-Christmas.” Footfall is expected to rise on December 27 as people emerge from family visits and shops re-open, including Next, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis that all shut for Boxing Day. It will also be payday for some as it is the last Friday of the month. A study by Barclays Consumer Spend had forecast that shoppers would spend £236 each on average in the Boxing Day sales this year, but that the majority of purchases would be made online. Nearly half of respondents said the cost-of-living crisis will affect their post-Christmas shopping but the forecast average spend is still £50 more per person than it was before the pandemic, with some of that figure because of inflation, Barclays said. Amid the financial pressures, many people are planning to buy practical, perishable and essential items such as food and kitchenware. A total of 65% of shoppers are expecting to spend the majority of their sales budget online. Last year, Barclays found 63.9% of Boxing Day retail purchases were made online. However, a quarter of respondents aim to spend mostly in store – an 11% rise compared with last year. Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: “Despite the ongoing cost-of-living pressures, it is encouraging to hear that consumers will be actively participating in the post-Christmas sales. “This year, we’re likely to see a shift towards practicality and sustainability, with more shoppers looking to bag bargains on kitchen appliances and second-hand goods.” Consumers choose in-store shopping largely because they enjoy the social aspect and touching items before they buy, Barclays said, adding that high streets and shopping centres are the most popular destinations.

By Lisa Rubin With Christmas under a month away, many Americans are equal parts stressed about the holidays and exhausted by politics, including the legal travails of the former and future president, Donald Trump . That's particularly true now that Trump's legal proceedings are quietly winding down or are being frozen in place: Special counsel Jack Smith has quietly obtained the dismissal of both cases under his purview; meanwhile, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' 2020 election interference case has been on hold for months as Trump and multiple co-defendants challenge her very ability to lead that prosecution. And of course, after agreeing to pause all remaining post-trial proceedings until after the election, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is now fighting to preserve the New York hush money case, which Trump moved to dismiss in a motion made public Tuesday. It's tempting to tune out. But this latest Trump brief demands attention, perhaps less because of how it could affect the future course of the litigation and more because of what it signals about the Trump administration in waiting. That's especially true given that it was signed by only two lawyers — Todd Blanche and Emil Bove — whom Trump has picked for top Justice Department spots in his new administration. Here are three things worth noting about the new brief: The brief contains multiple plain statements of purported fact that run the gamut from misleading to baseless. For example, there is no proof that the Biden Justice Department “sent” Matthew Colangelo , who served as the chief aide to Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, to the Manhattan DA's office, much less that the DOJ and Bragg's team were in cahoots to “unfairly target President Trump in this empty and lawless case.” Likewise, in arguing that the DA’s office tolerated former Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s repeated lies while punishing former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg with a second prison term for “alleged perjury,” the Trump team blames the DA for choosing the “morally bankrupt choice.” But it ignores that Weisselberg ple a d ed guilty to two perjury counts concerning his testimony in the Trump civil fraud case, which is currently on appeal. Trump's brief stretches constitutional concerns with prosecuting a sitting president to a time period before his term: the transition. Specifically, Trump emphasizes that anything but a full dismissal of the Manhattan case would disrupt his transition efforts and thus, disrupt the very functioning of the federal government. But even if that argument were legally justifiable — and that in and of itself is debatable — it's belied by what we can see of the Trump transition in real time. Specifically, according to NBC News , Trump's representatives ignored multiple entreaties from both the White House and congressional leaders to formally enter into the transition process, which begins well before the presidential election. And while the Trump transition team belatedly signed an agreement with the White House on Nov. 26, as of publication, it still has declined to do so with the General Services Administration (GSA), foregoing "additional resources to assist with the transition, including funding and office space," and instead operating as a 'self-sufficient organization.'" By refusing to partner with the GSA, the Trump transition also has forfeited cybersecurity support , which "could also make the Trump transition a softer target for foreign hackers — who already successfully penetrated the campaign earlier this year." (This is hardly an ephemeral concern: Kash Patel, Trump's announced choice for FBI director, recently was a target of an Iranian cyberattack .) Especially given Trump’s open delay and/or failure to abide by the processes set forth in the Presidential Transition Act, it’s not clear why an indictment tied to a jury verdict months ago “threaten[s] the functioning of the federal government.” Trump's intended nominees to lead the primary federal law enforcement agencies, namely, Pam Bondi at the DOJ and Kash Patel at the FBI, have publicly warned that critics of Trump and/or those who have prosecuted him will be p ursued . In light of those pledges, then, the brief's accusations of misconduct and/or bias by certain individuals, whether named prosecutors, a member of the district attorney's family, or even the CEO of a political consulting firm in which the judge's daughter is a partner, takes on an ominous tone. To be sure, not everyone in a Trump-led DOJ shares Bondi's or Patel's thirst for revenge and/or urge to purge the purported "deep state." Trump world encompasses more reasonable, experienced minds who surely recognize no federal statute criminalizes even the most charged of the brief's allegations, such as its assertion that by the time Trump was tried last spring, "the prosecutors were willing to say or do anything to obtain a conviction." But assuming they push back against any planned persecution of those involved in the Trump criminal cases, can they prevail? And will they survive? I'm not convinced. So yes, the holidays are here. And you're tired of Trump evading justice and people like me playing Cassandra . I get it. But given the longer-term stakes of some of the positions staked out in this most inevitable of briefs, don't look away. Lisa Rubin is an MSNBC legal correspondent and a former litigator. Previously, she was the off-air legal analyst for “The Rachel Maddow Show” and “Alex Wagner Tonight.”

CT officials hail state finances as pension fund hits $60 billionBoxing Day shopper footfall was down 7.9% from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 5pm, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found. However, this year’s data had been compared with an unusual spike in footfall as 2023 was the first “proper Christmas” period without Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, an analyst at the retail technology company said. It found £4.6 billion will be spent overall on the festive sales. Before the pandemic the number of Boxing Day shoppers on the streets had been declining year on year. The last uplift recorded by MRI was in 2015. Jenni Matthews, marketing and insights director at MRI Software, told the PA news agency: “We’ve got to bear in mind that (last year) was our first proper Christmas without any (Covid-19) restrictions or limitations. “Figures have come out that things have stabilised, we’re almost back to what we saw pre-pandemic.” There were year-on-year declines in footfall anywhere between 5% and 12% before Covid-19 restrictions, she said. MRI found 12% fewer people were out shopping on Boxing Day in 2019 than in 2018, and there were 3% fewer in 2018 than in 2017, Ms Matthews added. She said: “It’s the shift to online shopping, it’s the convenience, you’ve got the family days that take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.” People are also increasingly stocking-up before Christmas, Ms Matthews said, and MRI found an 18% increase in footfall at all UK retail destinations on Christmas Eve this year compared with 2023. Ms Matthews said: “We see the shops are full of people all the way up to Christmas Eve, so they’ve probably got a couple of good days of food, goodies, everything that they need, and they don’t really need to go out again until later on in that week. “We did see that big boost on Christmas Eve. It looks like shoppers may have concentrated much of their spending in that pre-Christmas rush.” Many online sales kicked off between December 23 and the night of Christmas Day and “a lot of people would have grabbed those bargains from the comfort of their own home”, she said. She added: “I feel like it’s becoming more and more common that people are grabbing the bargains pre-Christmas.” Footfall is expected to rise on December 27 as people emerge from family visits and shops re-open, including Next, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis that all shut for Boxing Day. It will also be payday for some as it is the last Friday of the month. A study by Barclays Consumer Spend had forecast that shoppers would spend £236 each on average in the Boxing Day sales this year, but that the majority of purchases would be made online. Nearly half of respondents said the cost-of-living crisis will affect their post-Christmas shopping but the forecast average spend is still £50 more per person than it was before the pandemic, with some of that figure because of inflation, Barclays said. Amid the financial pressures, many people are planning to buy practical, perishable and essential items such as food and kitchenware. A total of 65% of shoppers are expecting to spend the majority of their sales budget online. Last year, Barclays found 63.9% of Boxing Day retail purchases were made online. However, a quarter of respondents aim to spend mostly in store – an 11% rise compared with last year. Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: “Despite the ongoing cost-of-living pressures, it is encouraging to hear that consumers will be actively participating in the post-Christmas sales. “This year, we’re likely to see a shift towards practicality and sustainability, with more shoppers looking to bag bargains on kitchen appliances and second-hand goods.” Consumers choose in-store shopping largely because they enjoy the social aspect and touching items before they buy, Barclays said, adding that high streets and shopping centres are the most popular destinations.

Umbra Space secures extended contract with National Reconnaissance OfficeCHAPEL HILL — Awash in a backdrop of Carolina blue, the Bill Belichick era officially launched on Thursday. And depending what side of the fence people are falling on, it’s either the beginning of a run of successful football for a program that just got rid of the coach they thought would get them there, or an example of a university that sold its soul simply to be in the national championship discussion. Belichick, showing a candor and personality rarely shown during his time with the Patriots, would only commit to doing the best he could to improve the team’s station among Power 4 schools. “I’m here to do the best I can for the University of North Carolina and the program,” Belichick said. Flanked by UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts and Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham, Belichick greeted a throng of supporters at his introductory news conference. People are also reading... Roberts presented Belichick with a Carolina hoodie with the sleeves cut off, the trademark that Belichick stamped on his career as the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach with the New England Patriots. Not to be outdone, Cunningham donned a blue blazer with half the sleeves missing. But Belichick upstaged them both: he pulled out the sweatshirt his father, Steve, wore when he was an assistant at North Carolina in the 1950s. In declaring his devotion to Carolina, Belichick said a story he heard repeatedly was that his first words were “Beat Duke.” He was also asked if he would return to the NFL to pursue the record for coaching victories. “I didn’t come here to leave,” Belichick said. The site of the news conference was the Loudermilk Center for Excellence, the building behind one of the end zones at Kenan Memorial Stadium. It looks like the type of room where the high rollers who support the football program would hang out, and the type of place where Carolina would want filled with those supporters now that Belichick is in the fold. Save for the reporters and cameramen in the room, those supporters turned out to witness the moment. Also in the audience and seated in the front row was Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former Carolina Panthers defender Julius Peppers who, along with ex-New York Giants hall of famer Lawrence Taylor, have given their support to the move. The tie to Carolina was a natural attraction for Belichick, who will be following in his father’s footsteps. He admitted there was more to it than that, noting that college coaches has been approaching him about rules changes and how they might impact their game. Before long, his name came up after Mack Brown was fired. He could have gone to what’s called a traditional powerhouse, but in answering, Belichick came up with a promotional ad. “It was the most important of all the things that the University of North Carolina stands for,” he said. “The academics, the cultural, the research, just the whole everything it stands for. ... I’m honored to have an opportunity.” Because he’s 72, questions have arisen about whether Belichick can recruit and if he’s willing to sit in living rooms about the countryside trying to bring the best talent to Chapel Hill. A lot of North Carolina’s best football players tend to flee for other programs, shunning their home state. Belichick said he and his staff will go anywhere to find the best athletes. And in declaring his plan, he came up with another promotional ad for the school. “We want to recruit well, in-state and in this area,” he said. “North Carolina is a national university. I mean, this is the best public university in the country. Any kid that wants a good education, be in a good football program, be on a great campus, play in a good environment ... we’ll recruit any kid to come here.” He noted that the head coach has a big role in the recruiting process and added, “I’m good to go.” College football is a far different animal from the time when Belichick’s father was walking the sidelines. Players are making money thanks to NIL, and revenue sharing is just around the corner to level the financial field. To handle that angle, the Tar Heels also hired Michael Lombardi as a general manager, yet another change from the days of one-platoon football and helmets without face masks. Belichick acknowledged the differences, but said there are similarities between the NFL and today’s college football. “ ... There are some parallels, and I think that’s the reason for the general structure of Michael as a general manager and myself as a coach and working together collaboratively like we have done in a professional organization,” he said. Lee Pace is a noted author who also roams the sidelines providing in-game reports for the Tar Heels Sports Network. He admits he was among those who were wondering about the decision to hire Belichick. Social media posts have ranged between calling it a great move and saying Carolina sold its soul. “When I saw this happening last week, I didn’t believe it,” Pace said. “I thought this was crazy.” He recalled the excitement around the hiring of Butch Davis, who was expected to lift Carolina football to prominence but instead became the target of an NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct. Davis was ultimately fired. Davis brought credentials to Chapel Hill based on his success at Miami, much like Belichick has brought to the village with his championship resumé, although there have been instances where his integrity in the NFL was challenged. “But if you just dig in on the internet and read all the stories from people who know him, know his career, he’s kind of been planning for something like this,” Pace said. “And, I think with the connections he had here, he had visited here before over the years for scouting, and I think he liked the ambiance of it.” Belichick now begins laying the groundwork, hiring assistant coaches and setting the program up the way he wants it. “This is really kind of a dream come true,” Belichick said. “I grew up in college football with my dad coaching Navy for 50 years. So as a kid, all I knew was college football, and so it’s great to come back home to Carolina.” Skip.foreman@greensboro.com 336-373-7316 Get local news delivered to your inbox! {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Comparably Announces Best Places to Work and Best CEOs of 2024 Based on Millions of Employee Ratings

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