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Pisces – (19th February to 20th March) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, Be a master of the game Skip gossip at the office and focus on the job. Handle relationship issues on a happy note. Be careful about the expenditure and avoid investments in stock. Keep your lover happy by showering affection today. Minor productivity issues will not impact the overall professional performance. Be sensible while handling money. Minor health issues will cause trouble. Pisces Love Horoscope Today Be careful while making comments as your partner may take it in the wrong sense. Singe natives will fall in love in the first part of the day. Do not let egos play spoilsport in the relationship. A relative or friend may try influencing the lover which you may find unbearable. Today is good to have a romantic dinner where you may also surprise the lover with gifts. Married female natives can seriously think about starting a family today. Pisces Career Horoscope Today Your attitude is crucial at the office. Keep your focus on the target. Healthcare professionals as well as salespersons will work overtime today to meet the goals. The organization trusts your instincts and you need to maintain it. Some professionals will get an appraisal or change in role. Those who are new in the office must refrain from giving comments, especially at crucial team meetings. Businessmen handling electronics, transport, textiles, automobiles, and construction materials will face minor issues in trade. Pisces Money Horoscope Today Wealth will come in from different sources and you may handle it diligently to meet the expenditure. You may go ahead with the plan to buy a vehicle. The second part of the day is good to donate to charity while some females will also inherit property. You may win a legal battle over property but this can create issues with siblings. The second part of the day is good to donate money to charity. A friend may also ask for monetary assistance. Pisces Health Horoscope Today There can be health issues that may stop you from crucial decisions related to your personal life. You may have kidney or liver-related issues which will even require hospitalization. Seniors at home must be careful about their diet. Children will develop bone-related complaints while skin or oral infection will also be common today. Pisces Sign Attributes Strength: Conscious, Aesthetic, Kind-hearted Weakness: Sentimental, Indecisive, Unrealistic Symbol: Fish Element: Water Body Part: Blood Circulation Sign Ruler: Neptune Lucky Day: Thursday Lucky Color: Purple Lucky Number: 11 Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire Pisces Sign Compatibility Chart Natural affinity: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn Good compatibility: Virgo, Pisces Fair compatibility: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Less compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius By: Dr. J. N. Pandey Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert Website: www.astrologerjnpandey.com E-mail: djnpandey@gmail.com Phone: 91-9811107060 (WhatsApp Only)
QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey . The Kurdish-led SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State group scattered across the country's east. Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the U.S.-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it. The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty’s rule. Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, which is under the SDF, told The Associated Press that its fighters are just over 11 kilometers (7 miles) away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counter-offensive. She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA, “Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country,” Jamal said. “Turkey is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus.” A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says that since the SNA’s offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on Tuesday with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. Ryder said they discussed the ongoing situation in Syria, and Austin emphasized that close and continuous coordination is crucial to a successful effort to counter IS in the country. They also discussed the importance of setting the conditions to enable a more secure and stable Syria. Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups alongside Turkish jets for years have attacked positions where the SDF are largely present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the large shared border. While the SNA was involved in the lightning insurgency — led by the Islamic group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — that toppled Assad, it has continued its push against the SDF, seen as Syria’s second key actor for its political future. On Monday, the SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said its forces pushed back the Turkish-backed rebels from areas near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River, a key source of hydroelectric power. He said the SDF also destroyed a tank belonging to the rebels southeast of Manbij. The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday that the Kurdish-led group, following overnight fighting, has reclaimed four villages in the areas near the strategic dam. Turkish jets also pounded the strategic border town of Kobani in recent days. During Syria’s uprising-turned-conflict, the Kurds carved out an enclave of autonomous rule across northeastern Syria, never fully allying entirely with Assad in Damascus nor the rebels trying to overthrow him. Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position won’t change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with HTS's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa . “It has turned the region into a cauldron of terror with PKK members and far-left groups who have come from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Europe," Fidan said in a news conference after the meeting. “The international community is turning a blind eye to this lawlessness because of the wardenship it provides (against IS).” With the ongoing fighting, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong IS resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has left the Kurdish-led group unable to carry out its attacks and raids on the extremists’ scattered sleeper cells. Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of IS militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control. Chehayeb reported from Beirut.NoneIn recent years, a novel form of criminality has rapidly expanded across Southeast Asia, leaving in its wake a trail of human exploitation, financial harm, and, in many parts of the region, a weakening of the rule of law. Cyber-scam centres, operated by sophisticated transnational organised criminal groups, have emerged as a serious threat to both national and human security across Southeast Asia. This trafficking serves as a stark reminder of the potential for emerging technologies to not only facilitate legitimate business and connect people but also to be abused in support of criminal endeavours. Moreover, these scam centres do not operate in isolation. They are part of a complex and growing criminal ecosystem intertwined with other illicit activities such as drug and wildlife trafficking, organ trafficking, money laundering, and corruption. This poly-criminality amplifies their impact and sees them becoming even more challenging to counter. As part of ongoing efforts to address this complex issue, a regional workshop hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process was held in November in Bali, Indonesia. A multi-stakeholder approach is essential in this effort, particularly in engaging the private sector. We must collaborate with social media platforms and job search websites to enhance content moderation efforts and prevent trafficking recruitment. By developing robust public-private partnerships, we can leverage technological expertise to identify and disrupt online trafficking recruitment efforts before they occur. This level of coordination between governments and private entities across borders is crucial to match the sophistication of these criminal networks and the scale of their recruitment efforts. Crucially, we must also follow the money and seize funds linked to scam centre operations, as profit is the primary driver for organised criminal groups. This requires partnerships with financial institutions of all sizes, from major banks to emerging FinTech companies across multiple jurisdictions. By enhancing our capabilities to trace and seize illicit financial flows, including those involving cryptocurrencies and other new forms of finance, we can strike at the heart of scam centre operations. As we look to address the root causes and systems facilitating cyber-scam centre operations, we must also not neglect the victims. Increased support for shelters and victim services is vital. Our response must include robust mechanisms for victim identification, protection, and reintegration, continuing to build and increase support for ongoing efforts in this space. This aspect of our response demands coordinated efforts across borders, as victims often need support in both destination and origin countries. A unified, multi-stakeholder approach to victim services -- involving governments, civil society, and international organisations -- will be essential to ensuring comprehensive care is provided to victims of trafficking to promote consistent identification followed by enhanced access to services, including during the return and reintegration process. International organisations and regional bodies have a crucial role to play in facilitating this unprecedented level of cooperation. Asean's Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC), for instance, provides a platform for coordinating regional policy and law enforcement efforts against transnational crime, including those related to cyber-scam centres. The Bali Process, with its broad membership across the Asia-Pacific, is similarly well-positioned to foster dialogue and coordinate responses at the regional and inter-regional levels. These platforms can serve as key tools for the kind of multi-stakeholder cooperation that will be needed to combat the cyber-scam centre challenge effectively. Law enforcement agencies must be empowered with the mandate and means to conduct cross-border investigations and operations. The private sector, particularly technology companies and financial institutions, must be more proactive in preventing their platforms from being exploited by these organised criminal groups. This multi-stakeholder approach, combining government action, private sector engagement, and civil society support, is our best hope for effectively countering this complex transnational threat. The time for action is now. The security and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific, and indeed globally, depend on our collective resolve to address this challenge. Let us unite in action to protect our communities that we all value. Fuad Adriansyah is the co-manager (Indonesia) at the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. David Scott is the co-manager (Australia) at the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.
Pakistan 2024: Troubled ties with neighbours, economic woes and a problem called KhanAP News Summary at 3:23 p.m. EST
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A scruffy little fugitive is on the lam again in New Orleans, gaining fame as he outwits a tenacious band of citizens armed with night-vision binoculars, nets and a tranquilizer rifle. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt that's mostly terrier, has become a folk hero, inspiring tattoos, t-shirts and even a ballad as he eludes capture from the posse of volunteers. And like any antihero, Scrim has a backstory: Rescued from semi-feral life at a trailer park and adopted from a shelter, the dog broke loose in April and scurried around the city until he was cornered in October and brought to a new home. Weeks later, he'd had enough. Scrim leaped out of a second-story window, a desperate act recorded in a now-viral video. Since then, despite a stream of daily sightings, he's roamed free. The dog’s fans include Myra and Steve Foster, who wrote “Ode to Scrim” to the tune of Ricky Nelson’s 1961 hit, “I’m a Travelin’ Man.” Leading the recapture effort is Michelle Cheramie, a 55-year-old former information technology professional. She lost everything — home, car, possessions — in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in the aftermath, found her calling rescuing pets. “I was like, ‘This is what I should be doing,’” Cheramie said. “I was born to rescue.” She launched Zeus’ Rescues, a nonprofit shelter that now averages 600 cat and dog adoptions a year and offers free pet food to anyone who needs it. She helped Scrim find the home he first escaped from. It was Cheramie's window Scrim leaped from in November. She's resumed her relentless mission since then, posting flyers on telephone poles and logging social media updates on his reported whereabouts. She's invested thousands of dollars on wildlife cameras, thermal sensors and other gear. She took a course offered by the San Diego Zoo on the finer points of tranquilizing animals. And she's developed a network of volunteers — the kind of neighbors who are willing to grid-search a city at 3 a.m. People like writer David W. Brown, who manages a crowd-sourced Google Map of all known Scrim sightings. He says the search has galvanized residents from all walks of life to come together. As they search for Scrim, they hand out supplies to people in need. "Being a member of the community is seeing problems and doing what you can to make life a little better for the people around here and the animals around you," Brown said. And neighbors like Tammy Murray, who had to close her furniture store and lost her father to Parkinson's Disease. This search, she says, got her mojo back. “Literally, for months, I’ve done nothing but hunt this dog,” said Murray, 53. “I feel like Wile E. Coyote on a daily basis with him.” Murray drives the Zeus' Rescues' van towards reported Scrim sightings. She also handles a tactical net launcher, which looks like an oversized flashlight and once misfired, shattering the van's window as Scrim sped away. After realizing Scrim had come to recognize the sound of the van's diesel engine, Murray switched to a Vespa scooter, for stealth. Near-misses have been tantalizing. The search party spotted Scrim napping beneath an elevated house, and wrapped construction netting around the perimeter, but an over-eager volunteer broke ranks and dashed forward, leaving an opening Scrim slipped through. Scrim's repeated escapades have prompted near-daily local media coverage and a devoted online following. Cheramie can relate. “We’re all running from something or to something. He's doing that too,” she said. Cheramie's team dreams of placing the pooch in a safe and loving environment. But a social media chorus growing under the hashtag #FreeScrim has other ideas — they say the runaway should be allowed a life of self-determination. The animal rescue volunteers consider that misguided. “The streets of New Orleans are not the place for a dog to be free,” Cheramie said. “It’s too dangerous.” Scrim was a mess when Cheramie briefly recaptured him in October, with matted fur, missing teeth and a tattered ear. His trembling body was scraped and bruised, and punctured by multiple projectiles. A vet removed one, but decided against operating to take out a possible bullet. The dog initially appeared content indoors, sitting in Cheramie's lap or napping beside her bed. Then while she was out one day, Scrim chewed through a mesh screen, dropped 13 feet to the ground and squeezed through a gap in the fence, trotting away. Murray said Cheramie's four cats probably spooked him. “I wholeheartedly believe the gangster-ass cats were messing with him,” Murray said. Cheramie thinks they may have gotten territorial. Devastated but undeterred, the pair is reassessing where Scrim might fit best — maybe a secure animal sanctuary with big outdoor spaces where other dogs can keep him company. Somewhere, Murray says, “where he can just breathe and be." Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96
Amit Malviya refutes AAP MP Sanjay Singh's claims alleging BJP tried removing his wife's nameChinese culture resonates through sportsT he Founders never planned for a post-Presidency. Or if they did, they thought of Cincinnatus returning to the plow, his civic duties done, as President Washington retired to Mount Vernon in 1797 when his term ended. In Washington’s final illness, doctors applied leeches. Modern medicine –including the innovative and successful treatment for brain cancer that Jimmy Carter received in 2015 – has invented a post-Presidency, and the question is how to occupy it. Truman and Eisenhower resumed private lives, Kennedy assassinated, LBJ left office in poor health, Nixon resigned, Ford wrote memoirs and dabbled in the corporate world. Just as Carter reinvented the Vice Presidency by giving large roles and a West Wing office to Walter Mondale, Carter had a chance to reinvent the post-Presidency, and he did. The Carter Center , the focus of his efforts, served as a platform for his many interests, including human rights, democracy promotion, conflict resolution, and health – all concentrated around the “alleviation of human suffering”. Most Americans, on right and left, believe that Jimmy Carter used this influence overwhelmingly for good. If an enduring image of work for Ronald Reagan is cutting brush on his ranch, that for Carter is a few extra nails in his mouth as he strikes a hammer to another nail on one of his numerous house building projects for Habitat for Humanity (an organization founded in nearby Americus, Georgia, by a longtime friend of Carter’s), which eventually garnered the name “ Jimmy Carter Work Project ”. There have been 36 of them over the years, many abroad, including in Mexico (Carter read the Bible in Spanish as part of his daily devotions), with over 4,000 houses built and over 100,000 volunteers. Carter continued the themes of his term, including the search for Mideast peace which brought Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to Camp David. He became more pro-Palestinian as time went on; the post-Presidency permitted him to express his frustration more publicly than holding office did. His own Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 was long overdue, and Carter’s Nobel laureate address provides a template for his worldview. For him, “[w]e have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom . . . . global challenges must be met with an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others, with strong alliances and international consensus.” When asked about the greatest challenge the world faces, “I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. . . . [I]n the industrialized world there is a terrible absence of understanding or concern about those who are enduring lives of despair and hopelessness. We have not yet made the commitment to share with others an appreciable part of our excessive wealth [.]” Democracy and human rights were hallmarks of his Administration and remained so through the Carter Center. A rare misstep in 2004 in the recall referendum on Hugo Chavez in Venezuela (when the Center contended the results were accurate ) does not diminish work in dozens of countries around the world, including Carter’s own long personal commitment to a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan. He helped ease General Noriega in Panama and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua out of power. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted , “[f]ew could be better placed than Carter to explain with conviction that an election defeat does not necessarily put an end to political activity.” Many of the Center’s lesser-known accomplishments are among its most significant. Guinea worm, which destroyed the lives of millions of Africans, is nearly eradicated , from 3.5 million cases to 13, thanks to a tireless, highly focused, and determined effort Carter quietly led involving many thousands of trained local volunteers. Guinea worm could be the second disease to be eradicated (after smallpox, in 1980 during Carter’s Administration). Similar Carter efforts combat blinding trachoma , river blindness , and lympathic filiariasis , as well as his wife Rosalyn’s commitment on mental health . Not the headline diseases but equally painful and mortal for those who suffer from them. For Carter, every life had value, every life counts, every life was worth saving. The Norwegian Nobel Committee summed it up best in Carter’s own words: “He has often told his Sunday school in Plains that “We’ll never know whether something new and wonderful is possible unless we try. Let’s scratch our heads, stretch our minds, be adventurous! Serve God with boldness, and who knows what wonders the Lord may work?” Plains, Georgia, may seem an unlikely place from which to launch a global campaign of moral influence. Carter’s deeply personal and active faith was the springboard for his efforts. Carter believed firmly in the separation of church and state but in his post-Presidential years taught hundreds of Sunday school classes at his small Baptist church in Plains, practicing the ministry of hospitality to many thousands who visited to hear him teach and collecting his meditations into a book . Carter said that his favorite cartoon from The New Yorker magazine was of a child saying “Daddy, I want to be a former President.” His work after 20 January 1981, more than his tumultuous years in office, will define his legacy, in which millions of people among the world’s poorest will remember him for good. Carter wrote that “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must”. Jimmy Carter made that earnest choice. The words of a hymn sum up his life for over four decades since departing the White House: “No time for rest till glows the western sky/Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie/And a glad sound comes with the setting sun: Well done, well done”. John S Gardner is a writer. He was special assistant to George HW Bush and deputy assistant to George W Bush
Mayor Ken Sim announced Thursday that abolition of the elected Vancouver park board and bringing parks and recreation under the control of city council will lead to $70 million in savings over the next decade. In what the mayor described as a streamlining of services, the transition is expected to achieve further savings once a new governance model is established, including millions of dollars in infrastructure project costs. “And these are conservative estimates,” Sim told reporters at city hall Thursday. A city staff report that goes before council Nov. 27 estimated savings of $1.5 million to $3 million per year alone on “position savings,” which staff at a technical briefing prior to the news conference said will see park board staff fill city vacancies. "Our goal is not to have any staff layoffs," said deputy city manager Sandra Singh, adding that staff continues to meet with unions representing park board workers. Savings of $1.8 million to $3.3 million per year were identified under a category called “early operational integration opportunities.” For example, staff who currently support the elected park board could move into the city clerk’s office. Arts and culture, communications and marketing and social policy were some of the other areas identified as amalgamating to avoid duplication of services. The report estimated, so far, that 10 to 20 positions could be affected by duplication. Abolishing the seven-member elected board would translate to a savings of $280,000 per year, or $2.8 million over 10 years, said the report, which gave no indication when the park commissioners would be phased out. 'Unlikely this would be a priority for the province' The hurdle for Sim since he announced in December 2023 that he wanted to abolish the board has been getting the provincial government to make the necessary amendments to the Vancouver Charter. Premier David Eby initially committed to honouring the mayor’s request — which was supported by the seven councillors belonging to his ABC Vancouver party — but suggested during the recent election campaign that it wasn’t a priority. “It's very unlikely this would be a priority for the province before the next municipal election [in 2026], and they've got a lot of work ahead of them,” Eby told an audience at an all-candidates’ meeting Oct. 12 at St. James Community Square. Glacier Media contacted the provincial government Thursday for an update on Vancouver’s request. Municipal affairs now falls under Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon’s portfolio. “We have received the City of Vancouver’s transition report, and we are reviewing it," Kahlon said in an emailed statement. “We have been that clear our top priority will be to deliver on the priorities of British Columbians. That includes the costs of daily life, strengthening healthcare, and building safe communities in a strong economy.” Asked about Eby’s position, Sim said he wouldn’t comment on private conversations he has had with the premier but added that his office had “an incredible working relationship” with the premier’s office. Brennan Bastyovanszky, chair of the elected Vancouver park board, at city hall Thursday. Photo Mike Howell 'Erodes the trust in democracy' Brennan Bastyovanszky, chair of the park board, was at city hall Thursday to hear what Sim and city staff told reporters about the transition. Bastyovanszky was a member of ABC Vancouver until Sim announced he wanted to abolish the board. He told reporters after the news conference that he didn’t believe the numbers staff provided regarding savings, calling them “dubious.” He also questioned how city councillors could add parks and recreation to their duties, when they already put in long hours. “The amount of workload that the councillors would take on equates to an extra two days of work a week, on top of a full-time job,” Bastyovanszky said. “I don't see how the council is going to be able to manage that. It's going to remove access to elected officials and decision-makers.” Added Bastyovanszky: “This is a centralization of power that does not benefit the people in Vancouver. It erodes the trust in democracy.” The mayor said the transition will allow the city to legally designate 89 acres of land as permanent parkland, including sections of Stanley Park. Sim said the land would be protected, accessible and sustainable for generations to come. Beyond saving money and securing more green space, the transition is about improving how the city gets things done, said Sim, who was joined on a podium by First Nations leaders, city councillors and members of the transition team. “Right now, we are seeing significant delays in critical projects that impact our city — sewer upgrades, green infrastructure, streets, public spaces — they're being delayed, in some cases, by up to two years,” he said, noting a recent pump station project saw costs increase by $2 million because of extended negotiations with the park board. [email protected] X/@HowellingsWidening loan defaults and foreclosures haunted Bay Area properties in 2024, but a late-year flurry of significant tech industry leases offered hope for the battered South Bay office sector. Throughout the year, sky-high vacancy levels jolted Bay Area buildings, a dearth of business travelers posed problems for hotels and expensive financing afflicted the suddenly shaky apartment market. However, as the year closed, impactful office deals by high-profile tech companies may have foreshadowed a rebound in the sputtering sector in 2025. Several big leases — one of them a huge rental agreement that could accommodate thousands of workers — occurred in the South Bay alone. Among the significant rental deals: • Snowflake subleased 773,000 square feet of office space in Menlo Park, enough room for 3,800 workers. • Amazon reached an agreement to occupy 217,000 square feet of space in Mountain View. • Nvidia leased 101,600 square feet of office and research space in North San Jose. • Netgear leased an office building totaling 89,400 square feet in North San Jose. And it wasn’t just leases. A few technology powerhouses also pulled off some of the biggest property purchases in the Bay Area, particularly in the South Bay — transactions that helped to buoy the sinking commercial real estate sector in the nine-county region and portend a back-to-the-office trend for next year. “More and more companies in Silicon Valley will have people working in offices in 2025,” said Chad Leiker, a first vice president with Kidder Mathews, a commercial real estate firm. “If that happens, it will bring us closer to where we were in the old days” before the COVID-19 outbreak. The year began ominously, providing an early glimpse of what became a trend throughout 2024: A big office building was facing foreclosure due to a delinquent loan. Located at 3100 North First St., the site in San Jose fell into a loan default and was eventually seized by its lender through foreclosure before it was sold — a reminder of the boom-bust cycle of Silicon Valley and the battered commercial real estate market. In January, it was valued at $32.1 million. The foreclosure in May slashed its value to $19 million. In September, a biotech firm bought it for $17.5 million. The building’s fate illustrated the general struggles of the office market and was a reminder that despite relentless layoffs, companies continued to scout for purchases that could help them solidify their footprints in Silicon Valley. Here are the biggest property purchases of 2024 in the Bay Area: • Nvidia paid $374.3 million in May for eight buildings in Santa Clara that are near the company’s campus. • Microsoft paid $330 million in September for a Mountain View property it had occupied since 2019. • Fortinet paid $192 million for a Santa Clara tech campus that it bought from Texas Instruments. Despite some successes, dozens of office buildings, apartment complexes and hotels throughout the Bay Area toppled into various stages of loan delinquencies or seizures. Those that escaped foreclosure were bought at prices that were a fraction of their prior worth, unleashing a dramatic reset in property values. The Courtyard Oakland Downtown, a prominent hotel in the urban heart of the East Bay’s largest city, was bought in October for $10.6 million, 76% less than the $43.8 million that the seller paid in 2016. In downtown San Jose, the historic Hotel De Anza was purchased for $11.6 million, or roughly half of its prior value. The owner of the 686-room, 36-story Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown SoMa hotel walked away and gave back the keys to the lender. The hotel had been bought in 2018 for $315 million, but the foreclosure showed it was worth no more than $290 million. A plunge in values also created plenty of opportunities to capitalize on countless bargain basement properties. George Mersho, top boss at Shoe Palace, is one such bargain hunter. Mersho-led groups purchased two office complexes in downtown San Jose at a fraction of their prior value. In February, a Mersho-led group paid $34.2 million for a downtown complex that was 77% below the $141.4 million the sellers shelled out in 2019. But despite a slumping real estate market, some high-profile commercial hubs are thriving. Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose continues to land new tenants, including a new Alamo Drafthouse movie theater and numerous merchants that will expand the shopping, restaurant and entertainment center’s collection of luxury stores. Santana Row, a mixed-use destination neighborhood in San Jose, remains a magnet for new restaurants and shops. The One Santana West office building is now more than half full after several firms leased spaces. One of the tenants that headed to One Santana West was a unit of PwC, a global professional services company. PwC exited downtown San Jose to take space at Santana Row, which was deemed to be a blow to the city’s urban core. However, the building at 488 South Almaden Blvd. that lost PwC subsequently landed the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority as its principal tenant. Across the street at a different Santana Row site, Cisco Systems officially moved into an office in November where it will jointly operate with its subsidiary Splunk. Some 3,900 Cisco and Splunk employees will work in the building. Looking toward the future, downtown San Jose is ready to welcome an ambitious and massive effort to produce thousands of homes alongside data centers, with key support from PG&E. Construction is slated to launch in 2025. Global developer Westbank, PG&E and the city of San Jose have allied to speed the development of eco-friendly housing towers whose energy would be powered by surplus heat from the nearby data centers. In another unique downtown project, a former hotel tower was converted this year into a housing high-rise for San Jose State University students. The project helped meet housing needs and improved hotel vacancy levels in the South Bay. Downtown San Jose has also attracted an array of one-of-a-kind merchants. They include Urban Putt, a miniature golf course site; Unofficial Logging, an ax-throwing venue; and Eos & Nyx, a top-notch restaurant and bar. Pete Be Center also is preparing a music, entertainment and live events venue. The state of the Bay Area property market also may have helped to unravel the increasingly shaky real estate empire that China-based Z&L Properties had fashioned in San Jose. Z&L has neglected its properties, creating blighted conditions at three of the downtown sites it owns. After it had proposed several housing towers, it eventually presided over failed development efforts. The only project Z&L has completed, a 600-unit double-tower residential complex, is in default on its loan and could be seized by its lender. Even with commercial real estate struggles, some merchants are taking over spaces that were occupied by failed retailers. In San Jose, Hobby Lobby leased a space vacated by Bed, Bath and Beyond at Almaden Plaza. In the same center, Sports Basement is renting a site occupied by bookseller Barnes and Noble, which is planning to leave. A few miles away at The Plant shopping and restaurant center in San Jose, family-owned Mexican grocery chain Vallarta Supermarkets is opening its first Bay Area store. It will replace a long-shuttered Toys ‘R Us and Babies ‘R Us location. The collapse in valuations affects more than property owners — it is also poised to unleash widespread impacts on public agencies. The nosedive in real estate prices raised the specter that property taxes could erode and diminish the revenue flow to cities, counties, school districts and other government agencies. Still, some green shoots have begun to sprout amid the grim rubble of the commercial real estate landscape. The Plaza at Walnut Creek, a downtown Walnut Creek office complex described as a “trophy” real estate property, was bought for $162 million. The price of $477 a square foot is deemed to be a “top dollar” amount.Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen returns to a tournament after a dispute over jeans is resolved
MADRID (AP) — Spanish King Felipe VI used his traditional Christmas Eve speech to remember the victims of the catastrophic Valencia flash floods , and urged the country to remain calm while addressing hot-button issues such as immigration and housing affordability. In a pre-recorded speech that usually reviews the year's most relevant issues, Felipe said Spain “must never forget the pain and sadness" the floods caused. The Oct. 29 floods killed more than 225 people in eastern Spain, damaging countless homes and leaving graveyards of cars piled on top of each other. In some towns, the heavy downpours that caused the floods dropped as much as a year's worth of rain in just eight hours. In early November, as Spaniards' shock at the wreckage turned into frustration, a political blame game began, directed especially at regional authorities who failed to send timely emergency alerts to cell phones on the day of the floods. The frustration of residents in hard-hit Paiporta near Valencia was on display when people tossed mud and shouted insults at the king and government officials in early November when they made their first visit to the town. “We have seen — and understood — the frustration, the pain, the impatience, the demands for greater and more effective coordination," Felipe said about how the disaster was managed. He also addressed the country's housing crunch and high rents, which have become a leading concern in the southern European country that is the eurozone's fourth-largest economy. Fast-rising rents are especially acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid, where incomes have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment. Felipe urged that “all the actors involved reflect” and "listen to each other” so that they facilitate bringing access to housing under “affordable conditions.” Spain's immigration debate should keep in mind the country's European partners and immigrants' countries of origin, Felipe said, warning that “the way in which we are able to address immigration ... will say a lot in the future about our principles and the quality of our democracy.” Felipe said Spain needed to remain calm in the public sphere, even in the face of a “sometimes thunderous” contest in its politics.How to Watch Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Games – Wednesday, December 11 Published 4:28 pm Tuesday, December 10, 2024 By Data Skrive Top-25 teams will hit the court in six games on Wednesday’s college basketball slate. That includes the Iowa State Cyclones taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Watch women’s college basketball, other live sports and more on Fubo. What is Fubo? Fubo is a streaming service that gives you access to your favorite live sports and shows on demand. Use our link to sign up. Today’s Top 25 Games Catch tons of live women’s college basketball , plus original programming, with ESPN+ or the Disney Bundle.Saint Nick-Mas: 10 Best Nickelodeon Holiday Specials, Ranked
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