188 jili app

188 jili app MONACO, Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG ) ("Scorpio Tankers," or the "Company") announced today that it has received commitments from a group of financial institutions for a revolving loan of up to $500.0 million (the "Revolving Credit Facility”). The Revolving Credit Facility is a 100% revolving loan, which has a final maturity of seven years from the signing date and gives the Company the flexibility to draw down or repay the loan during the loan tenor. The Revolving Credit Facility is expected to bear interest at SOFR plus a margin of 1.85% per annum and a commitment fee of 0.74% per annum applies for any undrawn amounts. The Revolving Credit Facility is expected to be collateralized by 26 product tankers, which are currently unencumbered, and is expected to amortize/reduce in quarterly installments (starting after the second anniversary of the signing date) with a balloon payment due at maturity date. The Revolving Credit Facility offers the Company an ability to substitute vessels and also includes an uncommitted accordion feature of up to $100.0 million, which may be incurred under the same terms and conditions at no later than 24 months after the signing date. The other terms and conditions of the Revolving Credit Facility, including financial covenants, are similar to those set forth in the Company's existing credit facilities. The Revolving Credit Facility is subject to customary conditions precedent and the execution of definitive documentation, and is expected to close within the first quarter of 2025. About Scorpio Tankers Inc. Scorpio Tankers Inc. is a provider of marine transportation of petroleum products worldwide. Scorpio Tankers Inc. currently owns or lease finances 100 product tankers (39 LR2 tankers, 47 MR tankers and 14 Handymax tankers) with an average age of 8.7 years. The Company has entered into an agreement to sell one of its MRs, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024. Additional information about the Company is available at the Company's website www.scorpiotankers.com, which is not a part of this press release. Forward-Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward‐looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward‐looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward‐looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe,” "expect,” "anticipate,” "estimate,” "intend,” "plan,” "target,” "project,” "likely,” "may,” "will,” "would,” "could” and similar expressions identify forward‐looking statements. The forward‐looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company's records and other data available from third parties. Although management believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Company's control, there can be no assurance that the Company will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. The Company undertakes no obligation, and specifically declines any obligation, except as required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward‐looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Company's view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward‐looking statements include unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies in response to epidemic and other public health concerns including any effect on demand for petroleum products and the transportation thereof, expansion and growth of the Company's operations, risks relating to the integration of assets or operations of entities that it has or may in the future acquire and the possibility that the anticipated synergies and other benefits of such acquisitions may not be realized within expected timeframes or at all, the failure of counterparties to fully perform their contracts with the Company, the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for tanker vessel capacity, changes in the Company's operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Company's vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, charter counterparty performance, ability to obtain financing and comply with covenants in such financing arrangements, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, including the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and the developments in the Middle East, including the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off‐hires, and other factors. Please see the Company's filings with the SEC for a more complete discussion of certain of these and other risks and uncertainties. Contact Information Scorpio Tankers Inc. James Doyle - Head of Corporate Development & Investor Relations Tel: +1 646-432-1678 Email: [email protected]

Pat Freiermuth Receives High Praise from All-Pro TE: ‘He’s Savvy’

Rosen Law Firm Encourages Light & Wonder, Inc. Investors to Inquire About Securities Class Action Investigation - LNW

TikTok is challenging the federal government’s order to shut down its operations in Canada. The company filed documents in Federal Court in Vancouver last Thursday. In November, Ottawa ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform. That means TikTok must “wind down” its operations in Canada, though the app will continue to be available to Canadians. TikTok is asking the court to overturn the government’s order and to put a pause on the order going into effect while the court hears the case. It is claiming the decision was “unreasonable” and “driven by improper purposes.”B.C. premier says feds and provinces plan right-left approach to Trump’s tariff plans

Police shuts down Rydox cybercrime market, arrests 3 admins

When the clock strikes midnight and the year turns over, celebration is sure to ensue, but it’s the moments leading up to the ball drop that can make the evening truly special. Make your New Year’s Eve celebration unforgettable with these countdown party ideas. Choosing a theme for your party can add a unique twist to the celebration. Whether it’s a “Roaring ’20s” party with flapper dresses and jazz music or a cozy “Pajama Party” where guests can relax and enjoy comfort foods, a theme can set the tone for a memorable evening. More ideas include a “Masquerade Ball” theme to add an air of mystery and elegance or a “Decades Party” where guests dress up from their favorite decade. Whatever theme you choose, make sure to incorporate it into your food, decorations and music. Impress your guests with a menu of unique and delicious food and drink options. Consider a variety of appetizers and finger foods that are easy to eat while mingling. Mini sliders, gourmet popcorn and charcuterie boards are crowd-pleasers. For drinks, create a signature cocktail, such as a sparkling champagne punch or festive mocktail for those who prefer non-alcoholic options. Also remember to have a champagne toast ready for the countdown to midnight. Leading up to the countdown, arrange a series of interactive activities such as a quiz about events from the past year, a game of charades with New Year’s Eve-themed prompts or a resolution-writing station where guests can share their goals for the upcoming year. Another fun idea: set up a photo booth with props. These activities can encourage mingling and laughter while keeping the energy high until the ball drops. Festive props Set the scene for your New Year’s Eve party with decorations that sparkle and shine. Use metallic and glittery decor to add a festive feel and don’t forget balloons and streamers. Countdown clocks or timers placed around the party area can also help build anticipation as midnight approaches. Don’t forget props like party hats, noisemakers and confetti poppers. Technological experience Make your celebration more exciting and inclusive by leveraging technology to set up a live stream of a famous countdown, such as the one in Times Square. For a more personalized touch, create a slideshow or video montage of memorable moments from the past year. Interactive apps that allow guests to send New Year’s messages or participate in virtual games can also add a modern twist to your celebration. Visit eLivingtoday.com for more ideas to make this New Year’s Eve memorable. — Family FeaturesStock market today: Wall Street rallies ahead of Christmas

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Wendy Pearlman , Northwestern University (THE CONVERSATION) Millions of Syrians are feeling hope for the first time in years. The authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad fell on Dec. 8, 2024, after a 12-day rebel offensive. Most commentaries on this stunning reversal of a conflict seemingly frozen since 2020 emphasize shifts in geopolitics and balance of power. Some analysts trace how Assad’s main backers – Iran, Hezbollah and Russia – became too weakened or preoccupied to come to his aid as in the past. Other commentators consider how rebels prepared and professionalized , while the regime decayed , leading to the latter’s collapse. These factors help explain the speed and timing of the collapse of one of the Middle East’s longest and most brutal dictatorships . But these factors should not overshadow the human significance of Assad’s overthrow. Assad’s fall in its revolutionary context During the past two weeks, Syrians have rejoiced as symbols of Assad domination came down and the revolutionary flag went up. They held their breath as rebels freed captives from the regime’s notorious prisons . They shed tears as displaced people returned and families reunited after years of separation. And then, finally, Syrians around the world poured into the streets to celebrate the end of 54 years of tyranny. To appreciate the magnitude of this achievement requires historical context, one that I have documented in two books based on interviews with more than 500 Syrian refugees over the past 12 years. My first book begins with stories of the suffocating repression, surveillance and indignities that characterized everyday life in the single-party security state that Hafez al-Assad established in 1970 , and his son Bashar inherited in the year 2000. It conveys tentative optimism as uprisings spread across the Arab world in 2011, blooming into exhilaration when millions of Syrians broke the barrier of fear and risked their lives to demand political change. Syrians described participating in protest as the first time they breathed or felt like a citizen. One man told me that it was better than his wedding day. A woman referred to it as the first time she ever heard her own voice. “And I told myself that I would never let anyone steal my voice again,” she added. It was not only the feeling of freedom that was unprecedented but also the feelings of solidarity as strangers worked together, of pride as people cultivated the talents and capacities necessary to sustain revolution, and, most of all, of hope that Syrians could reclaim their country and determine their own fate. “We started to get to know each other,” an activist recalled of those heady days. “People discovered that they were photographers or journalists or filmmakers. We were changing something not just in Syria but also within ourselves.” Hope eclipsed by despair From their start in March 2011, nonviolent demonstrations met with merciless repression. That July, oppositionists and military defectors announced the formation of a “Free Syrian Army” to defend protesters and fight the regime. As this and other armed groups pushed the regime from large swaths of territory, new forms of grassroots organization and local governance emerged, indicating what society could accomplish if permitted the chance. Still, as years passed, hope became eclipsed by despair. The people I met described their despair witnessing the regime escalate bombardment, starvation sieges and other war crimes to reconquer areas from opposition control. Despair when Assad killed 1,400 people in a 2013 chemical attack , violating the United States’ purported “ red line ” but escaping accountability. Despair as hundreds of thousands of people disappeared into regime dungeons, condemned to a fate of torture worse than death. Despair as the number killed in Syria climbed by hundreds of thousands, and in 2014 the United Nations gave up counting more. Despair as over half the population was forced to flee their homes, and the word “Syria” became stuck, in minds around the world, to the words “ refugee crisis .” And then there was the despair as an entity called the Islamic State announced itself in 2013 and trampled on Syrians’ democratic aspirations in a newly horrific way. “We don’t know where any of this is leading,” a rebel officer told me at that time. “All we know is that we’re everyone else’s killing field.” Searching for home With the help of external allies and the rest of the world’s inaction, Assad clawed back about 60% of the country by 2020 and penned the opposition in an enclave in the northwest. Syria dropped from the headlines, even as regime bombing continued to kill civilians, economic meltdown plunged 90% of the population below the poverty line and the regime rotted into a narco state sustained by drug trafficking. A woman I met during these years of stalemate summarized things bleakly: “The most important thing at this stage is to protect the last bit of hope that people have left.” Meanwhile, millions of Syrian refugees , the lion’s share of them in the countries neighboring Syria, suffered poverty, legal precariousness and local populations who increasingly demanded their deportation . The stories that I recorded gradually came to center on a different theme, which I made the focus of my second book : home. For those compelled to flee, the word “home” connoted twin challenges: First, creating new lives where they might never have imagined stepping foot; and second, mourning old homes lost, destroyed or emptied of loved ones. Many described the agony of reconciling their attachment to Syria with the sense that they were unlikely to see it again. “You try as hard as you can to forget the homeland, but you can’t because it’s even more painful to be without any homeland at all,” a man lamented. Finding home in refuge, in other words, was not only a matter of integration. It also meant finding a way to move forward when the hope for freedom in Syria, it seemed, could not. This is why it is awe-inspiring to witness hope surge again. As I messaged Syrian friends and interlocutors this week, I was struck by how their jubilation echoed with stories that I used to record about 2011, but now on an even more astonishing scale. Again and again, people said that their emotions were “indescribable” and “beyond words.” That they were simultaneously “laughing and crying.” That they “just couldn’t believe” that it – the it that they once did not dare voice out loud – finally happened. Since Assad’s fall, many foreign governments and analysts have voiced foreboding warnings about the future. They need not; Syrians know better than anyone that the path ahead will not be easy. For now, however, the role of those watching from afar is not to doubt, critique or speculate, but to honor this triumph of human hope. Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous famously said in 1996, “We are doomed by hope, and what happens today cannot be the end of history.” Those who refused to give up over the long years of violence, oppression and disappointment were right. Syrian history is just beginning. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/syrians-in-a-triumph-of-hope-turn-the-page-on-the-horrors-of-assad-245640 . Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.Developer: Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks Publisher: Nightdive Studios Release: Out On: Windows From: Steam / GOG Price: TBC Reviewed on: Intel Core i5-12600K, 32GB RAM, Nvidia RTX 2070, Windows 10 Nightdive, you done good. The Thing: Remastered is an ultra-sharp and commendably playable update to a game that history will remember as ‘actually a pretty good pick at Choices when you really just popped in to get some Revels but got embarrassed when the till staffer said “is that everything?” in a tone that could have been neutral but equally could have been a damning indictment of your character’. I’m being slightly facetious here, of course. History actually remembers Computer Artworks’s 2002 shooty horror game for how incredibly ambitious and conceptually inventive its proto-sus social squad system was. In homage to the body-snatching alien paranoia of Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic, The Thing tasks you with not just assembling and directing a squad, but keeping them from breaking down or turning on you - in fear you might be hosting the titular molecular stowaway. I’m happy for you, history, but I have played the game now , and I say this: the most remarkable feature of The Thing, in retrospect, is how it predicted the entire Dead Space trilogy in miniature. And by ‘in miniature’ I mean with overwhelming weight given to the part where someone decided to throw in modern military elements and bollocks the whole thing up. Again: Nightdive have delivered a fantastic remake. Every instance of a 2002 sound engineer pitching down a Nokia recording of their cat growling is crisp and distinct, and every face coming out an armpit hanging from a stalk is vivid. Controls and menus feel modern and intuitive, and the only change I made to the default settings was to turn on ‘old school aiming’. I had one recurring crash when an engineer kept dying on one level, otherwise, things went as smooth as the nose of a Swedish forest cat. Sorry. Norwegian. The question, then, is whether you’ll actually want to play it, which is sort of like asking if you want to spend your weekend at a museum. Full of live crabs covered in rotting meat. And you’re the janitor. And you’re not allowed to leave until you’ve cleaned all the crabs. With a malfunctioning electric toothbrush. But! It’s still a museum, and so contains exhibits both enriching and educational in how they contextualize the present state of button pushing and preserve older ideas on how button pushing could be done. In short: It’s an interesting game! It’s almost a really good horror game, but then it becomes a bad action game quite early on and basically stays that way for the rest of its runtime. It starts very strong, though. You play as Captain J.F. Blake, a pint tray runoff cocktail of several different military-type dude archetypes, sent to investigate the fallout of the film's events. A kind of Kurt Russel six degrees of character separation manifests here in the fact that Blake is effectively Solid Snake, minus all the camp and wit and doofy wisdom and self reflection and basically all charm or charisma. Still! when he asks what a noise was, he asks it with his entire ass. The film isn't required watching any more so than normal, which is to say: yes, it's required watching even if you don't plan to play this. Even if you watched it last week. Go watch The Thing again. The game's noteworthy peculiarity comes not from any of its myriad half-baked ideas in a vacuum, but the sheer number of half-baked ideas it has. You’ll use torches and flares to light darkened areas, fire extinguishers to access previously very on-fire areas, and syringes to calm panicking squadmates. You’ll find a thousand weapons per level, but give most of them to those same squadmates, alongside ammo. You’ll hijack security cameras to reveal door codes and occasionally do a turret section. Sometimes, you’ll lead your panicked squad for a nice jog outside to calm them down, making sure not to stay too long in case your ‘it’s cold!’ meter drains and you start taking health damage. You can even, in the most The Thingly thing The Thing does, take samples of your own blood to hold aloft in front of your squad to convince them you haven’t been taken over. Each squad member has a specialisation, a health bar, and a trust meter. Medics heals your squad, engineers can fix tricky fuse boxes, and so on. Accidentally shooting them makes trust go down, healing them and giving them guns makes it go up, as does the aforementioned “look at my blood!” trick. That this is maybe the only instance that waving a vial of your own blood at a stranger might logically result in increased good vibes is a testament to the premise’s enduring brilliance. So, early on, you walk slowly through corridors and dimly-lit research stations. Maybe one of your squadmates will see a corpse of a colleague, puke on the floor, and refuse to press on until you comfort them. You take care to keep everyone stocked on ammo and to not accidentally shoot anyone. It feels slow, deliberate, and atmospheric. You go on like this for about an hour, after which the game just runs out of ideas and starts chucking dozens upon dozens of the smallest, speediest, crawliest enemies at you every five minutes. There’s the occasional bit of lively tension when you have to flamethrower one of the bigger monsters without also cooking your squad in tight environs, but there’s also just so much ammo and so much bad shooting that it starts to smother all the other stuff. We're all very tired. But it's fine. We have like, 10 billion shotgun shells. Then, just when you feel it can go either way, the game doubles down on its commitment to ignoring the best parts of its own premise by throwing umpteen dudes with guns at you. They’re not an issue to deal with - keep your squadmates armed and they’ll snipe anything that comes within 100 feet of you more or less instantly. But their frequency does start to leech away the game’s flavour until all the previously echoing, dismal hallways just start to resemble bland boxes. Sometime after your second boss, the game responds to a clear opportunity to introduce a new type of monster with “ah, but, what if we gave the gun dudes flamethrowers now?”. As I said, it’s that Dead Space trilogy speedrun feeling: measured and effective horror giving way to action horror before being drowned out by several buckets of gun-having men. Occasionally, things get interesting in terms of stage design. A mission that sees you escape from a lab with no weapons, trapping enemies behind doors and ordering squadmates past security lasers feels downright inspired, and an earlier submarine jaunt represents that game’s claustrophobic horror at its best. But even early on, it’s easy to tell that shooting is the worst part - made interesting through context and other stressors - so as soon as the game doubles down on it, it really does fall apart. Which, to make clear once again, is absolutely no shade to Nightdive. The Thing stays interesting in its foibles even when it’s nowhere close to entertaining. And, on balance, I don’t regret my time with it. It’s a worthwhile bit of in-amber preservation, even if I don’t necessarily want to touch the insect inside if I can help it.York Factory First Nation (YFFN) in northern Manitoba has launched its own Cree language learning app called Inineemowin. Developed by a committee of YFFN language experts, HFC Planning and Design, and Vincent Design Inc., the app provides users with an interactive platform to learn the Nation’s stories, words and teachings. “It’s a wonderful resource for the young people,” said YFFN councillor Louisa Constant. “They are loving it at home. There have been so many downloads by the younger generations. It’s wonderful work.” The project began about a year ago with funding from the Heritage Canada’s Indigenous Languages Program. A second phase later this year will expand the content available for users. “York Factory came to Vincent Design in December last year and had this idea, a very loose idea, for an app they wanted for language learning,” said Jordan Dysart, software developer for Vincent Design Inc., an Indigenous-led Winnipeg design creative agency. In the following months the groups met and gathered information and resources to be used in the platform. “The intention with this language app is we really wanted to tie the app and experience to the community, and in this is their work,” said Dysart. “We want to highlight them as a community. York Factory Language Committee is trying to inspire youth and language learners to continue on and provide tools so that it makes it more accessible to learn about history, culture, local stories, and landmarks.” Dysart said each area throughout the western communities that speak Cree have “slight differences” in their dialect. When users launch the app, they will be presented with an illustration of a map which represents the community. Important landmarks and cultural gathering sites throughout the community are highlighted including an explanation or an image with a Cree title and a Cree word describing it. There is also an option for users to play an audio file of the words. The app’s Learning Path takes users through eight modules of lessons that introduce basic grammar and phrases in the context of cultural traditions including spring goose camp, winter carnival and sewing. “(Then) you can explore some of the other features that we’ve created,” Dysart said. “One where you can learn these curated progressions ... in full on phrases of the Cree language. The next category of that learning chapter is something that goes and pulls translations directly from the dictionary that we have saved on the device and it pulls and shuffles a certain amount of words directly from the dictionary.” These words can be chosen by selecting the user’s skill level. And then, if they want to use them again, they can choose to use the audio files to hear the words. Dysart explained these options offer a more diverse learning experience aside from just reading the words. “They can use the audio recognition as well (to test their progress),” he added. The Syllabics section of the app provides users with audio, recorded by the committee, that explains each symbol’s meaning. In addition, Inineemowin provides local Knowledge Keeper’s stories, children’s stories, community stories and historical photographs. Dysart used his own Cree heritage and prior experience with language revitalization initiatives to provide a unique fusion of tradition and technology for the app. His personal connection to the work made the development of the Indigenous language learning app a significant milestone for Vincent Design Inc. “This is an area that’s very important to me,” Dysart said. “I’m a Cree man from northern Manitoba, very close to York Factory. It’s been such a wonderful process and we’re so excited to have this out. There is so many lessons and memories that are drafted in the language and as language develops it develops around the environment that it’s spoken in. Inside jokes or comments around the campfire, if you’re in the Rockies it’s going to be different in the Prairies.” Once the app had been developed, Dysart was able to have a ‘focus group’, which actually consisted of his grandparents, try it out. “It was really cool to see my grandparents playing on the app,” said Dysart adding they were testing the various translations and showed a lot of interest with the differences to their own dialect. The Inineemowin app is available on the App Store or Google Play.

IIT Kanpur cancels UP cop's PhD programme for raping student

OTTUMWA — Ottumwa Police say they charged a child over a school threat they posted on social media website TikTok. On Dec. 9, the FBI alerted the Ottumwa Police Department to the post, which included language containing the wording "shoot up the school" along with other concerning language, according to a department press release. While the child had no means to carry out the threat, the Ottumwa Police Department said these types of communications will not be tolerated. The child was charged with terroristic threats, a class D felony, following an investigation by the Ottumwa Police Department and Wapello County Sheriff's Office. The child was not identified by police further.The fury over the state of U.S. health care isn't going away. It's been a week since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Manhattan. That shocking, targeted killing has also sparked a reckoning over the business he ran, in a country that has the most expensive health care in the world. Thompson led the largest U.S. health insurer, part of a massive, for-profit conglomerate that touches almost every part of how Americans access health care. His company has been widely criticized for making health care more expensive and more difficult to access. And those frustrations have boiled over in the response to his death, ranging from widespread jokes to outright celebrations. UnitedHealth has not directly responded to the widespread consumer criticisms since last week; a spokesperson for UnitedHealth declined to comment to NPR for this story. This week, after police arrested Luigi Mangione for the fatal shooting, some even rushed to support him. An online fundraiser for Mangione's legal defense had raised more than $65,000 by Thursday evening. Meanwhile, social-media videos showed "wanted" posters for other CEOs posted in downtown Manhattan. "We're facing an apocalyptic moment in the human story, where hundreds of thousands of Americans are going bankrupt because of medical bills – and the executive suites of these private health insurance [companies] are laughing all the way to the bank," says Sam Beard, an organizer of the Mangione legal-defense fundraiser. This rhetoric echoes the last time that consumers broadly mobilized to protest against powerful corporations and their wealthy executives, in the Occupy Wall Street movement in late 2011 that swept the country after the financial crisis. Those Occupy protests ultimately did not yield immediate consequences for the companies or CEOs they criticized; no Wall Street chief executives ever went to jail for the business decisions that led to the subprime mortgage crisis or the resulting waves of foreclosures. But those protests did articulate an overwhelming populist anger with the United States' stark income inequality . Now the response to Thompson's killing "has become a kind of marker of our age of inequality, where people feel fairly powerless," says Helaine Olen, managing editor at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly nonprofit. That populism and economic fatigue remains a powerful force in U.S. politics today, as inflation-weary voters recently demonstrated by reelecting former President Donald Trump. As Olen adds, "You've seen this really from the time of the financial crisis onward: There's just this sense of 'how can I get a fair deal'?" Consumers' sense of powerlessness is often amplified when dealing with health insurance companies, which govern the care that patients receive. But navigating those huge and opaque companies can be maddening at best , and consumers rarely have much of a say; for about 154 million Americans, employers select and provide health insurance coverage. UnitedHealth is the most dominant of these. It's the fourth-largest U.S. company by revenues overall, with divisions that employ doctors , provide pharmacy benefits , and process patients' medical claims. It — along with its largest competitors — is the subject of antitrust scrutiny , consumer lawsuits over widespread denials of claims, and bipartisan criticism. This week, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri introduced legislation that would break up large healthcare conglomerates, including UnitedHealth. "The insurance companies are out of control. They need to be broken up," Hawley said on X . "No more buying up doctors' practices. No more owning pharmacies. Start putting patients first." Everyone interviewed for this story emphasized the need for change, and many health care providers are hoping that some good can come out of this tragic event. "This is not a heroic vigilante, and it's important that he be brought to justice," says Dr. A. Mark Fendrick of the University of Michigan. "That said, maybe there's a tiny lesson we could learn to move forward." Fendrick studies ways to improve health insurance and advocates for a more wholistic approach of what is known as "value-based" insurance. He published an article in a medical journal last week urging the healthcare industry to rethink how it does business and the kinds of services it charges higher prices for. "Now, in the wake of a tragedy that has captured the national conscience, might be the time to reframe the dialogue from how much we spend to how well we spend our medical care dollars," Fendrick wrote. Dr. Diana Girnita, a rheumatologist in Irvine, Calif., is already trying a different approach. After years of fighting with insurance companies, Girnita started a direct-care practice that bypasses insurance and offers her services to patients for often-lower fees. She published an article on LinkedIn last week in response to Thompson's death. Its headline asked : "How many more lives must be lost before we change healthcare?" Top executives at large healthcare companies have generally insisted that they are working to improve the quality of care available to all Americans. In an email to employees on Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty remembered Thompson as "one of the good guys," and shared anonymous testimonials and notes of support from UnitedHealth customers. "I am super proud to be a part of an organization that does so much good for so many," Witty said.

Miraculous escape for 10 girls from H’bag hostel fire