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Revolutionizing Property Mgt In Nigeria: The Perfection Of Living Experiences With BulvdsESTERO, Fla. (AP) — Al Green scored 19 points and Sean Newman Jr. added seven in the overtime as Louisiana Tech knocked off Southern Illinois 85-79 in a first-round contest at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Monday night. Green had three steals for the Bulldogs (5-0). Kaden Cooper scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds and four steals. Amaree Abram went 8 of 13 from the field to finish with 18 points, while adding six steals. Kennard Davis led the way for the Salukis (2-4) with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Southern Illinois also got 15 points and eight rebounds from Jarrett Hensley. Ali Abdou Dibba also had 12 points and two steals. Cooper scored 12 points in the first half and Louisiana Tech went into the break trailing 31-27. Abram's 16-point second half helped Louisiana Tech close out the six-point victory. NEXT UP These two teams both play Tuesday in the six-team, round-robin tournament. Louisiana Tech squares off against Richmond and Southern Illinois faces Eastern Kentucky. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Inside Britain’s worst benefits blackspot where drug gangs take over homes & kids suffer ‘Victorian’ levels of povertyORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. The Knights ended a disappointing 4-8 season in which they lost eight of their last nine games, the longest losing streak since 2015. Malzahn, 59, was in the fourth year of a contract through 2028. His buyout, it is reported, would have been $13.75 million. He finished 27-25 at UCF but lost 16 of his last 22 games and was a dismal 4-14 in two seasons in the Big 12. After back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021-22, the Knights went 6-7 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. This season started with high expectations as Malzahn made sweeping changes to the program. He retooled the strength and conditioning department and hired Ted Roof and Tim Harris Jr. as defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. He also added nearly 50 new players to the roster, leaning heavily on the transfer market. UCF started by winning its first three games against New Hampshire, Sam Houston and a thrilling comeback at TCU, but offensive struggles saw the Knights tumble through a TBD-game losing streak to finish the season. Terry Mohajir hired Malzahn on Feb. 15, 2021, six days after he was hired to replace Danny White. The move came eight weeks after Malzahn had been fired at Auburn after eight seasons of coaching the Tigers. The two briefly worked together at Arkansas State in 2012 before Malzahn left for the Auburn job. “When he [Mohajir] offered the job, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ There wasn’t thinking about or talking about ...,” Malzahn said during his introductory press conference. “This will be one of the best programs in college football in a short time. This is a job that I plan on being here and building it.” UCF opened the 2021 season with non-conference wins over Boise State and Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Louisville on Sept. 17, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a fractured collarbone in the final minute of a 42-35 loss. Backup Mikey Keene would finish out the season as Gabriel announced his intention to transfer. The Knights would finish the season on the plus side by accepting a bid to join the Big 12 Conference in September and then by defeating Florida 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Malzahn struck transfer portal gold in the offseason when he signed former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee, a two-sport star with the Rebels, helped guide UCF to the American Athletic Conference Championship in its final season. However, Plumlee’s injury forced the Knights to go with Keene and freshman Thomas Castellanos. The team finished with losses to Tulane in the conference championship and Duke in the Military Bowl. Plumlee would return in 2023 as UCF transitioned to the Big 12 but would go down with a knee injury in the final minute of the Knights’ 18-16 win at Boise State on Sept. 9. He would miss the next four games as backup Timmy McClain took over the team. Even on his return, Plumlee couldn’t help UCF, on a five-game losing streak to open conference play. The Knights got their first Big 12 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and upset No. 15 Oklahoma State the following week, but the team still needed a win over Houston in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl bid for the eighth straight season. From the moment Malzahn stepped on campus, he prioritized recruiting, particularly in Central Florida. “We’re going to recruit like our hair’s on fire,” Malzahn said at the time. “We’re going to go after the best players in America and we’re not backing down to anybody.” From 2007 to 2020, UCF signed 10 four-star high school and junior college prospects. Eight four-star prospects were in the three recruiting classes signed under Malzahn. The 2024 recruiting class earned a composite ranking of 39 from 247Sports, the highest-ranked class in school history. The 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 41 and has commitments from three four-star prospects. Malzahn has always leaned on the transfer market, signing 60 players over the past three seasons. Some have paid huge dividends, such as Javon Baker, Lee Hunter, Kobe Hudson, Tylan Grable, Bula Schmidt, Amari Kight, Marcellus Marshall, Trent Whittemore, Gage King, Ethan Barr, Deshawn Pace and Plumlee. Others haven’t been as successful, such as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games of this season before being benched for poor performance. Jefferson’s struggles forced the Knights to play musical chairs at quarterback, with true freshman EJ Colson, redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown and redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk all seeing action at one point or another this season. This season’s struggles led to several players utilizing the NCAA’s redshirt rule after four games, including starting slot receiver Xavier Townsend and kicker Colton Boomer, who have also entered the transfer portal. Defensive end Kaven Call posted a letter to Malzahn on Twitter in which he accused the UCF coaching staff of recently kicking him off the team when he requested to be redshirted. Get local news delivered to your inbox!(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Anna Nisi , University of Washington (THE CONVERSATION) Imagine you are a blue whale swimming up the California coast, as you do every spring. You are searching for krill in the Santa Barbara Channel , a zone that teems with fish, kelp forests, seagrass beds and other undersea life, but also vibrates with noise from ship traffic . Suddenly, the noise gets louder. You start to make a slow, shallow dive, but without much urgency – after all, your species evolved over millions of years without this mysterious noise, so why would you know what to do when you hear it? A minute later, you are fatally struck by a container ship. Your body slowly sinks to the bottom of the ocean, where it will nourish deep-sea creatures for decades but will never be seen by humans again. Indeed, your death goes unnoticed ; the vessel barely registers the impact of hitting a member of the largest animal species on Earth. Collisions with ships are a critical threat to many large whale species. While these events are difficult to study, scientists estimate that thousands of whales are killed by ships yearly . In some regions, whales die from vessel strikes at rates that exceed what is considered sustainable after decades of whaling. Collisions with vessels threaten some critically endangered species . Research and experience show that simple measures can reduce these collisions – for example, rerouting shipping lanes to avoid important areas for whales, or reducing vessel speeds. But to implement these interventions, scientists and policymakers need to know where whales are most at risk. Mapping risk to whales In a newly published study in Science, colleagues and I mapped global ship-strike risk for four species of Earth’s largest whales: blue, fin, humpback and sperm. Within each species’ range, we found that vessels traveled the equivalent of thousands of times the distance to the moon and back every year. Our maps reveal widespread risk of vessel collisions in areas including the U.S. West Coast, the Mediterranean Sea and the northern Indian Ocean. These zones already have documented high levels of ship strikes . We also found many other regions with similar levels of risk that are less studied and recognized. They include several stretches along the coastlines of South America and southern Africa, and the area around the Azores off the coast of Portugal. Most high-risk areas are unprotected Whales are largely unprotected from vessel collisions around the world. We identified collision-risk hot spots – areas in the top 1% of predicted risk globally that represent the riskiest places for each species. We found that fewer than 7% of collision-risk hot spots had put measures in place to reduce collisions, such as limiting vessel speeds or requiring ships to avoid certain areas. Exceptions include the west and east coasts of North America, as well as the Mediterranean, which have higher levels of ship-strike management. Where such measures exist, they often are voluntary. Mandatory restrictions on speed cover just 0.54% of collision-risk hot spots for blue whales, 0.27% for humpback whales and none of the hot spots for fin or sperm whales. For each species, we found that ship-strike risk was higher within exclusive economic zones – areas up to 200 nautical miles from coastlines, in which each country has exclusive jurisdiction over marine resources – than on the high seas. This can make it easier to implement conservation and management measures in these areas. Within exclusive economic zones, individual countries can either adopt voluntary vessel measures or propose mandatory changes through the International Maritime Organization , which regulates international shipping. There is a lot of opportunity for countries to protect whales in their national waters. However, since political boundaries mean nothing to whales, the most effective approach would be for neighboring countries to coordinate efforts to reduce ship-strike risk across whale migratory routes . We also found high levels of ship-strike risk within existing marine protected areas – zones where countries have adopted various measures to conserve and manage sea life. Most of these marine protected areas were created to protect sea life from fishing, but very few place any restrictions or regulations on shipping. When marine protected areas contain high levels of ship-strike risk, governments could add such measures to the protected areas’ missions. Benefits of protecting whales Protecting whales from ships would benefit other species too. Vessels can strike many marine species , including seals, sea turtles, sharks, fish, penguins and dolphins. Marine shipping is the top source of underwater noise , which is a major threat to marine life . Underwater noise can disrupt feeding, interfere with communication and cause stress for many species. Vessels run more quietly at slower speeds, so speed-reduction measures can reduce noise pollution as well as collision risk. Humans can also benefit from slowing down and rerouting ships. When vessels travel more slowly, their fuel efficiency increases, reducing their greenhouse gas emissions . The marine shipping industry currently produces carbon emissions comparable to those from aviation . Slowing vessels down also reduces emissions of harmful air pollutants that threaten human health in coastal areas and are estimated to contribute to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths annually. In 2023, for example, vessels cooperating with a voluntary slowdown in California cut 45,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and 1,250 metric tons of nitrogen oxides, and they reduced the risk to whales by more than half. Changing vessel routes can make waters safer for local fishermen. In Sri Lanka, for example, heavy ship traffic hugs the coast, overlapping with local fishermen as well as with foraging blue whales. Collisions with cargo ships have killed several fishermen there in recent years. In response, some shipping companies are voluntarily shifting their lanes farther offshore to reduce the risk of colliding with humans and whales. In our interconnected world, 90% of consumer goods travel by ship before they get to market. Most items that consumers in wealthy nations purchase in their daily lives have traveled across the ocean at some point. Our study shows that ship-strike risk is widespread – but in our view, protecting whales from these collisions is a solvable issue. And by protecting whales, humans can also protect themselves. This article has been updated to add a video showing areas of the ocean that are used by whales, mapped in combination with global ship traffic. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/new-maps-show-high-risk-zones-for-whale-ship-collisions-vessel-speed-limits-and-rerouting-can-reduce-the-toll-242267 .
MENLO PARK, Calif. , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) board of directors today declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share of the company's outstanding Class A common stock and Class B common stock, payable on December 27, 2024 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 16, 2024 . Contacts Investors: Kenneth Dorell investor@meta.com / investor.fb.com Press: Ryan Moore press@meta.com / about.fb.com/news/ View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/meta-announces-quarterly-cash-dividend-302324358.html SOURCE MetaSean 'Diddy' Combs' third bid to be released on bail won't be decided until next weekAt BioWare, Casey Hudson was most known for his director role for the Mass Effect trilogy. After spending nearly two decades at the studio, even returning for a second stint during Anthem development, Hudson saying he wants to rediscover his "creative passion through more personal work." Only a year later, Humanoid Studios, a brand-new game development company based in Canada, with an unannounced project already in development. However, before any game reveals come through, the studio is now shutting down due to lack of funds. "Earlier today, we informed our staff that Humanoid Origin will be shutting down," says a from the studio's profile. "Despite efforts to shield the studio from broader challenges in the industry, an unexpected shortfall of funding left us unable to sustain operations." "In our time together, the team achieved incredible progress, and demonstrated that it's possible to do amazing work while fostering a culture of fun and creativity. We thank them for their talent, courage, and friendship," the message continues. "Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout our journey." Not much is known about the mysterious game Hudson and his team was building at Humanoid Studios. The , which is still up and running at the time of writing, informs viewers that the game would have been a "multi-platform AAA title focused on character-driven narrative in an all-new science fiction universe," being built by a team of industry veterans. It certainly sounded like something fans would have liked. BioWare is currently developing the as well, which is being .
NoneNoneMore than 1 million Americans live with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, with tens of thousands of new diagnoses each year. But with earlier diagnoses and advances in treatment, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has become far more manageable. Death rates among diagnosed individuals have dropped, even as recently as the past five years. Stacker analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to better understand drops in HIV-related deaths nationally and among certain subpopulations, taking a closer look at the factors behind these declines. Overall, the CDC reports that 4,145 people died of a known cause related to HIV in 2022, a drop of about 19%—or 971 fewer deaths—compared to 2018. Dr. Robyn Neblett Fanfair, director of the HIV prevention division at the CDC, said this is due to ever-evolving HIV testing and treatments. "HIV testing is becoming more of an option as people seek care, wherever they seek care," Fanfair told Stacker. "That's in community-based organizations, their primary care settings, family planning settings. It's been wonderful to see HIV tests become a part of overall well-being and health care in this country." A hallmark of modern HIV treatment is viral suppression, or reducing the presence of HIV in one's blood to very low levels, which keeps patients healthy and prevents transmission. Nearly 2 in 3 Americans diagnosed with HIV have reached viral suppression, though the lowest rates are among women, those aged 25 to 34, Black people, and people who inject drugs, Fanfair said. New efforts in testing, treatment, and prevention are particularly targeted at these and other disproportionally affected groups. Fanfair highlighted one recent testing innovation, Together TakeMeHome, a program for HIV self-tests that people can order via delivery. Demand for the tests was beyond what Fanfair's division anticipated, showing real eagerness for self-initiated testing among Americans, she said. HIV treatments have also advanced substantially. In the past few years, researchers have developed combination pills so that those with HIV may only have to take one pill per day, rather than the dozens of daily pills characteristic of earlier antiretroviral treatments. Recently released treatments also include long-lasting injections, which patients only receive every few weeks or months. Fanfair, who is also a medical provider for people living with HIV, called both innovations "revolutionary." She said other modalities are continuing to come out as well, giving HIV patients myriad treatment options that help them to live long and healthy lives. "What these promising declines of HIV-related deaths really show us is the power of ongoing HIV care and treatment in this country," she said. You may also like: As the US population ages, these states have the most older residents It took decades to reach current strides in HIV care, largely due to early public health failures. The first U.S. cases of AIDS emerged in 1981, though health officials at the time didn't yet fully understand the disease or its implications. It was first identified as a "gay cancer" as it mainly affected gay men and was associated with Kaposi's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer linked to weakened immunity. It further spread among other marginalized communities, namely intravenous drug users, immigrants, and communities of color; as a result, the disease was largely overlooked by policymakers and public health officials. Those with the disease and those attempting to treat them faced rampant discrimination. Lacking proper funding, research, and resources, the disease spread quickly and was incredibly deadly. By the end of that first year, there were 337 reported cases of individuals with severe immune deficiency, and nearly 2 in 5 had already died. The life expectancy for those diagnosed with HIV or AIDS was just one or two years. It took outcry from affected communities, medical professionals, and activists before the U.S. and international health community took major action to combat the growing epidemic. The first public AIDS research and treatment was funded in 1983—two years after initial reports. In the interim, research remained limited, and dangerous misconceptions took root about the disease and how it spread. Not until the mid-'80s was it understood that HIV spread through bodily fluids like blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and breast milk, but not through casual contact or other bodily fluids like saliva. Even then, as stigma and discrimination persisted, deaths surged. AIDS was the leading cause of death for American men between the ages of 25 to 44 in 1992, and two years later it became the leading cause of death for all Americans in that age bracket. By 1996 death rates had dropped, though remained the leading cause of death for Black Americans. When highly active antiretroviral therapies were introduced to treat HIV in the late '90s and early 2000s, the disparity in mortality rates grew between white and Black HIV patients. Studies suggest that this was due to fewer medical professionals providing these advanced treatments to Black populations and government policies limiting care in low-income communities, on top of other social factors. Decades later, racial disparities persist in HIV infections and deaths. This is especially true among Black populations, namely Black women, youth, gay and bisexual men, and Black populations in the South. Although they only account for 12% of the population, Black Americans make up 39% of new HIV diagnoses, 40% of people living with HIV, and 43% of HIV-related deaths. Stigma and discrimination, higher poverty rates, lack of health care access, and less awareness of HIV status contribute to these ongoing disparities. Medical breakthroughs have reduced death rates for Americans with HIV, including groups that are disproportionately affected by the virus. Even in the past five years, HIV-related death rates fell for all diagnosed Americans and across most at-risk groups. Some of the largest drops have been measured among older people. Three decades ago, growing old with HIV wasn't a likely outcome—in the 1980s, the life expectancy was just three years after diagnosis for people living with AIDS. But as effective treatments have allowed people to lead long and healthy lives, aging with HIV has become a major focus for researchers. As of 2023, life expectancies for most people receiving HIV treatment was about the same as the overall population. Those aging with HIV have similar health concerns to other aging Americans but remain at higher risk for some HIV-associated conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease, and cancer. HIV-related death rates also dropped among Black, multiracial, Hispanic or Latino, and Native American or Alaska Native populations. Rates remained consistent among transgender women and girls, though their actual number of HIV-related deaths rose from 2018 to 2022. Some disproportionately affected populations have been prioritized in the White House's 2021 HIV/AIDS strategy , which puts forth a roadmap to end the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2030. The document provided guidelines to achieve this goal, including improving health outcomes for those with HIV and reducing related disparities and health inequities. Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone toward these goals over the past few years, funding health centers, treatment access, workforce training, and other resources. Much funding and support is targeted at specific communities where new infections have been highly concentrated. This often means supporting work at the local or community level to ensure that people can access HIV care in the places where they already go for health and other services, Fanfair explained. Federal funding aimed at reducing disparities has proven effective in the past, particularly in decreasing HIV-related death rates for Black and Hispanic populations, according to a 2020 study. Today's falling death rates indicate that the same may be true of these more recent efforts toward overburdened communities. The combination of federal attention, medical advancements, and outreach in affected communities has led to great improvements in American HIV care. Moving forward, researchers are pursuing preventative vaccines and cures . In addition, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is looking at intersections with other diseases, expediting small and early-stage trials, and working to ensure that research is accessible to and representative of the most affected populations. "Thinking of ways that we can support access to all communities is going to be really critical," Fanfair said. Story editing by Alizah Salario. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.
Google to build subsea cable linking Australia's Darwin to Christmas IslandTrump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to be ambassador to France
Mercurity Fintech Announces Unaudited Financial Results for First Half 2024Investors are not alone as they look toward 2025 by looking back on the leaders of 2024. Big funds are leaning toward leaders such as ( ), which outperformed during the year as well. IBD's shows ( ) ( ) and Apple among those getting the most demand. Taiwan Semiconductor is of a cup-with-handle base with a of 205.63. The relative strength line is near new highs — a good sign. Volume was about 14% above average. The that is 40% or more above average. However, funds could quickly change that and drive the stock up if they continue to load up on the chip supplier. TSMI holds an of B, which means that more funds have been buying the stock over the past thirteen weeks. Funds have been net buyers over the past seven quarters as well, going by the supplementary data on . The Janus Henderson Forty Fund (JARTX) and the AllSpring Growth Fund (SGRAX) hold shares of Taiwan Semi. Both funds are part of the Investor's Business Daily's mutual fund index. Funds are also focused on Meta, another 2024 winner. The stock is trying to get past a buy point of 602.95 after testing support at the 50-day moving average. Meta holds an of B- with more funds buying the stock over the seven recent quarters as well. In the IBD mutual fund index, the Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) and the MFS Growth Fund (MFEGX) are among major Meta shareholders. Meta's Composite Rating is 97. Apple Stock Approaches $4 Trillion Market Cap | | | | | | Last but not the least, Apple continues to be on fund managers' radar. Shares are extended from a buy point of 237.49. But the stock is also approaching a $4 trillion market cap which could be a psychological catalyst. According to Dow Jones Market Data, Apple stock has to reach 264.62 before achieving that milestone. As of Monday's closing price, Apple is 3% below that target. The Janus Henderson Forty Fund and the MFS Growth Fund (MFEGX), also in the IBD mutual fund index, hold shares of Apple. The Composite Rating is 95.
As the postmaster of Chicago for the 606-608 ZIP codes, I want to assure you the U.S. Postal Service is primed and ready to deliver exceptional service during the 2024 holiday rush. Thanks to substantial progress USPS has made under the Delivering for America plan — a $40 billion investment aimed at revitalizing the national postal network — our operational, transportation and delivery processes have never been more finely tuned. My dedicated team and I are fully prepared to once again handle the peak holiday season surge. As you and your family prepare for the holidays, it’s always a good idea to ship it early! We encourage everyone to send their holiday mail and packages well in advance to ensure they reach their destinations on time, but we understand sometimes cards or packages are sent last minute. This year, our recommended send-by dates for expected holiday delivery within the continental U.S. before Dec. 25 are: Dec. 18: USPS Ground Advantage service; first-class mail Dec. 19: Priority Mail service Dec. 21: Priority Mail Express service For a complete list of recommended holiday mailing and shipping dates, please visit usps.com/holidayshippingdates . And remember: The earlier you send it, the better — Ship it Early! We are honored and grateful for your trust in the U.S. Postal Service. Your postal team in the city of Chicago is proud to be the most affordable, reliable way to send cheer this holiday season, and we’re ready to deliver exceptional service during the holidays and beyond. Jewel Morrow, Chicago postmaster Merge public transit agencies Thanks for publishing Bruce Mainzer’s opinion essay about merging northern Illinois’ transportation agencies. Reducing redundant administration costs will save money and speed up services. Also important is the transparency that would ensue. Dorval Carter needs to show what’s really happening. And thanks for the editorial about getting extremist Oath Keepers out of the Chicago Police Department. Whatever the reason, white supremacists have no role in CPD. Beth Najberg, Gold Coast Raise ‘senior freeze’ income limit There are many sides to the “senior freeze” coin. I and other law-abiding seniors lost our freeze because of high inflation and accompanying Social Security increases pushing people over the $65,000 household income. It would have been nice if the senior freeze income limit was indexed to Social Security increases. Ed Rios, Berwyn Bear of a game I have one question for the ownership of the Chicago Bears. Would it kill you to hire a coaching staff that actually knows how to win games? Steve Herr, West RidgeAdams has 19 as CSU Northridge defeats Denver 89-60NEW YORK (AP) — Free agent pitchers Luis Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Crisostomo were suspended for 80 games each by Major League Baseball on Friday following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances under the minor league drug program. Moreno tested positive for Nandrolone, and Crisostomo tested positive for Boldenone and Nandrolone, the commissioner’s office said. A 26-year-old right-hander, Moreno was released by the New York Mets’ Class A Brooklyn Cyclones on Tuesday. He was 5-1 with a 5.33 ERA in 12 relief appearances this season for Brooklyn after spending 2016-23 in the San Francisco Giants organization. Crisostomo, a 24-year-old right-hander, was released by Minnesota on Aug. 24 after going 0-1 with a 7.13 ERA this year with the Florida Complex League Twins. He signed with Boston in 2017, spent 2018 in the Dominican Summer League with the Red Sox, then signed with Minnesota and spent 2023 with the Twins DSL team. Nineteen players have been suspended this year for positive drug tests, including eight under the minor league program and nine under the new program for minor league players assigned outside the United States and Canada. Two players have been suspended this year under the major league drug program. Noelvi Marté , a 22-year-old infielder who is the Cincinnati Reds’ top prospect, missed the first 80 games following a positive test for boldenone. Toronto Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended for 80 games on June 23 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene, an announcement made two days after his major league debut . AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlbDonald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, who had been found guilty of tax evasion and other charges, in 2020 while serving his first term as president. President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he wants real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Mr Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker”. Mr Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former senior Trump adviser who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. The elder Mr Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Prosecutors alleged that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was co-operating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Mr Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said. Mr Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison – the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the US attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, had sought. Mr Christie has blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Mr Trump’s transition team in 2016, and has called Charles Kushner’s offences “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was US attorney”. Mr Trump and the elder Mr Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.
Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here . This week in startup news, we have some contrarian bets, funding rounds from all around the world, new VC funds, and a final word of warning. Most interesting startup stories from the week Several stories this week remind us that just because something didn’t work earlier doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying from a different angle. Plus, one M&A that gives us a break from other WordPress news. New wave : A new wave of desalination startups is working on deep-sea reverse osmosis , a technology that’s becoming easier to deploy and could bring savings, with projections that it could produce water using 30% to 50% less energy than onshore reverse osmosis. Filling the gap : YC’s latest batch had plenty of AI startups, and some interesting enterprise ones , but the accelerator has reduced its focus on developing markets. In Africa, local accelerators backed by African YC alumni are taking this as an opportunity with new programs. Bett(h)er : WaveForms AI, a new audio large language model (LLM) company, hopes to make AI more personable with its own foundational models. Its founder, Alexis Conneau, is obsessed with the movie “Her,” but also thinking hard about how not to create a dystopia . “We want to do precisely the opposite of what the company in that movie does,” he told TechCrunch. Automatic for the bots : WPAI, a startup that builds AI solutions for WordPress, is getting acquired by Automattic . Its team will lead WordPress’ AI efforts. Most interesting fundraises this week With the end of the year fast approaching, this week brought us many funding rounds, so here’s a sample that also showcases their range, both in size and in geographic distribution. Taking off : Archer Aviation, a startup building vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, raised $430 million in fresh equity funding that brought its total financing to nearly $2 billion. Archer also closed an exclusive partnership with Anduril to jointly build defense aircraft. Stealthy no more : Berlin-based startup Upvest, which makes a stock-trading API used by some of Europe’s biggest fintech companies, raised a €100 million Series C round ($105 million) led by once-secretive VC firm Hedosophia. Robot steps : Swiss robotics company Anybotics, an ETH Zürich spinout building quadruped autonomous inspection robots for industrial applications, raised another $60 million , bringing its Series B round of financing to a total of $110 million. The capital will help it expand in the U.S., where it recently opened an office in San Francisco. Strong credentials : Flare, a Canadian threat exposure management startup, closed a $30 million Series B round of funding led by Base10 Partners . The company wants to help SMBs and mid-market companies thwart the rise of info-stealer malware, or software that collects login credentials, as happened in the Snowflake incident earlier this year. Crossing the Channel : Aqemia, a French startup in the hot AI-enabled drug discovery space, raised its second fundraise of the year: a new $38 million round led by Cathay Innovation, which it will use to hire and open an office in London. Letting VCs in : Numia, a startup from Argentina that brings offline and online customer interaction data into one place, announced a $3.5 million seed round led by Cometa. CEO Gustavo Lauria said the company is already profitable but decided to raise outside capital for the first time to reach customers that are also limited partners in venture funds. Most interesting VC and fund news this week Open to confusion : The OpenAI Startup Fund raised over $44 million for its fifth special purpose vehicle (SPV), which a spokesperson said “will be used to support a variety of existing portfolio companies and to make new investments.” Despite its name, the fund says it doesn’t have OpenAI as an investor but that its backers include Microsoft and other OpenAI partners. New dimension : Dimension Capital raised an oversubscribed $500 million fund to keep on investing at the intersection of tech and life sciences. Portfolio companies include AI biotech companies Chai Discovery and Enveda Biosciences. Paper tiger : Known for the “spray and pray” strategy that led it to invest in over 315 startups in 2021 alone, the 15th fund of hedge fund Tiger performed particularly poorly, with paper losses standing at more than 15% , according to a recent disclosure. Last but not least In an interview, Lead Edge Capital founder and managing partner Mitchell Green told TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos that there is “too much money chasing too few companies that are overvalued.” This makes his firm increasingly steer away from typical venture capital deals and toward buyout-like “control deals” more commonly associated with private equity. “I also refuse to invest in companies at 100 times or 200 times or 500 times revenue. That game will end badly,” he predicted.NoneMLB shifts six 2025 Rays games to avoid weather issues
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