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President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the sprawling government agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace — celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz — recently held broad investments in health care, tech, and food companies that would pose significant conflicts of interest. Oz’s holdings, some shared with family, included a stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the health care sector, such as Amazon. Collectively, Oz’s investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat. Trump said Tuesday he would nominate Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency’s scope is huge: CMS oversees coverage for more than 160 million Americans, nearly half the population. accounts for approximately $1 trillion in annual spending, with over 67 million enrollees. UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health care companies in the nation and arguably the most important business partner of CMS, through which it is the leading provider of commercial health plans available to Medicare beneficiaries. UnitedHealth also offers managed-care plans under Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for low-income people, and sells plans on government-run marketplaces set up via the Affordable Care Act. Oz also had smaller stakes in CVS Health, which now includes the insurer Aetna, and in the insurer Cigna. It’s not clear if Oz, a heart surgeon by training, still holds investments in health care companies, or if he would divest his shares or otherwise seek to mitigate conflicts of interest should he be confirmed by the Senate. Reached by phone on Wednesday, he said he was in a Zoom meeting and declined to comment. An assistant did not reply to an email message with detailed questions. “It’s obvious that over the years he’s cultivated an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry,” said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group. “That raises a question of whether he can be trusted to act on behalf of the American people.” (The publisher of KFF Health News, David Rousseau, is on the .) Oz used his TikTok page on multiple occasions in November to praise Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including their efforts to take on the “illness-industrial complex,” and he slammed “so-called experts like the big medical societies” for dishing out what he called bad nutritional advice. Oz’s positions on health policy have been chameleonic; in 2010, he urging Californians to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, telling viewers they had a “historic opportunity.” Oz’s 2022 financial disclosures show that the television star invested a substantial part of his wealth in health care and food firms. Were he confirmed to run CMS, his job would involve interacting with giants of the industry that have contributed to his wealth. Given the breadth of his investments, it would be difficult for Oz to recuse himself from matters affecting his assets, if he still holds them. “He could spend his time in a rocking chair” if that happened, Lurie said. In the past, nominees for government positions with similar potential conflicts of interest have chosen to sell the assets or otherwise divest themselves. For instance, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland agreed to divest their holdings in relevant, publicly traded companies when they joined the Biden administration. Trump, however, declined in his first term to relinquish control of his own companies and other assets while in office, and he isn’t expected to do so in his second term. He has not publicly indicated concern about his subordinates’ financial holdings. CMS’ main job is to administer Medicare. About half of new enrollees now choose Medicare Advantage, in which commercial insurers provide their health coverage, instead of the traditional, government-run program, from KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. Proponents of Medicare Advantage say the private plans offer more compelling services than the government and better manage the costs of care. Critics note that Medicare Advantage plans have a long history of than the traditional program. UnitedHealth, CVS, and Cigna are all substantial players in the Medicare Advantage market. It’s not always a good relationship with the government. The Department of Justice filed a 2017 complaint against UnitedHealth used false information to inflate charges to the government. The case is ongoing. Oz is an enthusiastic proponent of Medicare Advantage. In 2020, he proposed offering Medicare Advantage to all; during his Senate run, he offered a more general pledge to expand those plans. After Trump announced Oz’s nomination for CMS, Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, “uncertain about Dr. Oz’s familiarity with health care financing and economics.” Singer said Oz’s Medicare Advantage proposal could require large new taxes — perhaps a 20% payroll tax — to implement. Oz has gotten a mixed reception from elsewhere in Washington. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the Democrat who defeated Oz in 2022, signaled he’d potentially support his appointment to CMS. “If Dr. Oz is about protecting and preserving Medicare and Medicaid, I’m voting for the dude,” on the social platform X. Oz’s investments in companies doing business with the federal government don’t end with big insurers. He and his family also hold hospital stocks, according to his 2022 disclosure, as well as a stake in Amazon worth as much as nearly $2.4 million. (Candidates for federal office are required to disclose a broad range of values for their holdings, not a specific figure.) Amazon operates an internet pharmacy, and the company announced in June that its is available to Medicare enrollees. It also , One Medical, that accepts Medicare and “select” Medicare Advantage plans. Oz was also directly invested in several large pharmaceutical companies and, through investments in venture capital funds, indirectly invested in other biotech and vaccine firms. Big Pharma has been a frequent target of criticism and sometimes conspiracy theories from Trump and his allies. Kennedy, whom Trump has said he’ll nominate to be Health and Human Services secretary, is a longtime anti-vaccine activist. During the Biden administration, Congress gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug companies over their prices. CMS initially selected 10 drugs. Those drugs collectively accounted for between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, under Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit. At least four of those 10 medications are manufactured by companies in which Oz held stock, worth as much as about $50,000. Oz may gain or lose financially from other Trump administration proposals. For example, as of 2022, Oz held investments worth as much as $6 million in fertility treatment providers. To counter fears that politicians who oppose abortion would ban in vitro fertilization, Trump making in vitro fertilization treatment free. It’s unclear whether the government would pay for the services. In his TikTok videos from earlier in November, Oz echoed attacks on the food industry by Kennedy and other figures in his “Make America Healthy Again” movement. They blame processed foods and underregulation of the industry for the poor health of many Americans, concerns shared by many Democrats and more mainstream experts. But in 2022, Oz owned stakes worth as much as $80,000 in Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, and US Foods, as well as more substantial investments in other parts of the food chain, including cattle; Oz reported investments worth as much as $5.5 million in a farm and livestock, as well as a stake in a dairy-free milk startup. He was also indirectly invested in the restaurant chain Epic Burger. One of his largest investments was in the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain Wawa, which sells fast food and all manner of ultra-processed snacks. Oz and his wife reported a stake in the company, beloved by many Pennsylvanians, worth as much as $30 million. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.lucky number ng tae 。

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Manchester United are monitoring young Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens after seeing both of their senior shot-stoppers make high-profile errors in recent weeks. United's season continues to go through a turbulent spell under new boss Ruben Amorim and while the entire team have been guilty of under-par performances, goalkeepers Andrea Onana and Altay Bayindir have both made mistakes. The duo each allowed Tottenham and Wolves to score directly from a corner in the last few games while Onana also came under fire earlier this month for making gaffes against Nottingham Forest and Viktoria Plzen. Now United are hoping to remedy the situation by adding more competition in between the sticks, according to the Telegraph , with a move for highly-rated Lammens. The Royal Antwerp star has already caught attention from Bundesliga clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, the report claims, and United have sent scouts to watch the 22-year-old to ensure they get ahead of the curb. It says that while a move in January is not a priority, there could be "movement" in the summer - especially if Bayindir chooses to go elsewhere in search of first team opportunities. Onana joined United for £47m from Inter last summer but has been highly scrutinised for a string of errors. The former Ajax keeper has made a total of 76 appearance for the Red Devils. The report goes on to say that United will be limited with signings in January transfer window as they look to comply with financial fair play regulations. There could be a number of outgoings, however, with Juventus reportedly eyeing up a move for Joshua Zirzkee amid his difficult start to life at Old Trafford since his big money switch from Bologna in the summer. Another United player who is being strongly linked with an exit is Marcus Rashford , who gave a bombshell interview revealing he wants to leave the club following a difficult season - and has been left out of the last four matchday squads. However, despite interest from Juventus in Zirkzee, it's also reported that they are not interested in pursuing a move for Rashford - who could be forced to play outside of Europe amid rumours he is being chased by Saudi clubs. Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Amazon's Prime Video is broadcasting the Premier League Boxing Day round of fixtures on December 26-27. Each match can be streamed free with an Amazon Prime subscription or by signing up for an Amazon Prime 30-day free trial .DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — David Early scored 10 points as Radford beat Chicago State 63-48 on Monday. Early shot 3 of 6 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Highlanders (5-2). Isaiah Gaines, Truth Harris and Jarvin Moss all added nine points. Jalen Forrest finished with 12 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (0-7). The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Ontario supports Ottawa's GST holiday, will not ask for lost revenue back

SACRAMENTO, Calif. , Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This holiday season, help give the drivers in your life the gift of convenience and control with the Reviver RPLATE ® — the exclusive digital license plate of the Sacramento Kings. The innovative RPLATE is the world's first digital license plate, allowing drivers to monitor and customize their license plate through the ease of a mobile application. Whether it is a teenager's first ride, or the dream car your parents always wanted, the holidays are the perfect time to gift your loved ones with a new car. Reviver has the perfect companion gift for a new car — the RPLATE, a smart and sleek digital license plate. The RPLATE helps make owning and maintaining a car easier and more enjoyable by turning the license plate into a connected vehicle platform. Through the RPLATE, drivers can quickly renew and update their vehicle's registration via the secure Reviver app. The RPLATE also offers fun personalization features with its weatherproof display, such as light/dark mode and banner messages. "I created Reviver and the RPLATE because I observed that the license plate and vehicle registration ecosystem wasn't innovating to meet the needs of the modern world," said Reviver Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Neville Boston . "At Reviver, we want to reimagine the driving experience and what a license plate can do. We want to make life easier for drivers, businesses, and government." Today, more than 65,000 drivers own an RPLATE including Cedric the Entertainer, Marshall Faulk and DJ Skee. Sacramento Kings fans can learn more about Reviver and the innovative RPLATE at an upcoming home game at Golden 1 Center. ABOUT REVIVER ® Reviver ® is a technology company on a mission to modernize the driving experience. As developer of the world's first digital license plate platform, Reviver products transform the license plate into a connected vehicle platform, enabling consumers and commercial businesses to digitize vehicle registration renewals and experience a growing set of personalization, convenience, and safety features, all managed through a mobile or web app interface. Reviver's digital license plates are legal for sale in Arizona and California , along with Texas for commercial fleet vehicles. Ten additional states are in various stages of adoption. Founded in 2009, Reviver is headquartered in Northern California , and is the official patch partner of the Sacramento Kings and the official innovation partner of the Sacramento Kings and Golden 1 Center. To purchase an RPLATE click here . To learn more about the RPLATE, click here . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/help-them-drive-like-a-sacramento-king-give-the-gift-of-a-reviver-rplate-302337650.html SOURCE ReviverShould the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers?

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Police seek suspected prowler spotted peering into west Windsor homeAn online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump's political coalitionSir Keir Starmer was speaking at the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) conference in Estonia where he met leaders of other Baltic states. After signing an energy partnership with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Bergen, Sir Keir flew to Estonia where he spoke alongside Mr Store and their Estonian counterpart Kristen Michal. Asked what else could be done to support Ukraine, Sir Keir said: “There is an ever-increasing demand for more capability. That is understandable, and Ukraine needs all the capability that it can get, so I think all of us have put in more capability into Ukraine by way of equipment.” He added: “A lot of money has been raised, funding has been raised, but more is going to be needed.” The Prime Minister’s also discussed making the economic case at home for continued support for Ukraine. Sir Keir said: “Making the case on the significance of Ukraine, making the case, to double down, linking it back to each of our countries – what does it mean for us if Russia succeeds, is a really important question that we have to answer with our people to make it clear why it is that we are so supportive of Ukraine, why it is that we must stand with our allies on this, why it is we must make sure that Nato is put in the strongest position as well. “Now, this is a different world to the world of 10, 20 years ago, to recognise the world that we are living in, there’s a positive case as well to be made. “Defence spending doesn’t sort of sit in a silo over here with no effect on the rest of the economy, no effect on technology. “It has a huge effect on technologies, the cutting edge of technology and change which can then be used in other areas. “It binds countries together. I think all of us have got joint projects on in terms of defence capabilities that bind us together. There’s a huge number of well-paid jobs that are very important to our economy in defence spending as well. “But we have to make that positive case. I don’t personally feel that we can sort of sit back and assume that all of those in our respective countries necessarily accept all of our arguments unless we make them in that positive way, which I do think the argument can and should and must be made. “But the challenge that you put to us is the right challenge, which is it’s very difficult when finances are tight, as they are in all of our countries.” On Tuesday morning the Prime Minister will meet Taavi Madiberk, the founder of Estonian tech start-up manufacturing low-cost air defence missiles, Frankenburg Technologies, which is planning to open a new office in London Specialising in the manufacture of the missiles, the rapidly growing company already collaborates closely with the UK defence industry, sourcing a significant portion of its subsystems locally, including from propulsion specialists Roxel in Worcestershire. The Prime Minister will again attend the JEF summit, joining leaders from the Nordics and Baltics to discuss support for Ukraine, the sustained threat posed by Russia and wider European security. He will then visit British forces serving in the region to deter malign Russian threats.

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"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" To keep reading, please log in to your account, create a free account, or simply fill out the form below.WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world's richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.

Michigan's defense of national title fell short, aims to cap lost season with win against Ohio StateNoneNEW YORK (AP) — A number of President-elect Donald Trump 's most prominent Cabinet picks and appointees have been targeted by bomb threats and “swatting attacks," Trump's transition team said Wednesday. The FBI said it was investigating. “Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them," Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. The attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, in which attackers initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses, she said. The tactic has become a popular one in recent years. Leavitt said law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted and Trump and his transition team are grateful. Among those targeted were New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations ; Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general ; Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, whom Trump chose to lead the Department of Labor , and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Law enforcement officials are also looking into whether Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general whom Trump has chosen as Gaetz’s replacement, and other incoming administration officials were also victims — as well as how each was targeted, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation continues. Wiles and Bondi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FBI said in a statement that it was “aware of numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointees" and was investigating with its law enforcement partners. White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma said President Joe Biden had been briefed and the White House is in touch with federal law enforcement and Trump's transition team. Biden “continues to monitor the situation closely," Sharma said, adding the president and his administration “condemn threats of political violence.” Stefanik's office said that, on Wednesday morning, she, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were driving home from Washington for Thanksgiving when they were informed of a bomb threat to their residence in Saratoga County. Police swept Stefanik’s home on Wednesday morning in response to the bomb threat but did not locate any explosive devices, New York State Police said. Zeldin said in a social media post that he and his family had also been threatened. “A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,” he wrote on X . “My family and I were not home at the time and are safe." In Florida, the Okaloosa County sheriff’s office said on Facebook that it “received notification of a bomb threat referencing former Congressman Matt Gaetz’s supposed mailbox at a home in the Niceville area" Wednesday. While a family member resides at the address, the office said, Gaetz “is NOT a resident.” No threatening devices were found. Gaetz was Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, but he withdrew from consideration after allegations that he paid women for sex and slept with underage women. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations ended with no charges against him. The threats follow a political campaign marked by disturbing and unprecedented violence. In July, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the then-candidate in the ear with a bullet and killing one of his supporters. The Secret Service later thwarted a subsequent assassination attempt at Trump's West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course when an agent spotted the barrel of a gun poking through a perimeter fence while Trump was golfing. Trump was also the subject of an Iranian murder-for-hire plot , with a man saying he had been tasked with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect. Also this week, authorities arrested a man they say posted videos on social media threatening to kill Trump, according to court documents. In one video posted on Nov. 13, Manuel Tamayo-Torres threatened to shoot the former president while holding what appeared to be an AR-15 style rifle, authorities said Among the other videos he posted was one from an arena in Glendale, Arizona on Aug. 23, the same day Trump held a campaign rally there, according to court papers. An attorney for Tamayo-Torres did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Public figures across the political spectrum have been targeted in recent years by hoax bomb threats and false reports of shootings at their homes. About a year ago the FBI responded to an uptick in such incidents at the homes of public officials, state capitols and courthouses across the country around the holidays. Many were locked down and evacuated in early January after receiving bomb threats. No explosives were found and no one was hurt. Some of those targeted last year were Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The judges overseeing the civil fraud case against Trump in New York and the criminal election interference case against him in Washington were both targeted earlier this year. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, who recently abandoned the two criminal cases he brought against Trump, was also the subject of a fake emergency call on Christmas Day last year. Earlier this year, schools, government buildings and the homes of city officials in Springfield, Ohio, received a string of hoax bomb threats after Trump falsely accused members of Springfield’s Haitian community of abducting and eating cats and dogs. And in 2022, a slew of historically Black colleges and universities nationwide were targeted with dozens of bomb threats, with the vast majority arriving during the celebration of Black History Month. The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement Wednesday that anytime a member of Congress is the victim of a swatting' incident, “we work closely with our local and federal law enforcement partners.” The force declined to provide further details, in part to “minimize the risk of copy-cats.” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called the threats “dangerous and unhinged.” “This year, there was not just one but TWO assassination attempts on President Trump," he wrote on X . “Now some of his Cabinet nominees and their families are facing bomb threats.” He added: “It is not who we are in America.” ___ Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Eric Tucker in Washington, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, contributed to this report.

Employee-facing agents will liberate teams from the "work of work" that saps productivity. Companies need a work operating system, a single command center that connects all your teams, data, workflows, apps and now agents. Agentforce in Slack unlocks agentic productivity for every employee, right in the flow of work. After years of being asked to "do more with less" and putting ambitious growth plans on hold, business leaders and entrepreneurs suddenly face a more encouraging prospect: a limitless digital laborforce of agents. Agents are purpose-built workers that use AI to learn and analyze information, reason, make decisions, and take action autonomously. Leaders are understandably excited about using agents to scale their capacity, considering labor costs take up to 60% of budgets in the Fortune 500. McKinsey estimates that generative AI could generate up to $4.4 trillion in potential profits annually, compounding the cost reductions and revenue increases reported by early AI adopters. Agentforce, Salesforce's digital labor platform for enterprises, can already perform a wide range of customer-facing interactions pulling from CRM data and related systems such as inventory management. But this is just the start of an even bigger wave of digital labor: employee agents that work alongside teams and perform specialized tasks from IT help desk services to product expertise to HR business partners. As with any new technology that automates work, some knowledge workers are anxious about the arrival of this 24/7 digital workforce. But a closer look at the current state of work suggests that digital workers will be a boon to employee experience and productivity. Today, 41% of work is spent on low-value tasks, as employees chase information across an average of 11 applications just to get their job done. Despite investing more than ever on enterprise software over the past decade, many companies operate more like private sector bureaucracies than the nimble growth engines their CEOs want them to be. Companies can reverse this trend by hiring agents to do the "work of work" that drags down productivity, giving employees newfound time and bandwidth for more creative and strategic endeavors. But simply deploying agents ad hoc risks adding more noise to an already dysfunctional work environment, with the added challenge of unsupervised autonomous agents taking actions that may be inaccurate or even harmful. Just as the PC and mobile revolutions required new operating systems to fulfill their potential, the Agentforce revolution needs a new "work operating system" that orchestrates work between human and digital workers across all the projects and processes that make your business run. A work operating system centralizes agents where their inputs and actions are transparent to employees and subject to your organization's enterprise security and policies. To take advantage of the next wave of agentic productivity, every organization is going to need a work operating system. Context is critical to success with agents What makes today's agents exponentially more useful than yesterday's chatbots is ironically what makes them behave more like humans — they are conversational, and we can ask them to do things in natural language. Even more, they can remember and build on our instructions in multi-turn conversations, anticipate our responses and proactively execute tasks on our behalf. So for a work operating system to successfully put agents to work, it needs to be a conversational platform, ideally the same platform your teams work in today, so agents can organically learn from collective knowledge and day to day operations of the business. But that's not enough. For agents to truly be productive, they need to be connected to the same data, apps, and workflows that we spend our days navigating — the key difference being that agents can search and analyze vast amounts of data in seconds. A work operating system that unlocks agentic productivity embeds agents at the heart of the organization, working alongside people as members of the team. This is the only way agents will have the real time context of company priorities, understanding of your brand, operational know-how and institutional memory so you can trust them to take the right action at the right time. Slack: the Work Operating System for the Agentforce Era Even before the arrival of agents, innovative companies like Ford, IBM, Target, Capital One, Accenture, and Rocket Companies have been using Slack as their work operating system. Millions of people work in Slack every day, connecting to global teams and external partners with over 700 million messages and running over 3 million workflow automations daily. By centralizing work in Slack, companies report a 47% increase in productivity and 31% faster issue resolution time. With the launch of Agentforce 2.0, Slack is the work operating system for a new generation of employee agents that will unlock even greater productivity gains. Custom agents built in Agentforce's Agent Builder can be deployed in Slack, where employees can find the right agent for the job in the new Agent hub, chat with agents in messages and channels, and even direct agents common tasks like sending a message or creating a channel. Our customers see Slack as the natural place to bring employee agents to life. "You go to a single, conversational interface in Slack and you can interact with humans and AI. Agents are doing the work, and we've dreamt of that for decades in computing, and now we're finally seeing it" says Aaron Levie, CEO of Box. Agentforce in Slack heralds not just a new era of digital labor, but a new era of employee success. Now everyone is empowered to build and shape agents that will allow us to experiment, innovate, and achieve what only recently was impossible. Click here to learn how Slack can help your organization put AI to work. This post was created by Insider Studios with Slack.AP Trending SummaryBrief at 4:58 p.m. EST

John Cooper will always remember his 42nd birthday as the year he purchased an iconic home from a sports legend. The Lincoln native is enjoying the early days as owner of the home built for Michael Jordan in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Cooper purchased the 56,000-square-foot property for $9.5 million this month, ending an 11-year stint of the home being on and off the market. Jordan originally listed the home in 2012 for $29 million. Since then, the basketball superstar has reduced the price at least five times, according to Zillow. John Cooper, a Lincoln native, stands in the iconic mansion he purchased from Michael Jordan in Highland Park, Ill. Cooper has lived in the Chicago area for over 10 years. After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005, he moved to Omaha and then Washington, D.C., before settling in the Windy City. Cooper quickly gravitated toward Chicago’s pro sports teams after growing up in a state without a pro franchise in NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL. He was drawn to the Bulls — the team Jordan helped build into a dynasty in the 1990s. Chicago won six NBA championships from 1991 to 1998. Cooper recalled seeing news of Jordan listing the house in 2012, roughly 10 years after his famous Hall of Fame career ended. Now, he has the keys. “I remember seeing the home for sale and thinking how cool it would be for the person that buys the home,” Cooper said. John Cooper, center, talks with friends at the home he recently purchased from Michael Jordan at 2700 Point Drive in Highland Park, Illinois. Cooper said purchasing the home emerged as a possibility within the past six months. The home features nine bedrooms and 19 baths (15 full), according to Zillow. Amenities include a putting green, tennis court, cigar lounge and, of course, a regulation-size basketball court. One of the mansion’s signature traits is the gate, adorned with a giant “23,” a tribute to Jordan’s jersey number. It’s a popular spot for fans and tourists to take photos. Cooper is a partner at real estate company HAN Capital, where he’s served as head of operations for over 12 years. HAN Capital owns properties in niche-related markets, including self-storage company Heartland Storage, according to its website. Cooper graduated from Lincoln Southeast High School in 2000 and grew up in a home on the corner of 40th and Calvert Streets. An avid sports fan, Cooper couldn’t play competitively himself due to an asthma condition. He played trumpet and chess instead. The first two weeks as the home’s owner have been a whirlwind — the good kind. Cooper has hosted several guests, including for his birthday party, which included games of basketball and golf with a group of close friends. People mingle at the home Lincoln native John Cooper purchased from basketball legend Michael Jordan earlier this month in Highland Park, Ill. He’s also had multiple meetings with contractors to get started on small repairs and upgrades to audio and video systems, among other tune-ups. Cooper, who is married with three kids, doesn’t anticipate making the home his full-time residence, but he says he will be there often. He says he’s putting the final touches on plans for the home that he’ll share in the new year. Fear not, Jordan fans. Cooper isn’t planning on disrupting the space’s history. That includes the picturesque gate. “I’ll announce some exciting plans for the property in January,” Cooper said. “I do not have any major renovation plans. I will honor the property’s legacy. This place is great just the way it is.” After listing the home for sale for $29 million in 2012, Jordan, 61, lowered the price to $16 million one year later. The house has several nods to the Jordan Brand and, more specifically, the trademark Air Jordan logo which depicts Jordan leaping through the air with a basketball in his outstretched hand, presumably for a dunk. The logos can be found in places obvious and unique, from the center of the indoor basketball court to the home’s digital thermostat. Cooper appreciates the home’s reminders of its previous owner. “My favorite player to watch was always Jordan,” Cooper said. “He made shots that seemed impossible, and he got it done on defense too.” We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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