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Concerns raised over hospitality staff after smoking curbs ditchedTürkiye backs Turkmen rights, urges Iraq to protect Kirkuk's demographicsLimor Suss Gift Card Stocking Stuffer
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday after being recognized for the second time by Time magazine as its person of the year. Watch Trump speak at the New York Stock Exchange in the player above. The honors for the businessman-turned-politician are a measure of Trump's remarkable comeback from an ostracized former president who refused to accept his election loss four years ago to a president-elect who won the White House decisively in November. READ MORE: Trump invites China's Xi to his presidential inauguration, even as he threatens Beijing with tariffs Before he was set to ring the opening bell at 9:30 a.m., a first for him, Trump spoke at the exchange and called it "a tremendous honor." "Time Magazine, getting this honor for the second time, I think it like it better this time actually," he said. Sam Jacobs, Time's editor in chief, announced on NBC's "Today" show that Trump was Time's 2024 Person of the Year. Jacobs said Trump was someone who "for better or for worse, had the most influence on the news in 2024." "This is someone who made an historic comeback, who reshaped the American presidency and who's reordering American politics," Jacobs said. "It's hard to argue with the fact that the person who's moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in news." He added that "there's always a hot debate" at the magazine over the honor, "although I have to admit that this year was an easier decision than years past." In an interview with the magazine published Thursday, Trump spoke about his final campaign blitz and election win. "I called it '72 Days of Fury,'" Trump said. "We hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry." Trump was on Wall Street to mark the ceremonial start of the day's trading. The Time magazine cover featuring him was projected onto a wall at the stock exchange, flanked by American flags. Trump took the...Trump vows to block Japanese steelmaker from buying US Steel, pledges tax incentives and tariffs
With so few genuine surprises remaining in life, few things are better than getting a box of goodies from a loved one or pal, expected or not. And few things are worse than opening that box and seeing shards of a broken toy, memento or other gift. So, here’s a holiday mailing guide, with deadlines to know, packaging tips and more. “We just tell people to ship as early as possible and have their packages ready,” said USPS spokeswoman Naddia Dhalai. DATES TO KNOW Christmas Eve is Tuesday, Dec. 24. Hanukkah is Wednesday evening, Dec. 25, to Thursday, Jan. 2. Christmas Day is Wednesday, Dec. 25. Kwanzaa is Thursday, Dec. 26, to Wednesday, Jan. 1. New Year’s Eve is Tuesday, Dec. 31. New Year’s Day is Wednesday, Jan. 1. SHIPPING DEADLINES USPS Recommended send-by dates for expected delivery before Dec. 25: Military First Class and Priority Mail: Monday, Dec. 9. USPS Ground Advantage: Wednesday, Dec. 18 (Monday, Dec. 16, for Hawaii and Alaska). F irst Class: Wednesday, Dec. 18. Priority Mail: Thursday, Dec. 19. Priority Mail Express: Saturday, Dec. 21 (Friday, Dec. 20, for Hawaii and Alaska). FedEx Last shipping dates for select services to help ensure delivery before Dec. 25: Ground Economy: Friday, Dec. 13. Home Delivery: D ec. 17-Dec. 23. Ground: Dec. 17-Dec. 23. Express Saver: Thursday, Dec. 19. 2Day AM: Friday, Dec. 20. Overnight: Monday, Dec. 23. SameDay: Tuesday, Dec. 24. UPS Recommended last days to ship for expected delivery before Dec. 25: 3 Day Select: Thursday, Dec. 19. 2nd Day Air: Friday, Dec. 20. Next Day Air: Monday, Dec. 23. Ground: Calculate shipping time and cost at ups.com/ctc . PACKING TIPS Here are some tried-and-true packing tips: If possible, use new, double-corrugated boxes. If you are reusing a box, make sure it is in good shape. If it’s flimsy, toss it in the recycle bin. Don’t overpack. If something is in a box and poking the sides, you need a bigger box. If an item rattles, you didn’t cushion it well enough. Wrap items separately, no matter what the item is. That beloved pet portrait should be separate from the frame. Use packing materials. Bubble wrap, newspaper, packing peanuts, air packs, crinkled butcher paper and shredded paper work nicely. Consider saving these items throughout the year and reusing for holiday mailing. For heavy items, use thick cardboard as protection inside boxes. Allow at least a 2-inch space around items for cushioning materials. Consider putting wrapped items in plastic bags to protect against moisture, especially if the box might sit outside on a snowy or rainy day. And if you are shipping clothes with something delicate, use the clothing as protection. If you mail via USPS boxes, make sure your item will fit into the mailbox slot. They should weigh no more than 10 ounces and be a half-inch thick or less. For box restrictions, go online. If your item is breakable, write “fragile.” But no cute doodles. Keep it clean so postal workers can read it quickly. Non-lithium batteries should be left in original packaging. Do not put them in toys, clocks or other items before mailing. In transit, a device could turn on and raise security concerns. Batteries should be sent separately. Or mail a gift card for a store that sells batteries. Consider media mail. Positive: It’s cheaper. Negative: Restrictions exist. It’s limited to books, video and sound recordings, manuscripts, play scripts, printed music, some films, loose-leaf pages and binders with medical information and more. Advertising, video games and comic books are among restricted items. Media mail takes two to eight days. Two-inch-wide tape is best. Do not use masking, cellophane or duct tape. Tape side seams first, then across the top. Reinforcing bottom flaps is a good idea. If a box has tape, make sure its adhesive sticks. Never use brown paper as a mailing wrapper. Labels can be torn, and paper can rip. Do not use string, rope, cord or twine. It’s impractical and can muck up machinery. Consider Click-N-Ship to pay for and print postage at home. You leave the package for your carrier and don’t have to leave the house. Note: 70-pound box limits. Free priority boxes — if it fits, it ships — incur flat-rate postage. Or you can fill, wrap, measure and weigh your box, then enter specifications online. Required postage amount will be given. LABELING TIPS Carefully remove old labels. Mark out notations, names, codes or addresses. Write neatly in block letters or print labels with clean fonts, nothing fancy. Do not write “to” and “from” all over the box. Use one side only. Put addressee’s name and address inside the package. If you print a mailing label, print two — one for outside, one for inside. Be an editor. Did you leave off a ZIP code, return address, apartment number? Know ZIP codes. Look them up. If you know the +4 code, use it. USPS says no ZIP is better than a wrong one. If you use self-serve USPS kiosks, make extra sure the address is correct. A clerk will look, but at the kiosk it’s on you. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Marine Biologics Acquires Biochemical Engineering Leader Spoitz Enterprises
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A lawyer for former U.S. Rep. TJ Cox of California said the Democrat will plead guilty to two counts of fraud and pay $3.5 million in restitution after federal prosecutors alleged he perpetrated multiple schemes involving businesses he was involved in. Attorney Mark Coleman told the Fresno Bee on Wednesday that Cox wanted to avoid trial and had reached a plea deal that dismissed 24 of the 26 charges he has faced since 2022 . “It’s very stressful for him. It’s very stressful for his family, and he wanted to get it behind him,” Coleman said. At the next hearing in January, Cox will enter guilty pleas to wire fraud and wire fraud affecting a financial institution, the Bee reported. He agrees to pay $3.5 million in restitution and will be required to provide records of his financial standings once his plea changes, according to the deal. He is also subject to whatever sentence and fine is determined to be fair by the court. Prosecutors said Cox stole more than $1.7 million in diverted client payments and company loans and investments. They also alleged Cox created false records and a fraudulent loan guarantee in order to secure a $1.5 million construction loan through a sports nonprofit for improvements at Granite Park, a sports complex in Fresno. “Anytime you’re in business there are thousands of transactions, and people sometimes make shortcuts and it’s something he had to deal with,” Coleman said about the charges. The counts that were dismissed included wire fraud, money laundering and campaign contribution fraud. Prosecutors previously said that without the plea deal, Cox faced prison time and fines ranging from $250,000 to $1 million depending on the count, according to the Bee. The charges date back to business Cox was conducting in 2018, documents show, as well as during his time in Congress. Cox was elected in 2018 by beating out incumbent Republican David Valadao for the seat that covered Kings County and parts of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties. Valadao retook the seat from Cox in a 2020 rematch. The Associated Press
NoneConcerns have also been raised about the “renormalisation” of smoking. Dr Rachel O’Donnell, senior research fellow at the University of Stirling’s Institute for Social Marketing and Health, said restrictions on smoking in outdoor places can “reinforce” a message that smoking “isn’t a socially acceptable thing to do” and could also help smokers to kick the habit. In November, it emerged that the UK Government is to scrap plans to ban smoking in the gardens of pubs and restaurants in England. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the hospitality industry has “taken a real battering in recent years” and it is not “the right time” to ban smoking outside pubs. But smoking and vaping could be banned in other public places in England – such as in playgrounds or outside of schools – under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. According to the World Health Organisation, there is no safe level of second-hand smoke exposure. In a briefing for journalists, Dr O’Donnell said decision-making “should be on the basis of all the evidence that’s available”. She added: “Any debate about legislation on smoking in outdoor settings shouldn’t only focus on air quality and second-hand smoke exposure levels, because the impacts of restrictions in outdoor settings are also evident on our social norms.” Smoke-free outdoor environments “reinforce smoke-free as the acceptable norm”, she said. “This, I think, is a critically important point at a time where in the media, over the last year, we’ve seen various reports and questions as to whether we might be on the cusp of renormalisation of smoking for various reasons, and so smoke-free public environments still have a critically important role to play. “If you reduce opportunities to smoke, it can also help individuals who smoke themselves to reduce the amount they smoke or to make a quit attempt.” Dr O’Donnell said visibility of tobacco products and smoking is a “form of marketing for tobacco companies” as she pointed to studies highlighting the increasing number of tobacco depictions on screen. She went on: “The more often young adults observe smoking around them, the more likely they are to believe that smoking is socially acceptable, which feeds back into this idea of renormalisation of smoking. “So, restrictions on smoking in outdoor public places have other positive knock-on effects, potentially for young people as well, just sending out that clear message that this isn’t a socially acceptable thing to do and see, and this could help to discourage smoking initiation among young people at quite a critical time.” On being exposed to second-hand smoke at work, she added: “I think sometimes when we think about exposure to second-hand smoke in outdoor settings, in pubs, in restaurants, we think about that sort of occasional customer exposure, the nuisance element of it when people are out enjoying a meal with friends, but we also need to be reminded that this is a repeated occupational exposure for those who are working in hospitality and serving drinks and food. “Now, as we’ve already seen, concentrations of second-hand smoke in these settings are generally low, and they’re likely to present a low risk to health for most healthy people. “But ... there’s no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke, and so any individual with pre-existing heart, lung or respiratory conditions may be particularly vulnerable even to low levels of exposure. “We know that second-hand smoke is its known carcinogen, and on that basis those exposed in the hospitality sector have a right to be protected. “On that basis, there’s a need to protect them, as there is anybody in any workplace setting from second-hand smoke exposure in all areas of workplaces and spaces.” Sean Semple, professor of exposure science at the University of Stirling’s Institute for Social Marketing and Health, said: “I think that if I were a policy-maker, which I am not, then I would be looking at those occupational exposures as well. “I have asthma, if I was being occupationally exposed to SHS (second-hand smoke), and knowing that I was one of a very small number of workers now being legally exposed to SHS in the workplace, then I might not be very happy about that.” A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “As part of our 10 Year Health Plan we are shifting focus from sickness to prevention, including tackling the harms of smoking and passive smoking. “The landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill is the biggest public health intervention in a generation and will put us on track towards a smoke-free UK.”
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks tiptoed to more records amid a mixed Tuesday of trading, tacking a touch more onto what’s already been a stellar year so far. The S&P 500 edged up by 2 points, or less than 0.1%, to set an all-time high for the 55th time this year. It’s climbed in 10 of the last 11 days and is on track for one of its best years since the turn of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 76 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to its own record set a day earlier. AT&T rose 4.6% after it boosted its profit forecast for the year. It also announced a $10 billion plan to send cash to its investors by buying back its own stock, while saying it expects to authorize another $10 billion of repurchases in 2027. On the losing end of Wall Street was U.S. Steel, which fell 8%. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on social media that he would not let Japan’s Nippon Steel take over the iconic Pennsylvania steelmaker. Nippon Steel announced plans last December to buy the Pittsburgh-based steel producer for $14.1 billion in cash, raising concerns about what the transaction could mean for unionized workers, supply chains and U.S. national security. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden also came out against the acquisition. Tesla sank 1.6% after a judge in Delaware reaffirmed a previous ruling that the electric car maker must revoke Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package. The judge denied a request by attorneys for Musk and Tesla’s corporate directors to vacate her ruling earlier this year requiring the company to rescind the unprecedented pay package. All told, the S&P 500 rose 2.73 points to 6,049.88. The Dow fell 76.47 to 44,705.53, and the Nasdaq composite gained 76.96 to 19,480.91. In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report showed U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of October than a month earlier. Continued strength there would raise optimism that the economy could remain out of a recession that many investors had earlier worried was inevitable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.23% from 4.20% from late Monday. Yields have seesawed since Election Day amid worries that Trump’s preferences for lower tax rates and bigger tariffs could spur higher inflation along with economic growth. But traders are still confident the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate again at its next meeting in two weeks. They’re betting on a nearly three-in-four chance of that, according to data from CME Group. Lower rates can give the economy more juice, but they can also give inflation more fuel. The key report this week that could guide the Fed’s next move will arrive on Friday. It’s the monthly jobs report , which will show how many workers U.S. employers hired and fired during November. It could be difficult to parse given how much storms and strikes distorted figures in October. Based on trading in the options market, Friday’s jobs report appears to be the biggest potential market mover until the Fed announces its next decision on interest rates Dec. 18, according to strategists at Barclays Capital. In financial markets abroad, the value of South Korea’s currency fell 1.1% against the U.S. dollar following a frenetic night where President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and then later said he’d lift it after lawmakers voted to reject military rule. Stocks of Korean companies that trade in the United States also fell, including a 1.6% drop for SK Telecom. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% to help lead global markets. Some analysts think Japanese stocks could end up benefiting from Trump’s threats to raise tariffs , including for goods coming from China . Trade relations between the U.S. and China took another step backward after China said it is banning exports to the U.S. of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications. The counterpunch came swiftly after the U.S. Commerce Department expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software. The 140 companies newly included in the so-called “entity list” are nearly all based in China. In China, stock indexes rose 1% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai amid unconfirmed reports that Chinese leaders would meet next week to discuss planning for the coming year. Investors are hoping it may bring fresh stimulus to help spur growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In France, the CAC 40 rose 0.3% amid continued worries about politics in Paris , where the government is battling over the budget. AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.A different missile to Oreshnik, the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, is test-fired from the Plesetsk launch pad in north-western Russia in March 2024 Associated Press/Alamy Stock Photo On 21 November a new Russian weapon hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, with 36 projectiles descending at high velocity like meteors through the clouds. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said this was the first test of a new ballistic missile called Oreshnik and that more would follow. Ukraine is seeking ways to neutralise the threat. While it has stopped other Russian attacks, including short-range ballistic missiles, this one will be more challenging. Like...
K92 Mining Announces Multiple New Near-Mine Infrastructure Dilatant Zones Identified and High-Grade Zones Extended
