0 Shares Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2024 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Board. This is a weekly feature that runs down the week's top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week's biggest funding rounds here. 1. One, $300M, fintech: Fintech startups have struggled raising money this year, but it's clearly a little easier when you're majority-owned by the world's largest retailer. Walmart, alongside investment firm Ribbit Capital, is leading a $300 million round for fintech startup One, per Bloomberg. The company offers installment loans, debit cards and payments services, representing a significant push by Walmart into the financial services field. The new round gives the Sacramento, California-based startup a valuation of $2.5 billion, per the report. 2. Liquid AI, $250M, artificial intelligence: What would a week be without a big generative AI raise? Liquid AI locked up a whopping $250 million round led by AMD at a $2.3 billion valuation, per Bloomberg. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has created liquid foundation models — lightweight, general-purpose AI models that need less data and compute power. Oddly, the company's models actually use mathematical approaches discovered by studying a worm's brain. Founded in 2023, the company has raised more than $290 million, per Crunchbase. 3. Zest AI, $200M, fintech: Yes, another big fintech round. This one goes to Burbank, California-based Zest AI, which landed a $200 million growth investment from Insight Partners. The startup uses AI to help with credit underwriting — with the technology providing more sophisticated and accurate scoring methods. The new cash will allow Zest to add to its current product portfolio and advance its fraud protection and generative AI technologies. Founded in 2009, the company has raised nearly $358... Chris Metinko

Jaland Lowe, Pitt charge past LSU in second half to move to 6-0Fox News' Claudia Cowan joins 'America's Newsroom' to discuss the ongoing legal battle over a San Jose State transgender volleyball player. San Jose State's women's volleyball team had two players listed on the Mountain West's all-conference honorable mention list this year who are also on opposing sides of explosive lawsuits. Senior Blaire Fleming and Brooke Slusser were both on the list as well as Annie Kaminski and Kiki Remensperger from Boise State, San Diego State's Jasmine Davis, Basia Latos and Chloe Thomas from UNLV, Utah State's Kaylie Kofe and Wyoming's Sarah Holcomb. Slusser is part of two lawsuits alleging the university and Fleming actively sought to prevent Slusser and other players on the team from knowing Fleming is a biological male. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The 2024 Mountain West volleyball season all-conference honorable mentions include San Jose State players Blaire Fleming and Brooke Slusser. (Courtesy of the Mountain West) On the court, Fleming and Slusser anchored one of the best offenses in the Mountain West. The Spartans finished the regular season with the third-best hitting percentage in the conference. Slusser finished with a top 10 individual hitting percentage in the conference. Fleming was second in the conference in kills per set with a .386, still well behind Colorado State's Malaya Jones, who led the way at .457. Fleming had a signature moment in the second-to-last game of the season against first-place Colorado State at home on Senior Day. Fleming led the game in kills with 24 and total attacks and clinched victory in the fifth set with a match-point service ace. Right after the play, Fleming was swarmed by teammates in celebration. Even Slusser got involved. This group celebration took place just days after Slusser and other Mountain West players filed a second lawsuit over Fleming's presence on the team against San Jose State and the conference. SJSU WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL'S 1ST OPPONENT DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT TRANS PLAYER, SUGGESTS MATCH WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED Slusser previously joined a lawsuit against the NCAA headed by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines over the governing body's policies on gender ideology that have allowed transgender athletes to compete as women. In both lawsuits, Slusser has alleged Fleming's spikes travel at 80 mph. "Brooke estimates that Fleming’s spikes were traveling upward of 80 mph, which was faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball," Slusser’s complaint states. "The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves." Fleming previously set a single-game record at John Champe High School with 30 kills in a match and a single-season record of 266 kills for the school's girls' volleyball team. Footage from the athlete's Hudl page of the school-record 30-kill match in September 2019 shows how hard and fast Fleming's spikes came down at the high school level against girl opponents. Brooke Slusser, left, and Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans call a play during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images) President-elect Trump even commented about footage of one of Fleming's plays in which the player spiked a ball at San Diego State player Keira Herron in a match earlier this season. "I saw the slam. It was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard," Trump said during a Fox News town hall before he was elected to a second term. "But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently — I mean, they've been hurt really badly. Women playing men." In another match against New Mexico Oct. 18, one of Fleming's spikes knocked an opposing player to the court. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Despite the lawsuits and the controversy, Slusser and the rest of her teammates have taken the court with Fleming during a season that has included several forfeits. San Jose State finished with a 12-6 conference record, earning a No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Tournament. The team achieved this with six of those 12 wins coming via forfeit after Utah State, Boise State, Nevada and Wyoming all refused to face the program amid the ongoing controversy involving Fleming. Boise State and Wyoming each forfeited two matches against San Jose State. In matches they've played, Fleming's spiking ability is the centerpiece of the team's strategy. Even Slusser has set up Fleming for one of the athlete's feared spikes throughout the season while being part of the lawsuit that has alleged safety concerns with those spikes. As the team gears up to play in the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas this week, it is bound to face a team that has already forfeited a match against San Jose State. Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans attacks the net during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images) Utah State and Boise State will meet in the quarterfinals for the right to advance and face San Jose State in the semifinal after the Spartans got a first-round bye. Slusser previously told Fox News Digital her team doesn't know if the Spartans' upcoming tournament opponents will face them. "We're just mostly wondering, are teams even gonna play us, period, if we go there? Because of just everything that's happened this season," Slusser said. "It seems like every few days it looks like it'll be a fine day and everything's normal, and then something else happens. So, I truly do think everyone's just kind of taking things day by day and taking the punches as they come." Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.Social media users are misrepresenting a report released Thursday by the Justice Department inspector general's office, falsely claiming that it's proof the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The watchdog report examined a number of areas, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. Claims spreading online focus on the report's finding that 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who had been tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the events. Although 17 of those informants either entered the Capitol or a restricted area around the building during the riot, none of the 26 total informants were authorized to do so by the bureau, according to the report. Nor were they authorized to otherwise break the law or encourage others to do so. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: A December 2024 report released by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General is proof that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a setup by the FBI. THE FACTS: That's false. The report found that no undercover FBI employees were at the riot on Jan. 6 and that none of the bureau's informants were authorized to participate. Informants, also known as confidential human sources, work with the FBI to provide information, but are not on the bureau’s payroll. Undercover agents are employed by the FBI. According to the report, 26 informants were in Washington on Jan. 6 in connection with the day's events. FBI field offices only informed the Washington Field Office or FBI headquarters of five informants that were to be in the field on Jan. 6. Of the total 26 informants, four entered the Capitol during the riot and an additional 13 entered a restricted area around the Capitol. But none were authorized to do so by the FBI, nor were they given permission to break other laws or encourage others to do the same. The remaining nine informants did not engage in any illegal activities. None of the 17 informants who entered the Capitol or surrounding restricted area have been prosecuted, the report says. A footnote states that after reviewing a draft of the report, the U.S. attorney's office in Washington said that it “generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on January 6, 2021 was to enter restricted grounds surrounding the Capitol, which has resulted in the Office declining to charge hundreds of individuals; and we have treated the CHSs consistent with this approach.” The assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office's counterterrorism division told the inspector general's office that he “denied a request from an FBI office to have an undercover employee engage in investigative activity on January 6.” He, along with then-Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Steven D'Antuono, said that FBI policy prohibits undercover employees at First Amendment-protected events without investigative authority. Many social media users drew false conclusions from the report's findings. “JANUARY 6th WAS A SETUP!" reads one X post that had received more than 11,400 likes and shares as of Friday. “New inspector general report shows that 26 FBI/DOJ confidential sources were in the crowd on January 6th, and some of them went into the Capitol and restricted areas. Is it a coincidence that Wray put in his resignation notice yesterday? TREASON!” The mention of Wray's resignation refers to FBI Director Christopher Wray's announcement Wednesday that he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden's term in January. Other users highlighted the fact that there were 26 FBI informants in Washington on Jan. 6, but omitted key information about the findings of the report. These claims echo a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters determined to overturn Republican Donald Trump's 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the Capitol in a violent clash with police. The report knocks that theory down. Wray called such theories “ludicrous” at a congressional hearing last year. The inspector general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the false claims about its report. In addition to its findings about the the FBI's involvement on Jan. 6, the report said that the FBI, in an action its now-deputy director described as a “basic step that was missed,” failed to canvass informants across all 56 of its field offices for any relevant intelligence ahead of time. That was a step, the report concluded, “that could have helped the FBI and its law enforcement partners with their preparations in advance of January 6.” However, it did credit the bureau for preparing for the possibility of violence and for trying to identify known “domestic terrorism subjects” who planned to come to Washington that day. The FBI said in a letter responding to the report that it accepts the inspection general’s recommendation “regarding potential process improvements for future events.” — Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck .

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The AES Co. ( NYSE:AES – Get Free Report ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.38. Several research firms recently commented on AES. Mizuho reduced their price target on AES from $24.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of AES in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of AES from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI raised shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on AES from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Get Our Latest Analysis on AES Hedge Funds Weigh In On AES AES Trading Down 1.6 % NYSE AES opened at $13.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. AES has a one year low of $12.97 and a one year high of $22.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.95. AES ( NYSE:AES – Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AES will post 1.93 EPS for the current year. AES Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.92%. About AES ( Get Free Report The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for AES Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AES and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

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LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 21, 2024-- Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BFA, BFB) announced today that its Board of Directors approved an increase of 4% to the quarterly cash dividend from $0.2178 per share to $0.2265 per share on its Class A and Class B Common Stock. As a result, the indicated annual cash dividend will rise from $0.8712 per share to $0.9060 per share. The dividend is payable on January 2, 2025, to stockholders of record on December 6, 2024. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Tweet Facebook Mail It's not a very merry Christmas for one Melbourne motorist after his car was impounded in Melbourne . Police allegedly spotted a Holden Commodore sedan speeding on Western Ring Road in Tullamarine at about 11.15pm overnight. Officers will allege the car was travelling towards Melbourne Airport at 193km/hr in a 100km/hr zone. READ MORE: Man charged after four-hour police standoff in Perth A P-plater had his car impounded in Melbourne. (Victoria Police) The driver, a 23-year-old P-plater, was pulled over on Airport Drive. The car was impounded for 30 days at a cost of $1014.90 and the driver is expected to face speeding charges. DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP : Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play .

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Bayan al-Hinnawi, who spent years behind bars in Bashar al-Assad's Syria, joined crowds in the heartland of the Druze minority on Friday to celebrate the president's fall, "a dream" come true for the former prisoner. Hundreds of people descended on Sweida's main square, singing and clapping in jubilation, just days after Islamist-led rebels took the capital Damascus, sending Assad fleeing. The Druze-majority city in Syria's south has been a focal point of renewed anti-government demonstrations over the past year and a half. On Friday, residents waved Syria's pre-Assad flag of white, green and black with three stars, and raised olive branches in a sign of peace. Some of them have lost family members during the anti-government uprising that began in 2011 and spiralled into civil war. Others, like Hinnawi, had languished in prison under the Assad family's five-decade rule. "It was a dream," said 77-year-old Hinnawi of Assad's ouster. Decades ago, a few years after Hafez al-Assad seized power -- which he later handed over to his son Bashar -- a 23-year-old Hinnawi was jailed. He was released 17 years later. The grey-haired man said he had "dreamed that one day the regime would fall", but did not believe that he would live to see the day. "It's a wonderful sight. Nobody could have imagined that this could happen", he said. But his joy was incomplete, remembering the many who have died in jail. "I wish that those who died when I was imprisoned in Mazzeh or Saydnaya could see this scene," said Hinnawi. Since Assad's fall, rebel forces and residents have broken into both detention centres, freeing political prisoners and searching for long-missing loved ones. Activists and rights groups say the Assad government tortured and abused inmates at both facilities. "I got out when I was 40, I missed out of my whole life," said Hinnawi, who served in the Syrian army before being jailed. Recalling torture behind bars, he said that "no oppressor in history has done what they did to us." Since Sunday, the ousted government's security forces were nowhere to be seen in Sweida, and the office of Assad's Baath party has been abandoned, as have army checkpoints on the road to Damascus. Local armed men are present, but not the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which spearheaded the rebel offensive against Assad. Siham Zein al-Din, who lost her son in 2014 after he defected from the national army to join rebel fighters, said he had "sacrificed his life... for freedom, for dignity". The family was still searching for Khaldun's remains, said his 60-year-old mother. Like her son, some members of the Druze community took up arms against Assad's forces during the war. The Druze, who also live in Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, make up about three percent of Syria's population, around 700,000 people. Beyond defending themselves from attacks in the areas where they live, Syria's Druze largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war. Many managed to avoid compulsory conscription since 2011. Residents of Sweida have long complained of discrimination and the lack of basic services. Many buildings in the city are constructed from black volcanic stone that can be found in the area, and its roads have fallen into disrepair. Sheikh Marwan Hussein Rizk, a religious leader, said that "Sweida province has been marginalised" for decades, with most of its residents living in poverty. But, surrounded by the joyful protesters, Rizk said better days may be coming. "Today, we look to the future and ask for a helping hand... Our hand is extended to all Syrians." Next to him, resident Hussein Bondok held up a poster of his brother Nasser, a journalist and opposition activist who was last heard from in 2014 when he was arrested. Bondok, 54, said he believes his brother was likely killed under torture in one of Damascus's prisons. Nasser struggled for freedom, Bondok said. "I want to congratulate him now, because the seeds he had planted with his brothers-in-arms has become a tree." lk/ami/it

Update, Nov. 23, 2024: This story, originally published Nov. 21, now includes details of new privacy measures that Google is bringing to Gmail users, such as shielded email addresses, as well as those of other Google products and services, including Android privacy sandbox, plus a more in-depth look at what Proton Mail offers as a privacy-focused and secure alternative. Google’s free Gmail service has been a complete revolution as far as email ease of use and popularity is concerned. With more than 2.5 billion active accounts, according to Google’s own figures, that’s almost a third of the world’s population. One area where Gmail has not been quite so revolutionary, though, is when it comes to email privacy, specifically end-to-end encryption that ensures messages are only read by the intended recipient. While Google has made a big effort to ensure that Gmail is secure and email messages as private as possible, including the use of encryption in transit to stop eavesdropping during the delivery process, end-to-end encryption appears to be a step too far. Here’s why that matters and two things you can do to fix it. Round One—The Great Gmail Privacy Debate OK, let’s make this as clear as possible from the get-go: Google does a great job when it comes to Gmail security and privacy protections for the most part. Gmail data is used in providing features such as smart inbox categorization, smart message compose and for spam detection, but you stay in control of whether these are enabled or not. Similarly, Gmail performance data and crash analytics usage is used to help troubleshoot problems and improve performance, as well as “to help prevent abuse of our services and for analysis,” but you have choices here as well. Then there’s the big issue of serving up relevant adverts in the promotions or social tabs of Gmail, for example, which uses an automated process based on online activity. However, Google makes it quite clear that “we do not process email content to serve ads.” So, where’s the Gmail privacy beef then? Ah, well, that sits with the not so small matter of email message encryption. Or, more to the point, what is encrypted and when. Round Two—The Gmail Message Encryption Debate For the longest time, people have been asking me whether Google encrypts Gmail or not. And the answer remains the same: it’s complicated. By which I don’t mean the encryption process itself, although that necessarily is seeing as it’s a math thing, but rather the what, when and how explanation of Gmail encryption. Once again, Google is very upfront about just how Gmail messages are encrypted. Indeed, it has a support page dedicated to a Gmail encryption FAQ . Here, Google explains how transport layer security is used to encrypt email in transit so it’s protected against eavesdropping by anyone with sufficient access to the networks through which that message travels to its destination. “You can think of it as a temporary envelope of security that is wrapped around your email to keep it private while it is being transmitted to its intended recipient,” Google said. Google also pointed out that no single internet security solution is perfect, but unencrypted email remains a major vulnerability—which is why encrypting email between email providers “is a big improvement that can be implemented fairly easily without any inconvenience to users.” That envelope, however, is opened once the email arrives at its destination and that means anyone with access to that inbox then also has access to the message itself. With your mail being a prime target for hackers, it’s important, therefore, to consider how your Gmail messages could be encrypted end-to-end, even though Google doesn’t provide this additional security measure. What Google does provide, though, is a Gmail confidential mode that adds some additional access controls such as an expiration date for messages and controls over forwarding, copying, printing and downloading. Certain paid Google Workspace accounts can also make use of Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions and client-side encryption. However, when it comes to end-to-end encryption for the masses, those using the free Gmail platform, you’ll need to look elsewhere to increase the privacy threshold of your email. I have approached Google for a statement but a Google spokesperson told me that it has nothing to add at this point in time. Round Three—Two Ways To Lockdown Email Privacy Outside Of Gmail Defaults Use a Gmail add-in such as SendSafely which adds end-to-end encryption of Gmail using the OpenPGP standard. “With the SendSafely Chrome Extension , you can send encrypted files and messages directly from Gmail or using our Chrome pop-out menu,” the developers said. Another example of such an encryption add-on is Mailvelope and works in a similar way. Google itself said the following when it comes to PGP encrypted email: “PGP encrypts the content of your email in such a way that, if you do everything perfectly, nobody but you and the intended recipient will ever be able to see it. When a Gmail user receives a PGP-encrypted email, for example, Gmail is unable to index the content of the email for later searching, because Gmail cannot see the content. This trade-off of convenience for additional security is especially appropriate for people who are at risk, and adds an additional layer of security not provided by encryption in transit.” That’s why the use of a PGP-wrapper add-on is recommended if you are sticking with Gmail, especially for your most sensitive of messages. When a PGP-encrypted message is also encrypted by TLS while in transit, the sender and receiver of the message will not be visible to an eavesdropper. Use a dedicated email platform complete with end-to-end encryption built in, like Proton Mail , for example. Disclaimer: I have no ties to Proton Mail but I do use it as my day-to-day email client and have been doing so for quite some time now. Although there are paid-for versions of Proton Mail, the free to use version comes with end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption which means nobody, not even Proton, can see the content of your emails. Proton Mail claims to be “the world’s largest end-to-end encrypted email service,” and whatever the legitimacy of that claim, I can testify to the fact that it’s among the easiest encrypted email platforms I have used. Which is why it makes the perfect alternative to Gmail for anyone looking to move to an end-to-end encryption-supporting platform. What Does Proton Mail Bring To The Privacy And Security Table That Gmail Does Not? As a convert to Proton Mail myself, after decades of sticking with Gmail as my webmail platform of choice, I’m in a good position to relate what the challenger product does well, and not so well, when compared to Gmail itself. Ease of use and a no-cost email solution are the main reasons why people turn to Gmail, let’s face it, so it’s as good a place to start as any. There is a free version of Proton Mail which is acceptable and up to the job, but the restrictions are such that I can’t see many people being able to use it as their primary email client. You get 1GB of mail storage, but that starts at 500MB by default and increases as you use different things. You can only have one email address and, the killer for me, only send 150 messages a day. You would have to pay $12.99 a month for the unlimited plan. There is, of course, a Black Friday deal on at the moment which cuts the cost of Proton Mail Unlimited by 50%, so if you are thinking of changing now is a good time to do it. The unlimited plan gets you 15 addresses, unlimited hide-my-email addresses, unlimited messages, support for up to three custom email domain and 500GB of storage shared with the calendar, drive, vpn and password manager that come along for the ride—these also come with the free plan but are limited in use. Which brings us to use, ease of use iOS excellent: if you can master Gmail you can master Proton Mail. There’s even an easy switch feature to set up forwarding from your old accounts, such as Gmail. So, a bit of a mixed bag. However, if you want top-notch privacy and are prepared to pay for it, then Proton Mail is the way to go. Here are the bullet points: There is also a dedicated Proton for business solution, which includes Proton Mail, for those looking to switch away from the paid-for Google Workspace platforms. Although I do not use the business option, Proton said that the easy switch tool I mentioned earlier is available for data migration for users of Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and other providers. “Our dedicated support team is available to help you with the process step-by-step,” Proton said, “at no extra cost.” Given that many data breaches involve some combination of password compromise, phishing and a lack of robust data encryption, the notion of moving to a suite of productivity tools that are guided by privacy and security principles isn’t to be overlooked. I’ve already addressed the end-to-end encryption issue, but would assume that any organization worth it’s salt is already using some kind of holistic in-transit and at rest encryption solution, so this might not be a compelling enough argument to move to Proton Mail when you consider the resource cost of training people to use the new platform. Round Four—Google’s Privacy Sandbox, Gmail’s Shielded Email Addresses “Building products that are secure by default, private by design, and put users in control: everything we make at Google is underpinned by these principles, and we’re proud to be an industry leader in developing, deploying, and scaling new privacy-preserving technologies that make it possible to unlock valuable insights and create helpful experiences while protecting our users’ privacy,” Miguel Guevara, product manager for privacy, safety and security at Google, recently told Help Net Security , As I’ve already mentioned, Google is a high-profile target when it comes to accusations of privacy violations, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t actually doing a lot of good work in this area. Let’s start with Gmail, as that’s what we have focused on so far, and the introduction of shielded email. A painstaking analysis of the application package “APK” code for a new Google Play Services release has recently revealed what could be something of a revolutionary privacy move for Gmail: the availability of automated, random, email addresses using a private email forwarding system. If this sounds kind of familiar, that’s because it is. What we think is going to be called Shielded Email for users of the Gmail Android app, is much the same thing that Apple provides iPhone users with in the form of the Hide My Email feature. his notion of having multiple, unique and essentially anonymous email addresses to use with your existing Gmail account is a massive step forward for Gmail users. Although such services exist as add-ins from third parties, to have them bundled into the Gmail app and officially supported is a welcome move towards more privacy. Sticking with Android, but moving out of the purely Gmail domain, there’s the latest Android 16 developer preview which now features Google’s privacy sandbox. This is part of the privacy-focused developments Guevara referred to earlier. “In order to ensure a healthy app ecosystem, benefiting users, developers and businesses, the industry must continue to evolve how digital advertising works to improve user privacy,” Google said. And that’s where the privacy sandbox comes in. It is being developed to improve user privacy but not at the cost of access to free content and services. “The Privacy Sandbox on Android proposes a set of application programming interfaces that enable ads personalization and measurement in a more private way,” Google said.

UK, Italy, Japan to develop next-generation fighter jetFOTAS is all about saving homeless animals, but did you know we are also about helping folks keep their animals in times of financial hardship? As Jennifer Miller, president of FOTAS, has said many times: No one should ever be forced to give up their beloved pet because they can’t afford to feed them. To that end, every month FOTAS organizes and funds — through its donations — a pet food assistance event at the Aiken County Animal Shelter to provide pet food, free of charge, to those who need financial help. The program has been wildly successful. So far this year, an average of 314 dogs and cats received pet food at each monthly event. Think of it this way: 314 animals who were in danger of surrender to the shelter because their owners couldn’t afford to feed them can stay in their home. It’s a solution with less stress, less heartbreak and less intake at our already over-crowded county shelter. FOTAS also supplies the pet food needed for the Aiken Senior Life Services Meals on Wheels program. This initiative started when FOTAS learned from volunteers Bill Joos and John Sauer, who also volunteer for Meals on Wheels, that some of the seniors served by the program were giving their food to their pets. We were saddened, but not surprised that people who love their pets would sacrifice for them. Here’s the thing: not only does FOTAS believe no one should have to give up their pets because they can’t afford to feed them, we also believe that no pet owner should have to choose between going hungry and feeding their pet. Accordingly, as a tribute to the love and commitment of those seniors, FOTAS makes certain the Aiken Senior Life Services pantry is well-stocked with pet food for their seniors. FOTAS is proud it is able to make a difference in the lives of Aiken’s senior citizens and, in the process, avoid the trauma to both senior citizens and their pets of having to surrender a friend and companion to the shelter. That’s a heartbreaking outcome. Recently we were pleased to discover that Aiken Senior Life Services is as proud and grateful as we are for our partnership. In a recent thank you letter to FOTAS, Aimee Hanna, the executive director of Aiken Senior Life Services, wrote: "Your support plays a crucial role in our mission to serve the senior population in our community... Many of the seniors we work with cherish their pets, and your donation helps ensure that they can continue to provide for their beloved companions without added financial stress. The joy and companionship that pets bring to their lives cannot be overstated." Amen to that. We couldn’t agree more. Their lives are in our hands.