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Alexander: Dodgers’ signing of Blake Snell creates the traditional uproar

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to records after data suggested the job market remains solid enough to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about inflation. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2%, just enough top the all-time high set on Wednesday, as it closed a third straight winning week in what looks to be one of its best years since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to set its own record. Treasury yields eased after the jobs report showed stronger hiring than expected but also an uptick in the unemployment rate. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records Friday after data suggested the to keep the economy going, but not so strong that it raises immediate worries about . The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and was just above its all-time high set on Wednesday. It’s rolling toward the close of a third straight winning week in what’s likely to be since the 2000 dot-com bust. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 108 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:51 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%. Stocks held relatively steady as the latest jobs report strengthened expectations among traders that the Federal Reserve will at its next meeting in two weeks. While the report showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected last month, it also said the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. “This print doesn’t kill the holiday spirit and the Fed remains on track to deliver a cut in December,” according to Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The Fed from a two-decade high in September to offer more help for the slowing job market, after bringing inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Lower interest rates can ease the brakes off the economy, but they can also offer more fuel for inflation. Expectations for a series of cuts from the Fed have been a major reason the S&P 500 has set so far this year. And the Fed is part of a global surge: 62 central banks have lowered rates in the past three months, the most since 2020, according to Michael Hartnett and other strategists at Bank of America. Still, the jobs report may have included some notes of caution for Fed officials underneath the surface. Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, pointed to average wages for workers last month, which were a touch stronger than economists expected. While that’s good news for workers who would always like to make more, it could also keep upward pressure on inflation. “This report tells the Fed that they still need to be careful as sticky housing/shelter/wage data shows that it won’t be easy to engineer meaningfully lower inflation from here in the nearer term,” Wren said. So, while traders are betting on a nearly 90% probability the Fed will ease its main rate in two weeks, they’re much less certain about how many more cuts it will deliver next year, according to data from CME Group. For now, the hope is that the job market can help U.S. shoppers continue to spend and keep the that had earlier seemed after the Fed began hiking interest rates swiftly to crush inflation. Several retailers offered encouragement after delivering better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. Ulta Beauty rallied 10.4% after topping expectations for both profit and revenue. The opening of new stores helped it boost its revenue, and it raised the bottom end of its forecasted range for sales over this full year. Lululemon stretched 17.9% higher following its own profit report. It said stronger sales outside the United States helped it in particular, and its earnings topped analysts’ expectations. Retailers overall have been offering mixed signals on how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain amid the slowing job market and still-high prices. gave a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season, for example, while gave a much more encouraging outlook. A report on Friday suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers may be improving more than economists expected. The preliminary reading from the University of Michigan's survey hit its highest level in seven months. The survey found a surge in buying for some products as consumers tried to get ahead of possible increases in price due to that President-elect Donald Trump has threatened. In tech, Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 10.8% for one of the S&P 500's larger gains after reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected. Tech stocks broadly were one of the main reasons the S&P 500 climbed this past week, as Salesforce and other big companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the boom. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.16% from 4.18% late Thursday. In stock markets abroad, France’s CAC 40 rose 1.3% after French President Emmanuel Macron plans to stay in office until the end of his term and to name a new prime minister within days. Earlier this week, far-right and left-wing lawmakers approved a due to budget disputes, forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet to resign. In Asia, stock indexes were mixed. They rallied 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1% in Shanghai ahead of an annual economic policy meeting scheduled for next week. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.6% as South Korea’s ruling party chief for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law and then revoked that earlier this week. Yoon is facing calls to resign and may be impeached. Bitcoin was sitting a little above $101,000 after $103,000 to a record the day before. ___ AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed. Stan Choe, The Associated PressTom Bartee’s long tenure in the Legislature came to an end on on Wednesday with the completion of State Senator Bill Dodd’s second term also coming to an end at the end of the month. “It has been a great ride working for some terrific legislators; Senator Pat Wiggins, Assemblymember Michael Allen, Assembly Member Mariko Yamada and Bill Dodd in the Assembly and Senate,” Bartee said in an email to the Times-Herald. “I have learned so much, met so many diverse constituents and seen an incredible amount of interesting things over the years in this journey with my Teammates, colleagues and constituents.” Bartee said that working for Dodd has been an honor and one of the highlights of his 60 years of employment. He also had praise for Chris Cabaldon taking over Dodd’s spot. “It has been a pleasure to have worked on “Team Dodd” in accomplishing the many things he achieved through his 10 years of leadership is in the Legislature,” Bartee said. “Senator-Elect Cabaldon will take office seamlessly as he is well prepared and educated in the inner workings of Local, Regional and State Level politics including his many years creating the vision for the revitalization and redevelopment of West Sacramento.”

Tony Okocha emerges APC chairman in RiversYou knew it was coming, didn’t you? Baseball’s reigning Evil Empire took the initiative this week, signing another high-profile starting pitcher and giving its fans something additional to be grateful for during Thanksgiving week (besides, of course, those shots of the Commissioner’s Trophy being shown off here, there and everywhere throughout Southern California). And after the bombshell announcement Tuesday night, that the Dodgers had signed Blake Snell , the howls could be heard throughout the land. The Dodgers are making a mockery of the sport. The rest of baseball can’t compete. They’re signing everybody! And how are the Cincinnatis and Pittsburghs and Colorados of the sport able to compete with an organization that not only brings in boatloads of money – and has created a second source of runaway revenue through its ties to Japan – but isn’t interested in hoarding it? Shouldn’t the next step be a salary cap to restrain this franchise’s runaway spending? Oh, stop it. Competitive balance is not an issue in baseball, period. Four different teams have won the last four World Series, and nine different fan bases have celebrated championships in the last 12 years. There hasn’t been a repeat champion in ... checks notes ... a quarter of a century. (That would be the New York Yankees, the first Evil Empire, in 1999-2000.) Meanwhile, Kansas City, Detroit and Baltimore have all risen from rebuilding to contention in the last couple of seasons. Milwaukee and Cleveland, both smaller markets, were legitimate threats as this past postseason began. And the Padres, long squeezed between Mexico to their south, the Imperial Valley to their east, the Pacific to their west and L.A. to their north, just might have been the second-best team in baseball in 2024 and, may we remind you, had the Dodgers by the neck going into Game 4 of their National League Division Series . Nor are they going away, even with some payroll retrenching in the wake of controlling owner Peter Seidler’s death. (But, nope, still no parade.) Most of the caterwauling, of course, comes from those whose favorite teams were either outbid or declined to spend. Trust me, no ownership in Major League Baseball can claim poverty, even with the cable TV issues that have scrambled some teams’ finances. Yes, big-market teams start with a financial advantage. Yes, Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy and the cord-cutting revolution have factored in. And yes, the Dodgers and Yankees have insulated themselves to a degree by owning their own cable networks. So, maybe, give them some credit for intelligence and foresight? Front Office Sports reported that deferrals on Snell’s reported five-year, $182 million deal, said to be $60 million, would push the Dodgers closer to the $1 billion mark in deferred money owed to five players. Shohei Ohtani’s whopping $680 million deferred on a $700 million contract signed last winter enabled the Dodgers to add additional pieces. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts also have chunks of deferred money in their contracts – as does, interestingly, Teoscar Hernández on his one-year 2024 deal with the Dodgers. That would make that contract even more of a bargain than we thought. And this is an undisputable fact: Salary caps and other payroll-limiting mechanisms put no limits on front office creativity and ingenuity. It’s been pretty well established that in Guggenheim Baseball’s 13-year ownership of the Dodgers, especially after Mark Walter’s organization corrected the problems of the Frank McCourt era and particularly after Friedman arrived from Tampa Bay in 2015, the Dodgers have a smart, savvy organization whose advantages go way beyond their cash on hand. (And yes, as I noted on social media Tuesday night, we do tease them about sometimes trying too hard to be the smartest guys in the room. But most of the time they are, anyway.) Assuming everyone stays healthy – and as we saw throughout baseball in 2024, that’s a tall ask – what will the Dodgers’ rotation look like in 2025? They’ll have left-hander Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who was one of the victims of a soft free agent market last spring and didn’t sign with the San Francisco Giants until March 19. He got off to a dreadful start as a result but was lights out from the start of July. In 14 starts he was 5-0 (and his team 12-2 in those starts), with a 1.23 ERA, an opponents’ batting average of .123, an 0.78 WHIP, five double-digit strikeout games and a 3.8-1 strikeout to walk ratio, and a complete-game no-hitter, an achievement for someone denigrated as a five-and-dive pitcher. Maybe those final three months spurred him to sign early this time. It’s almost certain the Dodgers will use a six-man rotation from the start of the season, and right now they have seven possibilities and who knows what they do from here. They’ll have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani as a pitcher. Tyler Glasnow, Snell’s former teammate in Tampa Bay, will be back, as will Tony Gonsolin in his return from Tommy John surgery. Dustin May, essentially inactive since May of 2023, will return, and Clayton Kershaw is expected to re-sign and has indicated he plans to retire a Dodger. Is there room for free agent Jack Flaherty, last season’s major trade deadline acquisition? Or fellow free agent Walker Buehler, who closed out Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees, following a sometimes spotty comeback from injury? And the wild card might be Roki Sasaki, who will be posted by his Japanese team this winter. The Dodgers had long been considered the favorites to land him, and even Snell’s signing might not change that. Then again, the way the 2024 Dodgers went through pitchers because of injuries – 40 for the season, including 12 starting pitchers – shouldn’t they be tempted to grab every reasonably healthy arm they can and sort it out as they go along? But this is, and should be, the bottom line: Every fan in every sport wants the people running their favorite team to care as much about winning as they do. In a lot of cities, with a lot of teams, that’s really hard to envision. In Dodger Stadium, it’s not hard at all. And if they’re going to be the new Evil Empire, why not just lean into it and have Dieter Ruehle play “The Imperial March” (i.e., Darth Vader’s Theme) before every game? jalexander@scng.com

As an Asian and Jewish woman working in the hospital system, Serena Lee-Segal says antisemitism at work is a bigger problem now than her own experience of anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. “What I now experience as a Jewish health-care worker, the rise in this form of hate, has made me feel deeply uncomfortable and unsafe,” the occupational therapist told a news conference held by the Jewish Medical Association of Ontario (JMAO). “It’s scary and it’s something that urgently needs to be addressed.” The JMAO brought Lee-Segal and several doctors to the Ontario legislature this week to flag a “disturbing rise in antisemitism” experienced by some Jewish medical practitioners in the wake of the . “Many of our members have been doxxed and subjected to targeted harassment simply for being Jewish,” association president Dr. Lisa Salamon told a news conference Wednesday. “These attacks have profound mental health impacts and send a chilling message to all Jewish professionals in health care.” The association said its members have experienced antisemitism in comments or remarks by colleagues in conversation or at organized events, in clinical settings, at medical schools on university campuses, and in social media. A Toronto surgeon, who asked the Star to withhold her name for fear of further harassment, said she was recently the target of an “intense, hateful email campaign.” She received messages calling her a “Nazi” and a “white supremacist” among other insults after her email address was widely distributed by unknown doxxers. The JMAO’s concerns, which follow with a sharp rise in complaints about antisemitism, come amid a doctor shortage across the country. According to the Ontario Medical Association, the shortage has left 2.5 million people in this province without a family physician. The association used the news conference to present results of a survey of members of Jewish medical associations across the country. About 2,000 surveys were sent and 944 medical practitioners filled them out, including 476 in Ontario. Not all answered every question. The survey said just seven of the 944 — fewer than one per cent — felt antisemitism was severe in community, hospital or academic medical settings such as university medical schools before Oct. 7, 2023. A smaller number, 364, answered a question on whether they have experienced antisemitism on the job since then, with 294 saying “yes.” Asked if they are considering whether to leave North America in search of a better work environment, 236 of the 944 said “yes.” And asked if antisemitism since the Israel-Hamas war began has been the most professionally/personally challenging time of their life, 192 of 786 who responded to that question said “yes.” Of those 786 respondents, 43 said antisemitism has not changed their life significantly. Dr. Barry Pakes, who teaches at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and organized the survey to take the pulse of the profession, said the results point to a level of distress. “When Jewish health-care professionals are afraid and harassed, it sends a dangerous message that discrimination is tolerated in our institutions,” added Pakes, a former York Region medical officer of health. “It weakens our health-care system at a time when it is already under tremendous strain,” added Pakes, who noted he has swapped his kippa, a Jewish skullcap, for a baseball hat in some situations after experiencing “catcalls.” Dr. Samuel Silver, an associate professor of medicine at Queen’s University, warned that in a “toxic environment,” Canada risks losing Jewish medical students to other jurisdictions when they graduate. “It’s unacceptable for whatever happens in the international sphere, however people feel about anything going on in the world, to affect their ability to care for patients, to work with their colleagues, to teach,” said Dr. Ayelet Kuper, chair of the JMAO and an associate medical professor at U of T. “We are now feeling at the very pointy end, and it’s something we have to address in our institutions,” she added. Lee-Segal blamed her union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), for “visibly targeting Jews with hatred” as fellow members have flown the union flag at “protests condoning terrorism.” Many Jews consider some statements at pro-Palestinian protests, such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” as a call for the eradication of Israel. Palestinian advocates dispute this interpretation. OPSEU, whose president JP Hornick appeared at rallies in support of the U of T pro-Palestinian encampment, did not reply to requests for comment on Lee-Segal’s allegations or on complaints filed against the union by Jewish members before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal two months ago. The encampment at U of T, established by students and activists outraged by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to pressure the university into restructuring its finances and academic relationships in order to sanction Israel, became a magnet for controversy. Before it was in early July, there were frequent rallies expressing support for protesters living in tents and solidarity with the people of Gaza. U of T president that there were incidents of offensive signs and language during the encampment and agreed antisemitism was a serious problem on campus. On social media and emails, these doctors are being harassed and professionally compromised. Lee-Segal said she was treating two patients in their eighties in hospital late last month — one of them a Holocaust survivor — who was “relieved” to see her wearing a Star of David necklace. “They expressed to me how nervous they were about the care they would receive due to the rise in antisemitism that they were seeing in our streets.” Antisemitic acts accounted for one-third of all reported hate crimes in Toronto in 2023, the last full year for which statistics are available, and were double the level of the previous year, Toronto police report. Seven per cent of reported hate crimes that year were anti-Muslim. In recent weeks, Toronto police charged two males with shooting at the Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School for Jewish girls on Oct. 12, which was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It was the second time this year the North York School was targeted with gunfire. The Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack by Hamas was the largest mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust. Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 250 taken hostage by Hamas, with roughly 100 remaining in Gaza. One-third are believed to be dead, the Israel’s subsequent offensive against Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Canada and other countries, has killed over 44,500 Palestinians in Gaza, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many are combatants.CHICAGO, Dec. 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monroe Capital Corporation (the "Company") MRCC announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a distribution of $0.25 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024, payable on December 30, 2024 to stockholders of record as of December 16, 2024. In October 2012, the Company adopted a dividend reinvestment plan that provides for reinvestment of distributions on behalf of its stockholders, unless a stockholder elects to receive cash prior to the record date. When the Company declares a cash distribution, stockholders who have not opted out of the dividend reinvestment plan prior to the record date will have their distribution automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Company's capital stock. The specific tax characteristics of the distribution will be reported to stockholders on Form 1099 after the end of the calendar year and in the Company's periodic report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. About Monroe Capital Corporation Monroe Capital Corporation is a publicly-traded specialty finance company that principally invests in senior, unitranche and junior secured debt and, to a lesser extent, unsecured debt and equity investments in middle-market companies. The Company's investment objective is to maximize the total return to its stockholders in the form of current income and capital appreciation. The Company's investment activities are managed by its investment adviser, Monroe Capital BDC Advisors, LLC, which is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and an affiliate of Monroe Capital LLC. To learn more about Monroe Capital Corporation, visit www.monroebdc.com . About Monroe Capital LLC Monroe Capital LLC (including its subsidiaries and affiliates, together "Monroe") is a premier asset management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, technology finance, venture debt, alternative credit, structured credit, real estate and equity. Since 2004, the firm has been successfully providing capital solutions to clients in the U.S. and Canada. Monroe prides itself on being a value-added and user-friendly partner to business owners, management, and both private equity and independent sponsors. Monroe's platform offers a wide variety of investment products for both institutional and high net worth investors with a focus on generating high quality "alpha" returns irrespective of business or economic cycles. The firm is headquartered in Chicago and maintains 10 offices throughout the United States and Asia. Monroe has been recognized by both its peers and investors with various awards including Inc.'s 2024 Founder-Friendly Investors List; Private Debt Investor as the 2023 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Decade, 2023 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Year, 2023 CLO Manager of the Year, Americas; Global M&A Network as the 2023 Lower Mid-Markets Lender of the Year, U.S.A.; DealCatalyst as the 2022 Best CLO Manager of the Year; Korean Economic Daily as the 2022 Best Performance in Private Debt – Mid Cap; Creditflux as the 2021 Best U.S. Direct Lending Fund; and Pension Bridge as the 2020 Private Credit Strategy of the Year. For more information and important disclaimers, please visit www.monroecap.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. Any such statements, other than statements of historical fact, are likely to be affected by other unknowable future events and conditions, including elements of the future that are or are not under the Company's control, and that the Company may or may not have considered; accordingly, such statements cannot be guarantees or assurances of any aspect of future performance. Actual developments and results are highly likely to vary materially from these estimates and projections of the future. Such statements speak only as of the time when made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such statement now or in the future. SOURCE: Monroe Capital Corporation Investor Contact: Mick Solimene Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment Officer Monroe Capital Corporation (312) 598-8401 msolimene@monroecap.com Media Contact: Daniel Abramson BackBay Communications (857) 305-8441 daniel.abramson@backbaycommunications.com © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.TORONTO, Nov. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mink Ventures Corporation (TSXV:MINK) (“ ” or the “ “) today announced that the Board of Directors has approved the grant of an aggregate number of 500,000 incentive stock options to its officers and directors. The exercise price of the stock options granted is $0.10 per common share. Subject to the rules of the TSX Venture Exchange and the Company’s Stock Option Plan, the options have a term of ten years and will expire on November 22, 2034. Mink Ventures Corporation (TSXV:MINK) is a Canadian mineral exploration company exploring for critical minerals in Ontario, Canada. It has a highly prospective, nickel copper cobalt exploration portfolio, with its Montcalm project, which now covers ~100 km adjacent to Glencore’s former Montcalm Mine with historical production of 3.93 million tonnes of ore grading 1.25% Ni, 0.67% Cu and 0.051% Co (Ontario Geological Survey, Atkinson, 2010), as well as its expanded Warren Project. These complementary nickel copper cobalt projects have excellent access and infrastructure and are in close proximity to the Timmins Mining Camp. The Company has 22,456,488 common shares outstanding. For further information about Mink Ventures Corporation please contact: Natasha Dixon, President & CEO, T: 250-882-5620 E: or Kevin Filo, Director, T: 705-266-6818 or visit .

Trump picks Jay Bhattacharya, who backed covid herd immunity, to lead National Institutes of Health

IRVINE, Calif. — Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS) has once again been recognized as a Representative Vendor in the 2024 Gartner® “Market Guide for IT Asset Disposition. ” In our opinion, this acknowledgment, our fifth inclusion in the Market Guide , highlights SLS’s commitment to delivering world-class IT asset management and disposition solutions that meet the highest standards of data security, sustainability, compliance and value return. We feel this recognition of SLS as a Representative Vendor underscores the company’s strong position in the market and our ability to support global clients in managing the end-of-life cycle of IT assets. According to Gartner, “Sustainability requirements are compounding the ongoing ITAD challenges of data security and sound reuse/recycling. Sourcing, procurement and vendor management leaders can use this Market Guide to navigate the ITAD market, assess growing compliance risks and identify representative ITAD providers.” “In our view, being included again as a Representative Vendor in the 2024 Gartner® “Market Guide for IT Asset Disposition” is not just a recognition, it’s a validation of our commitment to excellence and innovation in IT asset disposition,” notes Sean Magann, chief commercial officer at Sims Lifecycle Services. “We believe this inclusion highlights our ability to innovate in ways that not only safeguard our clients’ data but also drive sustainability and efficiency. It’s proof that we’re not just adapting to change, we’re leading it.” While inadequate data security and environmentally harmful recycling continue to be the biggest risks within the ITAD market, the report focuses largely on the financial and environmental advantages of device reuse and states that “ITAD is increasingly focused on the environmental sustainability benefits of extending the lifecycle of technology assets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and e-waste.” Refurbishment and redeployment of IT devices is expected to increase as organizations more fully recognize the carbon avoidance realized versus recycling. “ITAD,” the report maintains, “is crucial for IT sustainability, mitigating Scope 3 emissions and supporting the circular economy.” Gartner urges corporations to utilize industry-best ITAD vendors to “leverage the superior environmental sustainability (and budget) characteristics of asset reuse as your primary disposition process.” Sims Lifecycle Services provides solutions to extend the life of data center and enterprise IT assets, and the company recognizes the value in end-of-life electronics, components and materials. SLS works with hyperscale and cloud data centers to reuse and redeploy data center equipment. Fortune 500 companies are supported by SLS to navigate ongoing technology shifts by securely and responsibly managing the disposition of IT equipment and recycling of electronic products. IT asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling services offered at SLS support the evolution of the electronics industry movement toward circularity. SLS clients benefit from data security, maximum IT value recovery, global compliance and sustainable IT use. As a responsible corporate citizen, and in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we continuously seek new ways to contribute to the circular economy. Visit the SLS website, for more information on the company’s global coverage and services offered or for media contact email: .Troy scores 21 points in less than 2 minutes in the fourth quarter to beat Southern Miss 52-20

The Earth's Corr: Black Friday can do one

After drubbing, San Jose Sharks look for response in South FloridaChildren’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “Undoubtedly it’s a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Green candidate in Waterford Marc O Cathasaigh said he would not be “in the shake-up” to retain his seat in that constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smyth looks at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire. Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.The national consumer watchdog is taking online travel booking website Webjet to over allegations it misled customers and breached consumer law. or signup to continue reading The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges Webjet advertised minimum airfares but failed to disclose compulsory service and booking fees. It will also allege Webjet took payments for flights and sent customers confirmation emails, but had not booked the flights with the airline. ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said she was very concerned about the conduct. The pricing claims relate to Webjet's marketing on social media, emails and its app about minimum airfares to domestic and international destinations. Webjet advertised "flights from $x", however the quoted price did not include the Webjet servicing fee or booking price guarantee fee, which ranged from $34.90 to $54.90 per booking, the ACCC alleges. Among the examples were airfares to London advertised as "Flights from $1398* return". The statements were made between November 2018 to November 2023, the ACCC said. The ACCC alleges the additional fees were not disclosed on social media. It said while the information was available on the Webject app and website, it was not prominent and was written in fine print. Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the conduct came at a time when consumers were carefully . "A statement about the lowest price must be a true minimum price, not a price subject to further fees and charges before a booking can be made," she said. The ACCC will also allege Webjet breached consumer law by taking payment from customers but not booking the flight with the respective airline. Customers allegedly received a confirmation email after paying, but were then asked for an additional payment before Webjet would complete the booking, or were offered a refund instead. This conduct occurred across 382 bookings between at least November 2018 and June 2024, the ACCC alleges. The watchdog said customers may have made other travel arrangements having paid for their flight and receiving confirmation from Webjet. They may have had to choose between paying more money or cancelling other travel plans at a potential loss, the ACCC said. "We are very concerned about this alleged conduct by Webjet, which represented to consumers that their flight booking had been confirmed and left some consumers in the position of having to pay more to later complete the booking," Ms Cass-Gottlieb said. Through the Federal Court action, the ACCC is seeking penalties, declarations, injunctions, consumer redress, costs and other orders. Brittney is part of the federal political bureau, covering politics, the public service and economics. Brittney joined The Canberra Times in 2021 and was previously the property reporter. Got a news tip? Get in touch: brittney.levinson@canberratimes.com.au Brittney is part of the federal political bureau, covering politics, the public service and economics. Brittney joined The Canberra Times in 2021 and was previously the property reporter. Got a news tip? Get in touch: brittney.levinson@canberratimes.com.au Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisement

CAMBRIDGE, MA - OCTOBER 10: Massachusetts Institute of Technology students play football outside ... [+] the Maclaurin building October 10, 2003 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by William B. Plowman/Getty Images) In some of the most interesting use cases for artificial intelligence, the digital processes are applied to a physical supply chain. At MIT’s Engine, an incubator and co-working space with many teams working on various inventions, Ashley Beckwith does research for a startup called Foray Bioscience, with the goal of disrupting conventional manufacturing of wood products, and pursuing targeted reforestation. Estimating that the world has lost a half million acres of forest in the last quarter of a century, Foray is looking at the possibility of getting live cells from plants to develop synthetic products. Beckwith is pursuing cell culture and tissue engineering: in a recent Planet Action presentation, she talked about how to envision and then tackle the problem. “Our forests are under strain,” she said. “Forest cover and biodiversity are declining at alarming rates. One third of our tree species are on the verge of extinction, and practically, forest cover loss means less natural regeneration - with fewer seed producers and bigger open stretches in between, forests are slower to bounce back, and biodiversity loss means less resilience. Less variation within a population means greater susceptibility to pests, pathogens, disasters, and these two forces feed off of each other, with forest cover loss driving biodiversity loss, leading to poor resilience and further forest loss. And this, my friends, is what we call a downward spiral, and it's driven by extreme climate events. But today I want to talk to you about solutions, because we can jump-start forest recovery and break out of this cycle with targeted reforestation.” Part of this, she explained, has to do with initiatives like commitments to plant trees, but also, along with the will to do this, there’s a need for seed. Beckwith cited a seed supply problem where U.S. Forest Services only meets about about 6% of wildfire restoration targets, where seed availability is a significant factor. Why? “Sourcing seed is like trying to move a pile of sand with a fork,” she said. “It’s painfully effective.” FBI Warns iPhone, Android Users—Change WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal Apps What To Know About The UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder—As NYPD Releases New Photos Of Suspect iOS 18.2 Release Date: iPhone’s New Upgrade Is Hours Away Also, Beckwith added, just because you have a seed doesn’t mean you get a tree: 90% of seeds will die after being planted. The solution? Beckwith is looking into how much we can make up for deforestation with new science. “If we can’t grow it, let’s build it with biology,” she said. That means applying AI and big data to the problem, along with doing the biological research that provides a viable scaling pathway. Beckwith outlined three steps: revamping planning capabilities, building the seed, and then establishing a framework for scaling. She also mentioned the pace of climate change, which we all know has to be factored in. “In 60 years, the climate in Boston is going to feel a lot like Memphis feels today, and that’s a big shift for our northeastern forests,” she said. In responding to the rapid phenomena showing us how quickly climate change is happening, Beckwith urged the audience to aim not at the present, but at the future, citing a remark attributed to hockey player Wayne Gretzky: “to skate where the puck will be, not where it has been.” “We’re interested in building a complex ecosystem, not a monoculture,” she added. For reference, the MIT Technology Review piece describes Foray Bioscience efforts this way: “Foray’s process involves extracting live cells from the leaves of plants such as the black cottonwood, a popular species for making fiber products, which is used as a model plant for testing the company’s methods. Leaves are first cultured into a kind of liquid broth until the cells reproduce. Then cells are transferred into a gel containing two plant hormones, auxin and cytokinin, allowing researchers to coax the cells to grow into wood-like structures. In this phase, the cell cultures can also be tweaked to produce secondary products such as aromatics for making perfumes and embryos to generate seeds.” Will it Work? There are differing opinions on the efficacy of offsetting deforestation with this kind of cell production. In the MIT Technology Review, writer Abdullahi Tsanni covers Shawn Mansfield at University of British Columbia suggesting that it’s unlikely to have that effect... On the other hand, as reported, Beckwith says tree cells can grow 100 times faster in the lab than they can with conventional methods. “Reforestation is a huge job,” she said, “so let’s bring a bigger fork.” For sure, reforestation is important. And AI has a role to play. But so do humans. Sometimes, it ends up being largely a matter of buy-in, of political will to handle a problem. Where do we go from here? It’s up to you and me.

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