jollibee bet

Sowei 2025-01-12
jollibee bet
jollibee bet Trump's easing of regulations to trigger Japan outbound M&A, Citi exec says

No. 4 Penn State hosts Maryland in regular-season finale with CFP seeding in mindAnthony Albanese (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas) LEAVING NOTHING ON THE FIELD As the final sitting week of the year enters its last few days, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been telling his MPs he’ll “leave nothing on the field” to ensure Labor wins another majority government next year. The Australian reports the PM said in his end-of-year address to caucus on Tuesday there would only be a short break over Christmas as he prepares for the upcoming federal election. The paper also highlights that Coalition leader Peter Dutton reckons the government is faltering and making decisions that will make life harder for Australian families. As we’ve mentioned all week, there’s still A LOT the government hopes to get passed before Parliament rises and The Australian flags Labor MPs have been told there might be an extra sitting day to try and get as much done as possible. One of the bills the government wants to get over the line is, of course, the social media ban. AAP flags the Senate inquiry into legislation banning under 16s from most platforms, which ran for just one day, has recommended the bill should be passed as the government hopes to get it rushed through despite a chorus of objections. The Australian says the legislation looks set to pass with Dutton in support of the plans, although it has divided the Coalition partyroom with “Nationals Senator Matt Canavan and Liberal Senator Alex Antic prepared to cross the floor and others reserving their right to do so”. The paper also quotes a Labor MP raising concerns over the speed at which the legislation is being pushed through — though they were not talking about crossing the floor. “It’s the wrong way to go about it. It’s simplifying a very complex issue.” In addition, the Oz reports Albanese is unlikely to be able to establish an environmental watchdog before next year’s ­election and he continues to eye a deal with the Greens on his Future Made in Australia agenda. As flagged in yesterday’s Worm , the government’s controversial migration bills are set to be debated today. AAP says with independents, the Greens, legal experts and human rights advocates condemning the legislation, the government is hoping to use Coalition support to get the bills across the line. The Sydney Morning Herald reports Immigration Minister Tony Burke has been holding talks with the opposition over the government’s plans to “pay countries to accept convicted criminals it has been unable to deport and revive its travel ban on nations that don’t take back citizens against their will”. The paper explains how the immigration package allows the government to put non-citizens back into detention once another country agrees to take them, and those who do not cooperate with moves to deport them face five years in jail. More than 80,000 people could be affected by the plans, an inquiry has said, but the Department of Home Affairs claims it will impact around 5,000 people on bridging visas and another 1,000 in immigration and community detention, AAP says. Immigration barrister Jason Donnelly is quoted by the newswire as saying: “These measures, in combination, raise substantial risks of undermining procedural fairness, individual rights and government accountability.” CHALMERS URGES CALM Donald Trump’s latest threat to hit China, Mexico and Canada with new tariffs on the first day of his presidency generated plenty of attention yesterday with the Australian Financial Review leading overnight on the fact the Australian dollar dropped to a four-month low after Trump’s comments while Treasurer Jim Chalmers attempts to calm everyone down . To recap, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform he would be imposing a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada, plus an additional 10% on goods from China. The BBC reports Trump said the tariffs on Canada and Mexico would remain in place until the countries clamped down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants illegally crossing the border. The broadcaster said he added “we will be charging China an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs” until it cracked down on fentanyl smuggling. The AFR said on Tuesday the Australian dollar dropped to US64.32c in response — the lowest since early August — before recovering to just under US65c. The paper flagged the Australian dollar “has slumped US5c in just two months, and banks are warning that its future looks bleak”. Meanwhile, The Age reckons “the Australian economy has been destabilised” by Trump. ANZ chief economist Richard Yetsenga is quoted as saying Tuesday’s events marked “only the beginning” of what could be four years of economic uncertainty. “This is the United States increasing tariffs on its three largest trading partners. That represents a discrete change in global trade policy,” Yetsenga said. “He [Trump] does take a transactional approach to many things, so this may be the first sense of what we will see under Trump 2.0.” Responding to Tuesday’s events, Chalmers said : “The incoming US administration will bring a different suite of policies and we’re confident in our ability to navigate that change. “Our economic plan is all about making Australians big beneficiaries of the shifts that are shaping the global economy. We’re well placed and well prepared to work with the incoming administration in the US.” Elsewhere, the ABC flags China’s ambassador to Australia said yesterday there was “no reason” that Trump’s second stint in the White House should damage the relationship between Canberra and Beijing. “There are reasons for us to be responsibly managing relations bilaterally, well enough, maturely enough, so that our two peoples can continue to benefit,” Xiao Qian said. “There is no reason to compromise our respective interests for the sake of a third party.” ON A LIGHTER NOTE... An editor I once worked with banned coverage of the death of the world’s oldest person, because inevitably the stories never end — there’s always someone who takes over as the oldest person alive. That’s a fair point, but I think regardless we should pause and reflect on the life lessons John Tinniswood , who passed away on Monday aged 112, had for us. Tinniswood, from Merseyside, England, previously told the Guinness World Records his longevity was down to “pure luck”, CNN reports. “You either live long or you live short, and you can’t do much about it,” he said. As The Guardian points out he also suggested moderation was key. “If you drink too much or you eat too much or you walk too much, if you do too much of anything, you’re going to suffer eventually,” he said. The paper said Tinniswood managed his own finances and kept up with the news every day. His family said in a statement: “He was intelligent, decisive, brave, calm in any crisis, talented at maths and a great conversationalist. His last day was surrounded by music and love.” Say What? This word captures what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment. Macquarie Dictionary We’ve flagged previous words of the year in the Worm and today it’s Macquarie Dictionary’s turn — the dictionary has declared “enshittification” its word of 2024. The dictionary defines the word as: “The gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking.” CRIKEY RECAP Australia’s teen social media ban loophole means kids can still use TikTok and YouTube Shorts CAM WILSON Videos from TikTok and YouTube Shorts (Image: Crikey) Australia’s teen social media ban won’t require TikTok or YouTube to stop children from using their algorithmically driven short-video platforms, significantly undermining the government’s major motivations for the policy. Experiments by Crikey show that TikTok and YouTube Shorts users are algorithmically recommended videos by both platforms without needing to log in — meaning that these services won’t be affected by the Albanese government’s bill which seeks to regulate only logged-in users. Among the government’s justifications for a blanket ban on children under the age of 16 using social media are fears about the impact of social media algorithms on young Australians. Greens declare victory on housing and go home, mission accomplished BERNARD KEANE Nonetheless, by stymieing much of Labor’s housing agenda for the past two years, the Greens can rightly feel it’s mission accomplished. Their goal, like it or not, has been to delay or prevent the government from doing anything noticeable to address housing affordability, such as encouraging the construction of more housing or reducing migration, enabling the Greens to campaign against Labor at the election for failing on housing. You can object to the ruthlessness of the Greens’ tactic, but not the electoral calculation behind it, or its success. A last-minute backflip to allow two relatively modest additions to the policy suite on housing won’t do anything to change those political dynamics. Labor will continue to denounce the “Greens political party” (drink!) as obstructionist and “the party of protest”, but there’s no denying the Greens’ success in preventing reform on housing. To be fair, Adam Bandt might have pushed the whole charade a bit too far, though, when he declared he would “take the fight to the next election, where we’ll keep Peter Dutton out and then push Labor to act on unlimited rent rises and tax handouts to wealthy property investors”. Keep Peter Dutton out? The Greens? Consider the seats the Bandt has explicitly said the Greens will target at the next election: Sydney, Macnamara, Wills, Cooper, Richmond. All Labor seats. The Greens will keep Dutton out by... taking seats off Labor. Makes sense. The entire Greens project is to take seats off Labor, understandably. The extent to which a hard-left party cannibalises the vote of a notionally left party, however, matters little to the electability of a right-wing party, beyond the extent to which it makes it easier for the right-wing party to become the largest grouping in Parliament and thus best-placed to form government. Australian powerbrokers’ debut event aims for (and gets) five out of ten DAANYAL SAEED Asked by Spencer to first identify themselves on a political sliding scale of 1-10, with 1 being nominally left and 10 being nominally right, Aly opened proceedings by saying he liked to think he exists “on a third axis ... I’ve previously argued in print that left and right are meaningless terms”. “I would, however, say I’m contractually obliged to be a 5,” he joked. Lehmann, however, was more forthcoming, describing herself as “probably a seven”, later describing herself as “centre-right”. It was in contrast to Kelty, a key figure in the establishment of the Keating-era Accords , who said he stopped referring to binary left-right scales “when he was 13 or 14”. Kelty went on to describe himself as “unashamedly socialist”. READ ALL ABOUT IT Eight men detained over suspected Laos methanol poisoning that killed six backpackers (ABC) Netanyahu urges cabinet to approve ceasefire with Hezbollah ( The New York Times ) ($) Five survivors rescued day after tourist boat sank in Red Sea — as search for missing ‘intensifies’ (Sky News) Fugitive on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list arrested in UK (CBS News) No 10 dismisses Russia spy claims as ‘baseless’ (BBC) Relevance! Relevance! Relevance! Microsoft at 50 is an AI Giant — and still hell-bent on domination ( WIRED ) THE COMMENTARIAT What has happened to gambling reform under Labor? It’s simple — the government has been cowed by vested interests — Tim Costello (Guardian Australia): I had a visit on Sunday this week from a secondary school teacher who was asking how he can help his students who are all underage and who have sports betting apps and accounts. He is distressed that they have absorbed the gambling ad message and that their passion for sport is expressed through gambling. I assured him that given Labor and the Coalition would legislate a ban on social media for 16-year-olds they cannot enforce, it was surely a fait accompli that we would see a gambling ad ban which they can enforce. Exactly the same anxiety that parents feel about social media, they feel about gambling ads grooming their kids. Just a few hours later I saw the news that the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese , seems to have squibbed any gambling ad reform at all. I was profoundly shocked. A year ago, I had witnessed the emotion of the PM when he spoke at Peta Murphy’s funeral and I had been assured that Labor would honour her groundbreaking legacy on gambling reform. I honestly believed that. Mr Trump, do you realise how much the world has changed since you were president? — Thomas L. Friedman ( The New York Times ): President-elect Trump, you may think that your second term will be judged by how many tariffs you impose on China. I beg to differ. When it comes to US-China relations, I think your legacy — as well as President Xi Jinping’s — will be determined by how quickly, effectively and collaboratively the United States and China come up with a shared technical and ethical framework embedded in each AI system that prevents it from becoming destructive on its own — without human direction — or being useful to bad actors who might want to deploy it for destructive purposes. History will not look kindly on you, President-elect Trump, if you choose to prioritise the price of toys for American tots over an agreement with China on the behaviour of AI bots.Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times, Chinese state-sponsored hackers compromised at least eight U.S. telecommunication companies, a top White House official said on Dec. 4. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, provided an update on the Chinese threat actor group called “Salt Typhoon” during a press briefing on Wednesday. The threat group is believed to have hacked into the communications of senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures, she said. “We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger said. The Chinese hacking appeared to target a relatively small group of Americans, she added, with only their phone calls and texts compromised. The telecommunications companies that were breached have responded, but none of them “have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks,” according to Neuberger. “So there is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications until U.S. companies address the cybersecurity gaps the Chinese are likely to maintain their access,” Neuberger said. In October, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) identified the Chinese hacks , saying at the time that an investigation was underway. In late November, Neuberger and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan hosted telecommunications executives for a meeting to share intelligence and discuss how the U.S. government and the private sector could work together. Neuberger said President Joe Biden has been briefed multiple times on the issue. The White House “has made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can,” she added. Additionally, Neuberger pointed to efforts to improve cybersecurity in multiple sectors including rail and energy, after the 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline . “So, to prevent ongoing Salt Typhoon type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cybersecurity practice,” Neuberger said. Also at Wednesday’s press briefing, a senior administration official said Salt Typhoon’s activities started at least a year or two ago. Additionally, the official said a “couple dozen” countries have been impacted by the Chinese hacking. The FBI and the CSIA issued a joint statement on Nov. 13, revealing that Chinese hackers had compromised the networks of multiple telecom companies and stole customer call records and private communications from “a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity.” On Tuesday, the FBI, the CISA, the National Security Agency (NSA), and international partners published a guide on best practices for protecting communication infrastructures. CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Jeff Greene conceded on Tuesday that he didn’t have a timeline on when Chinese hackers could be purged from U.S. telecom networks. “It would be impossible for us to predict when we'll have full eviction,” Greene said at the time. In September, the Justice Department announced that the FBI had taken down a botnet associated with “Flax Typhoon,” a threat group operating through the Beijing-based Integrity Technology Group. The botnet consisted of more than 200,000 consumer devices—such as network cameras, video recorders, and home and office routers—in the United States and elsewhere. Another Chinese threat group, “Volt Typhoon,” began targeting a wide range of networks across U.S. critical infrastructure in 2021. The group, which was dismantled by a multi-agency operation in January, had maintained “access and footholds within some victim IT environments for at least five years,” according to CISA. On Dec. 3, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said her legislation, officially known as the Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, will combat the Chinese Communist Party’s growing threats against U.S. critical infrastructure. “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will continue to exploit and undermine our national security every chance they get. We must stand up against foreign adversaries,” Lee wrote on the social media platform X. If enacted, the legislation ( H.R.9769 ) would create an interagency task force led by CISA and the FBI to deal with cybersecurity threats posed by China’s state-sponsored cyber threat groups. It would also require the new task force to inform Congress of its findings every year for five years.

Ed Davey is dreaming of Christmas No 1 hit with carers’ choirNEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Jose D. Hernandez was suspended for next year's Arizona Complex League season on Wednesday following a positive test for boldenone and nandrolone under baseball's minor league drug program. The 21-year-old Hernandez hit .302 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 26 games this year for the ACL Dodgers. The Venezuelan agreed to a contract with the Dodgers in 2019 that included a $10,000 signing bonus. Twenty players have been suspended this year for positive drug tests, including nine under the minor league program and nine under the new program for minor league players assigned outside the United States and Canada. Two players have been suspended this year under the major league drug program. Noelvi Marté , a 22-year-old infielder who was considered Cincinnati's top prospect, missed the first 80 games following a positive test for boldenone. Toronto infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended for 80 games on June 23 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene, an announcement made two days after his major league debut . ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb The Associated Press

5G Femtocell Global Market Report 2024: Key Insights and Future Trends in Mobile ConnectivityAuthored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times, Chinese state-sponsored hackers compromised at least eight U.S. telecommunication companies, a top White House official said on Dec. 4. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, provided an update on the Chinese threat actor group called “Salt Typhoon” during a press briefing on Wednesday. The threat group is believed to have hacked into the communications of senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures, she said. “We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger said. The Chinese hacking appeared to target a relatively small group of Americans, she added, with only their phone calls and texts compromised. The telecommunications companies that were breached have responded, but none of them “have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks,” according to Neuberger. “So there is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications until U.S. companies address the cybersecurity gaps the Chinese are likely to maintain their access,” Neuberger said. In October, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) identified the Chinese hacks , saying at the time that an investigation was underway. In late November, Neuberger and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan hosted telecommunications executives for a meeting to share intelligence and discuss how the U.S. government and the private sector could work together. Neuberger said President Joe Biden has been briefed multiple times on the issue. The White House “has made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can,” she added. Additionally, Neuberger pointed to efforts to improve cybersecurity in multiple sectors including rail and energy, after the 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline . “So, to prevent ongoing Salt Typhoon type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cybersecurity practice,” Neuberger said. Also at Wednesday’s press briefing, a senior administration official said Salt Typhoon’s activities started at least a year or two ago. Additionally, the official said a “couple dozen” countries have been impacted by the Chinese hacking. The FBI and the CSIA issued a joint statement on Nov. 13, revealing that Chinese hackers had compromised the networks of multiple telecom companies and stole customer call records and private communications from “a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity.” On Tuesday, the FBI, the CISA, the National Security Agency (NSA), and international partners published a guide on best practices for protecting communication infrastructures. CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Jeff Greene conceded on Tuesday that he didn’t have a timeline on when Chinese hackers could be purged from U.S. telecom networks. “It would be impossible for us to predict when we'll have full eviction,” Greene said at the time. In September, the Justice Department announced that the FBI had taken down a botnet associated with “Flax Typhoon,” a threat group operating through the Beijing-based Integrity Technology Group. The botnet consisted of more than 200,000 consumer devices—such as network cameras, video recorders, and home and office routers—in the United States and elsewhere. Another Chinese threat group, “Volt Typhoon,” began targeting a wide range of networks across U.S. critical infrastructure in 2021. The group, which was dismantled by a multi-agency operation in January, had maintained “access and footholds within some victim IT environments for at least five years,” according to CISA. On Dec. 3, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said her legislation, officially known as the Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, will combat the Chinese Communist Party’s growing threats against U.S. critical infrastructure. “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will continue to exploit and undermine our national security every chance they get. We must stand up against foreign adversaries,” Lee wrote on the social media platform X. If enacted, the legislation ( H.R.9769 ) would create an interagency task force led by CISA and the FBI to deal with cybersecurity threats posed by China’s state-sponsored cyber threat groups. It would also require the new task force to inform Congress of its findings every year for five years.

(BPT) - The holidays are almost here! It means parties and events, hustle and bustle ... and figuring out what to buy for everyone on your list. Sometimes it's hard to get inspired with great ideas that your nears and dears will love at a price you can afford, right? The good news? Inspiration + savings are covered this year. One of the top gifts of Holiday 2024 is technology, and there are a lot of deals out there right now. Done and done! Here are 5 ideas for hot tech gifts for everyone on your list. Smartphones for the family T-Mobile is running a hot deal right now. Get four new smartphones at T-Mobile — this includes Samsung Galaxy S24 and other eligible devices — and four lines for just $100/month . It doesn't get better than that! These new Galaxy phones are tech-tastic, too, with features like AI, Circle to Search with Google, which can be used to help solve math problems and translate entire pages of text in a different language, and Note Assist with Galaxy AI, which lets you focus on capturing your notes and then Note Assist will summarize, format and even translate them for you. High tech spiral notebook for students We've got to admit, this is pretty cool. The Rocketbook looks (a bit) like a regular spiral, paper notebook. Here's the high tech twist: You can take notes, capture ideas, brainstorm, draw — whatever you do on paper — on the pad, and the Rocketbook digitizes your doodles and saves to the cloud device of your choice. Then you simply wipe the pad clean and it's good to go. Look for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales at your favorite online retailer. Wrist-worthy smartwatches for athletes (or those who want to be) Everyone loves smartwatches (if you're not already tracking your sleep and heart rate, where have you been?) and the Google Pixel Watch 3 (41mm & 45mm) takes it to the next level with features for athletes or anyone who may be setting fitness goals for the coming year. The watch has workout prompts like Real Time Guidance — audio and haptic cues for when to sprint, cool down or maintain pace. It gives you the ability to program your workouts and even monitors your cadence and stride. It also has Offline Maps, with driving navigation, search and maps. Here's the deal of the century: Get it for free at T-Mobile when adding a qualifying watch line. Cute wireless keyboard for people who are all thumbs Who else is annoyed by typing email or texts or social posts on a smartphone? The Logitech Multi-Device Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard solves that problem with style! It comes in sweet colors like lavender, it's wireless, it's small and portable, and it works with just about any device. Pop it into your backpack or purse and you'll never have to thumb-out a message again. Speakers perfect for hosting and giving Have a music lover in your life or need the perfect hosting gift? T-Mobile has you covered. For a limited time, you can get the JBL Clip 5 for free when you pick up a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 9 . The JBL Clip 5 is an ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker perfect for those on the go and the Onyx Studio 9's sleek design and booming sound will take care of all your holiday hosting needs. For more tech-tastic holiday gift inspiration, check out T-Mobile's holiday gift guide at t-mobile.com/devices/tech-gifts .What is the best mattress for cold sleepers?

FBI investigating ‘numerous bomb threats’ against Trump administration nomineesParamedics reunite with Toronto family whose son they delivered in hospital elevator

Chargers place Eli Apple on injured reserveTrump’s tax-cut plans could be slowed by a wary bond market WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s Republicans are promising to hit the gas next year when they assume full control of the US Congress, with little to stop them from executing the president-elect’s promises to slash taxes and reorder the global trade landscape. But the $28 trillion Treasury debt market is flashing a red warning light against adding excessively to a debt load already expanding at a pace of $2 trillion a year.What is yet to be seen is whether these concerns will be enough to slow Republican lawmakers’ ambitions or push them to find offsetting savings on a tax break agenda estimated to cost nearly $8 trillion over 10 years. Markets are betting that Trump’s tax cuts and tariffs will fuel inflation as investors demand stronger returns on longer-term Treasuries. Yields on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note have risen to 4.3 per cent, up about 70 basis points since ‘Trump trades’ began dominating Wall Street in September. Trump’s choice of hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary prompted Treasuries to rally on Monday, erasing some of the recent increase in yields, as market analysts viewed him as a more traditional policymaker who is likely to try to control deficits. Still, the trend is driving higher interest rates for mortgages, car loans and credit card debt, counteracting Federal Reserve rate cuts and potentially putting US growth at risk.It is also raising the cost of financing US deficits and eating up the federal budget. Interest on the public debt topped $1 trillion for the first time during the fiscal year ended Sept 30, making it the second-largest single expenditure after the Social Security retirement programme. “In a weird way, the bond market is now on the verge of running this country,” said Republican Representative David Schweikert, who sits on the House of Representatives’ tax- and trade-focused Ways and Means Committee. The market signals mean there are no “blank checks” for Congress and the tax cuts will need to be paired with spending cuts, he said in an interview. “It is a hurdle in the financing of the US government.” Managing that hurdle will fall to Bessent, who has argued that Trump’s agenda will unleash stronger economic growth that will in turn drive up revenue and boost market confidence. His appointment could also reduce the chance of severe tariffs. The budget math is daunting. Trump has promised to extend the tax cuts passed in 2017, during his first term in the White House, for individuals and small businesses that are due to expire next year, which tax experts say will add $4 trillion to the current $36 trillion in total US debt over 10 years. That’s on top of debt already forecast by the Congressional Budget Office to grow by $22 trillion over the same period, based on current laws. Trump also promised voters generous new tax breaks, including ending taxes on Social Security, overtime and tip income and restoring deductions for car loan interest. The tab is likely to reach $7.75 trillion above the CBO baseline over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan fiscal watchdog group. GROWTH REVENUE Concern over the bond market’s influence on Trump’s agenda is more the exception than the rule among congressional Republicans interviewed some two weeks after he won the Nov 5 presidential election and his party took control of Congress. Some fell back on the party’s long-held view that tax cuts can pay for themselves with stronger growth - a line that was used to sell Trump’s original 2017 tax cuts. Budget forecasters including the Joint Committee on Taxation have estimated that those cuts added more than $1 trillion to deficits over 10 years. An analysis of economic feedback on extending the tax cuts by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that increased growth would only offset 1.0 per cent to 14 per cent of the revenues lost directly by the cuts, leaving the bulk to be financed through borrowing. Still, Republican Senator Mike Rounds said he believed the stability and growth that will come from extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts will allay some market concerns. “What we have to do is show them that we’re going to build an economy so that the ratio between the size of the economy and the debt changes positively in our favor,” Rounds said. MUSK’S CUTS Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said accelerating economic growth to more than 3.0 per cent annually -- it’s already on that pace for the third quarter -- would increase revenues by $3 trillion over a decade, but that additional spending cuts would be needed. Rising bond market yields were “a motivating factor to rein in deficit spending”, he said. Arrington and fellow Republican Representative Joe Wilson said they were hopeful the non-government panel led by billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would be able to find ways to cut the budget, including on “mandatory spending” programmes other than Social Security and the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly, which Trump has vowed to preserve. “With Elon Musk I think we have a real opportunity to actually identify waste and cut things that can be cut,” Wilson said. A key target is rescinding Democratic President Joe Biden’s clean energy subsidies, estimated by the CBO to cost nearly $800 billion over 10 years, and some $60 billion in funds to modernise the Internal Revenue Service, although that would expand deficits in the long run by curbing audits. AGENDA UNCLEAR Republicans in the new year will likely rely on budget procedures that bypass Senate rules requiring 60 of the 100 members in the chamber to agree on most legislation to pass Trump’s tax agenda with a simple majority. Republican Senator Mike Crapo, the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said it was too early to determine which tax policies would be included in initial legislation, adding that there was market “misinterpretation of what Trump is doing or going to do”. “A lot of people are saying, well, which tax policies are you going to do?” Crapo said. “And the answer to that is, the ones that we figure out are the right ones.” BOND VIGILANTES Former President Bill Clinton’s political strategist James Carville famously said in 1993 that he wanted to be reincarnated as the bond market, because “you can intimidate everybody”. If Congress’ moves signal too big of a deficit hike, some market analysts are concerned that excess debt issuance will cause market indigestion that drives up yields sharply. “One can’t exclude the risk that trust in US economic policymaking might be lost, the bond vigilantes could come out in full force and pressure rates significantly higher, and the US and global economies could be badly shaken,” said Mark Sobel, a former US Treasury official who is now the US chairman at the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, a think tank.

Morgan Rogers looked to have given Unai Emery’s side another famous win when he slammed a loose ball home at the death, but referee Jesus Gil Manzano ruled Diego Carlos to have fouled Juve goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio and the goal was chalked off. It was a disappointment for Villa, who remain unbeaten at home in their debut Champions League campaign and are still in contention to qualify automatically for the last 16. A very controversial finish at Villa Park 😲 Morgan Rogers' late goal is ruled out for a foul on Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio and the match ends 0-0 ❌ 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/MyYL5Vdy3r — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 27, 2024 Emiliano Martinez had earlier displayed why he was named the best goalkeeper in the world as his wonder save kept his side level in the second half. The Argentina international paraded his two Yashin Trophies on the pitch before kick-off at Villa Park and then showed why he won back-to-back FIFA awards when he denied Francisco Conceicao. Before Rogers’ moment of drama in the fourth minute of added time, the closest Villa came to scoring was in the first half when Lucas Digne’s free-kick hit the crossbar. But a draw was a fair result which leaves Villa out of the top eight on goal difference and Juventus down in 19th. Before the game Emery called Juventus one of the “best teams in the world, historically and now”, but this was an Italian side down to the bare bones. Only 14 outfield players made the trip from Turin, with striker Dusan Vlahovic among those who stayed behind. The opening 30 minutes were forgettable before the game opened up. Ollie Watkins, still chasing his first Champions League goal, had Villa’s first presentable chance as he lashed an effort straight at Di Gregorio. Matty Cash then had a vicious effort from the resulting corner which was blocked by Federico Gatti and started a counter-attack which ended in Juventus striker Timothy Weah. Villa came closest to breaking the deadlock at the end of the first half when Digne’s 20-yard free-kick clipped the top of the crossbar and went over. Martinez then produced his brilliant save just after the hour. A corner made its way through to the far post where Conceicao was primed to head in at the far post, but Martinez sprawled himself across goal to scoop the ball away. How has he kept that one out?! 🤯 Emi Martinez with an INCREDIBLE save to keep it goalless at Villa Park ⛔️ 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/OkcWHB7YIk — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 27, 2024 Replays showed most of the ball went over the line, but the Argentinian got there with millimetres to spare. At the other end another fine goal-line block denied John McGinn as Manuel Locatelli got his foot in the way with Di Gregorio beaten. The game looked to be petering out until a last-gasp free-kick saw Rogers slam home, but whistle-happy official Gil Manzano halted the celebrations by ruling the goal out.

Dodgers shortstop Jose Hernandez suspended for 2025 ACL season under minor league drug programBrown: Indian diplomat pushed back when he used the words “Sikh nation”NEW YORK — The masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies outside a Manhattan hotel used ammunition emblazoned with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose," two law enforcement officials said Thursday. The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. With the gunman still at large, police also released photos of a person they said was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company's annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel in Midtown. The reason behind the killing remained unknown, but investigators believe it was a targeted attack. This image shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. The message left on the ammunition echoes the phrase "delay, deny, defend," which is commonly used by attorneys and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims. It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for complicating access to care. Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel and a cellphone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from a nearby Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city's medical examiner was looking for fingerprints. The killing and the shooter's movements in the minutes before and after were captured on some of the multitudes of security cameras present in that part of the city. The shooter fled on a bike and was last seen riding into Central Park. Bullets lie on the sidewalk Wednesday outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in New York. The hunt for the shooter brought New York City police to at least two hostels on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Thursday morning, based on a tip that the suspected shooter might have stayed at one of the residences, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos police released Thursday of a man wanted for questioning were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel. "We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time," said Danielle Brumfitt, a spokesperson for the hostel. Police received a flood of tips from members of the public, many of them unfounded. On Wednesday evening, police searched a Long Island Rail Road train after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but found no sign of the gunman. "We're following up on every single tip that comes in," said Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson. "That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together." Investigators believe, judging from surveillance video and evidence collected from the scene, that the shooter had at least some prior firearms training and experience with guns and the weapon was equipped with a silencer, said one of the law enforcement officials who spoke with the AP. This still image from surveillance video shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, Wednesday outside a Manhattan hotel. Security camera video showed the killer approach Thompson from behind, level his pistol and fire several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the health executive tumbled to the pavement. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle. Police issued several surveillance images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face, which wouldn't have attracted attention on a frigid day. Authorities also used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search, but the killer's whereabouts remained unknown. Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in suburban Minneapolis, was with UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years. The insurer's Minnetonka, Minnesota-based parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting with investors in New York to update Wall Street on the company's direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson's death. UnitedHealthcare is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs. In the U.S. healthcare system, even the simplest act, like booking an appointment with your primary care physician, may feel intimidating. As you wade through intake forms and insurance statements, and research out-of-network coverage , you might wonder, "When did U.S. health care get so confusing?" Short answer? It's complicated. The history of modern U.S. health care spans nearly a century, with social movements, legislation, and politics driving change. Take a trip back in time as Thatch highlights some of the most impactful legislation and policies that gave us the existing healthcare system, particularly how and when things got complicated. In the beginning, a common perception of American doctors was that they were kindly old men stepping right out of a Saturday Evening Post cover illustration to make house calls. If their patients couldn't afford their fee, they'd accept payment in chicken or goats. Health care was relatively affordable and accessible. Then it all fell apart during the Great Depression of the 1930s. That's when hospital administrators started looking for ways to guarantee payment. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives, this is when the earliest form of health insurance was born. Interestingly, doctors would have none of it at first. The earliest health plans covered hospitalization only. A new set of challenges from the Second World War required a new set of responses. During the Depression, there were far too many people and too few jobs. The war economy had the opposite effect. Suddenly, all able-bodied men were in the military, but somebody still had to build the weapons and provision the troops. Even with women entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers, there was simply too much to get done. The competition for skilled labor was brutal. A wage freeze starting in 1942 forced employers to find other means of recruiting and retaining workers. Building on the recently mandated workers' compensation plans, employers or their union counterparts started offering insurance to cover hospital and doctor visits. Of course, the wage freeze ended soon after the war. However, the tax code and the courts soon clarified that employer-sponsored health insurance was non-taxable. Medicare, a government-sponsored health plan for retirees 65 and older, debuted in 1965. Nowadays, Medicare is offered in Parts A, B, C, and D; each offering a different layer of coverage for older Americans. As of 2023, over a quarter of all U.S. adults are enrolled in Medicare. The structure of Medicare is not dissimilar to universal health care offered in other countries, although the policy covers everyone, not just people over a certain age. Medicaid was also signed into law with Medicare. Medicaid provides health care coverage for Americans with low incomes. Over 74 million Americans are enrolled in Medicaid today. The Obama administration was neither the first nor the last to champion new ways to provide health care coverage to a wider swath of Americans. The first attempts to harmonize U.S. healthcare delivery systems with those of other developed economies came just five years after Medicare and Medicaid. Two separate bills were introduced in 1970 alone. Both bills aimed to widen affordable health benefits for Americans, either by making people Medicare-eligible or providing free health benefits for all Americans. As is the case with many bills, both these died, even though there was bipartisan support. But the chairman of the relevant Senate panel had his own bill in mind, which got through the committee. It effectively said that all Americans were entitled to the kind of health benefits enjoyed by the United Auto Workers Union or AFL-CIO—for free. But shortly after Sen. Edward Kennedy began hearings on his bill in early 1971 , a competing proposal came from an unexpected source: Richard Nixon's White House. President Nixon's approach , in retrospect, had some commonalities with what Obamacare turned out to be. There was the employer mandate, for example, and an expansion of Medicaid. It favored healthcare delivery via health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, which was a novel idea at the time. HMOs, which offer managed care within a tight network of health care providers, descended from the prepaid health plans that flourished briefly in the 1910s and 1920s. They were first conceived in their current form around 1970 by Dr. Paul M. Ellwood, Jr. In 1973, a law was passed to require large companies to give their employees an HMO option as well as a traditional health insurance option. But that was always intended to be ancillary to Nixon's more ambitious proposal, which got even closer to what exists now after it wallowed in the swamp for a while. When Nixon reintroduced the proposal in 1974, it featured state-run health insurance plans as a substitute for Medicaid—not a far cry from the tax credit-fueled state-run exchanges of today. Of course, Nixon had other things to worry about in 1974: inflation, recession, a nation just beginning to heal from its first lost war—and his looming impeachment. His successor, Gerald Ford, tried to keep the proposal moving forward, but to no avail. But this raises a good question: If the Republican president and the Democratic Senate majority both see the same problem and have competing but not irreconcilable proposals to address it, why wasn't there some kind of compromise? What major issue divided the two parties? It was a matter of funding. The Democrats wanted to pay for universal health coverage through the U.S. Treasury's general fund, acknowledging that Congress would have to raise taxes to pay for it. The Republicans wanted it to pay for itself by charging participants insurance premiums, which would be, in effect, a new tax. The next significant legislation came from President Reagan, who signed the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, in 1985. COBRA enabled laid-off workers to hold onto their health insurance—providing that they pay 100% of the premium, which had been wholly or at least in part subsidized by their erstwhile employer. While COBRA offers continued coverage, its high expense doesn't offer much relief for the unemployed. A 2006 Commonwealth Fund survey found that only 9% of people eligible for COBRA coverage actually signed up for it. The COBRA law had a section, though, that was only tangentially related. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, which was incorporated into COBRA, required all emergency medical facilities that take Medicare—that is, all of them—to treat patients irrespective of their insurance status or ability to pay. As Forbes staff writer Avik Roy wrote during the Obamacare debate, EMTALA has come to overshadow the rest of the COBRA law in its influence on American health care policy. More on that soon. It wasn't until the 1990s that Washington saw another serious attempt at healthcare reform. Bill Clinton's first order of business as president was to establish a new health care plan. For the first time, the First Lady took on the role of heavy-lifting policy advisor to the president and became the White House point person on universal health care. Hillary Clinton's proposal mandated : The Clintons' plan centralized decision-making in Washington, with a "National Health Board" overseeing quality assurance, training physicians, guaranteeing abortion coverage, and running both long-term care facilities and rural health systems. The insurance lobbyists had a field day with that. The famous "Harry and Louise" ads portrayed a generic American couple having tense conversations in their breakfast nook about how the federal government would come between them and their doctor. By the 1994 midterms, any chance of universal health care in America had died. In this case, it wasn't funding but the debate between big and small governments that killed the Clinton reform. It would be another generation before the U.S. saw universal health care take the stage. Fast-forward to 2010. It was clear that employer-sponsored plans were vestiges of another time. They made sense when people stayed with the same company for their entire careers, but as job-hopping and layoffs became more prevalent, plans tied to the job became obsolete. Thus the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, was proposed by Barack Obama's White House and squeaked by Congress and the Supreme Court with the narrowest of margins. The ACA introduced an individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance regardless of job status. It set up an array of government-sponsored online exchanges where individuals could buy coverage . It also provided advance premium tax credits to defray the cost to consumers. But it didn't ignore hat most people were already getting health insurance through work, and a significant proportion didn't want to change . So the ACA also required employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees to provide health coverage to at least 95% of them. The law, nicknamed Obamacare by supporters and detractors, set a minimum baseline of coverage and affordability. The penalty for an employer that offers inadequate or unaffordable coverage can never be greater than the penalty for not offering coverage at all. The model for Obamacare was the health care reform package that went into effect in Massachusetts in 2006. The initial proposal was made by then-Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican who now serves as a senator from Utah. Despite an onslaught of court challenges, Obamacare remains the law of the land. For a while, Republican congressional candidates ran on a "repeal-and-replace" platform plank, but even when they were in the majority, there was little legislative action to do either. Still, Obamacare is not the last word in American health care reform. Since then, there have been two important improvements to Health Reimbursement Arrangements, through which companies pay employees back for out-of-pocket medical-related expenses. HRAs had been evolving informally since at least the 1960s but were first addressed by the Internal Revenue Service in 2002. Not much more happened on that front until Obama's lame-duck period. In December 2016, he signed the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which was mainly a funding bill supporting the National Institutes of Health as it addressed the opioid crisis. But, just like the right to free emergency room treatment was nested in the larger COBRA law, the legal framework of Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements was tucked away in a corner of the Cures Act. QSEHRAs, offered only by companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees, allow firms to let their employees pick their insurance coverage off the Obamacare exchanges. The firms pay the employees back for some or all of the cost of those premiums. The employees then become ineligible for the premium tax credit provided by the ACA, but a well-constructed QSEHRA will meet or exceed the value of that subsidy. That brings this timeline to one last innovation, which expands QSEHRA-like treatment to companies with more than 50 employees or aspiring to have them. Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements , or ICHRAs, were established by a 2019 IRS rule . ICHRAs allow firms of any size to offer employees tax-free contributions to cover up to 100% of their individual health insurance premiums as well as other eligible medical expenses. Instead of offering insurance policies directly, companies advise employees to shop on a government-sponsored exchange and select the best plan that suits their needs. Employer reimbursement rather than an advance premium tax credit reduces premiums. And because these plans are already ACA-compliant, there's no risk to the employer that they won't meet coverage or affordability standards. The U.S. is never going back to the mid-20th century model of lifetime employment at one company. Now, with remote employees and gig workers characterizing the workforce, the portability of an ICHRA provides some consistency for those who expect to be independent contractors for their entire careers. Simultaneously, allows bootstrap-phase startups to offer the dignity of health coverage to their Day One associates. The U.S. health care system can feel clunky and confusing to navigate. It is also regressive and penalizes startups and small businesses. For a country founded by entrepreneurs, it's sad that corporations like Google pay less for health care per employee than a small coffee shop in Florida. In many ways, ICHRA democratizes procuring health care coverage. In the same way that large employers enjoy the benefits of better rates, ICHRA plan quality and prices improve as the ICHRA risk pool grows. Moving away from the traditional employer model will change the incentive structure of the healthcare industry. Insurers will be able to compete and differentiate on the merits of their product. They will be incentivized to build products for people, not one-size-fits-all solutions for employers. This story was produced by Thatch and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.The Salvation Army's Annual Red Kettle Campaign Launches With the Help of the Dallas Cowboys, Country Star Lainey Wilson, and Special Guest

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