w777 slot NEW YORK , Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HitPaw, a world-renowned brand specializing in providing high-quality digital creation tools, is pleased to announce a major upgrade to HitPaw Online Video Enhancer: the launch of the new low-light enhancement model. This innovative technology is designed to help users easily improve the image quality of nighttime videos, perfectly solving the problem of video blurring and noise in low-light environments, and making every frame of night scenes clearer and more vivid. LET'S CHECK OUT NEW LOW-LIGHT ENHANCEMENT MODEL Low-light Enhancement Model - Revolutionizing Low Light Video HitPaw Online Video Enhancer introduces a new low-light enhancement model designed to optimize video quality in low light environments. 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To know more, you may visit: https://online.hitpaw.com/ To explore more creative tools, you may visit: https://www.hitpaw.com/ Our Social Media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQwRggaotgiMcPbiCOsJeBA X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HitPawofficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hitpawofficial/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HitPawofficialwebsite/ Discord: https://discord.gg/wuc4cstcjJ This release was issued through Send2Press® on behalf of the news source. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.send2press.com/ . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hitpaw-online-video-enhancer-unveiling-the-new-low-light-enhancement-model-302321624.html SOURCE HitPaw. Co., Ltd © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Billionaire Elon Musk called Canada’s prime minister an “insufferable tool” on his social media platform today. Musk’s comments were in response to Justin Trudeau likening Kamala Harris’s defeat in the U.S. presidential election to an attack on women’s rights and progress. This afternoon, Trudeau met with provincial and territorial premiers to discuss Canada’s approach to negotiations with the U.S. Canada is facing a threat of a 25 per cent tariff hike from incoming president Donald Trump, who defeated Harris in the November election. Earlier this week, Trump taunted Trudeau on social media, referring to the prime minister as the governor of what he called the “Great State of Canada.” The post was an apparent reference to a joke Trump cracked at his dinner with Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago estate nearly two weeks ago, where the president-elect teased that Canada could join the U.S. as its 51st state. Speaking on Tuesday night at an event hosted by the Equal Voice Foundation — an organization dedicated to improving gender representation in Canadian politics — Trudeau said there are regressive forces fighting against women’s progress. “It shouldn’t be that way. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult sometimes, march towards progress,” Trudeau said, adding he is a proud feminist and will always be an ally. “And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president. Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack. Overtly, and subtly.” In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk responded to a clip of Trudeau’s remarks, saying, “He’s such an insufferable tool. Won’t be in power for much longer.”OTTAWA—NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Tuesday his party won’t support an upcoming Conservative no-confidence motion that uses his own criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, saving the government from falling and delaying a possible election — for now. But the New Democrats — which ended their supply-and-confidence deal with the governing Liberals this fall but hold the balance of the minority Parliament as other parties demand an immediate election — will have to vote on three more confidence tests in the coming weeks. “It probably comes as no surprise that I’m not going to play Pierre Poilievre’s games. He wants to cut people’s pensions. I want to strengthen pensions. He wants to cut dental care. I want more people to get their teeth looked after. So I’m not going to be playing Pierre Poilievre’s games,” Singh said. His comments come after House Speaker Greg Fergus temporarily cleared a in the Commons on Monday, for both the Conservatives and the New Democrats to control the parliamentary agenda for four days, and for MPs to approve $21.6 billion in previously proposed spending. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have said they will put up three confidence tests in the Trudeau government in an effort to “trigger a carbon tax election.” First up on that agenda will also be a direct challenge to the NDP. The Conservative motion uses Singh’s own words criticizing the Trudeau government, stating the governing Liberals are “too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people,” for example. The NDP leader said his MPs won’t vote in favour of the motion — but the party would not confirm how it plans to approach the other confidence tests, including the vote on billions in spending for set to be voted on by Dec. 10. Still, in an election pitch Tuesday, Singh told an Ottawa meeting of NDP staff from across the country that the party’s next campaign will be “gutsy” and “unapologetic,” outlining a focus on affordability and a proposal for massive systems change in housing, health care and the tax system. “We are going to be running a campaign, not one that’s going to be careful and cautious to not offend anybody,” he said to cheering party faithful. “We’re running a gutsy campaign, an unapologetic campaign, one where we are planning to change everything so it works for the working class.”

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Sanwo-Olu: We’re Committed To Creating Ecosystem To Boost Economic GrowthEagle Point Credit Management sells $144,563 in Acres commercial stockCars, computers, technology, aircraft and oil — as a nation, we export so many things that are critical to life. Our most important exports, however, are our values. But intolerance, amplified by our caustic digital culture, has made protecting religious liberty at home more challenging. The incoming Trump administration can help quell domestic forces seeking to attack our first freedom. President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to dismantling government censorship and cancel culture provides this country with the moral footing to reinforce religious freedom again at home and around the world. Our founders understood the importance of religious liberty to the fabric of the republic. Religious liberty is the bedrock upon which free speech and the Bill of Rights are built. Without the ability to worship God as you see fit, without fear of oppression from the state, true free speech simply cannot exist. In recent times, a culture of fear has been driven by powerful voices in media, Hollywood and the left-wing political ecosystem, as well as the shadowy work of the unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy. In the last five years, Americans have been horrified by the demonizing and ridiculing of people of faith. It goes far beyond the FBI’s covert efforts to infiltrate and monitor Catholic parishes. The Biden administration and left-wing governors openly and notoriously attempted to eviscerate the sincerely held religious beliefs of millions of Americans to force them, under penalty of losing their livelihoods, to take the COVID-19 jabs that the government knew did not prevent transmission or infection. Pro-life demonstrators have received harsher punishments, including years in jail, for blocking abortion centers, while Black Lives Matters rioters have walked free. Antisemitic demonstrations have been tolerated on hundreds of college campuses. Hate crimes against Jews have skyrocketed. The Associated Press recently ran a story based on comments from one source suggesting that Pete Hegseth, Mr. Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, should be considered “alt-right” or an “insider threat” because of his tattoos of the Jerusalem Cross and the phrase “Deus Vult” (Latin for “God wills it”). The AP, perhaps not surprisingly, didn’t include any sources to rebut claims that those symbols connote White supremacy. For nearly a thousand years, the Jerusalem Cross has symbolized the five wounds of Christ or, alternatively, the four evangelists and Christ himself. It is also a symbol of the Holy Land and worn by the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a lay order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. “Deus Vult” or “Deus lo Vult” is also an ancient motto of the order and associated with protection of the people and places of the greater Holy Land. It’s just another example of the pervasiveness and normalization of anti-Christian and anti-Catholic bigotry. The domestic situation may be perilous, but the global state of religious liberty, in the absence of U.S. leadership, is even more troubling. According to the Religious Freedom Institute, in three of the last four years, during the Biden administration, the number of nations where there is negative trajectory in terms of religious liberty has increased year over year, while those improving have consistently decreased. Antisemitic protests, riots and attacks have dramatically increased globally since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. According to Open Doors, more than 365 million Christians in the world, or 1 in 7, face high levels of religious persecution. The human cost of attacks by Muslims against other factions within their own religion is incalculable. In China, it is illegal for children under 18 to attend church; government registration for worship is required, and digital persecution is widespread as a component of the country’s social credit system. Churches are monitored and can be shut down without warning. Religious intolerance globally matters because it has historically been a companion to democide and other aspects of the societal collapse that help breed authoritarianism. Integrating religious liberty benchmarks into our diplomacy is critical to global stability. The incoming Trump administration’s recommitment to religious liberty at home and abroad will provide assurance not only to Americans but also to billions around the world that this cornerstone of free and advanced societies is not fading but rather affirmed. Advancing religious freedom isn’t about military or diplomatic adventurism. It recognizes the indisputable truth that more tolerant societies are freer, more peaceful and more resistant to communism and authoritarianism, a growing global calamity. Leftists in America have a perverted view of freedom and religion, consistently espousing that we should be free from religion. If we do that, we shall neither enjoy freedom nor religion. Getting the border under control, cutting taxes and reducing the deficit are all critically important goals for President-elect Trump. We should pray, however, that our first freedom again be revered, celebrated and exported as well. Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. . 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Winning start for Ruud Van Nistelrooy as Leicester beat West HamRALEIGH, N.C. — “It was a somber afternoon.” Nico Sturm shared how the San Jose Sharks found out about the Mackenzie Blackwood trade to the Colorado Avalanche. The Sharks had just practiced at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, right before a flight to Raleigh. Blackwood was a full participant in a hard, hour-long practice, and it looked like business as usual for a San Jose squad that was trying to keep its spirits up after back-to-back lopsided losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. Jake Walman, for example, tried to engage Mario Ferraro in a play-fight in a lighter moment on the ice. “After practice, we all went on the bus,” Sturm said after Tuesday morning skate at Lenovo Center, before the Sharks take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. “Bus doesn’t leave, something’s going on, you hear some rumors, and then, I think Warso talked to the leadership group and find out, made a trade.” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky shared, “When Blacky gets traded, it was right in front of the bus, and every guy got off the bus and gave him a hug.” None of this was for show: Mackenzie Blackwood was genuinely beloved in the Sharks locker room, which GM Mike Grier spoke to yesterday. Alternate captain Ferraro, much the same way himself, appreciated Blackwood’s relentless positivity through two tough seasons. The Sharks have won just 29 of their last 112 games since Blackwood joined the team in the summer of 2023. “When the season may not be going your way, which happens to every team, you need guys to be positive and stay positive and believe in the group,” Ferraro said. “He was always someone that did that and then went out there and played his heart out for us and gave us a chance.” “Infectious guy, always positive attitude, a smile, cracking jokes. Knows when to work hard. Knows when to keep it a little looser when it’s needed,” Sturm said. “I was really close with him,” Ferraro added. “A lot of guys were, he was a team guy, great teammate, great guy to spend some time off the ice with.” Those good vibes reached even Yaroslav Askarov, who Blackwood knew was in line to eventually take his job as San Jose Sharks starter. After the 22-year-old super prospect’s first win as a Shark and first NHL assist on Nov. 25 against the Los Angeles Kings, Blackwood, who backed up Askarov that night, could be heard telling his understudy in the locker room post-game, “You’re like Bobby Orr back there with the puck!” “Loves when the boys do well, just loves the guys. He’s a great team guy,” Jake Walman said. “Any team is pretty lucky to have a guy like that.” And of course, Blackwood kept the rebuilding San Jose Sharks in a lot of games that they had no business being in over the last two years. Exhibit A, Blackwood’s debut in teal last year, a 51-save 2-1 shootout loss to the Avs. Exhibit B, Blackwood’s last game as a Sharks, a 51-save 3-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers. Mackenzie Blackwood appreciation tweet: He is the only goaltender in @NHL history who made 50 saves or more in both his first and last games for a team. He is also the first goalie in #SJSharks history to make 50+ saves in more than one game. He will do well in COL. A great guy. — Dan Rusanowsky (@DanRusanowsky) December 10, 2024 “Obviously, he’s had our back. I think you saw it last game,” Sturm said. “Bailed us out big time.” “Obviously, you know what he did for our group,” Ferraro said. “He competed every night. He kept us in a lot of games.” But like Grier alluded to yesterday, Blackwood played his way out of San Jose. There’s a reason why Colorado, eyeing a deep playoff run, wanted the talented netminder. The rebuilding Sharks didn’t necessarily need to lock up an overperforming 28-year-old UFA-to-be goaltender to a long contract, especially with Askarov waiting in the wings. “We all love him in here, and obviously he’ll be missed,” alternate captain Luke Kunin said. “Like everyone says, that’s an unfortunate part of the business.” It’s Warsofsky’s job to find the silver linings in a somber day, and he did. “Just like we did when we lost Matt Benning, high character people that we lose, we gotta move forward, and it almost has to bring us closer together,” he said. “That’s the type of group we have, I think they love each other and they’re brothers, and it’s painful when those decisions happen, and the business side comes out. But we got to move forward.” Sturm was part of the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche, and he’s looking forward to that for Blackwood. “I texted him yesterday, bummed to see him go, good friend, but I told him, I’m excited for him, going to a world-class organization, top-to-bottom, very structured,” Sturm shared. “I told him he’ll be a better player for it at the end of the day, you leave practices every day, you leave the rink thinking, you got better because of the quality of the organization, the coaches, the players.” Frankly, that’s not the San Jose Sharks, yet. Which is why there will be more sad days like this coming for cellar-dwellers, from now until the Mar. 7 Trade Deadline. But as the song goes, first cut is the deepest. This article first appeared on San Jose Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission.Eagle Point Credit Management sells $144,563 in Acres commercial stock

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Dan James spares Max Wober's blushes as Leeds go top with Middlesbrough winKYIV, Ukraine — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile. escalating the nearly 33-month-old war. The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday, and “taking on very dramatic dimensions.” Ukraine’s parliament canceled a session as security was tightened following Thursday’s Russian strike on a military facility in the city of Dnipro. In a stark warning to the West, President Vladimir Putin said in a nationally televised speech the attack with the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile was in retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks Friday during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, representatives of the military-industrial complex and developers of missile systems at the Kremlin in Moscow. Putin said Western air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile. Ukrainian military officials said the missile that hit Dnipro reached a speed of Mach 11 and carried six nonnuclear warheads, each releasing six submunitions. Speaking Friday to military and weapons industries officials, Putin said Russia will launch production of the Oreshnik. “No one in the world has such weapons,” he said. “Sooner or later, other leading countries will also get them. We are aware that they are under development. “We have this system now,” he added. “And this is important.” Putin said that while it isn’t an intercontinental missile, it’s so powerful that the use of several of them fitted with conventional warheads in one attack could be as devastating as a strike with strategic — or nuclear — weapons. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, head of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, said the Oreshnik could reach targets across Europe and be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads, echoing Putin’s claim that even with conventional warheads, “the massive use of the weapon would be comparable in effect to the use of nuclear weapons.” In this photo taken from a video released Friday, a Russian serviceman operates at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov kept up Russia's bellicose tone on Friday, blaming “the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries” in supplying weapons to Ukraine to strike Russia. "The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns were not taken into account have also been quite clearly outlined," he said. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the European Union, echoed Moscow’s talking points, suggesting the use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Ukraine likely requires direct American involvement. “These are rockets that are fired and then guided to a target via an electronic system, which requires the world’s most advanced technology and satellite communications capability,” Orbán said on state radio. “There is a strong assumption ... that these missiles cannot be guided without the assistance of American personnel.” Orbán cautioned against underestimating Russia’s responses, emphasizing that the country’s recent modifications to its nuclear deployment doctrine should not be dismissed as a “bluff.” “It’s not a trick ... there will be consequences,” he said. Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky speaks to journalists Friday during a joint news conference with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriiy Sybiha in Kyiv, Ukraine. Separately in Kyiv, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called Thursday’s missile strike an “escalatory step and an attempt of the Russian dictator to scare the population of Ukraine and to scare the population of Europe.” At a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Lipavský also expressed his full support for delivering the necessary additional air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians from the “heinous attacks.” He said the Czech Republic will impose no limits on the use of its weapons and equipment given to Ukraine. Three lawmakers from Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that Friday's previously scheduled session was called off due to the ongoing threat of Russian missiles targeting government buildings in central Kyiv. In addition, there also was a recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and nongovernmental organizations "in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who said it's not the first time such a threat has been received. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the Oreshnik missile was fired from the Kapustin Yar 4th Missile Test Range in Russia’s Astrakhan region and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. Test launches of a similar missile were conducted in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed the missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. Thursday's attack struck the Pivdenmash plant that built ICBMs when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The military facility is located about 4 miles southwest of the center of Dnipro, a city of about 1 million that is Ukraine’s fourth-largest and a key hub for military supplies and humanitarian aid, and is home to one of the country’s largest hospitals for treating wounded soldiers from the front before their transfer to Kyiv or abroad. We're all going to die someday. Still, how it happens—and when—can point to a historical moment defined by the scientific advancements and public health programs available at the time to contain disease and prevent accidents. In the early 1900s, America's efforts to improve sanitation, hygiene, and routine vaccinations were still in their infancy. Maternal and infant mortality rates were high, as were contagious diseases that spread between people and animals. Combined with the devastation of two World Wars—and the Spanish Flu pandemic in between—the leading causes of death changed significantly after this period. So, too, did the way we diagnose and control the spread of disease. Starting with reforms as part of Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s, massive-scale, federal interventions in the U.S. eventually helped stave off disease transmission. It took comprehensive government programs and the establishment of state and local health agencies to educate the public on preventing disease transmission. Seemingly simple behavioral shifts, such as handwashing, were critical in thwarting the spread of germs, much like discoveries in medicine, such as vaccines, and increased access to deliver them across geographies. Over the course of the 20th century, life expectancy increased by 56% and is estimated to keep increasing slightly, according to an annual summary of vital statistics published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2000. Death Records examined data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to see how the leading causes of death in America have evolved over time and to pinpoint how some major mortality trends have dropped off. According to a report published in the journal Annual Review of Public Health in 2000, pneumonia was the leading cause of death in the early 1900s, accounting for nearly 1 in 4 deaths. By the time World War I ended in 1918, during which people and animals were housed together for long periods, a new virus emerged: the Spanish Flu. Originating in a bird before spreading to humans, the virus killed 10 times as many Americans as the war. Many died of secondary pneumonia after the initial infection. Pneumonia deaths eventually plummeted throughout the century, partly prevented by increased flu vaccine uptake rates in high-risk groups, particularly older people. Per the CDC, tuberculosis was a close second leading cause of death, killing 194 of every 10,000 people in 1900, mainly concentrated in dense urban areas where the infection could more easily spread. Eventually, public health interventions led to drastic declines in mortality from the disease, such as public education, reducing crowded housing, quarantining people with active disease, improving hygiene, and using antibiotics. Once the death rates lagged, so did the public health infrastructure built to control the disease, leading to a resurgence in the mid-1980s. Diarrhea was the third leading cause of death in 1900, surging every summer among children before the impacts of the pathogen died out in 1930. Adopting water filtration, better nutrition, and improved refrigeration were all associated with its decline. In the 1940s and 1950s, polio outbreaks killed or paralyzed upward of half a million people worldwide every year. Even at its peak, polio wasn't a leading cause of death, it was a much-feared one, particularly among parents of young children, some of whom kept them from crowded public places and interacting with other children. By 1955, when Jonah Salk discovered the polio vaccine, the U.S. had ended the "golden age of medicine." During this period, the causes of mortality shifted dramatically as scientists worldwide began to collaborate on infectious disease control, surgical techniques, vaccines, and other drugs. From the 1950s onward, once quick-spreading deadly contagions weren't prematurely killing American residents en masse, scientists also began to understand better how to diagnose and treat these diseases. As a result, Americans were living longer lives and instead succumbing to noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs. The risk of chronic diseases increased with age and, in some cases, was exacerbated by unhealthy lifestyles. Cancer and heart disease shot up across the century, increasing 90-fold from 1900 to 1998, according to CDC data. Following the post-Spanish Flu years, heart disease killed more Americans than any other cause, peaking in the 1960s and contributing to 1 in 3 deaths. Cigarette smoking rates peaked at the same time, a major risk factor for heart disease. Obesity rates also rose, creating another risk factor for heart disease and many types of cancers. This coincides with the introduction of ultra-processed foods into diets, which plays a more significant role in larger waistlines than the increasing predominance of sedentary work and lifestyles. In the early 1970s, deaths from heart disease began to fall as more Americans prevented and managed their risk factors, like quitting smoking or taking blood pressure medicine. However, the disease remains the biggest killer of Americans. Cancer remains the second leading cause of death and rates still indicate an upward trajectory over time. Only a few types of cancer are detected early by screening, and some treatments for aggressive cancers like glioblastoma—the most common type of brain cancer—have also stalled, unable to improve prognosis much over time. In recent years, early-onset cancers, those diagnosed before age 50 or sometimes even earlier, have seen a drastic rise among younger Americans. While highly processed foods and sedentary lifestyles may contribute to rising rates, a spike in cancer rates among otherwise healthy young individuals has baffled some medical professionals. This follows the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. At its peak, high transmission rates made the virus the third leading cause of death in America. It's often compared to the Spanish Flu of 1918, though COVID-19 had a far larger global impact, spurring international collaborations among scientists who developed a vaccine in an unprecedented time. Public policy around issues of safety and access also influences causes of death, particularly—and tragically—among young Americans. Gun control measures in the U.S. are far less stringent than in peer nations; compared to other nations, however, the U.S. leads in gun violence. Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens (around 2 in 3 are homicides, and 1 in 3 are suicides), and deaths from opioids remain a leading cause of death among younger people. Globally, the leading causes of death mirror differences in social and geographic factors. NCDs are primarily associated with socio-economic status and comprise 7 out of 10 leading causes of death, 85% of those occurring in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. However, one of the best health measures is life expectancy at birth. People in the U.S. have been living longer lives since 2000, except for a slight dip in longevity due to COVID-19. According to the most recent CDC estimates, Americans' life expectancy is 77.5 years on average and is expected to increase slightly in the coming decades. Story editing by Alizah Salario. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick. This story originally appeared on Death Records and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Get local news delivered to your inbox!

AUM of USD 635 Billion at ADFW Caps Stellar Q4 as Trillion-Dollar Club Flock to ADGMCentral Division opponents meet when Predators host the Jets

ABU DHABI , UAE , Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ADGM, the leading international financial centre of Abu Dhabi and a globally recognised hub for asset and wealth management unveiled nineteen major announcements from global financial institutions during the third edition of ADFW. These represent almost USD 635 billion in assets under management (AUM) and follow other Q4 announcements from the world's largest asset managers, BlackRock, PGIM, and Nuveen, which have also been set up in ADGM. This remarkable increase, from USD 450 billion to USD 635 billion , within a year has reinforced the centre's reputation as the region's fastest-growing and one of the world's most dynamic jurisdictions for asset management. This growth has been further bolstered by the establishment of billionaire-led family offices, including those of British businessman Asif Aziz , prominent philanthropist and financial strategist Wafic Said , and Singaporean entrepreneur and real estate leader Kishin RK, underscoring the centre's growing appeal as a global wealth management hub. Commenting on Abu Dhabi and ADGM's continued momentum, H.E. Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi , Member of Abu Dhabi's Executive Council & Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and ADGM said, "These milestones reflect the heart of what makes Abu Dhabi so special—a shared vision of progress, partnership, and possibility. The growing number of global financial leaders and innovators choosing ADGM is a testament to the trust they place in our infrastructure, robust regulations, commitment to excellence and Abu Dhabi's reputation as the world's safest and most dynamic jurisdiction for asset and wealth management. As we welcome these new partnerships, we remain dedicated to driving the growth and diversification of the 'Falcon Economy' and creating opportunities that resonate across industries and borders. It's an exciting moment for ADGM, Abu Dhabi , and all those who are part of this remarkable journey." Larry Fink , Chairman and CEO of Blackrock praised Abu Dhabi commenting, "It's been a long journey watching how Abu Dhabi has matured as an economy. The constant innovation that I'm seeing from the economy and from the leadership. And Abu Dhabi has really positioned itself to become a leader over the next 20 years. Its psychology was different, and now it's blossoming into this magnet of opportunity. With that strength, it is now becoming a foundation for innovation." "We see a real burgeoning of entrepreneurship happening in the region and believe that the Middle East is the next big entrepreneurial hot spot. We've watched this happen before and always had our eye out on areas emerging in terms of entrepreneurship," said Bill Ford , Chairman & CEO of General Atlantic , during the second day of ADFW. Sir Paul Marshall , Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Marshall Wace said, " Abu Dhabi is such a great place. Abu Dhabi is absolutely nailing it. It's a very attractive place." Confirming their establishment in ADGM during ADFW were leading private equity firms General Atlantic, Lone Star Funds, and Investindustrial along with private credit giants Golub Capital and Polen Capital, insurance manager – Eldridge as well as leading global equity management company, Carta and hedge fund Marshall Wace . This recent wave of commitments from global financial institutions signifies ADGM's leadership in attracting the world's foremost investment firms. Reflecting this confidence and growth, billionaire-led family offices have also been drawn to ADGM, recognising it as a trusted hub for managing and growing wealth. Asif Aziz , Founder and CEO of Criterion Capital commented, " Abu Dhabi's transformation into a global financial powerhouse makes it an ideal base for our operations. ADGM's world-class infrastructure and strategic location provide unparalleled opportunities to forge partnerships that align with our growth ambitions across the UAE and beyond." Building on its role as a leading destination for global investors and asset managers, ADGM is also redefining financial innovation by advancing its digital ecosystem. A cornerstone of this effort was the launch of Finstreet, a first-of-its-kind international securities market and an ecosystem for private securities, which exemplifies ADGM's commitment to integrating cutting-edge digital solutions with its robust financial infrastructure. The week also saw a new funding round for Themis and the entry of international digital pioneers Zodia Markets, Polygon Labs, FJ Labs, Aptos Digital, Chainlinks, Astra Tech and Themis, further solidifying the Emirate's reputation as a global innovation hub. Meanwhile, FinTech Astra Tech's Quantix announcement of a landmark USD 500 million financing from Citigroup, among the largest provided to a UAE FinTech company to date, to expand its CashNow consumer lending platform. Additionally, Themis—renowned for its advanced financial crime prevention technologies—is further reinforcing ADGM's position as a hub for the next generation of financial technologies, secured over USD 9.75 million in scale-up funding, building on its success in partnerships with global leaders, including ADGM underscoring its role in advancing financial crime prevention in innovative regulatory environments. The market announcements were released during the third edition of ADFW held under the theme "Welcome to the Capital of Capital," which gathered more than 20,000 leaders and executives from across the financial services industry, which collectively represented more than USD 42 trillion in assets under management. This wave of newcomers ADFW underscores Abu Dhabi's position as a global financial powerhouse and ADGM's role as a catalyst for economic diversification, attracting top-tier talent, cutting-edge technologies, and transformative investments that are shaping the emirate's future. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2550581/5010772/ADGM_Logo.jpg View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aum-of-usd-635-billion-at-adfw-caps-stellar-q4-as-trillion-dollar-club-flock-to-adgm-302336607.html SOURCE ADGM

On December 10, a federal court in Oregon issued a preliminary injunction against Kroger's proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, which would have been the largest supermarket merger in US history (Albertsons terminated the merger agreement after the ruling). 1 The Federal Trade Commission, the District of Columbia, and eight States filed the suit in February 2024, alleging that the transaction would substantially lessen competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act. The opinion by Judge Adrienne Nelson tackled a number of interesting antitrust issues, including the government's allegation that the merger would reduce competition not only for grocery store sales but also for union grocery store labor. However, one of the most instructive aspects of the opinion is the court's rejection of the defendants' proposed divestiture package. We have outlined the scope of the competitive problem that the divestiture needed to mitigate, the parameters of the proposed divestiture, and the deficiencies the court found. Companies assuming that divestitures will eliminate regulatory concerns about the anticompetitive impact of a transaction should examine whether there is a divestiture package that is commercially acceptable and that can account for the concerns Judge Nelson highlighted. The antitrust agencies and courts will almost certainly use this latest judicial decision as guidance when evaluating such proposals. Competitive Problem The government's economic expert offered what the court found to be a persuasive market concentration analysis showing the merger would be presumptively anticompetitive in 1,574 local geographic markets for "supermarkets" and 1,785 local geographic markets for "large format stores" (i.e., traditional supermarkets and supercenters, natural and gourmet food stores, club stores, and limited assortment stores). The court also found evidence (ordinary course documents and witness testimony) of substantial head-to-head competition between the merging firms bolstered the government's case. Finally, the court credited the government's expert's analysis showing that the loss of head-to-head competition would lead to price increases at numerous stores. The government thus put forth a multiprong prima facie showing that the merger would lessen competition substantially. On rebuttal, the defendants first sought to establish that competitive entry and merger efficiencies would mitigate the merger's anticompetitive effects, but the court was not convinced. The defendants then attempted to show that their proposed divestiture remedy would solve the competitive concerns. Divestiture Proposal Defendants entered into an agreement — contingent on the merger closing — to divest 96 Kroger stores and 483 Albertsons stores to a third party. The proposed third-party divestiture buyer is primarily a wholesaler but has acquired retail chains in the past and currently operates approximately 25 stores. The divestiture package also included ownership of four store banners, a license to use two other banners in certain states, ownership of five private label brands, a temporary license to use two other brands, six distribution centers, and one dairy manufacturing plant. A transition services agreement provided the divestiture buyer the right to use certain of the defendants' services, technology, and data for periods ranging from six months to four years. Deficiencies The court explained numerous ways in which the Kroger-Albertsons divestiture package was inadequate to sufficiently mitigate the anticompetitive effects of the merger and overcome the government's showing of a substantial lessening of competition: Many markets unaddressed – The court noted that 113 of the presumptively unlawful markets did not contain even a single store to be divested, meaning the divestiture would have done nothing to change the merger's anticompetitive effects in those markets. (The high number of unaddressed markets was in part a function of the fact that the defendants' economic expert utilized a market definition method and applied market concentration presumption thresholds that differed from those the government advanced and the court adopted.) Many markets insufficiently addressed – Other markets contained divestiture stores, but those divestitures were insufficient to take away a presumption of harm. Crediting the government's economic expert, the court noted that even if all the proposed divestitures were perfectly successful, the merger would still have been presumptively unlawful in 1,002 local supermarket markets and 551 large format store markets based on market concentration levels. Risk of unsuccessful divestitures – The court also agreed with the government's analysis showing that if divested stores were to lose sales or close, the number of presumptively problematic markets would rise significantly. For example, if the divested supermarkets were to lose 10 percent of their sales, the number of presumptively unlawful markets would increase from 1,002 to 1,035. If they lose 30 percent of their sales, the number would increase to 1,276. Mixed and matched assets – The divestiture package did not represent an existing, standalone, fully functioning company but rather a mix of stores, banners, private labels, and other assets. This meant the buyer would have had to rebanner 286 of the 579 divested stores (and for some of these stores, the buyer would not be acquiring any banner currently used in the state). The court cited testimony from the government's expert in retail operations and consumer shopping behavior, as well as other witnesses, explaining that rebannering is complicated and risky. The divestiture buyer also would have eventually lost access to many Kroger and Albertsons private label brands that customers are familiar with and would need to replace those with new private label products. The court noted witness testimony emphasizing the importance of private label brand equity and recounting the time required to launch a new private label brand. Divestiture size – The court expressed concern that with only 604 total stores (25 existing stores plus the 579 divested stores), the divestiture buyer may not have replaced the competitive intensity lost from Kroger and Albertsons, each of which had thousands of stores. Divestiture buyer's experience – The court was concerned that the divestiture buyer had no experience running a large portfolio of retail grocery stores. The 579 divestiture stores included hundreds of pharmacies and fuel centers, whereas the buyer's current 25 stores include only one pharmacy and no fuel centers. The court also noted that the buyer's experience offering private label products was much more limited than what the divestiture stores demand and that the buyer currently lacks any retail media capabilities, which would have taken three years to set up. Divestiture buyer's track record – The buyer has made divestiture purchases in the past, which the court noted have not been successful. Specifically, the buyer acquired 334 retail grocery stores between 2001 and 2012, but only three remained under its operation by the end of 2012 (the rest were closed or sold off). The court also cited evidence that the buyer's current stores are performing below expectations. Transfer of employees – Approximately 1,000 Albertsons employees agreed to transfer to the divestiture buyer, including Albertsons' current Chief Operating Officer, who had experience with prior divestiture integrations. The court found, however, that these transfers would not have fully mitigated the buyer's inexperience and lack of success in grocery retail and could not overcome difficulties inherent in the selection of assets and structure of the transition services agreement in the divestiture package. Divestiture buyer's independence – The court viewed the transition services agreement as broad in services and time. It noted that the buyer would remain interdependent with the merged firm for many years. The court expressed particular concern over the fact that Kroger would have provided sales forecasting data and a base pricing plan to the buyer, which the buyer could have adjusted only by communicating with Kroger's "clean room."Data breach may impact thousands of Monument Health patients

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A completed wetland mitigation project in Calhoun County. (Photo courtesy of Iowa Agricultural Mitigation) Iowa Agricultural Mitigation Inc. is restoring wetlands in Iowa and offsetting the costs by selling the credits back to farmers who farm wetland acres on their farms. Recently the nonprofit was awarded just under $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to restore 75 acres of wetland in Wright County as part of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Mitigation Banking Program. Eric Rector, the Wright County Conservation Board director, said he wanted to start a water quality project in his county because he doesn’t think “the needle is moving very fast on those statewide.” According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources , 11% of Iowa’s surface area was wetland prior to European settlement of the state. Since then, 95% of wetlands have been drained in the state, and a recent study from the Union of Concerned Scientists reported Iowa has 640,000 acres of wetlands. The same report found that wetlands in Iowa alone could mitigate $477 million worth of flood damage to residential areas, if the ecological systems are protected from agricultural practices that drain, fill or divert water from the wetlands. The project in Wright County would restore 75 acres of wetlands and stock the Iowa Agricultural Mitigation bank with wetland credits for farmers to purchase and offset affected wetlands on their properties. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Kevin Griggs, the program manager for Iowa Agricultural Mitigation , has been part of the project since its inception in 2010. Griggs said the nonprofit was founded with a mission to restore wetlands in Iowa and generate mitigation credits for farmers at a low cost. A wetland conservation provision of the 1985 Farm Bill, commonly called “ swampbuster ” discourages agricultural production on wetlands by restricting a farmer’s ability to receive USDA benefits if they engage in any activities that alter the wetland. Farmers who have drained or altered wetlands on their property to create more productive farmland can purchase credits from the wetland mitigation bank, acre-for-acre, to stay in compliance with swampbuster. “They’re able to solve an important issue that they’ve got in their farming operation by simply writing a check and filling out a form,” Griggs said. Farmers always have the option to restore wetlands on their own property, but Griggs said the farmed and tilled acres are usually “low quality” wetlands. Union of Concerned Scientists pushes for wetland protections in Farm Bill “Our intent all along was, well, maybe it’s okay to replace those low quality wetlands with high quality wetlands someplace else,” Griggs said. Griggs looks for areas that could result in a more substantial wetland. Most of the time, that’s in north central Iowa, also known as the Des Moines lobe, where the majority of tile drainage occurs in the state. “That’s the most common place to find the need for mitigation credits, so appropriately, that is where most of our mitigation sites are located,” Griggs said. The mitigation bank aims to restore wetlands that are in the same watershed as the farmers who are buying the mitigation credits, but has accommodated some credit-purchasers who aren’t directly in the same watershed. “Until we have established mitigation sites in multiple watersheds across the state, (NRCS) are allowing us to mitigate wetlands from other places, at the existing sites,” Griggs said. A spokesperson for NRCS said in a statement landowners “play an important role in restoring and protecting wetland health on working agricultural lands” and wetland mitigation banking “provides an alternative option to agricultural producers looking to compensate for impacts to wetlands on their lands.” To generate a mitigation credit, a wetland site has to be improved. For example, Griggs explained an easy project would be to take a historically wet field and remove or plug any drainage systems installed by a farmer in order to “restore the natural hydrologic regime of that landscape.” Other projects are more intensive and require some construction to restore the landscape and seed native wetland plants. Landowners are paid for a permanent easement, meaning once the wetland is established, “it has to remain wetland forever.” He said most of the landowners the bank works with are looking for a way to restore their land and have been happy to work with the mitigation bank program. The payments farmers make for the credits go straight to the next mitigation project, which is why Griggs said they decided to run the organization as a nonprofit. “The fear was that if it was run as a commercial operation, that the credit prices would deter people from using the program,” Griggs said. “So the goal of the project is to keep our credit prices as low as we can so that we get more people to participate.” To date, Griggs said the mitigation bank has over 10 “bank sites” or restored wetlands, and has sold credits to more than 300 farmers in Iowa. Iowa Agricultural Mitigation was recently a partner in a large project with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to close the last remaining agricultural drainage wells , and redirect drainage to a restored wetland site. Griggs said the organization provided most of the construction costs for the restored wetland and in return will sell the mitigation credits. “And that just continues to perpetuate the ability that we have to find the next site and produce more credits and restore more wetlands,” Griggs said. Iowa Agricultural Mitigation has made use of several grants from USDA. The nonprofit was the only Iowa project in the recent $7 million allocation from the department. Other winning projects were in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. Griggs said the goal of the project is to restore wetland in an area between Lake Cornelia and Elm Lake in Wright County. A goal is to eventually include a connection to Elm Lake, which is on the Department of Natural Resources’ list of impaired waters for high algal growth and turbidity . “So that’s exciting for us in a number of ways, because we can see another big water quality success story,” Griggs said. Rector, in Wright County, said the project is just beginning. As of early December, he did not have commitments from landowners for the proposed 75-acre site which is currently used as crop land. “We can expand a little bit and move out away from this area, as long as it provides the same type of results or more,” Rector said regarding the potential of landowners who are unwilling to sell for the project. Rector said the wetland restoration project would “kill a lot of birds with a few stones” because it would give Iowans another area for outdoor recreation in the county and help improve the quality of the lakes, which prior to recent conservation efforts, weren’t “worth a darn” for fishing. Rector said he hopes folks in his county will see the importance of projects like this that will improve water quality issues. “Instead of hanging back and letting everybody else do it, let’s take a proactive approach instead of reactive approach,” Rector said. “Our water is polluted with nitrogen and chemicals, and our soil is blowing away every year, and we need to do something about it now, instead of later.” SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE

OrthAlign, Inc. Announces First Cases Using Lantern® Hip; The Next Evolution in Total Hip Replacement Technology.However, the N-Dubz star has since left the jungle following a public vote but viewers of the show are shocked at her actions since. Before heading into the Australian jungle, celebrities often share pictures of themselves in their camp uniforms and the ITV show also shares videos and images of them while they’re in there which they share to their own personal accounts. However, viewers noticed the lack of Instagram posts about Tulisa’s time in the jungle following her exit. A post shared by I'm a Celebrity... (@imacelebrity) Taking to X, formerly Twitter, fans of the show noticed the singer has deleted her posts about the ITV show and her involvement. After leaving the show, Tulisa would’ve been given her phone back so it’s likely she deleted the posts herself. One viewer said: “Why has Tulisa deleted everything from her socials in relation to #ImACeleb”. (function (d, s, n) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; js = d.createElement(s); js.className = n; js.src = "//player.ex.co/player/0008dd41-f31c-44de-a0a3-ba938132aa75"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); js.setAttribute('programmatic', 'true'); js.onload = function () { const playerApi237931 = ExCoPlayer.connect('0008dd41-f31c-44de-a0a3-ba938132aa75'); playerApi237931.init({ "autoPlay": false, "mute": true, "showAds": true, "playbackMode": "play-in-view", "content": { "playFirst": [ { "title": "How much is Ant and Dec's net worth?", "src": "https://large-cdn.ex.co/transformations/production/3dac3c05-257d-45d2-b760-c1524f8b72f3/720p.mp4" } ], "playlistId": "649d6add8b6b9000128a9a17" }, "sticky": { "mode": "persistent", "closeButton": true, "pauseOnClose": true, "desktop": { "enabled": false, "position": "bottom-right" }, "mobile": { "enabled": false, "position": "upper-small" } }}); }; }(document, 'script', 'exco-player')); Another commented: “Why has Tulisa deleted all traces of I’m a celeb off her socials?” A third called the singer out, saying: “So grateful you delete all trace of I’m a Celeb on your Instagram ey Tulisa?” After public votes, three celebrities have been eliminated from the ITV show so far. Loose Women star Jane Moore was the first to leave while Dean McCullough, a BBC Radio 1 presenter, was the second to be reunited with loved ones. Recommended reading: N-Dubz star Tulisa was the third to leave the jungle and said: “It is tough in there, leaving is still a happy thing.” Speaking about her I'm A Celebrity experience, she added: “I just think you're more grateful for everything, the food you eat, being around the people you love, the home comforts, just makes you very appreciative of life.” Tonight (December 3), another celebrity will leave the jungle. I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues nightly at 9pm on ITV1, STV and ITVX.

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