betfred sports Israel strikes Houthi rebels in Yemen's capital while the WHO chief says he was meters away JERUSALEM (AP) — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen have targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports. The World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment on Thursday took place just “meters away” as he was about to board a flight in Sanaa. He says a crew member was hurt. The strikes followed several days of Houthi attacks and launches setting off sirens in Israel. Israel's military says it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa, power stations and ports. The Israeli military later said it wasn’t aware that the WHO chief was at the location in Yemen. The US says it pushed retraction of a famine warning for north Gaza. Aid groups express concern. WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they asked for — and got — the retraction of an independent monitor's warning of imminent famine in north Gaza. The internationally Famine Early Warning System Network issued the warning this week. The new report had warned that starvation deaths in north Gaza could reach famine levels as soon as next month. It cited what it called Israel's “near-total blockade” of food and water. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, criticized the finding as inaccurate and irresponsible. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the famine-monitoring group, told the AP it had asked for and gotten the report's retraction. USAID officials tell The Associated Press that it had asked the group for greater review of discrepancies in some of the data. Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans in Congress plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. They want to push through long-sought changes such as voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore public confidence in elections. That's after an erosion of trust that Democrats note has been fueled by false claims from Donald Trump and his allies of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Democrats say they are willing to work with the GOP but want any changes to make it easier, not harder, to vote. Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning out NEW YORK (AP) — A lot of Americans, after an intense presidential election campaign, are looking for a break in political news. That's evident in cable television news ratings and a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans saying they've found the need recently to cut down on their consumption of political and government news. That's particularly true among Democrats following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, although a significant number of Republicans and independents feel the same way. Cable networks MSNBC and CNN are really seeing a slump. That's also happened in years past for networks that particularly appeal to supporters of one candidate. New York to charge fossil fuel companies for damage from climate change ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Large fossil fuel companies would have to pay fees to help New York fight the effects of climate change under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The governor signed the new law Thursday. It requires companies responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state infrastructure fund for repairs or projects that help avoid future damage from climate change. Lawmakers approved the bill earlier this year. It's meant to make big oil and gas companies contribute to the cost of repairs after extreme weather events or for resiliency projects. Such projects may include restoring coastal wetlands or upgrading roads, bridges and water drainage systems. Legal challenges to the new law are expected. Aviation experts say Russia's air defense fire likely caused Azerbaijan plane crash as nation mourns Aviation experts say that Russian air defense fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday for the victims of the crash. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy battlefield losses KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks. The intelligence agency said Thursday that Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. Ukraine's president said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh, architect of economic reforms, dies aged 92 NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, has died. He was 92. The hospital said Singh was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences late Thursday after his health deteriorated due to “sudden loss of consciousness at home." He was “being treated for age-related medical conditions,” the statement added. A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers for 10 years and earned a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. But his sterling image was tainted by allegations of corruption against his ministers. How the stock market defied expectations again this year, by the numbers NEW YORK (AP) — What a wonderful year 2024 has been for investors. U.S. stocks ripped higher and carried the S&P 500 to records as the economy kept growing and the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates. The benchmark index posted its first back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% since 1998. The year featured many familiar winners, such as Big Tech, which got even bigger as their stock prices kept growing. But it wasn’t just Apple, Nvidia and the like. Bitcoin and gold surged and “Roaring Kitty” reappeared to briefly reignite the meme stock craze. Why this Mexican American woman played a vital role in the US sacramental peyote trade MIRANDO CITY, Texas (AP) — Amada Cardenas, a Mexican American woman who lived in the tiny border town of Mirando City in South Texas, played an important role in the history of the peyote trade. She and her husband were the first federally licensed peyote dealers who harvested and sold the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church in the 1930s. After her husband's death in 1967, Cardenas continued to welcome generations of Native American Church members to her home until her death in 2005, just before her 101st birthday.

Key Takeaways In any business's journey, leaders must make tough calls about what products to keep offering and which to discontinue in order to facilitate long-term profitability and growth. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO in 1997, he found a company that was bloated and underperforming. He decided to scrap over 70% of the existing product line, which included over a dozen versions of the MacIntosh computer and focused on four key products: two desktop computers and two "portable" laptops. Jobs had the company design sleek, eye-catching products that performed as well or better than their competition. He defended the decision to eliminate dozens of existing offerings by saying , "Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do." It's hard to imagine that Apple would have ever become the biggest company in the world without Jobs' bold decision to streamline Apple's bloated product line and start from scratch. Related: Advice From the Greats: Deciding When to Retire a Product Jobs' scorched earth approach worked for Apple, but your own product assessment doesn't have to be as drastic. Here are key considerations: Is the product generating profits? The profitability of a given product is the simplest way to determine its ongoing viability. If you are continuing to invest in a product that people do not want to buy, sometimes you need to put your ego aside and declare defeat. But it's not always as simple as the bottom line of sales and profit. Costco has famously kept the price of its hotdog/soda combo at $1.50 since 1985, and it's become part of the company's brand legacy. Adjusted for inflation, the combo should cost around $4.50, but the company knows the loss leader is a draw for its customers and a good way to foster brand loyalty . The combo is as much a part of Costco's identity as its giant shopping carts and bulk offerings. But when assessing any product — even a potential loss leader that helps you in the big picture — you have to know the profit margin of the product and understand how it is performing over time. There are many methods to track product profitability, including calculating operating margin , net profit margin or gross profit margin , which subtracts the cost of goods sold (COGS) from the overall profit. If the overall revenue from a product is $100,000 in a given period and the COGS is $30,000, the product's gross profit margin is $70,000 or 70%. The method of calculation isn't as important as consistently tracking the data with the same metric for a long enough period to account for short-term variations like winter holiday sales increases and seasonal drop-offs. I recommend tracking at least two years of data before making any decisions. That will give you a solid picture of how your product performs in terms of profitability and overall sales trends. There is no correct answer on what level of profitability is acceptable, given that profit margins can vary significantly from one sector to another, and each business has its own profit goals. But, if your product is consistently losing money and not creating other benefits (e.g., the Costco hot dog combo that created returning customers), it's time to move on. Related: Is It Time to Let Go of Your Business? How to Adapt When Your Product Stagnates Does the product continue to meet a market need? Technological advancements can make once-profitable products obsolete. It's important to regularly assess whether your product is currently meeting a market need and if it will continue to do so in the near future. In the automotive industry, there is a significant shift underway to electric vehicles. Sales of EVs rose in Q3 of 2024 to almost 9% of total vehicle sales in the U.S., compared to 5.3% in Q1 of 2022. Does that mean car companies should abandon their non-EV products? Of course not. The gas-engine Ford F-15 continues to be the country's top-selling vehicle , selling over 750,000 units. The best-selling EV was the Tesla-Y, with 403,000 units. So, while there is a clear demand for EVs, it does not mean that Ford should abandon its best-selling product anytime soon. So, you need to regularly undertake an honest assessment of your product's viability in the current and future markets. Bigger businesses can hire market research firms to conduct a thorough analysis of where your product stands against competitors and assess its future viability against predicted market trends. For smaller businesses, Google Trends is a free tool that lets them do their own market research by assessing customer behavior — even on a regional basis — and overall industry trends and product demand. There are dozens of excellent tutorials online. Regularly exploring market and sales trends will give you a feel for the market, where it's going, and where your product fits in. Just like if you're looking to sell your house, you need to familiarize yourself with the housing market in your area so you can become attuned to its trends, prices, and level of demand so you can price your house for optimal profit. How do your customers feel about your product? Before making any changes to your product lines, it's important to take into account how your customers feel. Consider the example of Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that offered mobile devices with physical keyboards via its BlackBerry line. RIM dominated the market from the late 2000s to 2011 with a loyal customer base who loved the company's physical keyboards. When RIM started to lose ground after the launch of the Apple iPhone and Android platforms — with their increasingly popular touchscreens — RIM tried to keep pace by making both a touchscreen and physical keyboard version of the product. To offset the increased production costs, they outsourced manufacturing from Canada to Taiwan and the quality of the devices plummeted. Eventually, the diminished quality of the new products failed to attract new customers and turned away those previously loyal to Blackberry. The takeaway is that keeping track of consumer trends is important, but it can be more important to consider your own customer's preferences before undertaking drastic changes. Online surveys following purchases allow customers to provide direct, immediate feedback on the product, with Survey Monkey and Typeform offering affordable solutions. Social media searches are less representative of the broader market as people typically only post about products they love or hate, but they gauge how customers feel at a given moment. Hootsuite and Brandwatch are both excellent tools to assist your analysis. Focus groups with customers are another tool to dig deeper into how customers view your product, whether they will repurchase it, or how it could be refined for broader appeal. Conducting a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey is another useful way to gauge how customers perceive your product and whether they are promoters or detractors when discussing your offering with others. A high NPS indicates a strong product perception, while a low score means there is an issue that you'll need to dig into. Ultimately, evaluating a product's contributions to your company's bottom line and whether it will deliver significant strategic value in the future can be more art than science. However, the tools above should provide a solid foundation for understanding what is working and what is not in order to sustain and grow a successful business.

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CRTC consulting on potential internet, cellphone account changes OTTAWA — Canada's telecoms regulator says it's looking for feedback on how to give consumers more control over their internet and cellphone services. The Canadian Press Nov 22, 2024 11:47 AM Nov 22, 2024 12:05 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message A person navigates to the on-line social media pages of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on a cell phone in Ottawa on May 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — Canada's telecoms regulator says it's looking for feedback on how to give consumers more control over their internet and cellphone services. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says the three consultations will run until Jan. 9, seeking feedback on potential changes around notifications, fees and self-serve options. For fees, the CRTC says it is considering preventing providers from charging customers when their cancel or change plans, making it easier for Canadians to switch. On notifications, it's looking into measures to ensure people know when their plans or discounts are about to end to avoid bill shocks. The CRTC is also exploring potential self-serve options for when customers need to change or cancel their plans to make those actions easier. It says it also soon plans to launch more consultations, including on making it easier to compare plans when shopping for internet services. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024. The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More The Mix Report of razor blade found in child's Halloween candy is 'unfounded': OPP Nov 22, 2024 1:02 PM Fox attorneys seek to dismiss shareholder lawsuit over reporting of vote rigging allegations in 2020 Nov 22, 2024 12:57 PM U.S. court tosses hostile workplace, pay discrimination claims against BlackBerry Nov 22, 2024 12:54 PM Featured Flyer

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If you want to sit around griping about the state of the world, don’t do it at a meeting of the St. Paul Optimist Club. They don’t call themselves “optimists” for nothing. The club members are “people who want to share the attitude of optimism,” said Margie Bodas, a member and one of the club’s many past presidents. “You need optimism or nothing will get done. If you don’t have optimism, you kind of just stagnate.” The Optimist Club of St. Paul , one of nearly two dozen chapters in Minnesota of Optimist International , definitely has not stagnated. One of the state’s oldest local groups, it celebrates its 100th anniversary this month. At a gala the club held a few weeks ago, a couple of dozen past presidents attended. The club has had a different president every year throughout that century, Bodas said, with the exception of a year during COVID-19. Also attending were young people who’ve received scholarships from the club, one of its most important projects. But underlying their array of community volunteering projects, the Optimists emphasize the importance of maintaining a positive outlook. It’s even written into the club’s official creed, which asks members to commit to a list of upbeat promises, such as “Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true,” and “Wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.” The strong emphasis on optimism subtly distinguishes the Optimists from other community service organizations, said Diane Koch, another member. Not that members of other groups are pessimistic, but if the Lions are known for recycling eyeglasses and Rotary places more focus on local economic growth, the Optimists are all about being hopeful for the future. “Optimism isn’t necessarily that you’re walking around giddy and smiling,” said Koch, who sometimes plucks a tenet from the creed to put at the end of an email. “It’s an attitude that ‘This too will pass. We’ll get through it.’” And the Optimist Club should know, having made it through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era in the 1930s, World War II the following decade, the arms race in the decades after that, and assorted assassinations, protests and economic ups and downs over the years. Most current members don’t remember the early decades. But they may find it comforting to remember that the nation has faced challenges at least as potentially worrisome as conflicts going on today. In fact, it’s the club’s ability to rise above such conflicts that Bodas likes most about being a member. Unlike in many social situations, she gets an opportunity to meet people whose politics may differ, and engage in a shared passion for helping youth. For instance, club members get together monthly to cook a meal for members of the Jeremiah Program, an organization that supports single mothers and their children. “If you start with your differences you’re not going to get far,” Bodas said. Club members don’t spend much time debating differences of opinion, “but they’re there and we all know who thinks what,” she said. “And we still find things that we share together that are important to us. Neither of us is going to be able to change the other person. We are able to talk about it and still get together and do stuff. I just think that’s something pretty special these days.” Optimist Club members tend to skew middle-aged or older, most ranging from 40 to 80 but with a few members in their 20s and 30s (daytime meetings can be a hurdle for people with jobs and kids at home). There’s some ethnic diversity, Bodas said. Socioeconomically, most members are in the middle-class-and-up brackets. Beyond that, though, they include “real-estate people, morticians, construction people,” said Karl Olson of Minneapolis, who has been in the club for 48 years. (There was a Minneapolis group previously, but it’s no longer operating.) “My insurance agent was in the original chartered club and said ‘Karl, you’d be a real good person to be in Optimist Club,” said the 81-year-old Olson, who retired from 3M in 2004 and became a wine representative. “So I went to a meeting. ... It was the best decision I ever made,” Olson said. “I wanted to work with children.” Through the club, Olson volunteered in a program at a St. Paul high school for students who’d been missing class, and a different project involving kids in recovery. “We’d go there once a month and have pizza with these kids. We were role models, we’d play board games, play cards, once in a while go cross-country skiing or take them on hay ride,” he said. For 30 years the St. Paul Optimists have operated a Youth Appreciation program that this year provided $3,000 post-high-school scholarships for 15 students who’d overcome some substantial challenge and have plans for continuing their education. “A lot of these kids are immigrants, the first in their family” to pursue education past high school. “It could be culinary school, it could be a trade school, it could be Macalester College, could be anything,” Olson said. Many volunteer projects struggle to find participants who can make a long-term commitment; people’s schedules are busy and many would prefer a one off. One advantage of the Optimist Club is that it lets members pitch in on volunteer opportunities as their schedules permit, without requiring long-term commitments by individuals. “Let’s say you want to do bell-ringing for Salvation Army; that’s a four-hour commitment,” Olson said. “We meet with the Jeremiah Program every month. You can go whenever your schedule’s free. ‘You always have enough people that you don’t have to say, ‘Yeah I’m going to do that for the next year.’” And members do sincerely want to find ways to help their communities. That’s what has kept the club going for its first 100 years, Bodas said. “There’s just such a similarity in belief that you can do something,” she said. “There are just so many shared values that keep us together.”

NoneOur community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! fans heaped praise on Coleen Rooney and said ‘Wagatha's back’ as she rumbled Maura Higgins and Rev Richard Coles’ camp secret. Maura and Richard entered the Australian jungle during Thursday night’s episode and are living in a separate camp named the Jungle Junkyard. The pair were horrified by the very basic camp before they discovered it was full of luxuries – including a bed and a bath - which they have been tasked with hiding from their other campmates. The mission also saw the pair convince the main camp to donate a bed to them on Thursday night, after writing them a heartfelt letter. However, at the start of Friday’s show, in a preview of the episode, it showed that suspicions have started to arise, with Coleen Rooney, 38, heard wondering if they were really struggling in Jungle Junkyard as much as they are making out. Viewers soon rushed to X to say that Coleen’s detective skills are back. One person said: “Coleen really is Wagatha Christie isn’t she #ImACeleb” Others said: “Course it’s Wagatha Christie Coleen that’s able to rumble them #ImACeleb. Get this woman in the police force, she can solve anything” and: “Of course Coleen will be first to crack the case. Wagatha's back! #ImACeleb.” Later on, during dinner time on Friday night’s episode, Maura and Richard received a full spread of fish, sides and dessert - unbeknownst to the main camp. The note which accompanied it read: "However, as the celebrities in main camp believe you won zero stars in today’s Trial, they have been given the chance to sacrifice some of their dinner so that you can eat tonight. If they decide to sacrifice their food then you win three more portions at the junk food buffet.” Main camp decided to give up some of their dinner, with Coleen and Danny Jones delivering the goods to the Jungle Junkyard to check Maura, Richard and Dean, who has newly joined them in their camp. However, when Coleen and Danny returned back to main camp, Coleen aired her suspicions. She said: "To be honest, they looked better than they did yesterday. "I got this look and it's like they are not telling us the truth. There's something they are not telling us." She added: "I came out of there not convinced they are living in them conditions." It comes after Coleen said going to court over her Wagatha Christie feud with Rebekah Vardy was her “worst nightmare” as she felt she was “putting on a show for the whole world”, but added she was not scared about making the viral post which kicked off the dispute. Coleen, who is married to ex-England footballer Wayne Rooney, was asked about the high-profile libel trial with Rebekah, the wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, during Monday’s episode of I’m A Celebrity. Coleen was dubbed Wagatha Christie when she accused Rebekah of leaking her private information to the press. In July 2022, a judge at the High Court found the post was “substantially true”. GK Barry asked Coleen if she was scared to make the social media post, to which Coleen said: “No, because I just didn’t think it would have the impact it did, because I was just that sick and tired of it, it was draining.” “That was my worst nightmare to go to court... I felt ashamed going to court because I am not that type to play things out in public. “I just felt like it was like putting on a show for the whole world. I didn’t want that, I wanted to settle it before and get it done with. “What got me, over the whole thing, was it became a bit of a joke and that’s really disappointing, it wasn’t a joke for me. “...But no one knew the full story.”

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The United Nations is calling for an urgent revival of Iran nuclear deal talks, emphasizing the deal's significance for global peace. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the U.S. withdrew in 2018, remains a focal point for international diplomacy. In legal news, Luigi Mangione has been indicted for the murder of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson. Prosecutors describe Mangione's act as a calculated attempt to 'sow terror,' with potential life imprisonment looming if found guilty. Meanwhile, Canada has committed to enhanced border security, engaging in discussions with the U.S. about surveillance and technology strategies. This initiative aims to bolster bilateral relations as the countries navigate changing political climates. (With inputs from agencies.)None