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Where is Ellen Show child star Sophia Grace Brownlee now? The youngster went viral with her enthusiastic cover of Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass’; now she’s an influencer about to have her second babyAs is the case every year, there was a fair bit of controversy after the College Football Playoff committee set the field for the first 12-team playoff on Sunday. One discussion amongst fans was the seeding of Penn State, Ohio State and Notre Dame. Penn State earned the No. 6 seed despite losing to Ohio State, which is the No. 8 seed. Between them sits Notre Dame at No. 7. On The Rich Eisen Show, College Football Playoff committee chair Warde Manuel broke down the thought process behind the seeding, saying that the committee favored the Nittany Lions for their performance against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship. He also pointed to the Buckeyes' loss to unranked Michigan and said Ohio State didn't have the chance to move ahead of Notre Dame since it didn't compete in a conference championship. "Ohio State had an unranked loss in their last game," Manuel said (1:30 mark). "And with the performance of Penn State's season as well as how they performed in the last game that they played, the committee, in terms of how we voted it, felt that Penn State was slightly higher ranked than Ohio State. Ohio State was not in the championship game, so they couldn't move ahead of Notre Dame and we just didn't feel that Penn State should move behind Ohio State." This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .
OpenAI, Artificial Intelligence company and maker of popular chatbot ChatGPT, has officially announced its reasons for transitioning into a for-profit organization, lays out plans. The company via a post on its website noted that the significant shift in its corporate structure was necessitated to ensure the long-term success of its mission, which is to ensure that Artificial Intelligence (AI) benefits all of humanity. This transition involves restructuring OpenAl’s existing for-profit arm into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), designed to balance the interests of shareholders, stakeholders, and the broader public. The move reflects the organization’s evolving priorities, focusing on sustainable operations, robust fundraising capabilities, and a renewed commitment to its mission. Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025 ) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts. Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here. Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and i nvest in Africa’s finest startups here . OpenAl was founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab with the ambitious goal of advancing Artificial intelligence in ways most likely to benefit humanity. In its early years, the AI startup operated without commercial revenue, relying on donations and grants to support its work. However, as it became clear that building AGI required massive computational resources and capital, the organization recognized the need for a new approach. “ Our stated goal was advancing digital intelligence in the way most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.” A non-profit structure seemed fitting, and we raised donations in various forms including cash ($137M, less than a third of which was from Elon) and compute credits and discounts ($1.8M from Amazon and $50M or more from each of Azure and Google Cloud)”, the company wrote. In 2019, OpenAl introduced a unique hybrid structure: a for-profit entity controlled by the non-profit, designed to raise the substantial capital necessary to pursue AGI research while ensuring that profits would flow back to support the non-profit’s mission. This structure facilitated significant investments, including an initial round of over $100 million and a $1 billion partnership with Microsoft. Over the past decade, OpenAl has transformed from a research lab to a pioneering technology company. The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 brought Al into the hands of millions, showcasing the potential of large language models in everyday life. Today, over 300 million people use OpenAl’s products weekly for learning, productivity, and more. Recent advancements, including the o-series models introduced in 2024, have demonstrated new reasoning capabilities that further the path toward AGI. Meanwhile, OpenAl’s influence has extended beyond its products, driving innovation across the Al ecosystem and inspiring other organizations to advance Al safety and accessibility. As OpenAl moves into 2025, the need for significant additional capital has become clear. The Board estimates that hundreds of billions of dollars will be required to develop the infrastructure, compute, and talent necessary for the AGI economy. To attract this level of investment, the organization needs to simplify its structure, making it more appealing to conventional investors. The new plan involves converting OpenAl’s for-profit arm into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation. This structure, already adopted by many mission-driven organizations, ensures that OpenAl’s decisions will balance profit motives with its commitment to benefiting humanity. Under the proposed structure, the non-profit arm will remain a cornerstone of OpenAl’s mission. The non-profit will retain significant shares in the newly formed PBC, valued by independent financial advisors, providing it with unprecedented resources to pursue charitable initiatives. These initiatives will focus on areas such as healthcare, education, and science, furthering the goal of ensuring Al benefits everyone. OpenAl’s mission is no longer confined to building a single AGI system, Instead, it envisions a continuous journey of contributing to the development of a new Al-powered economy. By evolving its structure, OpenAl aims to lead this transformation while ensuring that the benefits of Artificial Intelligence are widely shared. With this transition, OpenAl is poised to become more than a lab or startup, it is set to emerge as a sustainable, enduring organization committed to advancing Al’s capability, safety, and positive impact on the world.Ukraine Slows Firing of Missiles Into Russia as Trump Prepares to Take OfficePlus500 (LON:PLUS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?
Sam Prendergast shines as Leinster cruise to URC bonus-point win over Munster at Thomond Park
Anderson's 14 lead Furman over Charleston Southern 67-46It was a murder case almost everyone had an opinion on. O.J. Simpson ‘s “trial of the century” over the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend bared divisions over race and law enforcement in America and brought an intersection of sports, crime, entertainment and class that was hard to turn away from. In a controversial verdict, the football star-turned-actor was acquitted in the criminal trial but later found civilly liable in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Years later, he served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. His death in April brought an end to a life that had become defined by scrutiny over the killings. But he was just one of many influential and noteworthy people who died in 2024. Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in February, was a fierce political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, crusading against corruption and staging protests against the Kremlin. He had been jailed since 2021 when he returned to Russia to face certain arrest after recovering in Germany from nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. Other political figures who died this year include: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi; former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; Vietnamese politician Nguyen Phu Trong; U.S. congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee; former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov; pundit Lou Dobbs; Greek politician Vasso Papandreou; former U.S. senators Joe Lieberman, Jim Inhofe, Tim Johnson and Jim Sasser; Namibian President Hage Geingob; and former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss. The year also brought the deaths of several rights activists, including the reverends Cecil L. “Chip” Murray and James Lawson Jr.; Dexter Scott King; Hydeia Broadbent; and David Mixner. Business leaders who died this year include: Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, The Home Depot co-founder Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, financier Jacob Rothschild and Daiso retail chain founder Hirotake Yano. Simpson wasn’t the only athlete with a complex legacy who died this year. Pete Rose, who died in September, was a career hits leader in baseball whose achievements were tarnished when it was revealed he gambled on games. Other noteworthy sports figures who died include: basketball players Jerry West and Dikembe Mutombo; baseball players Willie Mays and Fernando Valenzuela; and gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. The music industry lost a titan in producer Quincy Jones, who died in November. His many contributions included producing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album and working with hundreds of other musicians over a long and storied career. Other artists and entertainers who died this year include: actors James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, Donald Sutherland, Gena Rowlands, Louis Gossett Jr., Shelley Duvall, Kris Kristofferson, Sandra Milo, Anouk Aimée, Carl Weathers, Joyce Randolph, Tony Todd, Shannen Doherty and Song Jae-lim; musicians Sergio Mendes, Toby Keith, Phil Lesh, Melanie, Dickey Betts, Françoise Hardy, Fatman Scoop, Duane Eddy and Frankie Beverly; filmmakers Roger Corman and Morgan Spurlock; authors Faith Ringgold, Nikki Giovanni and N. Scott Momaday; TV fitness guru Richard Simmons; sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer; talk show host Phil Donahue; and poets Shuntaro Tanikawa, John Sinclair and Kazuko Shiraishi. Here is a roll call of some noteworthy figures who died in 2024 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available): ___ JANUARY ___ Zvi Zamir, 98. A former director of Israel’s Mossad spy service who warned that Israel was about to be attacked on the eve of the 1973 Mideast war. Jan. 2. Glynis Johns, 100. A Tony Award-winning stage and screen star who played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie “Mary Poppins” and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim. Jan. 4. David Soul, 80. The actor-singer was a 1970s heartthrob who co-starred as the blond half of the crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” and topped the music charts with the ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us.” Jan. 4. Franz Beckenbauer, 78. He won the World Cup both as a player and coach and became one of Germany’s most beloved personalities with his easygoing charm. Jan. 7. Joyce Randolph, 99. A veteran stage and television actor whose role as the savvy Trixie Norton on “The Honeymooners” provided the perfect foil to her dimwitted TV husband. Jan. 13. Jack Burke Jr., 100. He was the oldest living Masters champion and staged the greatest comeback ever at Augusta National for one of his two majors. Jan. 19. Marlena Shaw, 81. The jazz and R&B vocalist whose “California Soul” was one of the defining soul songs of the late 1960s. Jan. 19. Mary Weiss, 75. The lead singer of the 1960s pop group the Shangri-Las, whose hits included “Leader of the Pack.” Jan. 19. Gigi Riva, 79. The all-time leading goalscorer for Italy’s men’s national team was known as the “Rombo di Tuono” (Rumble of Thunder). Jan. 22. Dexter Scott King, 62. He dedicated much of his life to shepherding the civil rights legacy of his parents, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Jan. 22. Charles Osgood, 91. He anchored “CBS Sunday Morning” for more than two decades, was host of the long-running radio program “The Osgood File” and was referred to as CBS News’ poet-in-residence. Jan. 23. Melanie, 76. The singer-songwriter who rose through the New York folk scene, performed at Woodstock and had a series of 1970s hits including the enduring cultural phenomenon “Brand New Key.” Jan. 23. N. Scott Momaday, 89. A Pulitzer Prize-winning storyteller, poet, educator and folklorist whose debut novel “House Made of Dawn” is widely credited as the starting point for contemporary Native American literature. Jan. 24. Herbert Coward, 85. He was known for his “Toothless Man” role in the movie “Deliverance.” Jan. 24. Car crash. Sandra Milo, 90. An icon of Italian cinema who played a key role in Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2” and later became his muse. Jan. 29. Jean Carnahan, 90. She became the first female senator to represent Missouri when she was appointed to replace her husband following his death. Jan. 30. Chita Rivera, 91. The dynamic dancer, singer and actress who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artists and shrugged off a near-fatal car accident. Jan. 30. ___ FEBRUARY ___ Carl Weathers, 76. A former NFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky” movies, starring with Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore.” Feb. 1. Ian Lavender, 77. An actor who played a hapless Home Guard soldier in the classic British sitcom “Dad’s Army.” Feb. 2. Hage Geingob, 82. Namibia’s president and founding prime minister who played a central role in what has become one of Africa’s most stable democracies after returning from a long exile in Botswana and the United States as an anti-apartheid activist. Feb. 4. Bob Beckwith, 91. A retired firefighter whose chance encounter with the president amid the rubble of ground zero became part of an iconic image of American unity after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Feb. 4. Toby Keith, 62. A hit country crafter of pro-American anthems who both riled up critics and was loved by millions of fans. Feb. 5. Stomach cancer. John Bruton, 76. A former Irish prime minister who played a key role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. Feb. 6. Sebastián Piñera, 74. The two-time former president of Chile faced social upheaval followed by a pandemic in his second term. Feb. 6. Helicopter crash. Seiji Ozawa, 88. The Japanese conductor amazed audiences with the lithe physicality of his performances during three decades at the helm of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Feb. 6. Henry Fambrough, 85. The last surviving original member of the iconic R&B group The Spinners, whose hits included “It’s a Shame,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love” and “The Rubberband Man.” Feb. 7. Robert Badinter, 95. He spearheaded the drive to abolish France’s death penalty, campaigned against antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and led a European body dealing with the legal fallout of Yugoslavia’s breakup. Feb. 9. Bob Edwards, 76. He anchored National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” for just under 25 years and was the baritone voice who told many Americans what had happened while they slept. Feb. 10. Hirotake Yano, 80. He founded the retail chain Daiso known for its 100-yen shops, Japan’s equivalent of the dollar store. Feb. 12. Alexei Navalny, 47. The fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests. Feb. 16. Lefty Driesell, 92. The Hall of Fame coach whose folksy drawl belied a fiery on-court demeanor that put Maryland on the college basketball map and enabled him to rebuild several struggling programs. Feb. 17. Hydeia Broadbent, 39. The HIV/AIDS activist came to national prominence in the 1990s as a young child for her inspirational talks to reduce the stigma surrounding the virus she was born with. Feb. 20. Jacob Rothschild, 87. The financier and philanthropist was part of the renowned Rothschild banking dynasty. Feb. 26. Richard Lewis, 76. An acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain.” Feb. 27. Nikolai Ryzhkov, 94. A former Soviet prime minister who presided over botched efforts to shore up the crumbling national economy in the final years of the USSR. Feb. 28. Brian Mulroney, 84. The former Canadian prime minister forged close ties with two Republican U.S. presidents through a sweeping free trade agreement that was once vilified but is now celebrated. Feb. 29. ___ MARCH ___ Iris Apfel, 102. A textile expert, interior designer and fashion celebrity known for her eccentric style. March 1. Akira Toriyama, 68. The creator of the best-selling Dragon Ball and other popular anime who influenced Japanese comics. March 1. Blood clot. Chris Mortensen, 72. The award-winning journalist covered the NFL for close to four decades, including 32 as a senior analyst at ESPN. March 3. David E. Harris, 89. He flew bombers for the U.S. military and broke barriers in 1964 when he became the first Black pilot hired at a major U.S. airline. March 8. Eric Carmen, 74. The singer-songwriter fronted the power-pop 1970s band the Raspberries and later had soaring pop hits like “All by Myself” and “Hungry Eyes” from the hit “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack. March 11. Paul Alexander, 78. A Texas man who spent most of his life using an iron lung chamber and built a large following on social media, recounting his life from contracting polio in the 1940s to earning a law degree. March 11. David Mixner, 77. A longtime LGBTQ+ activist who was an adviser to Bill Clinton during his presidential campaign and later called him out over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer personnel in the military. March 11. M. Emmet Walsh, 88. The character actor brought his unmistakable face and unsettling presence to films including “Blood Simple” and “Blade Runner.” March 19. Lou Whittaker, 95. A legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, and who taught generations of climbers during his more than 250 trips up Mount Rainier, the tallest peak in Washington state. March 24. Joe Lieberman, 82. The former U.S. senator of Connecticut nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election and almost became Republican John McCain’s running mate eight years later. March 27. Complications from a fall. Louis Gossett Jr., 87. The first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots.” March 28. William D. Delahunt, 82. The longtime Massachusetts congressman was a Democratic stalwart who postponed his retirement from Washington to help pass former President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda. March 30. Chance Perdomo, 27. An actor who rose to fame as a star of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “Gen V.” March 29. Motorcycle crash. Barbara Rush, 97. A popular leading actor in the 1950s and 1960s who co-starred with Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman and other top film performers and later had a thriving TV career. March 31. ___ APRIL ___ Lou Conter, 102. The last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded and sank during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. April 1. John Sinclair, 82. A poet, music producer and counterculture figure whose lengthy prison sentence after a series of small-time pot busts inspired a John Lennon song and a star-studded 1971 concert to free him. April 2. The Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, 94. An influential pastor and civil rights leader who used his tenure at one of Los Angeles’ oldest churches to uplift the predominantly Black neighborhoods following one of the country’s worst race riots. April 5. Peter Higgs, 94. The Nobel prize-winning physicist proposed the existence of the so-called “God particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang. April 8. Ralph Puckett Jr., 97. A retired Army colonel awarded the Medal of Honor seven decades after he was wounded leading a company of outnumbered Army Rangers in battle during the Korean War. April 8. O.J. Simpson, 76. The decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial. April 10. William Strickland, 87. A longtime civil rights activist and supporter of the Black Power movement who worked with Malcolm X and other prominent leaders in the 1960s. April 10. Robert MacNeil, 93. He created the even-handed, no-frills PBS newscast “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” in the 1970s and co-anchored the show with his late partner, Jim Lehrer, for two decades. April 12. Faith Ringgold, 93. An award-winning author and artist who broke down barriers for Black female artists and became famous for her richly colored and detailed quilts combining painting, textiles and storytelling. April 12. Carl Erskine, 97. He pitched two no-hitters as a mainstay on the Brooklyn Dodgers and was a 20-game winner in 1953 when he struck out a then-record 14 in the World Series. April 16. Bob Graham, 87. A former U.S. senator and two-term Florida governor who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war. April 16. Dickey Betts, 80. The guitar legend who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man.” April 18. Roman Gabriel, 83. The first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL and the league MVP in 1969. April 20. Terry Anderson, 76. The globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years. April 21. William Laws Calley Jr., 80. As an Army lieutenant, he led the U.S. soldiers who killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre, the most notorious war crime in modern American military history. April 28. Duane Eddy, 86. A pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn” helped put the twang in early rock ‘n’ roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless others. April 30. ___ MAY ___ Dick Rutan, 85. He, along with copilot Jeana Yeager, completed one of the greatest milestones in aviation history: the first round-the-world flight with no stops or refueling. May 3. Jeannie Epper, 83. A groundbreaking performer who did stunts for many of the most important women of film and television action of the 1970s and ’80s, including star Lynda Carter on TV’s “Wonder Woman.” May 5. Bernard Hill, 79. An actor who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and went down with the ship as the captain in “Titanic.” May 5. Steve Albini, 61. An alternative rock pioneer and legendary producer who shaped the musical landscape through his work with Nirvana, the Pixies, PJ Harvey and more. May 7. Kim Ki Nam, 94. A North Korean propaganda chief who helped build personality cults around the country’s three dynastic leaders. May 7. Pete McCloskey, 96. A pro-environment, anti-war California Republican who co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and co-founded Earth Day. May 8. Ralph Kennedy Frasier, 85. The last surviving member of a trio of African American youths who were the first to desegregate the undergraduate student body at North Carolina’s flagship public university in the 1950s. May 8. Roger Corman, 98. The “King of the Bs” helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks. May 9. Alice Munro, 92. The Nobel laureate was a Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers. May 13. Dabney Coleman, 92. The mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie.” May 16. Peter Buxtun, 86. The whistleblower who revealed that the U.S. government allowed hundreds of Black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis in what became known as the Tuskegee study. May 18. Ebrahim Raisi, 63. The Iranian president was a hard-line protege of the country’s supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels, launched a major attack on Israel and experienced mass protests. May 19. Helicopter crash. Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60. Iran’s foreign minister and a hard-liner close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who confronted the West while also overseeing indirect talks with the U.S. over the country’s nuclear program. May 19. Helicopter crash. Ivan F. Boesky, 87. The flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals in the history of Wall Street. May 20. Morgan Spurlock, 53. The documentary filmmaker and Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet. May 23. Complications of cancer. Bill Walton, 71. He starred for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins before becoming a Hall of Fame center for his NBA career and one of the biggest stars in basketball broadcasting. May 27. Robert Pickton, 74. A Canadian serial killer who took female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree near Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s. May 31. Injuries from a prison assault involving another inmate. ___ JUNE ___ Tin Oo, 97. One of the closest associates of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as a co-founder of her National League for Democracy party. June 1. Janis Paige, 101. A popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 90s. June 2. David Levy, 86. An Israeli politician born in Morocco who fought tirelessly against deep-seated racism against Jews from North Africa and went on to serve as foreign minister and hold other senior governmental posts. June 2. Brigitte Bierlein, 74. The former head of Austria’s Constitutional Court became the country’s first female chancellor in an interim government in 2019. June 3. Paul Pressler, 94. A leading figure of the Southern Baptist Convention who was accused of sexually abusing boys and young men and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations. June 7. The Rev. James Lawson Jr., 95. An apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the Civil Rights Movement gained traction. June 9. Lynn Conway, 86. A pioneer in the design of microchips that are at the heart of consumer electronics who overcame discrimination as a transgender person. June 9. Françoise Hardy, 80. A French singing legend and pop icon since the 1960s. June 11. Jerry West, 86. Selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive, his silhouette is considered to be the basis of the NBA logo. June 12. George Nethercutt, 79. The former U.S. congressman was a Spokane lawyer with limited political experience when he ousted Democratic Speaker of the House Tom Foley as part of a stunning GOP wave that shifted national politics to the right in 1994. June 14. Kazuko Shiraishi, 93. A leading name in modern Japanese “beat” poetry, she was known for her dramatic readings — at times with jazz music. June 14. Willie Mays, 93. The electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players. June 18. Anouk Aimée, 92. The radiant French star and dark-eyed beauty of classic films including Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and Claude Lelouch’s “A Man and a Woman.” June 18. Donald Sutherland, 88. The Canadian actor whose wry, arresting screen presence spanned more than half a century of films from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games.” June 20. Bill Cobbs, 90. The veteran character actor became a ubiquitous and sage screen presence as an older man. June 25. Martin Mull, 80. His droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including “Roseanne” and “Arrested Development.” June 27. Pål Enger, 57. A talented Norwegian soccer player turned celebrity art thief who pulled off the sensational 1994 heist of Edvard Munch’s famed “The Scream” painting from the National Gallery in Oslo. June 29. ___ JULY ___ Jim Inhofe, 89. A powerful fixture in Oklahoma politics for over six decades, the Republican U.S. senator was a conservative known for his strong support of defense spending and his denial that human activity is responsible for the bulk of climate change. July 9. Joe Bonsall, 76. A Grammy award winner and celebrated tenor of the country and gospel group the Oak Ridge Boys. July 9. Tommy Robinson, 82. A former U.S. congressman who gained notoriety as an Arkansas sheriff for tactics that included chaining inmates outside a state prison to protest overcrowding. July 10. Shelley Duvall, 75. The intrepid, Texas-born movie star whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a mainstay in the films of Robert Altman and who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.” July 11. Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 96. The diminutive sex therapist became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics. July 12. Shannen Doherty, 53. The “Beverly Hills, 90210” star whose life and career were roiled by illness and tabloid stories. July 13. Richard Simmons, 76. He was television’s hyperactive court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging the overweight to exercise and eat better. July 13. James Sikking, 90. He starred as a hardened police lieutenant on “Hill Street Blues” and as the titular character’s kindhearted dad on “Doogie Howser, M.D.” July 13. Jacoby Jones, 40. A former NFL receiver whose 108-yard kickoff return in 2013 remains the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history. July 14. Cheng Pei-pei, 78. A Chinese-born martial arts film actor who starred in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” July 17. Bob Newhart, 94. The deadpan accountant-turned-comedian became one of the most popular TV stars of his time after striking gold with a classic comedy album. July 18. Lou Dobbs, 78. The conservative political pundit and veteran cable TV host was a founding anchor for CNN and later was a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade. July 18. Nguyen Phu Trong, 80. He was general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party and the country’s most powerful politician. July 19. Sheila Jackson Lee, 74. The longtime congresswoman from Texas helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. July 19. Abdul “Duke” Fakir, 88. The last surviving original member of the beloved Motown group the Four Tops, which was known for such hits as “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love.” July 22. Edna O’Brien, 93. Ireland’s literary pride and outlaw scandalized her native land with her debut novel “The Country Girls” before gaining international acclaim as a storyteller and iconoclast that found her welcomed everywhere from Dublin to the White House. July 27. Francine Pascal, 92. A onetime soap opera writer whose “Sweet Valley High” novels and the ongoing adventures of twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and other teens captivated millions of young readers. July 28. Betty Prashker, 99. A pioneering editor of the 20th century who as one of the first women with the power to acquire books published such classics as Kate Millett’s “Sexual Politics” and Susan Faludi’s “Backlash” and helped oversee the careers of Jean Auel, Dominick Dunne and Erik Larson among others. July 30. Ismail Haniyeh, 62. Hamas’ top leader in exile landed on Israel’s hit list after the militant group staged its surprise Oct. 7 attacks. July 31. Killed in an airstrike in Iran. ___ AUGUST ___ Jack Russell, 63. The lead singer of the bluesy ’80s metal band Great White, whose hits included “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “Rock Me,” and who was fronting his band the night 100 people died in a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island. Aug. 7. Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, 88. A Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players during a long professional career. Aug. 8. Susan Wojcicki, 56. A pioneering tech executive who helped shape Google and YouTube. Aug. 9. Wallace “Wally” Amos, 88. The creator of the Famous Amos cookie empire went on to become a children’s literacy advocate. Aug. 13. Gena Rowlands, 94. She was hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes. She later charmed audiences in her son’s tear-jerker “The Notebook.” Aug. 14. Peter Marshall, 98. The actor and singer turned game show host who played straight man to the stars for 16 years on “The Hollywood Squares.” Aug. 15. Alain Delon, 88. The internationally acclaimed French actor embodied both the bad guy and the policeman and made hearts throb around the world. Aug. 18. Phil Donahue, 88. His pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that brought success to Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others. Aug. 18. Ruth Johnson Colvin, 107. She founded Literacy Volunteers of America, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and received the nation’s highest civilian award: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Aug. 18. Al Attles, 87. A Hall of Famer who coached the 1975 NBA champion Warriors and spent more than six decades with the organization as a player, general manager and most recently team ambassador. Aug. 20. John Amos, 84. He starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom “Good Times” and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots.” Aug. 21. Salim Hoss, 94. The five-time former Lebanese prime minister served during some of the most tumultuous years of his country’s modern history. Aug. 25. Leonard Riggio, 83. A brash, self-styled underdog who transformed the publishing industry by building Barnes & Noble into the country’s most powerful bookseller before it was overtaken by the rise of Amazon.com. Aug. 27. Edward B. Johnson, 81. As a CIA officer, he traveled into Iran with a colleague to rescue six American diplomats who fled the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. Aug. 27. Johnny Gaudreau, 31. An NHL player known as “Johnny Hockey,” he played 10 full seasons in the league. Aug. 29. Killed along with his brother when hit by a car while riding bicycles. Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, 69. As New Zealand’s Māori King, he was the seventh monarch in the Kiingitanga movement. Aug. 30. Fatman Scoop, 56. The hip-hop artist topped charts in Europe with “Be Faithful” in the early 2000s and later lent his distinctive voice and ebullient vibe to hits by artists including Missy Elliott and Ciara. Aug. 30. Died after collapsing on stage. ___ SEPTEMBER ___ Linda Deutsch, 80. A special correspondent for The Associated Press who for nearly 50 years wrote glittering first drafts of history from many of the nation’s most significant criminal and civil trials including Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. Sept. 1. James Darren, 88. A teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy paired off with Sandra Dee in the hit film “Gidget.” Sept. 2. Sergio Mendes, 83. The Grammy-winning Brazilian musician whose hit “Mas Que Nada” made him a global legend. Sept. 5. James Earl Jones, 93. He overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen, eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader. Sept. 9. Frankie Beverly, 77. With his band Maze, he inspired generations of fans with his smooth, soulful voice and lasting anthems including “Before I Let Go.” Sept. 10. Jim Sasser, 87. He served 18 years in the U.S. Senate and six years as ambassador to China. Sept. 10. Alberto Fujimori, 86. His decade-long presidency began with triumphs righting Peru’s economy and defeating a brutal insurgency only to end in autocratic excess that later sent him to prison. Sept. 11. Joe Schmidt, 92. The Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team. Sept. 11. Tito Jackson, 70. One of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5. Sept. 15. John David “JD” Souther, 78. A prolific songwriter and musician who helped shape the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California in the 1970s with his collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt. Sept. 17. Kathryn Crosby, 90. She appeared in such movies as “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad”, “Anatomy of a Murder,” and “Operation Mad Ball” before marrying famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby. Sept. 20. John Ashton, 76. The veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films. Sept. 26. Maggie Smith, 89. The masterful, scene-stealing actor who won an Oscar for the 1969 film “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and gained new fans in the 21st century as the dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey” and Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. Sept. 27. Hassan Nasrallah, 64. The Hezbollah leader who transformed the Lebanese militant group into a potent paramilitary and political force in the Middle East. Sept. 27. Killed in an Israeli airstrike. Kris Kristofferson, 88. A Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and an A-list Hollywood actor. Sept. 28. Drake Hogestyn, 70. The “Days of Our Lives” star appeared on the show for 38 years. Sept. 28. Pete Rose, 83. Baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied. Sept. 30. Dikembe Mutombo, 58. A Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game. Sept. 30. Brain cancer. Gavin Creel, 48. A Broadway musical theater veteran who won a Tony Award for “Hello, Dolly!” opposite Bette Midler and earned nominations for “Hair” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” Sept. 30. Cancer. Humberto Ortega, 77. The Nicaraguan guerrilla fighter and a Sandinista defense minister who later in life became a critic of his older brother President Daniel Ortega. Sept. 30. Ken Page, 70. A stage and screen actor who starred alongside Beyoncé in “Dreamgirls,” introduced Broadway audiences to Old Deuteronomy in “Cats” and scared generations of kids as the voice of Oogie Boogie, the villain of the 1993 animated holiday film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Sept. 30. ___ OCTOBER ___ Megan Marshack, 70. An aide to Nelson Rockefeller who was with the former New York governor and vice president when he died under circumstances that spurred intense speculation. Oct. 2. Mimis Plessas, 99. A beloved Greek composer whose music was featured in scores of films, television shows and theatrical productions and who provided the soundtrack to millions of Greeks’ lives. Oct. 5. Cissy Houston, 91. A two-time Grammy-winning soul and gospel artist who sang with Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and other stars and knew triumph and heartbreak as the mother of singer Whitney Houston. Oct. 7. Tim Johnson, 77. The former U.S. senator was the last Democrat to hold statewide office in South Dakota and was adept at securing federal funding for projects back home during his nearly three decades in Washington. Oct. 8. Ratan Tata, 86. One of India’s most influential business leaders, the veteran industrialist was former chairman of the $100 billion conglomerate Tata Group. Oct. 9. Leif Segerstam, 80. The prolific Finnish conductor and composer was one of the most colorful personalities in the Nordic country’s classical music scene. Oct. 9. Ethel Kennedy, 96. The wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter. Oct. 10. Lilly Ledbetter, 86. A former Alabama factory manager whose lawsuit against her employer made her an icon of the equal pay movement and led to landmark wage discrimination legislation. Oct. 12. Philip G. Zimbardo, 91. The psychologist behind the controversial “Stanford Prison Experiment” that was intended to examine the psychological experiences of imprisonment. Oct. 14. Liam Payne, 31. A former One Direction singer whose chart-topping British boy band generated a global following of swooning fans. Oct. 16. Died after falling from a hotel balcony. Yahya Sinwar, 61. The Hamas leader who masterminded the surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel that shocked the world and triggered the longest, deadliest and most destructive war in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Oct. 16. Killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Mitzi Gaynor, 93. The effervescent dancer and actor starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. Oct. 17. Vasso Papandreou, 79. A trailblazing Greek politician who served as a government minister, European commissioner and leading advocate for women’s representation in politics. Oct. 17. Thelma Mothershed Wair, 83. One of nine Black students who integrated a high school in Arkansas’ capital city of Little Rock in 1957 while a mob of white segregationists yelled threats and insults. Oct. 19. Fethullah Gülen, 83. A reclusive U.S.-based Islamic cleric who inspired a global social movement while facing unproven accusations that he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkey. Oct. 20. Fernando Valenzuela, 63. The Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981. Oct. 22. The Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, 96. The Peruvian theologian was the father of the social justice-centered liberation theology that the Vatican once criticized for its Marxist undercurrents. Oct. 22. Phil Lesh, 84. A classically trained violinist and jazz trumpeter who found his true calling by reinventing the role of rock bass guitar as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. Oct. 25. Teri Garr, 79. The quirky comedy actor rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star in such favorites as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie.” Oct. 29. Multiple sclerosis. Colm McLoughlin, 81. An Irishman who landed in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates and helped lead Dubai Duty Free into becoming an airport retail behemoth generating billions of dollars. Oct. 30. ___ NOVEMBER ___ Quincy Jones, 91. The multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists. Nov. 3. Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, 95. The co-founder of The Home Depot, a billionaire philanthropist, and a big Republican donor. Nov. 4. Murray Sinclair, 73. A former First Nation judge, senator and chair of the commission that delved into Canada’s troubled history of residential schools for First Nations students. Nov. 4. Elwood Edwards, 74. He voiced America Online’s ever-present “You’ve got mail” greeting. Nov. 5. Tony Todd, 69. An actor known for his haunting portrayal of a killer in the horror film “Candyman” and for roles in many other films and television shows. Nov. 6. Bobby Allison, 86. He was founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer. Nov. 9. Reg Murphy, 90. A renowned journalist whose newsgathering career included stints as an editor and top executive at newspapers in Atlanta, San Francisco and Baltimore — and who found himself the subject of national headlines when he survived a politically motivated kidnapping. Nov. 9. Vardis J. Vardinoyannis, 90. A powerful and pivotal figure in Greek shipping and energy who survived a terrorist attack and cultivated close ties with the Kennedy family. Nov. 12. Timothy West, 90. A British actor who played the classic Shakespeare roles of King Lear and Macbeth and who in recent years along with his wife, Prunella Scales, enchanted millions of people with their boating exploits on Britain’s waterways. Nov. 12. Song Jae-lim, 39. A South Korean actor known for his roles in K-dramas “Moon Embracing the Sun” and “Queen Woo.” Nov. 12. Shuntaro Tanikawa, 92. He pioneered modern Japanese poetry — poignant but conversational in its divergence from haiku and other traditions. Nov. 13. Bela Karolyi, 82. The charismatic, if polarizing, gymnastics coach turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power in the sport. Nov. 15. Olav Thon, 101. A billionaire entrepreneur recognizable for his bright red cap who went from selling leather and fox hides in his youth to building one of Norway’s biggest real estate empires. Nov. 16. Arthur Frommer, 95. His “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad. Nov. 18. Alice Brock, 83. Her Massachusetts-based eatery helped inspire Arlo Guthrie’s deadpan Thanksgiving standard, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.” Nov. 21. Fred Harris, 94. A former U.S. senator from Oklahoma, presidential hopeful and populist who championed Democratic Party reforms in the turbulent 1960s. Nov. 23. Chuck Woolery, 83. The affable, smooth-talking game show host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble” who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the government of lying about COVID-19. Nov. 23. Barbara Taylor Bradford, 91. A British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga “A Woman of Substance” and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies. Nov. 24. Mary McGee, 87. A female racing pioneer and subject profiled in the Oscar-contending documentary “Motorcycle Mary.” Nov. 27. Prince Johnson, 72. The Liberian former warlord and senator whose brutal tactics shocked the world. Nov. 28. Ananda Krishnan, 86. One of Malaysia’s richest tycoons with a vast business empire including telecommunications, media, petroleum and real estate. Nov. 28. Lou Carnesecca, 99. The excitable St. John’s coach whose outlandish sweaters became an emblem of his team’s rousing Final Four run in 1985 and who was a treasured figure in New York sports. Nov. 30. ___ DECEMBER ___ Debbie Nelson, 69. The single mother of rapper Eminem whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his hit song lyrics. Dec. 2. Nikki Giovanni, 81. The poet, author, educator and public speaker who rose from borrowing money to release her first book to decades as a literary celebrity sharing her blunt and conversational takes on everything from racism and love to space travel and mortality. Dec. 9. George Joseph Kresge Jr., 89. He was known to generations of TV watchers as the mesmerizing entertainer and mentalist The Amazing Kreskin. Dec. 10. Jim Leach, 82. A former congressman who served 30 years as a politician from eastern Iowa and later headed the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dec. 11. John Spratt, 82. A former longtime Democratic congressman from South Carolina who successfully pushed for a balanced budget deal in the 1990s but was unseated decades later when his district turned Republican. Dec. 14. Zakir Hussain, 73. One of India’s most accomplished classical musicians who defied genres and introduced tabla to global audiences. Dec. 15. Fred Lorenzen, 89. A NASCAR Hall of Famer and the 1965 Daytona 500 champion. Dec. 18. Tsuneo Watanabe, 98. The powerful head of the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, who had close ties with the country’s powerful conservative leaders. Dec. 19. Rickey Henderson, 65. The baseball Hall of Famer was the brash speedster who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball’s leadoff position. Dec. 20. Shyam Benegal, 90. A renowned Indian filmmaker known for pioneering a new wave cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s. Dec. 23. Desi Bouterse, 79. A military strongman who led a 1980 coup in the former Dutch colony of Suriname then returned to power by election three decades later despite charges of drug smuggling and murder. Dec. 24. Osamu Suzuki, 94. The charismatic former boss of Suzuki Motor Corp. helped turn the Japanese mini-vehicle maker into a globally competitive company. Dec. 25. Manmohan Singh, 92. India’s former prime minister who was widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark nuclear deal with the United States. Dec. 26. Richard Parsons, 76. One of corporate America’s most prominent Black executives who held top posts at Time Warner and Citigroup. Dec. 26. Bernard Mcghee, The Associated PressQuest PharmaTech Inc. ( CVE:QPT – Get Free Report ) shot up 40% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$0.04 and last traded at C$0.04. 1,172,033 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1,485% from the average session volume of 73,952 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.03. Quest PharmaTech Stock Up 20.0 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.35, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$0.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.50 and a beta of 0.14. About Quest PharmaTech ( Get Free Report ) Quest PharmaTech Inc, a pharmaceutical company, engages in the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of targeted cancer. Its lead product candidate is Mab AR 9.6 against truncated O-glycan on MUC16, for targeted cancer therapy applications. The company also offers Oregovomab, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of ovarian cancer. 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Syrian government services come to ‘complete halt’ as workers stay at home
ATLANTA — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia,” the center simply said in posting about Carter’s death on the social media platform X. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100
Winners’ Chapel International Leeds has teamed up with Afrikindness to introduce a safeguarding training pack The move was aimed at enhancing child protection within African and faith-based communities The training pack was developed in partnership with safeguarding experts from Voluntary Action Leeds and is tailored to address the unique needs of African and faith-based communities Winners' Chapel International Leeds, under the leadership of Pastor Adeyinka Olaniyan, has shown a strong commitment to child safety and well-being CHECK OUT: Education is Your Right! Don’t Let Social Norms Hold You Back. Learn Online with LEGIT. Enroll Now! Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements. Bishop David Oyedepo ’s Living Faith Church, Winners Chapel International Leeds, under the leadership of Pastor Adeyinka Olaniyan, has shown a strong commitment to child safety and well-being. Winners' Chapel Leeds, group launch safeguarding training pack This is as it collaborated with Afrikindness, to create a specialized safeguarding training pack, aimed at protecting children within faith-based environments. Read also Govt agency partners TikTok for online safety, digital literacy PAY ATTENTION : Standing out in social media world? Easy! "Mastering Storytelling for Social Media" workshop by Legit.ng. Join Us Live! The initiative was launched during a workshop attended by over 110 parents and leaders from various faith communities. What to know about the training pack In a statement made available to Legit.ng on Saturday, November 23, the training pack was developed in partnership with safeguarding experts from Voluntary Action Leeds and is tailored to address the unique needs of African and faith-based communities. The content adapts the Leeds Safeguarding Board’s guidelines to better reflect the realities of African congregations.fit the cultural and spiritual realities of these congregations. “This training pack is crucial for equipping our communities with the necessary tools to safeguard our children,” stated Deaconess Olufunmilola Olaniyi-Alabi, the lead trainer behind the initiative. “Safeguarding is not just about compliance; it requires our collective awareness and proactive measures to protect our most vulnerable members.” Lord Mayor of Leeds backed the initiative Meanwhile, the initiative received major support from prominent figures, including Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung, who emphasized the importance of collaboration between faith communities and civic institutions in safeguarding children. Read also 36 governors meet national assembly leaders, reasons emerge In her keynote address, she said: “Safeguarding extends beyond the walls of homes. When faith communities unite with families and civic institutions, our collective strengths ensure that no child is left unsupported. We all have a responsibility to safeguard and care for our children.” Additionally, Pastor Adeyinka Olaniyan of Winners’ Chapel International Leeds highlighted the church’s commitment to child safety. “We are devoted to upholding the safety and well-being of every child in our congregation and beyond,” he said. The man of God also introduced the church’s designated safeguarding leads, highlighting their essential role in implementing thorough safeguarding practices. Echoing similar sentiments, CEO of Afrikindness, Bunmi Owolabi, urged faith leaders to uphold moral standards. “A church should be a safe and holy place dedicated to instilling moral values and positively influencing communities,” she remarked. The workshop, sponsored by the National Lottery Community Fund, attracted diverse attendees, including representatives from several faith communities such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Dunamis International Gospel Centre. Read also FULL LIST: Senate mentions 6 states terrorists from Mali, Burkina Faso are currently operating The growing need for safeguarding in faith-based communities Legit.ng understands the workshop tackled vital issues, including child molestation, domestic abuse, and forced marriages. Parents and leaders shared personal experiences, revealing that neglect or ignorance can often put children at risk while participants left with a better understanding of how to identify signs of harm and establish safer environments for children in their care. Moving forward, Afrikindness, a Continuing Professional Development (CPD), announced plans to offer this essential training free to nominated leaders from faith communities. The organisation aims to empower these leaders with the knowledge and skills to uphold child protection standards within their respective congregations. Through this pioneering initiative, Afrikindness and Winners’ Chapel International Leeds are leading the way in safeguarding practices within faith settings, fostering a legacy of care and protection for future generations. Read more about Oyedepo's Winners Chapel here: Bishop Abioye organises first crusade after leaving Oyedepo’s Living Faith Church Bishop Abioye shares how he met Oyedepo Read also Prominent Plateau cleric speaks out amid ethnic, religious divisions in Nigeria Oyedepo prays for Abioye as he retires In another development, Legit.ng reported that Bishop David Oyedepo sent forth Bishop Abioye with prayers as he retired from Living Faith Church Worldwide. Oyedepo released words of blessings on Abioye during his valedictory service on Friday, October 18. Abioye's retirement is based on the rules of the Mandate, which is the Liberation Commission's Constitution or operational manual. PAY ATTENTION : Legit.ng Needs Your Opinion! That's your chance to change your favourite news media. Fill in a short questionnaire Source: Legit.ng
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Celta Vigo gave 10-man Barcelona a shock by scoring two late goals and snatching a 2-2 draw at home in the Spanish league on Saturday. Barcelona was minutes away from a win to pad its league lead after Raphinha and Lewandowski had put Barcelona in control. But the game dramatically swung after Barcelona defensive midfielder Marc Casadó was sent off with a second booking in the 81st. Moments later Jules Koundé’s poor control of a ball in his area allowed Alfon González to pick his pocket and give the hosts hope in the 84th minute. Celta poured forward at Balaidos Stadium and Hugo Álvarez rifled in the 86th-minute equalizer with Barcelona unable to mark the extra man. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
The year 2024 has marked a significant shift in investment patterns for Indian investors, with a remarkable focus on US tech giants like Nvidia and Tesla. Indian investors have strategically turned their attention towards tech stocks in the US market. Nvidia and Tesla topped the charts, attracting considerable investments, according to data from Vested Finance. These two companies alone accounted for more than a quarter of the total investments from India, highlighting a robust belief in the future prospects of AI, GPUs, and electric vehicles. As the global economy navigates through uncertain waters, tech stocks remain the preferred choice for Indian investors, followed closely by ETFs. The broader market witnessed small-cap US equities rally, largely driven by Trump’s re-election and subsequent strengthening of the Republican party’s influence in Congress. Despite market volatility due to political and economic changes, Indian investors have shown a sustained appetite for diversified portfolios. This interest extends to diversified ETFs that use leverage and inverse strategies, which gained momentum over 2024. Vested Finance emphasizes the importance of balancing risk and opportunity. Investors are advised to diversify across high-growth areas like technology and renewable energy while not ignoring defensive sectors such as healthcare and financial services. As market trends evolve, the finance platform encourages careful observation of emerging market stocks, considering currency and geopolitical fluctuations. Besides Nvidia and Tesla, a variety of other tech investments such as Alphabet, AMD, Amazon, and leveraged ETFs like ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) remain favored among Indian investors. This investment strategy underscores a keen interest in both maximizing returns and managing potential risks through diversified portfolios featuring both high and stable growth sectors. Why Indian Investors are Betting Big on US Tech Giants in 2024 In 2024, the investment landscape in India has taken a transformative turn, as Indian investors increasingly focus on US technology companies, with significant investments in industry leaders Nvidia and Tesla. This shift underscores a growing belief in the growth potential of artificial intelligence, GPU innovation, and electric vehicles, making these tech giants appealing prospects for robust returns. Investment Patterns and Market Insights Indian investors have shown a profound interest in the tech sector, viewing it as a cornerstone for future growth. In particular, Nvidia and Tesla have emerged as standout choices, capturing a substantial portion of the investment from India. This trend reflects not just confidence in these companies but also a broader shift toward tech-driven innovation and sustainable energy solutions. Additionally, investors have diversified their portfolios beyond individual stocks to include leveraged ETFs like ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) and other tech entities such as Alphabet, AMD, and Amazon. This strategic diversification points to a cautious yet optimistic approach to capturing market gains while managing risks. Factors Driving the Trend Several factors are behind this shift towards US tech stocks and ETFs: 1. Global Economic Climate: The global economy remains uncertain, prompting investors to seek reliable growth sectors. Tech stocks provide a viable option due to their innovation-driven potential and resilient performance. 2. US Political Landscape: With Trump’s re-election, small-cap US equities have experienced a boost, further attracting foreign investments, including those from India. The Republican party’s enhanced influence in Congress adds a layer of political stability, bolstering investor confidence. 3. Tech and Renewable Energy Synergies: There is a dual emphasis on technology and renewable energy as key growth areas, aligning with global trends towards sustainability and innovation. Strategic Diversification and Risk Management Vested Finance, a prominent investment platform, underscores the importance of balancing risk and opportunity. They advise investors to spread investments across high-growth areas such as tech and renewable energy while maintaining positions in defensive sectors like healthcare and financial services. A tactical approach to investment, considering both emerging market dynamics and geopolitical shifts, can help mitigate risks associated with currency fluctuations and political disruptions. Future Predictions and Market Trends Looking ahead, Indian investment in US tech giants is expected to continue expanding, with Nvidia and Tesla remaining at the forefront. As technological advancements in AI and electric vehicles progress, these sectors present compelling opportunities for high returns. Moreover, the integration of sustainability into corporate strategies aligns with the global shift towards greener economies, offering an attractive proposition for forward-thinking investors. In conclusion, the 2024 trend of Indian investors channeling funds into US tech companies signifies a strategic alignment with global growth sectors and sustainable innovation. As this trend evolves, investors will likely keep a close eye on technological advancements, policy shifts, and economic indicators that could influence future performance. For more on investing in US markets, visit Vested Finance .After final game, Iowa State's Jaylin Noel roasts Iowa Hawkeye fans on social media
The Los Angeles Dodgers announced after the World Series that Mookie Betts would be moving back to the infield. However, at the Winter Meetings, they announced where and how it would impact others on the team. Many believed that Betts would play second base and the Dodgers would add a shortstop. When they extended Tommy Edman that remained a possibility. However, on December 9 general manager Brandon Gomes announced that Betts is planning on playing shortstop, and Edman will mostly play center field. That means Gavin Lux will still have a role on the team at second base. With the belief that Betts would play second base along with Edman's extension, it was possible Lux could have been dealt in a trade. However, this announcement likely means the Dodgers will keep Lux around. Edman signed a five-year, $74 million extension with the Dodgers this offseason. He won a Gold Glove at second base in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals. Lux started 117 games at second base last year and had a .251 batting average. Betts is no stranger to playing shortstop or second base. He started the season off at shortstop. However, after his injury, he returned to right field. Over the last two seasons, Betts has spent significant time at shortstop, second base and right field. He has played 81 games at shortstop, 88 games at second base and the rest in right field. Playing Edman in center field seems slightly puzzling considering he is a better defender than Lux and Betts in the infield. However, the failure to add a shortstop like Willy Adames likely played into the decision. More MLB: Dodgers in danger of losing beloved slugger to Yankees after Juan Soto signsThe first sign that something was amiss at UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s investor day was when Brian Thompson didn’t show up to his early morning hair and makeup appointment. At around 6:40 a.m. on Wednesday of last week, Thompson, 50, was shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel in a killing that gripped the world. On Monday, police arrested a man in connection with the shooting who local officials found in Altoona, Pennsylvania, carrying a gun and a handwritten three-page manifesto decrying the health-care industry’s profit motives. While the police investigation unfolds, the $500 billion health-care company is simultaneously trying to cope with the personal tragedy of losing a top executive and a spiraling PR crisis that risks long-term reputational harm in a country where so many have turned against it. Interviews with people familiar with the events show a company under siege. UnitedHealth locked down its Minnesota, New York City and Washington, DC, offices to external visitors and urged workers with safety fears to stay home, according to messages seen by Bloomberg News. A new management structure was put in place to navigate the situation, one message said, without detailing who was running UnitedHealth’s largest division in the wake of Thompson’s death. A private funeral for friends and family was set for Monday, while the company is still working on logistics to safely hold a memorial service, according to people familiar with the matter. Instead of eliciting sympathy from the public, the death of the insurance division’s chief executive officer has spawned a hate machine against the insurance industry that’s only getting louder as the days drag on with little insight into the killer’s motives. The man in custody, Luigi Mangione, 26, was noticed by a McDonald’s employee while he was eating at the restaurant, police said. The manifesto he was carrying speaks to both his “motivation and mindset,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday. It’s a crucial break in a case that dragged on for days in what police say was a targeted and premeditated killing. Bullet casings recovered at the scene bore the words “denied,” “depose,” and “delay,” loosely echoing the book title Delay, Deny, Defend, which describes tactics allegedly used by insurers to deny claims. “Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues, and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation,” a UnitedHealth spokesperson said in a statement. Inside the company, meetings and presentations were canceled after the shooting. A crisis communications firm was tapped to help. And tributes to Thompson poured in. “The news of Brian's passing has been overwhelming for all of us and we feel his loss profoundly,” said UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said in an email to staff on Wednesday that was seen by Bloomberg News. But outside the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based insurer, a groundswell of anger against the for-profit insurance industry continues to intensify across the U.S. A singer posted a folk song about the shooting on social media. Saturday Night Live even joked about the reaction to the killing over the weekend. Thompson’s death has become a symbol of revenge over denied medical bills and lack of access to necessary care, an issue that some UnitedHealth employees say they’re growing increasingly anxious about. While the company has sent a series of messages extolling Thompson and decrying his killing, some employees say they want to see a more direct response to the vitriol against the company. A company under siege On the morning of the shooting, some executives noticed a frenzy of police cars on one of the hotel’s side streets as they arrived for the investor meeting. They were redirected by the New York Police Department into a different hotel entrance, according to people familiar with the events who asked to speak anonymously as law enforcement continues its investigation. The executives headed into the building and upstairs to the conference area where they sipped coffee, chatted and proceeded to get their hair and makeup done. Executives began to speculate about what happened outside the hotel. A person had collapsed — maybe a heart attack, some suggested. Others thought there had been a shooting. They did not immediately think it was related to the absence of their colleague, known affectionately as “BT,” according to the people. As the minutes ticked closer to the start of the investor meeting, unease grew. It was unusual for Thompson, a 20-year veteran of UnitedHealth who’d climbed the ranks to run its key insurance division, to not show up for an important day like this. Colleagues suspected he’d overslept or was sick in bed, and planned to send someone to his room at a nearby hotel to check on him. They prepped a backup speaker to give Thompson’s presentation if he didn’t arrive on time, the people said. It took a few minutes for the 8 a.m. event to begin, after some 275 people showed up. It’s unclear why they didn’t start on time. But as Witty, the company’s CEO, began his opening remarks, a handful of executives were alerted of a security emergency. They stepped away from the event. They were told Thompson had been killed outside of the hotel that morning. As the investor day presentations continued, the small group of company executives in the know were questioned by police. The executives immediately started trying to reach Thompson’s family. They wanted to tell his wife and kids before the media got a hold of the story. Meanwhile, Witty was told of Thompson’s death on the sidelines of the conference. He was distraught, people familiar with the event said, but had to make quick decisions about the safety of his employees and what to do about the ongoing investor meeting. As all of that was happening, the news got out. Mobile alerts about Thompson’s death started pinging attendees’ phones. There were gasps. People in the audience started looking around to see if others knew. Around 9 a.m., Witty cut the investor day short. “Some of you may know we’re dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members,” he said. “And as a result, I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring to a close the event today, which I apologize for.” Thompson had been dead for two hours. While conference-goers dispersed in a haze of confusion and grief, UnitedHealth executives and some employees were pulled into a room together at the hotel, the people said. With no information about the shooter’s motive, some feared for their own personal safety. Later that day, the company pulled down bio pages of its top executives and board members, while other employees deleted their profile pages on Linkedin. Tidal wave The vitriol following the shooting sparked a reckoning among some UnitedHealth employees. Much of the public animosity was aimed at the way insurance companies prevent Americans from getting the care their doctors prescribe. Some employees grappled with the idea that their paychecks were padded in part by the practice of denying care. Witty, in a video to staff last week, attempted to address the rage but failed to change the narrative for some workers. “As you've seen, people are writing things we simply don't recognize, are aggressive, inappropriate and disrespectful,” he said, urging employees to ignore the media. “There’s no value in engaging. ”One employee said they wanted to see accountability from Witty. The episode made them question whether they could keep working for UnitedHealth both mentally and morally, this person said. It wasn’t enough to extol Thompson as a leader, colleague, friend and family man, according to some workers who declined to speak publicly for fear of retribution. The noise had become too loud to ignore and they wanted to see management address it head on. This growing disconnect between Americans and their insurers is an increasing threat to the industry, said Wendell Potter, a former Cigna communications executive who has written books critical of health insurance. “They have to demonstrate quarter-to-quarter that they’re managing medical expenses because that’s what Wall Street expects,” Potter said. “They’re certainly not managing the expectations of the people that they serve.” In the company’s limited external communications, UnitedHealth said in a statement Thursday: “Our priorities are, first and foremost, supporting Brian’s family; ensuring the safety of our employees; and working with law enforcement to bring the perpetrators to justice.” The constrained response may be intentional. “If they were my client, I would say go radio silent unless they have new news,” said crisis communications specialist Bruce Hennes, who is not working with UnitedHealth. “This is not the time to get into extended arguments and discussions with people on social media. There’s nothing to be gained.” Investors are also reacting to the impact of the outrage on the company, which sent shares down 10% in the days following the shooting. The killing “has cast a dark shadow” over the health-care insurance industry, Jared Holz, a health-care equity strategist at Mizuho Securities, wrote in a note to clients about UnitedHealth’s stock drop. “We believe the majority of the pressure, if not all, is related to the idea that the crime was based on some level of dissatisfaction with the insurance industry, its tendency to deny coverage for patients (in some circumstances) and the emotional toil this can take on patients and families,” Holz said. In some ways, UnitedHealth is in an impossible situation. “I don’t know what they can do other than hope that it does go away,” Potter said. Insurance behemoth UnitedHealth, the country’s largest insurer, is known among those in the industry as a place with sharp elbows: It’s unafraid of high-profile legal battles or tough negotiations with medical providers. On Wall Street, the company gained a reputation for reliably hitting — and usually exceeding — financial targets, even if it meant slashing jobs to do so. The culture at the top was shaped for years by veterans of the defunct accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where Chairman and former CEO Stephen Hemsley once worked. A previous CEO, William McGuire, unceremoniously left the company and settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission over backdating stock options that regulators alleged enriched him and other executives. In recent years, a series of acquisitions have consolidated UnitedHealth’s position so much that when a cyberattack took out its Change Healthcare subsidiary, doctors offices and hospitals across the country were paralyzed. That market dominance has come under review by the Department of Justice, Bloomberg News has reported. Members of Congress have called for a breakup of the conglomerate. Thompson was one of a handful of executives who sold UnitedHealth shares after the company learned it was under investigation by the DOJ, but before that information was shared with the public, Bloomberg reported. The company’s stock fell when the DOJ investigation was reported. Thompson sold $15.1 million worth of shares, according to Bloomberg calculations. Growing through so many acquisitions rapidly turned UnitedHealth into a company with around 400,000 employees. Some former employees call it too big to manage effectively, with layers of management slowing down decision making and pressure on divisions to buy services from other parts of the company because UnitedHealth is in so many lines of business that feed off one another. Before the investor day last week was cut short, Witty used some of his time on stage to acknowledge the widespread dissatisfaction with his industry. “You only have to walk into a room with five people to hear four stories of frustration. ‘I couldn't find a doctor, I didn't know where to go. It's too difficult to understand,’” he said in a room full of financial analysts and investors. For now, Witty’s trying to reassure his employees that the narrative hasn’t spiraled out of the company’s control. “We will work through this together. But it's going to be difficult,” he told workers in a video address last week. “Life won't be the same again.” (With assistance from Antonia Mufarech, Gerry Smith, Madison Muller, John Lauerman and Myles Miller.) ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nasdaq Private Market (NPM) , a leading provider of secondary liquidity solutions to private companies, employees, and investors, announced today that it has promoted Rotem David , Parul Dubey, Sharif Khaleel , and Chris Setaro to new roles on its Executive Leadership Team. Rotem David has been promoted to Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) . At NPM, he is an active member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. In Mr. David’s new role, he will lead NPM’s product and technology divisions worldwide, responsible for setting and executing the product roadmap as well as effectively bridging the gap between product vision and technical feasibility. He will oversee tech infrastructure, engineering, QA, and product. Mr. David has spent more than 10 years building out NPM’s portfolio of products which offers liquidity and data across various transaction and client types. Prior to NPM, he held lead engineering roles at SecondMarket and Nasdaq, Inc and is credited with helping to pioneer the first tender offer solution revolutionizing the way private companies provide secondary liquidity to their shareholders. Parul Dubey has been promoted to Managing Director and Head of the Private Client Group . In her new role, she now joins the Executive Leadership Team. Ms. Dubey will lead the development of NPM’s retail business to service individuals, family offices, and mid-sized entities. Previously, she was General Manager of the Capital Markets division, where she helped build the business from inception. Ms. Dubey was instrumental in launching several capstone products, including buy-side auctions and SecondMarketTM. Prior to NPM, she worked at Wellington Management as an Investment Specialist responsible for global fund launches and distribution for private equity and healthcare hedge funds. Ms. Dubey also held investment roles at a buyout firm and served on the Board of Steven Feller P.E. (a portfolio company). She started her career at PIMCO, servicing managed separate accounts for sovereign wealth funds, central banks, and family offices in the Middle East and Africa. Sharif Khaleel has been promoted to Managing Director and Head of Institutional Trading . At NPM, he is an active member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. In his new role, Mr. Khaleel will lead the trading desk, overseeing relationships with institutional clients and broker-dealers. He has nearly 25 years of financial services experience. Prior to NPM, Mr. Khaleel was a Managing Director at Zanbato, where he specialized in executing institutionally sized blocks of private securities. Earlier in his career, he served as a Senior Portfolio Trader at BNY Mellon. Mr. Khaleel has also held various roles on the buy side, including Derivatives and Risk Analyst at Stillwater Investment Management, Senior Trader at Farallon Capital Management, and International Portfolio and Macro Trader at BlackRock, where he spent over four years. Chris Setaro has been promoted to Chief Compliance, Regulatory, and Risk Officer . At NPM, he is an active member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. Mr. Setaro will now oversee all compliance, regulatory affairs, and risk management functions for the company worldwide. Prior to NPM, he was a Senior Vice President and the Head of Global Risk at Forge Global Inc. Previously, Mr. Setaro was the Global Chief Compliance Officer of SharesPost, Inc. and Chief Compliance Officer for its broker-dealer subsidiary SharesPost Financial Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was a Vice President at Nasdaq, Inc. serving as the Chief Compliance Officer for several of its broker-dealers. “As our business continues to evolve, we are focused on adding talented people and valuable resources to strengthen our company and core products. I am confident that Rotem, Parul, Sharif, and Chris will each position us for continued success and accelerate our ambitions to be a key partner to participants across the private market ecosystem,” said Tom Callahan, Chief Executive Officer, Nasdaq Private Market . “I am proud of their commitment to NPM thus far and look forward to their future contributions.” NPM partners with some of the world’s fastest-growing, venture-backed private companies to facilitate company-sponsored liquidity programs. Its electronic SecondMarket TM trading marketplace is gaining adoption by sellers and buyers who trade private company shares. The company’s Transfer and Settlement product efficiently manages share transfer activity from match through settlement for some of the most sophisticated private companies and investors. Its private market premium data product Tape DTM helps investors and entities better evaluate global investment opportunities. As an industry-leading provider in the secondary market, NPM has executed $55+ billion in transactional value across 760+ company-sponsored liquidity programs for venture-backed private companies as well as 200,000+ individual eligible shareholders and investors. About Nasdaq Private Market Nasdaq Private Market provides liquidity solutions for private companies, employees, and investors throughout each stage of the pre-IPO lifecycle. In 2013, the company was founded within Nasdaq, Inc. Today it is an independent company with strategic investments from Nasdaq, Allen & Company, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citi, DRW Venture Capital, Goldman Sachs, HiJoJo Partners, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wells Fargo. Learn more at www.nasdaqprivatemarket.com . Visit LinkedIn and X for the latest company news. Media Contacts Nasdaq Private Market Amanda Gold Chief Marketing Officer Amanda.Gold@npm.com Disclosures and Disclaimers NPM is not: (a) a registered exchange under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; (b) a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940; or (c) a financial or tax planner and does not offer legal or financial advice to any user of the NPM website or its services. Securities-related services are offered through NPM Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer and alternative trading system, and member FINRA/SIPC. Transactions in securities conducted through NPM Securities, LLC are not listed or traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, nor are the securities subject to the same listing or qualification standards applicable to securities listed or traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. Please read these other important disclosures and disclaimers about NPM found here: https://www.nasdaqprivatemarket.com/disclosures-disclaimer/
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