US tax authorities have announced that special, $1,400 payments are going out to 1 million taxpayers who did not claim under the 2021 recovery rebate scheme, in what may be a final installment of pandemic-era stimulus checks. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that the disbursements were a “special step” after a review found that many eligible taxpayers who did not receive one or more Economic Impact Payments (EIP), also known as stimulus “stimi” payments. There were three rounds of EIP payments to US citizens during the pandemic, totaling $4,500, which amounted to approximately $931bn between April 2020 and December 2021, according to the US treasury department. The estimated amount of payments going out will be about $2.4bn. The coronavirus aid, relief and economic security (Cares) Act of 2020 provided the largest amount of funding, $1.8tn, to combat both the healthcare crisis as well as the ensuing economic fallout of the pandemic. But trillions more was spent through other government programs and treasury department efforts. The IRS said in a statement that no action was needed for eligible taxpayers to receive these payments, and payments would arrive this month or by late January, and made by direct deposit or check. “The IRS continues to work hard to make improvements and help taxpayers,” IRS commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “These payments are an example of our commitment to go the extra mile for taxpayers.” The late stocking-stuffer payouts for about 1 million Americans come as federal authorities continue to trace billions of dollars in Covid-19 relief that may have been fraudulently obtained. A ’s Covid-19 fraud enforcement task force (CFETF) in April said criminal charges against more than 3,500 defendants for losses of more than $2bn had been brought and more than $1.4bn seized or forfeited. “Our work is not over,” attorney general Merrick Garland said in a statement. “We will continue our efforts to investigate and prosecute pandemic relief fraud and to recover the assets that have been stolen from American taxpayers.” Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco called for an extension of the statute of limitations “for prosecutors to recover hundreds of millions of dollars more in fraud proceeds, bring remaining offenders to justice, and disrupt criminal networks that continue to victimize our citizens”.
Salah's impact on the field is undeniable, and his recognition as the best player in the league for November is a fitting tribute to his skill, dedication, and passion for the game. Liverpool fans can look forward to more outstanding performances from their star forward as he continues to light up the Premier League with his goals and assists.
Despite the morning pullback, market participants remain optimistic about the long-term prospects of the Chinese stock market. Factors such as the country's strong economic fundamentals, growing consumer market, and technological advancements continue to attract domestic and international investors.
NEW YORK — “Barbenheimer” was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn’t stopped people from trying to make “Glicked” — or even “Babyratu” — happen. The counterprogramming of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office. And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, “Saw Patrol” ). This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation “Wicked” opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic “Gladiator II.” Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: “Wickiator,” “Wadiator,” “Gladwick” and even the eyebrow raising “Gladicked” have all been suggested. “'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more,” actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of “Gladiator II” this week. “I think we should all band around ‘Glicked.’ It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it.” As with “Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, “Glicked” also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging muscles. Both films topped Fandango’s most anticipated holiday movie survey, where 65% of respondents said that they were interested in the “Glicked” double feature. Theaters big and small are also pulling out the stops with movie-themed tie-ins. B&B Theaters will have Roman guards tearing tickets at some locations and Maximus popcorn tubs. Marcus Theaters is doing Oz photo ops and friendship bracelet-making. Alamo Drafthouse is leaning into the singalong aspect (beware, though, not all theaters are embracing this) and the punny drinks like “Defying Gravi-Tea.” “Rather than it being in competition, I think they’re in conversation,” “Gladiator II” star Paul Mescal said. “This industry needs a shot in the arm. Those films gave it last year. We hope to do it this year.” And the hope is that audiences will flock to theaters to be part of this moment as well. It's a sorely needed influx of could-be blockbusters into a marketplace that's still at an 11% deficit from last year and down 27.2% from 2019, according to data from Comscore. “Competition is good for the marketplace. It’s good for consumers,” said Michael O'Leary, the president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners. “Having two great movies coming out at the same time is simply a multiplier effect.” “Glicked” is currently tracking for a combined North American debut in the $165 million range, with “Wicked” forecast to earn around $100 million (up from the $80 million estimates a few weeks ago) and “Gladiator II” pegged for the $65 million range. “Barbenheimer” shattered its projections last July. Going into that weekend, “Barbie” had been pegged for $90 million and “Oppenheimer” around $40 million. Ultimately, they brought in a combined $244 million in that first outing, and nearly $2.4 billion by the end of their runs. It’s possible “Glicked” will exceed expectations, too. And it has the advantage of another behemoth coming close behind: “Moana 2,” which opens just five days later on the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday. “Glickedana” triple feature anyone? “These are 10 important days,” O'Leary said. “It’s going to show the moviegoing audience that there’s a lot of compelling stuff out there for them to see.” There are infinite caveats to the imperfect comparison to “Barbenheimer,” as well. “Wicked” is a “Part One.” Musicals carry their own baggage with moviegoers, even those based on wildly successful productions (ahem, “Cats”). “Gladiator II” got a head start and opened internationally last weekend. In fact, in the U.K. it played alongside “Paddington in Peru,” where that double was pegged “Gladdington.” “Gladiator” reviews, while positive, are a little more divided than the others. And neither directors Ridley Scott nor Jon M. Chu has the built-in box office cache that Christopher Nolan’s name alone carries at the moment. The new films also cost more than “Barbie” ($145 million) and “Oppenheimer” ($100 million). According to reports, “Gladiator II” had a $250 million price tag; “Wicked” reportedly cost $150 million to produce (and that does not include the cost of the second film, due next year). The narrative, though, has shifted away from “who will win the weekend.” Earlier this year, Chu told The Associated Press that he loves that this is a moment where “we can root for all movies all the time.” Close behind are a bevy of Christmas releases with double feature potential, but those feel a little more niche. There’s the remake of “Nosferatu,” the Nicole Kidman kink pic “Babygirl” and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.” The internet can’t even seem to decide on its angle for that batch of contenders, and none exactly screams blockbuster. Sometimes the joy is just in the game, however. Some are sticking with the one-name mashup (“Babyratu”); others are suggesting that the fact that two of the movies feature real-life exes (Timothée Chalamet and Lily-Rose Depp) is enough reason for a double feature. And getting people talking is half the battle. When in doubt, or lacking a catchy name, there’s always the default: “This is my Barbenheimer.” ___ Associated Press journalist John Carucci and Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed reporting.Looking ahead, China Life Insurance remains committed to driving innovation, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing customer value. The company will continue to leverage its strengths in product development, distribution, and risk management to capture new growth opportunities in the insurance market. With a solid foundation and a clear strategic direction, China Life Insurance is well-positioned to achieve sustainable growth and deliver long-term value to its stakeholders.Mumbai is a shape-shifter. It’s no two descriptions are the same. It assumes and rejects identities quicker than seconds tick. More of a concept than an actual city, it builds and spits out dreams and desires at a pace more frenetic than the timetable of its swarming local trains. Although it’s an intimate, keenly-observed portrait of the Maximum City, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light discards the romanticism, the glorification attached to it right at the outset. Through montages—delicious interplays of sights, sounds, smells, and speed—she establishes Mumbai as a city of striving, a shiny hamster wheel, a mirage that takes more than it gives. Also written by Kapadia , All We Imagine As Light starts documentary style with faceless voices of the working-class narrating their Mumbai story. One says that despite living in the city of dreams for over two decades, he’s scared to call it home because he knows he may have to pack up and leave at any moment. Another recalls how he couldn’t sleep the first night he relocated because of the fish stench. Before long, cinematographer Ranabir Das’s lens focuses on two Malayali nurses on their train back home. Bathed in blue like the rest of the metropolis, Prabha (a terrific Kani Kusruti)—a woman in her late 30s—looks out into the night standing by the compartment gate. Meanwhile, Anu (Divya Prabha), her younger roommate, naps, splayed out on the seat, exhausted after a long day at work. It’s not just their age that sets them apart, Prabha and Anu are distinctly disparate in who they are, the histories they carry, the secrets they harbor, and how they inhabit and move through the world. Reserved and responsible, Prabha is the personification of repressed longing, a woman coming to terms with the absence of her estranged husband. As for Anu, youthful and vivacious, she is audacious enough to be in a clandestine relationship with a Muslim boy Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon) and use Mumbai’s indifference and anonymity to fuel it. If the first half of the 118-minute film examines Mumbai and its aches through Prabha, Anu, and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), the aging Maharashtrian cook at their hospital, All We Imagine As Light moves to a scenic beach village along the Konkan coast post interval. Displaced because of gentrification and forced to return to where she came from, Parvaty gets Prabha and Anu to help her with her relocation to the countryside. A stark contrast to Mumbai’s cacophony and relentlessness, it is in the quietude of the beachside idyll that the three women finally find freedom (that they were searching for in Mumbai all along) and their stories, a fitting resolution. Although All We Imagine As Light is firmly rooted in Mumbai’s ethos, a global sensibility permeates throughout the film in the way it frames and approaches desire and sensuality. It is a sensorial feast; Kapadia’s gaze is uninhibited, unvarnished. A shining example of cinéma vérité , the film is Mira Nair-esque in its unabashed rawness and unafraid political commentary. So fluid is Ranabir Das’s camerawork and Clement Pinteaux’s editing that scenes melt into each other. Some jump at you, to lodge and live rent free in the front of your head and heart. In one scene, Prabha gets a rice cooker unannounced from her husband who lives in Germany and hasn’t called her in over a year. In the middle of the night while wiping the floor of her cramped, cluttered apartment, she looks at it and embraces it like a lover overcome with longing. There’s another in which Prabha has a conversation with a stranger she saves at the beach as though he were her husband, blurring the lines between real and fantastical. There’s yet another scene when Prabha and Parvaty throw stones at a billboard advertising one of the high-rise luxury apartments that renders Parvathy homeless. “Class is a privilege,” the billboard blares, adding, “Reserved for the privileged.” But the most searing is how Kapadia uses burqa—a quintessential tool of female oppression—as a weapon of sexual liberation. Anu wears it as a disguise to break into Shiraz’s home when everyone else is away, hoping for some private time together. Though the plan fails, their inter-faith romance, in spite of the inherent risks and uncertainties, flowers. This is Kapadia’s genius—finding brilliance in the mundane, creating a tapestry at once inviting and provocative. It is hardly surprising then that All We Imagine As Light has been winning big in the international festival circuit. With its luminous defiance, earthy narrative, and unassuming sensitivity, it is exactly the kind of Indian film that hard-boiled Western critics cannot resist rhapsodizing about. 2024 is drawing to a close but homegrown talent still needs white validation to get recognized in India .
JAMES MADISON 71, JACKSONVILLE STATE 65Quest Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home was broken into during Monday Night Football in the latest home invasion of a pro athlete in the U.S., authorities said Tuesday. No one was injured in the break-in, but the home was ransacked, according to a report provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies weren’t immediately able to determine what items were stolen. A person who is employed by Burrow arrived at the Anderson Township home Monday night to find a shattered bedroom window and the home in disarray. The person called their mother, and then 911 was contacted, according to the report. Deputies reached out to neighbors in an attempt to piece together surveillance footage. “Our investigators are exploring every avenue,” public information officer Kyla Woods said. The homes of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were broken into in October. In the NBA, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis had his home broken into Nov. 2 and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr.’s home was burglarized on Sept. 15 while he was at a Minnesota Vikings game. Portis had offered a $40,000 reward for information. Both the NFL and NBA issued security alerts to players after those break-ins, urging them to take additional precautions to secure their homes. In league memos previously obtained by The Associated Press, the NFL said homes of professional athletes across multiple sports have become “increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups.” And the NBA revealed that the FBI has connected some burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups” that are “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated rings that incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” Some of the burglary groups have conducted extensive surveillance on targets, including attempted home deliveries and posing as grounds maintenance or joggers in the neighborhood, according to officials.
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