The Canadian Press TORONTO — No winning ticket was sold for the $24.3 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw.However, the guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in Quebec.The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Jan. 30 will be approximately $30 million.
Wales have announced that Aaron Ramsey will miss their Uefa Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland due to “family reasons”The loss of the Arsenal midfielder will come as another blow for head coach Ryan Giggs after Gareth Bale returned to Real Madrid.Wales were handed a 4-1 thrashing by Spain at Cardiff on Friday after a brace from forward Paco Alcacer, along with goals from defensive duo Sergio Ramos and Marc Bartra.Ramsey, whose Arsenal future remains increasingly uncertain, played the full 90 minutes of the loss but could not make an impact with Sam Vokes grabbing an 89th-minute consolation goal.Now the 27-year-old will be replaced by Swansea City’s Daniel James for Tuesday’s game in Dublin.
Daniel James impresses Patrice Evra Manuel R. Medina – September 12, 2019 The Manchester United legend gave Daniel James a passionate speech after the youngster was voted Player of the Month for August.“Daniel James has been called up to the senior team from the under 21’s this morning. Aaron Ramsey will no longer travel with the squad to Dublin due to family reasons,” read a statement on the Wales FA Twitter.SQUAD UPDATE | DIWEDDARIAD CARFANDaniel James has been called up to the senior team from the under 21’s this morning. Aaron Ramsey will no longer travel with the squad to Dublin due to family reasons.#TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/lYWOUUrI5M— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) October 15, 2018
Related Items:cctv may be coming to TCI, meeting held to see what other jurisdictions are doing in terms of cctv Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsApp Facebook Twitter Google+LinkedInPinterestWhatsAppProvidenciales, TCI, July 29, 2016 – A steering committee will be formed and CCTV is finally closer to coming for the Turks and Caicos Islands. In the fifth National Security Council or NSC meeting, held on Tuesday July 26, it was determined that a committee will explore what other jurisdictions are doing. This committee is to be chaired by Director of the Premier’s Office, Althea Been. At the meeting were: the Governor, Premier, Police Commissioner, Minister for Border Control and the Attorney General. 
“We can’t take you anymore,” said Trump, whose grandfather was a 16-year-old German immigrant. “We can’t take you. Our country is full.”Then, changing his position on Friday, the president tweeted that he’s “giving strong considerations” to placing migrants in mostly Democratic “sanctuary cities,” a move Democrats called a politically motivated stunt. Tall Order: Building the Border Wall It’s a big, dark, windowless room equipped with a wall of large-format TV monitors. The screens show surveillance camera views of the curves and bends of the Rio Grande and its grassy, weed-choked banks. Some displays are in black-and-white, others are in infrared or color. A screen in the middle plays Trump’s favorite network, Fox News.Sitting in rows of desks in front of the TVs are a mix of about five Border Patrol agents and five National Guard troops (some of the same 5,000 active-duty troops the Pentagon has sent to the border over the last year). They’re each tasked with closely monitoring one area of the river. Not only can they control the cameras, but they’re also paying attention to inputs from buried seismic ground sensors that can pick up footsteps and vehicle movement. If they see anything suspicious, they immediately radio agents in the field.”The agents know what looks right and what looks wrong,” says Jose A. Martinez, an assistant chief patrol agent with a close-cropped crewcut, green eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor. “Rain, sleet, snow, they’re capturing video for us.”
US Border Patrol can monitor all movements on the Rio Grande at a nerve center in Laredo, Texas. James Martin/CNET It’s up to Customs and Border Protection officers to police the US-Mexico ports of entry, but it’s up to Border Patrol agents to monitor everything in between. In the Laredo sector, Border Patrol has 34 remote video surveillance systems that focus on the 30 to 40 miles of river with the most activity.Martinez shows me a couple of these hotspots in person. We hop into his SUV with two other agents and head to a large tree-filled park on the river. People jog on dirt trails that weave around soccer fields and baseball diamonds. Cormorants skim across the water in search of fish, and redwing blackbirds chatter in the bushes. Martinez says people tend to cross the river here because they can run up the bank and easily blend in with park-goers.Set back a few dozen feet from the river is a steel tower that’s about 120 feet tall. Fixed on top is a system of daylight and infrared cameras that face up and down the Rio Grande. The footage from these cameras is what agents back at the nerve center are monitoring. They’re looking for people swimming across the river or traversing it in canoes, inflatable rafts or inner tubes.Border Patrol is increasingly relying on technology to help agents do their jobs. To spot people and vehicles crossing the border, they use everything from the surveillance towers to radar- and laser-equipped drones to a complex system of ground, radio frequency, seismic and imaging sensors.
A remote video surveillance system keeps watch over the Rio Grande. James Martin/CNET Martinez says the tech has its drawbacks. In Laredo, the cameras are limited in how far up and down river they can scan. That means people can take advantage of gaps in the system and sneak in without being seen.”They have the advantage because they can see us, but we can’t see them,” Martinez says, pointing to thickets of trees and hilly ridges on the Mexican side. And once they get to the US side, people can still evade the cameras. He shows me a steep embankment next to the water. “Someone can just hang off the ledge right there.” We can have all the technology in the world. But if we don’t have personnel to respond, what are we going to do? Jose A. Martinez, assistant chief patrol agent for US Border Patrol Politics Texas border sees tense confrontations for immigrants 22 Photos As Martinez keeps driving, the nerve center radios saying they see about “10 bodies” aiming to cross the river near us. Martinez flips a U-turn and hits the gas. We race down a busy street, pull into an H-E-B grocery store parking lot, turn off the headlights and sit. It’s bustling with kids running around and people pushing shopping carts.”They have reached the US riverbank,” Martinez says as he gets word from the nerve center.Below the parking lot, the Rio Grande’s shore is covered with thick, head-high weeds. The nerve center agents will now rely on signals from the buried ground sensors to figure out which way the crossers are moving. Martinez gets a call that they’ve found the group about a block away.In a dark and dusty lot behind a commercial strip, a Border Patrol truck already has two people sitting in the back seat. It’s a man and woman, both from Mexico City. Other agents by the river are chasing three more immigrants and their guide. One by one, everyone is caught. They’re all from different parts of Mexico.
Mexican immigrants are apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Laredo, Texas. James Martin/CNET A young man appears wearing tight black jeans tucked into work boots and a grey sweatshirt. The agents put him up against the truck, pat him down and inventory what’s in his pockets. He has a cellphone and charger, a notepad and a wallet with photos of people in small plastic sleeves.”We have to chase them down. We have to work for these apprehensions,” Martinez says. “These agents will drop them off and then come back out here again.”All six people will be transported to the Centralized Processing Unit, where their information will be recorded and officials will decide what to do with them, Martinez says. Most likely they will all be deported back to Mexico.Braving the riverAs the days ticked by at the former factory in Piedras Negras, people in the caravan became increasingly desperate to leave. Reports of families sneaking out and heading to the river became near daily occurrences.Mexican officials shut down the facility on Feb. 19, about two weeks after it opened. The caravan was split up. Some people stayed at shelters in Piedras Negras, but most were bused to other cities across Northern Mexico.
The facility holding around 1,800 migrants in Piedras Negras, Mexico, closed on Feb. 19. James Martin/CNET Throughout February and March, dozens of immigrants attempted to cross the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass. In one event, Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of 56 Hondurans, mostly women and children. At least two dead bodies have been found in the river and several families were rescued from drowning. In three separate incidents, 17 Central Americans were pulled out of the same spot of the river in just one day. A couple days later, a 12-year-old Honduran boy had to be resuscitated.Given the scope of law enforcement waiting on the US side, it’s clear most immigrants trying to cross would get caught. But that was their intention. Once a person sets foot in US territory, they have the right to apply for asylum. By braving the river, migrants can jump the indefinite metering line at the bridge.When I spoke to Zuniga through that yellow chain-link fence at the Albergue Migrante, I asked her if she’d ford the river if it came to that.”Crossing the river? No. I came here with the wish to do it right. To cross the bridge calmly and to respect the laws,” she said. “I just hope that Donald Trump helps us.”Tall Order: Building the Border Wall is our Texas border series exploring what a wall and tech alternatives might mean to the people, communities and law enforcement agencies living in its shadow. Read the first story here: Trump wants a border wall. Texas may want a smarter alternative, and the third story here: In a Texas border town, a church on the edge and wildlife at risk.Originally published April 11. Update, April 12: Adds President Trump’s statement on placing migrants in “sanctuary cities.” There’s no debate that a wall — and the government’s surveillance tech — will affect people along the river. So I set out to travel the entire length of the Texas-Mexico border to see firsthand what people think and how tech is helping, or not helping, the situation. Border Patrol already relies on a complex network of cameras, videos, drones and sensors to see at night, into the water and through dense foliage. But agents say it’s not enough. What’s happening along the Texas border is like nothing seen before, according to more than 30 interviews with people who live here, federal agents, lawyers, humanitarian groups, local law enforcement and immigrants.The standoff in Eagle Pass marked one of the first times standard border security was paired with military might.And it could be a signal of what’s to come.The nerve centerOn a nondescript street in Laredo, a large border city about 125 miles south of Eagle Pass, there’s an unassuming one-story beige building built in 1969 under President Richard Nixon. This is the Border Patrol Sector Headquarters for the Laredo region, which is responsible for 171 miles of the Rio Grande.Parked out front are a handful of Border Patrol’s green-and-white pickups. Inside, the hallways are lined with basic offices. But behind one door something wholly different is going on. “The gang said it was me who called the police,” Zuniga says. “People in the community warned me that the gang members said they were going to kill me.””With 18th Street, you don’t mess around because they kill people. They massacre people,” she adds. “I can’t return to Honduras.”Zuniga’s story isn’t unique. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are some of the most dangerous countries on Earth because of the violence perpetrated by 18th Street and rival gang MS-13, according to investigative nonprofit Insight Crime. After Venezuela, El Salvador had the highest homicide rate in the world in 2018. Honduras came in at No. 4 and Guatemala at No. 10.The gangs first formed on the streets of Los Angeles during the 1980s and were then exported to Central America in the 1990s when the Clinton administration stepped up deportations of criminals back to their home countries. In that region, then ravaged by civil war and poverty and flooded with weapons, 18th Street and MS-13 not only thrived but became increasingly more brutal. Now, 25 years later, the gangs have become the de facto rulers of the Northern Triangle.
Honduran immigrant Oeli Zuniga and her daughter are hoping to seek asylum in the US. For now, they’re forced to stay in Mexico. James Martin/CNET “[The migrants] are fleeing failed governmental systems that aren’t able to protect their own population from organized crime, cartels and gangs,” says Goodwin. From women, “I hear stories of rape, multiple rapes, gang rapes. … Men often talk about being kidnapped, being beaten, tortured, being hit with two-by-fours, having their feet burned.”At the Albergue Migrante, rows of folding tables and chairs are set up on one side of the yard. Migrants can sit down with Mexican immigration officials and sign up for a humanitarian visa. This would allow them to live, work and travel freely in Mexico for a year. Some people tell me they’ll take the visa and stay in Mexico. Others are determined to get to the US.But the prospects don’t look good. Even if they make it across the bridge to apply for asylum, the chance of their case making its way through the courts anytime soon is slim. Asylum applications have skyrocketed over the last decade, from around 7,000 in 2010 to more than 325,000 in 2018, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. And even though the number of asylum cases is only 6.5 percent of overall immigration cases in the US, there’s a backlog of roughly 320,000 claims. The average wait time for an asylum case to be heard is about three years. Once these cases finally do make it to court, they’re approved just 21 percent of the time.
Amy Kim/CNET Meanwhile, migrants like Zuniga and the hundreds of other people in the caravan are in limbo.”If you wanna stop people from coming, you have to stop the factors that are pushing them out of their homeland,” Goodwin says. “You can put as many troops down here as you want, you can beef up border patrol by 20,000 agents, and that’s not gonna solve the systemic issues.””Boots on the ground, that ain’t gonna cut it.”Cat and mouseAs Agent Martinez navigates his SUV along dirt roads next to the Rio Grande in Laredo, the sun sets in flares of orange and red over the river. This is the time when illegal activity picks up, he says.”It’s going to be 11 bodies, possibly more,” a voice pipes over his radio, using Border Patrol jargon. It’s an agent from the nerve center saying he spotted 11 people about to cross the river on his surveillance camera.Martinez says they mostly apprehend people from Mexico and the Northern Triangle, although they’ve seen people from all over the world, including Brazil, Venezuela and Bangladesh. Along with migrants, Border Patrol is also looking for drug smugglers. Laredo agents have seized 14,500 pounds of marijuana, 216 pounds of cocaine and 154 pounds of meth since October.Laredo is one of the top five border cities where people cross the river illegally. That’s mainly because it’s an urban center where they can disappear without being noticed.
A drainage tunnel in Laredo, Texas, that Border Patrol has covered with a metal gate so no one can sneak in. James Martin/CNET “Aliens cross here every night,” Martinez says. “Why? Because they can come up and run there or there and get lost.”Martinez drives downtown to show me a 4-foot-wide drainage pipe that empties into the Rio Grande. People cross the river and then run into the drainage tunnel. Once inside, they look for a manhole cover to pop off and exit into the city. Border Patrol has covered the pipe with a metal gate and sealed manhole covers, but people still get through with bolt cutters and a hammer.”When people ask, ‘Do we need a wall?’ This right here shows you the disadvantage we’re at and how a wall will be beneficial to us,” Martinez says. “It’s a little cat and mouse game.”He says a wall would be a deterrent and give border agents more time to respond. Laredo is on the shortlist to get a wall, but the city’s mayor, Pete Saenz, is opposed to the idea. “We don’t need a physical wall,” Saenz told NPR in an interview. “We have a natural barrier.” This right here shows you the disadvantage we’re at and how a wall will be beneficial to us. Jose A. Martinez, assistant chief patrol agent for US Border Patrol 12 3:47 Now playing: Watch this: • Comments On the one hand, migrants seeking asylum are fleeing extreme violence and poverty in the Northern Triangle, which has the highest murder rates in the world and has been deemed a humanitarian crisis by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Under US law, asylum seekers are considered legal immigrants.On the other hand, Trump has vowed to halt all immigration at the US-Mexico border.So where does that leave Texas? The president has made it clear he believes a big part of the solution to stemming immigration is an 18- to 30-foot cement or steel wall. California, Arizona and New Mexico, already have fencing or walls along 60 percent of their borders, but Texas only has around 20 percent because of its natural barrier with Mexico: the Rio Grande. Everyone is leaving because it’s dangerous. The gangs have taken over all the neighborhoods. Oeli Zuniga, Honduran immigrant See All
Tags Aug 7 • Trump’s emissions and fuel economy rollbacks will cost Americans money, study says US Tech Policy Share your voice Jul 28 • Apple’s Q3 earnings are all about the iPhone 11 hints It’s also difficult for border agents to respond before whoever has crossed the river is gone, Martinez adds. Border Patrol is stretched thin, with only 1,750 agents deployed in the Laredo sector, which covers 110,000 square miles.”We can have all the technology in the world,” Martinez says. “But if we don’t have personnel to respond, what are we going to do?”‘They were going to kill me’When the caravan of Central American immigrants made it to Piedras Negras on Feb. 4, the Mexican authorities were expecting them. Off a highway on the outskirts of town, officials had prepared a former factory with sleeping mats, blankets, food, Wi-Fi and mobile health and dental trucks.At the entrance, a big red-and-white sign reads “Albergue Migrante, Migrant Hostel.” The entire facility is roughly the size of a football field and encircled by a yellow chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Soldiers and police guard the building. Only officials are let in. The migrants aren’t allowed to leave.Up until last summer, asylum seekers could simply show up at a US port of entry to begin their application process. But now, under a new process called “metering” instituted by Customs and Border Protection, only a limited number of asylum requests are allowed per day, depending on the bridge and port of entry. Immigrants are being forced to wait in Mexico indefinitely.
Detained migrants line up in a former factory in Piedras Negras, Mexico. James Martin/CNET “The so-called crisis is totally manufactured by the fact that they’re metering people at the port of entry. It creates dangerous situations for the migrants who are waiting at the foot of the bridge and in the border towns,” says Jodi Goodwin, a Texas immigration lawyer. “Those individuals become desperate and have no other option but to cross the river.”In a dusty yard at the facility in Piedras Negras, hundreds wait for their chance to cross the bridge to Eagle Pass. It’s a decidedly low-tech affair, with people standing around for hours waiting to be called. The migrants say about 15 people per day are let out.”So many families are here and single mothers,” the Honduran migrant Zuniga tells me through the chain-link fence. Her light brown hair is tied back in a messy ponytail and she’s wearing a pilled green fleece over a tight pink T-shirt. “I just want them to let me out and let me go and ask for political asylum with my daughter.”Back in Honduras, Zuniga’s neighborhood in the city of San Pedro Sula was ruled by the notorious 18th Street gang. She says she tried to keep a low profile working as a grocery store clerk and raising her young daughter. But all that came to an end in early January. One evening, members of 18th Street gathered in a field near her house. All of a sudden the police arrived, Zuniga says. A shootout ensued, and some of the gang members were killed. If you wanna stop people from coming, you have to stop the factors that are pushing them out of their homeland. Jodi Goodwin, Texas immigration lawyer. reading • At Texas border, tech can’t keep pace with immigrant influx US Tech Policy Trump wants a border wall. Texas may want a smarter alternative In a Texas border town, a church on the edge and wildlife at risk Aug 6 • Trump says he’s watching Google ‘very closely,’ slams CEO Sundar Pichai Aug 6 • President Trump wants social media to catch shooters before they strike. It’s going to be hard Drones Military Donald Trump A high-tech, low-tech game of cat and mouse along the border It had all the makings of an old-fashioned Texas standoff.Hundreds of state troopers and US Border Patrol agents sat behind the wheels of black SUVs and green-and-white pickups facing the Rio Grande, their eyes fixed on the jade-colored water. A helicopter buzzed low overhead, winding along the bends of the river, while agents in a swamp boat cruised below. Four men, wearing army green uniforms and cowboy hats, rode horses up the shore, guns at the ready.Enlarge ImageThis is the second story in our Texas border trilogy, Tall Order: Building the Border Wall. Click here for the first story and click here for the third story. Amy Kim/CNET It was a quiet February morning, and all these law enforcement officers in Eagle Pass, a small Texas border town about a seven-and-a-half hour drive southeast of El Paso, were waiting for one thing: immigrants.Across the river, in the Mexican city of Piedras Negras, a caravan of about 1,800 Central American immigrants, including families with young children, had arrived at the start of the month — the first such caravan to make it to the Texas border. They had trekked more than 1,500 miles to ask the United States government for asylum. Most said they were escaping threats of violence and death in their home countries.”Everyone is leaving because it’s dangerous. The gangs have taken over all the neighborhoods,” Oeli Zuniga, 26, a Honduran immigrant traveling with her 7-year-old daughter, tells me. “We do this for our kids, so they can be in a country without so much crime and so many ugly things taking place.”In preparation for the caravan’s arrival, the US had beefed up border security. Under the direction of President Donald Trump, the Pentagon sent 250 active-duty military troops. Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent 500 officers from the Department of Public Safety. And US Customs and Border Protection outfitted its local agents with cement traffic barriers, riot gear and spools of concertina wire. That’s in addition to the high-tech cameras, sensors and radar tracking tools already in place to help monitor the 1,200 miles of Texas’ border with Mexico.
Law enforcement lined the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, in anticipation of a migrant caravan that arrived across the river days earlier. James Martin/CNET By the end of March, Trump declared he was cutting all foreign aid, approximately $450 million, to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — collectively known as the Northern Triangle. He also said he’d close the nearly 2,000-mile US southern border if Mexico didn’t do something about the migrants heading north. On Sunday, Kirstjen Nielsen, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, resigned as the president said he wants to go in a “tougher direction” on immigration.A “colossal surge” of people is entering the US and “overwhelming” the immigration system, Trump said after a visit to a California border town last week. And Customs and Border Protection confirmed it apprehended more than 100,000 immigrants on the southwest border in March, double the number for the same time period last year.
Just a few voters are seen at Azim Uddin High School polling centre in Kishoreganj town. Tafsilul Aziz took this photo around 9:30am on Sunday.The election commission has suspended voting at all centres of Katiadi upazila in Kishoreganj following allegations of huge irregularities during the third phase of upazila elections on Sunday, reports UNB.Besides, additional superintendent of police Shafiqul Islam and Katiadi police station officer-in-charge Shamsuddin have been withdrawn over the incidents of vote rigging, said district election officer Mohammad Tajul Islam.Earlier in the morning, voting to five polling stations was suspended. Later, voting to rest of the 84 polling stations was suspended on allegation of stuffing vote at night, said the election official.Voting in elections to 117 upazila parishads began on Sunday morning in the third phase of the local government polls.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media during her post cabinet press conference at Parliament in Wellington on 25 March. Photo: AFPNew Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday ordered an independent judicial inquiry into whether police and intelligence services could have prevented the Christchurch mosque attacks on 15 March.Ardern said a royal commission — the most powerful judicial probe available under New Zealand law — was needed to find out how a single gunman was able to kill 50 people in an attack that shocked the world.”It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to how this act of terrorism occurred and how we could have stopped it,” she told reporters.New Zealand’s spy agencies have faced criticism in the wake of the attack for concentrating on the threat from Islamic extremism.Instead, the victims were all Muslims and the massacre was allegedly carried out by a white supremacist fixated on the belief that there was an Islamist plot to “invade” Western countries.”One question we need to answer is whether or not we could or should have known more,” Ardern said.”New Zealand is not a surveillance state … but questions need to be answered.”Ardern ruled out New Zealand re-introducing the death penalty for accused gunman Brenton Tarrant, 28, who was arrested minutes after the attack on the mosques and has been charged with murder.She said details of the royal commission were being finalised, but it would be comprehensive and would report in a timely manner.It will cover the activities of intelligence services, police, customs, immigration and any other relevant government agencies in the lead-up to the attack.The gunman livestreamed the attack online, although New Zealand has outlawed the footage as “objectionable content”.Ardern reiterated her believe it should not be aired.”That video should not be shared. That is harmful content,” she said when questioned about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan showing excerpts of the footage at campaign rallies for local elections this month.Erdogan had angered both Wellington and Canberra with campaign rhetoric about anti-Muslim Australians and New Zealanders being sent back in “coffins” like their grandfathers at Gallipoli, a World War I battle.New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters travelled to Istanbul to meet Erdogan and address an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.Peters said OIC members were full of praise for the support New Zealand had offered its small, tight-knit Muslim community in the wake of the killings.”A number of them were weeping and sobbing at the demonstration (of support) by non-Muslim New Zealand towards the Muslim victims,” he told reporters.”It was dramatic and I was told by countless ministers that they’ve never seen anything of that type.”The body of an Indian student killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks, meanwhile, was returned Monday to her grieving family in Kochi, where relatives remembered a bright young woman dedicated to her studies.Ansi Alibava, 25, was the first of at least five Indians shot dead on March 15 to be repatriated.The family planned to hold a funeral ceremony for the masters student in their nearby hometown of Kodungallur.
Hassell completed his 10th season working with the Louisville baseball program in 2019, having been with the program from 2008-11 and returning before the 2014 season. His first experience at the international level began immediately following Louisville’s fifth appearance at the College World Series. “USA Baseball is something I’ve wanted to be a part of ever since I started my career as an athletic trainer,” Hassell said. “USA Baseball is such a first class organization from top to bottom and I’m so thankful they gave me this chance to work with such a great coaching staff, not to mention what is most likely the next generation of big leaguers.” Hassell worked alongside UofL head coach Dan McDonnell, who served as the manager of the team, during the four-week period that saw the USA CNT compete across North Carolina against Cuba before series in Taiwan and Japan. Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @LouisvilleBSB. Print Friendly Version “Working in college baseball for 14 years has given me so many memories and experiences that I’ll never forget, but having the opportunity to represent the United States and the University of Louisville in international competition is hard to top.” The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team was made up of an elite group of collegiate players from across the country, including a pair of student-athletes from UofL. Reid Detmers and Lucas Dunn competed for Team USA this summer, while Alex Binelas, Michael Kirian and Bobby Miller were all invited to training camp and Gabe Burchell served as the bullpen catcher. Team USA picked up victories in four of its five games in the 8th Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series before heading across the globe to Taiwan. There, the USA CNT won two out of three to capture the 19th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series before falling 3-2 in the 43rd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series to wrap up the summer. LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville Associate Director of Sports Medicine Pat Hassell represented the Cardinals on the international stage this summer, working as the athletic trainer for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Story Links
Citation: ‘Egg-based electronics’ offer surprisingly good electrical performance (2017, September 28) retrieved 18 August 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2017-09-egg-based-electronics-surprisingly-good-electrical.html Journal information: Nanotechnology The researchers, led by Qunliang Song at Southwest University, China, have published a paper on using hydrogen-peroxide-modified egg albumen for resistive switching memory in a recent issue of Nanotechnology.”As a promising alternative to the conventional silicon-based nonvolatile memory, the egg albumen has more advantages than other materials,” Song told Phys.org. “The bio-organic material egg albumen may have potential applications in the imitation of biological memory behavior, artificial intelligence, and brain-like intelligence because of the good compatibility.”This is not the first time that egg albumen has been incorporated into electronic devices. Previously, the albumen from chicken and duck eggs has been used in transistors and other devices as the dielectric (insulating) layer. However, the new work marks the first time that egg albumen has been used to make resistive memories. These memories are being developed as a next-generation alternative to the silicon-based memories that dominate today’s electronics. Resistive memories, which operate based on changes in resistance rather than electric current, have potential advantages such as higher speeds, higher densities, and smaller sizes.One of the main components of resistive memories is a dielectric film—here, the egg albumen-based film—which is normally insulating but can be made conducting by applying a voltage. Switching between these states of high and low electrical resistance corresponds to switching between the memory’s “off” and “on” states, respectively.The researchers demonstrated that the resistance of egg albumen material can be made switchable by mixing it with a 10% hydrogen peroxide solution. Egg albumen contains more than 40 different proteins that are linked together by weak chemical bonds. Deep inside these proteins are large numbers of iron, sodium, and potassium ions. The hydrogen peroxide easily breaks the bonds holding the proteins together, which denatures the proteins and, critically, exposes the ions. These ions, which are positively charged, then act as traps that capture negatively charged electrons that are injected when a voltage is applied. When the trap levels are low (few or no electrons), the dielectric material behaves as an insulator and the memory is in the “off” state. When a negative voltage is applied, it causes the traps to fill with electrons, the material becomes conducting, and the memory switches to its “on” state. To reset the memory, a positive voltage is applied, releasing the electrons from the traps and returning the memory to its “off” state.”Ions such as Fe3+, Na+ and K+ are always connected with protein chains in the chicken egg albumen, and so cannot work efficiently when charges are injected,” Song said. “Treated with 10% hydrogen peroxide solution, the ions can be exposed outside of the protein chains and act as the traps to capture the injected charges. Thus the resistive switching memory properties of the hydrogen peroxide-modified egg albumen film was efficiently improved compared to those of pristine egg albumen.”Overall, the researchers demonstrated that the egg-albumen-based resistive memory compares favorably to other memories, exhibiting a high on/off resistance ratio, as well as good retention and switching endurance even after repeated bending. “Although great progress and breakthroughs have been made regarding the new material’s application and structure design, the mechanism of resistive switching memory is still not completely clear,” Song said. “We will continue our investigation of the mechanism of resistive switching memory. At the same time, flexible, wearable and water-dissolution resistive switching memory cells will be developed using organic-modified egg albumen in our following work.” Explore further This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. More information: Guangdong Zhou et al. “Hydrogen-peroxide-modified egg albumen for transparent and flexible resistive switching memory.” Nanotechnology. DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aa8397
(Left) Chicken eggs consisting of albumen and yolk. (Right) The transparent and flexible memory cells fabricated by the hydrogen-peroxide-modified egg albumen. Credit: Zhou et al. ©2017 IOP Publishing (Phys.org)—Egg white—also known as egg albumen—is not only good-tasting, it also has very good dielectric properties, along with a high transparency and high elasticity, that make it a promising material for fabricating transparent, flexible electronic devices. In a new study, researchers have shown that, when egg albumen is mixed with hydrogen peroxide, a series of chemical reactions occurs that transforms the biomaterial into an active film that can be used to make transparent, flexible resistive memory devices. Which structure has optimal resistive switching characteristics? © 2017 Phys.org
Posted by << Previous PostNext Post >> Wednesday, January 18, 2017 Trafalgar guarantees 86% of European departures this year The Canadian Press 
Share TORONTO — In anticipation of high demand for Europe and Britain, Trafalgar has confirmed that an unprecedented 86% of its European departures are now definite this year.“At Trafalgar, our passion and desire to succeed is second to none. Such success would not be possible without the strength of relationships with our valued Canadian trade partners, who drive us to ensure they are equipped to sell our brand experience with confidence and ease,” says Wolf Paunic, president of Trafalgar Canada. “We’d like to sincerely thank our agent partners for the exceptional start to 2017 and we are thrilled to further ease their selling endeavours by confirming that our Definite Departures are now running at an exceptional 86%.”Trafalgar has tapped several destinations to be big sellers this year. Said Gavin Tollman, CEO: “Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland are all performing well, in addition to our perennially popular Britain and Ireland, Italy and Central Europe itineraries. If your clients haven’t yet secured their spot, they are seriously missing out!”More news: Air Canada’s global sales update includes Managing Director, Canada & USA SalesTollman went on to say, “There is no doubt that Britain is back and Europe remains ever-enchanting. Demand for these destinations in 2017 has been enormously encouraging and it’s tremendous to see solid growth across the entire portfolio.”Clients can save up to 7.5% across Trafalgar’s Europe and Britain 2017 program with Early Payment Discounts of up to $1,440 per couple, available when they book and pay in full by Feb. 28. Past guest discounts of 5% per person (land only) are also available for those who’ve previously travelled with TTC’s family of brands. Tags: Trafalgar
Travelweek Group Share << Previous PostNext Post >> Tags: America, Donald Trump U.S. confirms Canadian passport holders excused from ban, industry reacts With file from the Canadian Press Wednesday, February 1, 2017 WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has provided some clarity: Canadian passport-holders have the right to travel to the United States, despite days of confusing, contradictory messages about President Trump’s travel restrictions.Four days after the order was announced, the American administration held its first detailed news conference Tuesday shedding light on who can still travel to the U.S. and who can’t – at least not until the order is reviewed in a few months.The U.S. government confirmed publicly what it has privately told the Canadian government: that citizens of non-affected countries, including dual citizens, are exempt by the travel freeze on seven majority-Muslim countries.It was a relevant question for about 35,000 Canadians. That’s how many have dual citizenship with the seven affected countries, and some of those Canadians may have jobs, families, and homes in the U.S.“Travellers will be assessed at our border based on the passport they present – not any dual national status. So if you’re a citizen of the United Kingdom, you present your United Kingdom passport,” said Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. “The executive order does not apply to you.”More news: War of words between Transat, Group Mach ramps upHe made those remarks next to his boss, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The newly named cabinet secretary said the order will be followed humanely.The order still applies to temporary visitors with visas. Visa holders will be denied the right to board flights to the U.S., and sent to State Department representatives for additional instruction.The order could be temporary, and will be reviewed in several months.Early accounts were laden with confusion. The State Department stated that it applied to dual citizens. Some officials suggested it might also ban permanent U.S. residents. Those mixed messages sowed concern around the globe.Airports were hit with protests, as hundreds of travellers were detained. McAleenan said about 721 travellers were denied the right to board planes among the 500,000 non-Americans travelling to the U.S.The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) President & CEO David Scowsill issued a scathing statement following the order. “The Executive Order issued by US President Trump on 27 January 2017 banning travel to the US from seven countries for 90 days goes directly against the fundamental right of Freedom to Travel. It has created immense confusion among travellers and travel companies worldwide,” Scowsill said. “WTTC believes that all people have the right to cross international borders safely and efficiently for business and tourism purposes. The blanket suspension of admittance of travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen to the US flies against this principle.”More news: Marriott Int’l announces 5 new all-inclusive resorts in D.R. & MexicoMeanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) also lashed out, saying that “entry requirements for the United States were changed significantly and immediately … The [executive order] was issued without prior coordination or warning, causing confusion among both airlines and travellers.”Tour operators have also issued statements, including Intrepid Travel, who said that it “stands against any policy that closes borders, separates families, discriminates against religion or demonizes the less fortunate.” The statement also said that the company “strongly urges the American government to reinstate the rights of migrants and foreign citizens to enter the United States.” Posted by
Didier BellensBelgian telco Belgacom has said it is searching for a new permanent CEO after the Belgian government, which is the majority owner of the firm, ousted current boss Didier Bellens at the end of last week.In a statement, Belgacom said it has “taken note of the Government’s decision to end the collaboration with Mr. Didier Bellens” and said it has handed over the CEO responsibilities on an interim basis to executive vice-president of finance and chief financial officer Ray Stewart, and Belgacom chairman of the board Stefaan De Clerck.The firm said it has immediately started its search for a full time CEO and has selected an external headhunting agency to draw up a list of potential candidates for the role. The government will make the final appointment decision.Prime Minister Elio di Rupo told reporters last week that the Belgian state, which has a 53.3% holding in Belgacom, had lost confidence in Bellens due to his “repeated criticism” of the authorities.Commenting on the changes, De Clerck said that Stewart, who has been at Belgacom since 1997, was “ideally placed to ensure a smooth transition period. For this he has the explicit support of the entire board of directors and the whole management team.”
“It calls into question a flagrant disregard of the needs of people in this historically neglected area of the city- not to mention the quality of utilities used by DfI given that this intentional damage was seemingly carried out with ease on not one but two lampposts.“The vandals involved in this senseless destruction need to get a grip. “This inconsiderate stupidity only serves to disadvantage those within their community.“Considering these essential streetlights are directly outside local retail facilities and the area is therefore heavily utilised, DfI needs to find the resources to ensure they are fixed as soon as possible,” added Mr Durkan.Durkan slams DfI response to urgent repair of Creggan street-lighting was last modified: July 22nd, 2019 by John2John2 Tags: “Firstly, the vandalism of two lampposts outside Creggan shops must not and cannot be tolerated. “The remaining stumps with exposing wires posed potential safety risks to residents, particularly children who frequent this area.“And whilst I have received assurances that these columns have now been sealed and marked with hazard tape, I find this solution highly unsatisfactory. “The vagueness in response alluding to lack of resources is simply not good enough. ShareTweet CENTRAL DRIVECRegganDFIDurkan slams DfI response to urgent repair of Creggan street-lightingFOYLE MLAMark H DurkanSDLPvandalism THE SDLP’s Mark H Durkan has blasted a response from DfI regarding the urgent maintenance of vandalised street lighting in the Central Drive area of Creggan as “disappointing”. Following safety concerns raised with DfI, Mr Durkan has been advised that these columns will not be replaced until ‘resources become available.’Said the Foyle MLA: “The response from DfI is hugely disappointing to say the least.
Emission systems. Demand for platinum in autocatalysts dropped by 1% in 2012, mostly due to lower vehicle production in Europe and lower market share of diesel engines. However, emission-system demand from Japan and India is expected to increase, and diesel-emission controls recently introduced in Beijing will also support industrial demand for both metals. Auto sales in China rose a whopping 19.5% in the first two months of the year and are 6.5% higher in the US than a year ago. Platinum is a precious metal, as is palladium, though to a lesser degree. However, like silver, both are also industrial metals. Unlike silver, it’s their industrial use that is the primary price driver for both platinum and palladium – and that use is undergoing a fundamental shift. The largest source of demand for platinum and palladium is the automotive industry, for use in autocatalysts. In turn, the fortunes of the auto industry are sensitive to the health of the world’s major economies. We’ve been bearish on platinum-group metals for years, primarily because we weren’t convinced a healthy – much less roaring – world economy could be sustained when so many governments continue spending beyond their means. We reconsidered the market last year, when strikes in South Africa – home to 75% of global platinum production and 95% of known reserves – threatened supplies. But as we wrote last December, the strikes ended without great impact on long-term supply. Since then, however, the fundamentals of this market have changed. Others may disagree with our economic outlook, which is still bearish, but it’s due to supply issues – not demand – that our interest is now drawn to these metals, and particularly to palladium. Here’s a look at global supply against auto-industry demand for both metals. Demand. Autocatalytic demand rose by 7% in 2012, as palladium can be easily substituted for platinum in emission-control systems for gas-powered motors (but not diesel-powered ones), such as are favored in China and India. In fact, several experts we consulted were more bullish on palladium than platinum due to this “substitution factor” – and China just mandated catalytic systems for all cars in the country. Palladium investment demand was positive last year, though palladium jewelry has yet to gain traction in China, one of the world’s biggest jewelry markets. Total jewelry demand for palladium was 11% lower in 2012. However, we expect a greater shift to palladium in the expanding Asian automotive market, which in turn will boost palladium prices. The fundamental drivers of the palladium market are similar to those for platinum, which makes the palladium market an equally attractive investment. If this all weren’t bad enough, most companies’ production costs are now above current platinum and palladium prices. This can only be solved one way: higher metals prices. Bottom Line The supply disruptions in South Africa combined with secondary factors have led to deficits in both metals that won’t be erased overnight. Such imbalances, together with mainstream expectations of global economic growth, create a favorable environment for PGM price appreciation. This much seems like a safe bet. There is, however, a great deal of speculative upside in the not-inconceivable case of South Africa going off the rails in a major way. Massive – not marginal – supply disruptions in the world’s main source of both metals would send their prices through the roof. You get this speculative potential “for free” when you bet on the more conservative projections that call for rising prices regardless. While we wait for our gold positions to rebound, an investment in platinum and palladium could be very profitable. How to invest? You can learn which company is our #1 pick for this space with a risk-free trial subscription to BIG GOLD. Note: our longer-term outlook remains in place: most G7 economies are not fundamentally sound and continue to print money. Gold is still our priority asset class, so we don’t recommend that investors replace their gold holdings with platinum and palladium investment vehicles. This PGM trend is simply an addition to and diversification of our current investment strategy. Recycling. This important source of supply is falling in reaction to lower metals prices. It is estimated that recycling fell by 11% in 2012. Investment. Although it represents just 6% of total demand for the metal, investor demand nonetheless grew 6.5% last year, adding to pressure on supplies. Given these factors – primarily the first one – a supply deficit stretching into 2014 seems almost certain. Until South Africa can resolve its labor and power issues, pressure on platinum supply will remain, producing a favorable environment for rising prices. Palladium Palladium, platinum’s “little brother,” also faces a market imbalance. In 2012, the deficit totaled 915,000 ounces, the highest level since 2001. Supply. Russia is the second-largest producer of palladium, and some analysts report that rumors of its stockpile being close to depletion are true. Recycling is also falling, and production disruptions in South Africa – the largest producer of palladium – are the same as outlined for platinum. Overall supply of the metal is falling. Jewelry. Worldwide demand for platinum jewelry rose last year, with strong demand coming from China and growth in India, and is mainly the consequence of lower prices. Jewelry accounts for 30% of total platinum demand. Approximately 55% of platinum and the bulk of palladium supply was used in catalytic systems last year. The shrinking supply that’s under way with both metals is obvious, and palladium is approaching a supply/demand crunch. Here’s what’s going on… Platinum The fall in platinum supply has been so great that it moved from a surplus in 2011 to a deficit in 2012, with Johnson Matthey estimating that deficit to hit 400,000 ounces, the highest level since 2003. Why the shift? Labor strife and power outages. The mining industry in South Africa is, frankly, a mess. Labor strikes continue to haunt the platinum mining companies. The largest mining union in South Africa, AMCU, recently refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement on worker compensation, and CNBC is predicting a massive strike. Amplats, the world’s largest platinum producer, is threatening to cut 14,000 jobs and mothball two operating mines due to various issues. Meanwhile, power outages, a longstanding problem, continue unresolved; they have already forced the closure of some mines and are widely expected to cause further cuts in production. As a result, supply from mining is expected to decline another 10% this year.
As you also already know, supply/demand fundamentals mean nothing It was a volatile trading session for gold yesterday, but it all happened within a very tight price range—and appeared to center around the $1,200 price mark. The high tick came at exactly 9 a.m. Hong Kong time on their Tuesday morning—and the low tick came at the London afternoon gold fix—and the subsequent rally got hammered flat during the next two hours of trading. Then, starting a minute or so after 12 o’clock noon in New York, the gold price rallied back towards the $1,200 spot price mark—and made it shortly after the COMEX trading session ended. From there, the price traded basically flat into the close. The CME Group recorded the high and low ticks as $1,204.40 and $1,190.00 in the April contracts. Gold finished the Tuesday session in New York at $1,201.30 spot, down 50 cents from Monday’s close. Net volume checked in around 105,000 contracts—about the same daily volume it has been for last five trading days or so. Not surprisingly, the gold stocks hit their high at the same time as the metal itself, which was shortly before 11 a.m. EST. From there they chopped lower—and never got a sniff of positive territory after that, even though the gold price recovered to virtually unchanged. The HUI closed down 0.56 percent—and as you can tell, there was a problem with the main data feed—and the chart is not “all there” so to speak. Nick Laird’s HUI chart looked the same, or I would have posted that in lieu of. By the way, if you’re not up on your Grand Canyon statistics, I found this excellent Reader’s Digest version of the whole place linked here. The dollar index closed late on Monday afternoon in New York at 94.55—and continued on with the rally that it was currently in. That rally developed even more momentum starting about 3 p.m. Hong Kong time, which was an hour before the London open. The 94.86 high tick came at the 10:30 a.m. GMT London a.m. gold fix—and then the index chopped lower in a very wide range, closing at 94.47—which was down 8 basis points from Monday’s close. Here’s the 5-minute gold chart courtesy of Brad Robertson—and as you can tell, almost all yesterday’s volume occurred between the London afternoon gold fix—and 11:45 a.m. EST. Before and after, there was there was virtually no volume worth mentioning. Don’t forget to add two hours for EST—and the ‘click to enlarge’ feature really helps with this chart. Platinum’s chart was a mini version of both the gold and silver charts. Platinum closed at $1,163 spot, up two bucks on the day. The silver chart looked very similar, with the high tick coming in morning trading in Hong Kong. But the low tick of the day came a few moments after 12 o’clock noon in New York. From there it chopped quietly higher and, like gold, closed almost unchanged. The high and lows were reported as $16.04 and $16.455 in the March contract. Silver closed yesterday at $16.31 spot, down a penny. Net volume was only 16,000 contracts, but gross volume was, not surprisingly, very high as traders continue to roll out of the March contract and into future months.
The silver equities spiked well into positive territory, but fell back to unchanged as the not-for-profit sellers took the price to its noon low tick. From there they traded in a tight range either side of unchanged, closing down 0.06 percent. The CME Daily Delivery Report showed that 266 gold and 9 silver contracts were posted for delivery within the COMEX-approved depositories on Thursday. The big short/issuer sitting in the bushes until the last day turned out to be none other than HSBC USA with 255 contracts. JPMorgan stopped 261 contracts in its client account. The nine contracts in silver were issued by Jefferies and stopped by Canada’s Scotiabank. The link to yesterday’s Issuers and Stoppers Report is here. The CME’s Preliminary Report for the Tuesday trading session showed that February open interest was unchanged from Monday at 362 contracts minus, of course, the 266 contracts posted for delivery tomorrow. The remaining gold contracts for February delivery will be posted in tomorrow’s column. In silver, there are still 12 contracts outstanding, minus the 9 posted above. The remaining 3 will be in tomorrow’s Preliminary report. There were no reported changes in GLD—and as of 9:46 p.m. EST yesterday evening, there were no changes in SLV, either. The U.S. Mint had another sales report. They sold 1,500 troy ounces of gold eagles—500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes—and another 253,500 silver eagles. There was very little gold activity over at the COMEX-approved depositories on Monday, as only 643.000 troy ounces were reported received—and 128.600 were shipped out. That’s 20 kilobars and 4 kilobars respectively. As always, it was a pretty big day in silver, as 886,249 troy ounces were shipped in, but only 20,180 were shipped out the door. The link to the silver activity is here. Once again I have a very decent number of stories for you today—and I hope you find some in here that are of interest to you. Even though the headline number of the total commercial net short position [in silver in last Friday’s COT Report] has declined by nearly 14,000 contracts since January 27, the concentrated net short position of the eight largest shorts has hardly budged—and remains over 65,000 contracts. This is still a manipulative position on its face since it represents more than 325 million ounces and 40% of world annual production, an amount unequalled among all commodities. Reviewing the dismal earnings reports by those companies that mine silver, I have uncovered not a one holding any of the 325 million oz held short by the 8 crooked COMEX shorts. Excepting JPMorgan, I doubt any of the other seven big shorts own much real silver, even though the concentrated short position represents more than 30% of all the silver bullion in the world. This is simply preposterous and illegal. – Silver analyst Ted Butler: 21 February 2015 I’m not sure what, if anything should be read into yesterday’s gold price action because, once again, there wasn’t a lot of volume—and there was little net volume in silver, although roll-over activity was very high, of course. But, whatever action there was will be in Friday’s Commitment of Traders Report, as yesterday at the close of COMEX trading was the cut-off. Here are the 6-month charts for all four precious metals updated with Tuesday’s price/volume action. Freegold Ventures Limited is a North American gold exploration company with three gold projects in Alaska. Current projects include Golden Summit, Vinasale and Rob. Both Vinasale and Golden Summit host NI 43-101 Compliant Resource Calculations. An updated NI 43-101 resource was calculated on Golden Summit in October 2012 and using 0.3 g/t cutoff the current resource is 73,580,000 tonnes grading 0.67 g/t Au for total of 1,576,000 contained ounces in the indicated category, and 223,300,000 tonnes grading 0.62 g/t Au for a total of 4,437,000 contained ounces in the inferred category. In addition to the Golden Summit Project the Vinasale also hosts a NI 43-101 resource calculation which was updated in March 2013. Indicated resources are 3.41 million tonnes averaging 1.48 g/t Au for 162,000 ounces, and Inferred resources are 53.25 million tonnes averaging 1.05 g/t Au for 1,799,000 ounces of gold utilizing a cutoff value of 0.5 grams/tonne (g/t) as a possible open pit cutoff. Please send us an email for more information, ir@freegoldventures.com These photos were taken on Day 2 at Grand Canyon—January 11. It’s not raining or snowing—and cloud base has lifted by a couple of hundred feet and is more well defined. You can’t see the North Rim, which is about 10 miles/16 kilometers away, because it’s about 1,000 feet/330 meters higher than than the South Rim, so it’s buried in cloud/fog. These are just general canyon shots along the trail. You’ll need to use the ‘click to enlarge’ feature to see the people in photo #2—and that gives you some idea of scale. I cropped the last photo in order to enhance the sense of danger, which is all too real. There’s nothing below her but air for many thousands of feet. Palladium, as usual, was trading in a world all its own, closing at $792 spot, up another 7 dollars from Monday’s close—and heading back to the $800 spot mark. Will it be allowed to get there? And as I write this paragraph, the London open is about forty-five minutes away—and there certainly has been some rather interesting price activity in Far East trading on their Wednesday. I’m guessing that the Chinese New Year holiday has come to an end—and that traders are back at their desks over there. Right out of the chute at 6 p.m. EST yesterday evening, all four precious metals powered higher, particularly silver, which I thought very unusual. Depending on which metal you’re looking at, the fun ended by 9 or 10 a.m. Hong Kong time—but started again with somewhat less enthusiasm in early afternoon trading. Gold volume is very chunky at 25,000 contracts net, so this rally obviously ran into ferocious opposition by JPMorgan et al—but silver’s net volume is only 2,870 contracts. Gross volume is north of 10,500 contracts, so roll-over activity is already way up there, as the large traders have to be out by the end of COMEX trading today—and the rest of the traders tomorrow. Thinking about that silver rally last night I’m wondering if it involved a decent amount of short covering, as the net volume is very light. But there’s no way of knowing for sure, because all the price/volume activity occurred after the cut-off for the COT Report on Friday—and by the time the next report is available, this trading action will be buried. And as I send this off to Stowe, Vermont at 4:50 a.m. EST, I note that the tiny rallies in all four precious metals in early afternoon trading in the Far East, ended at 3 p.m. Hong Kong time, which was an hour before the London open. And, with the exception of palladium, which is knocking on the $800 price door once again, the other three precious metals are heading quietly lower, but on such light volume, the price trend hardly matters. Net gold volume is up to a bit over 31,000 contracts, an increase of only 6,000 contracts from two and a half hours ago—and silver’s net volume is only 3,340 contracts, up only 500 contracts in the same time period. There’s nothing going on—and nothing to see at the moment. The dollar index is now down 32 basis points—and coming awfully close to the 94.00 level once more. It will be interesting to see if “gentle hands” put in an appearance once again. That’s all I have for today which, once again, is more than enough—and I look forward to the rest of Wednesday’s trading activity with more than the usual amount of interest. See you tomorrow.
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The only list that measures privately-held company performance across multiple dimensions—not just revenue. Transparency is key. Entrepreneur Staff Staff Writer. Covers leadership, media, technology and culture. United Airlines Barred 2 Teens From Flying Over Their Leggings. Here’s What You Can Learn. Image credit: Spencer Platt | Getty Images –shares Nina Zipkin March 27, 2017
3 min read 2019 Entrepreneur 360 List Next Article Social media lit up with confusion, derision and concern during the weekend over United Airlines barring two teenage girls from their Minneapolis-bound flight for wearing leggings.1) A @united gate agent isn’t letting girls in leggings get on flight from Denver to Minneapolis because spandex is not allowed?— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017The passengers this morning were United pass riders who were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel.— United (@united) March 26, 2017Jonathan Guerin, spokesman for the airline, told The New York Times that the young passengers did not meet the dress code requirements for a program that allows airline employees and their families to fly for free.“It’s not that we want our standby travelers to come in wearing a suit and tie or that sort of thing,” Guerin told The Times. “We want people to be comfortable when they travel as long as it’s neat and in good taste for that environment.”The “pass travelers,” since they are designated as representatives of the company, are not allowed to wear things such as flip flops, torn jeans, midriff-baring shirts — basically any clothing that reveals undergarments — and the clothing item in question, spandex leggings.Related: JetBlue Defends Decision to Ask Passenger to Replace Booty Shorts Before Boarding Flight. Will the Incident Affect Its Brand?While it’s understandable that United Airlines wants employees to put their best foot forward and the dress code was intended to help safeguard its reputation, it appears that the takeaway for people watching the incident unfold was inconvenience and an outdated rule that seemed to unduly target women’s clothing choices.So what can other companies learn from United’s messaging faux pas?Denise Lee Yohn, the author of What Great Brands Do, told Entrepreneur that while consistency is admirable in a brand, in this case, the company would have done well to tell aggrieved customers that it was planning to review its rules around the dress code.“United Airlines has taken the high road by enforcing, and then sticking to, an established policy,” she says. “Companies establish rules like this to maintain their desired brand image — United shouldn’t be faulted for that. But this is the kind of fodder that fuels social media, and so it’s taken a hit. The company should have stated that it supports its employees for following procedure but it would be reexamining its policy.”Jim Joseph, worldwide president at Cohn & Wolfe, agreed, noting that clarity is the only way to mitigate against a social media blowup.“Social media moves quickly, so it’s imperative to respond to issues with quick, full and transparent communications, as early — and as often — as possible,” Joseph told Entrepreneur. “If initial tweets from the brand had better explained that these travelers were part of an employee benefit program that has a dress code, perhaps some of the backlash could have been avoided. If the dress code is revisited, then United should also let that be known publicly.” Social Media Add to Queue Apply Now »
AIanalyticsDigital TransformationExperianMarketing TechnologyNewsShri SanthanamSteve Wagner Previous ArticleLattice Engines Ranked a Leader in B2B Customer Data Platform Report by Independent Research FirmNext ArticleCardinal Path’s 2019 State of Marketing Technology Report Highlights Consolidation & Disruption Experian Appoints Shri Santhanam as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Global Analytics and AI PRNewswireJune 19, 2019, 10:00 pmJune 19, 2019 Santhanam will lead Experian in helping clients succeed using ML, AI and advanced analyticsExperian announced that Shri Santhanam will join the company as executive vice president and general manager of global analytics and AI. In this new position, Santhanam will help the already successful global decision analytics business advance forward by taking full advantage of the opportunities of big data analytics. Santhanam also will chair Experian’s global analytics council, working closely with the regions to shape and drive the overall analytics and AI agenda.Marketing Technology News: Study: Consumers Reject Brands That Advertise on ‘Fake News’ and Objectionable Content Online“Businesses of all sizes are challenged to access, interpret and act on data to create value and benefit consumers,” said Steve Wagner, global managing director of Decision Analytics for Experian. “Our clients are increasingly interested in leveraging the predictive power of machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to improve the decisions they make. We are pleased to have Shri lead us further on this journey.”Most recently, Santhanam was a partner at the international management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. There he co-founded Oliver Wyman Labs, which helps clients use data, technology and advanced analytics to drive transformative business impact. Santhanam has worked with clients across various industries to build products and solutions using AI and advanced analytics.Marketing Technology News: Triton Digital Integrates Centro’s Basis Platform with the a2x Programmatic Marketplace“There are so many areas where businesses can use data and analytics in more meaningful ways, and I’m thrilled to work with the Experian team to help enterprises across the globe in driving better, faster and smarter decisions,” said Santhanam. “AI is poised to have a transformative impact on many industries and is rapidly changing the way we do business. This represents a significant opportunity for companies with the assets and mindset to go after it.”Experian recently worked with Forrester Consulting to survey senior executives and decision-makers about how they tackle the challenges and opportunities surrounding digital transformation. According to the report, 81 percent of executives believe traditional business models will disappear over the next five years due to digital transformation.Marketing Technology News: Mindtree to Showcase Contextual, Real-Time Solutions for Personalized Traveler Experiences at HITEC Minneapolis
Citation: Volkswagen to stash cars at Berlin’s problem airport (2018, June 27) retrieved 18 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-06-volkswagen-stash-cars-berlin-problem.html Combining Germany’s national embarrassments German prosecutors raid Audi boss over diesel cheating Car giant Volkswagen will stock cars awaiting strict new emissions tests at Berlin’s under-construction airport, combining the German national embarrassments of the carmaker’s “dieselgate” scandal and the much-delayed travel hub. “In this case, our normal logistics spaces aren’t enough,” a Volkswagen spokesman told AFP on Wednesday, saying the firm faces delays to emissions tests on between 200,000 and 250,000 cars.The firm will store vehicles at VW’s testing grounds near its Wolfsburg HQ as well as the Berlin airport and “is looking into other spaces,” he added.Like other carmakers, VW is scrambling to adapt to a new emissions testing regime known as the Worldwide harmonised Light vehicles Test Procedure or WLTP, forcing it to slow production in Wolfsburg as well as storing untested cars.WLTP is designed to more accurately reflect vehicles’ emissions performance under real driving conditions, making it longer and more complex than previous procedures.Volkswagen for years fooled regulators under previous testing regimes.It admitted in 2015 to building software known as a “defeat device” into 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide, reducing harmful emissions in the lab but allowing them to shoot up in on-road driving.Other carmakers like Daimler and BMW have since fallen under suspicion and this year were forced to recall thousands of vehicles for software updates.As a blow to Germany’s pride in its engineering prowess and reputation for honesty in business, the endless, convoluted “dieselgate” scandal has been matched in recent years only by the succession of disasters at Berlin’s new international airport.First slated to open in 2011, the opening of the hub named for former Chancellor Willy Brandt has been repeatedly pushed back over issues ranging from fire safety to structural integrity.Meanwhile, one former manager at the project was jailed in 2016 for accepting a bribe and prosecutors said last year they were probing another.Authorities now hope to open the doors—another of the many technical problems at the troubled airport—by October 2020.
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The first change users might notice is their address book, said Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. While your Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp contacts might be quite different now, if the services combine to some degree, your contact lists will, too.”As these services merge, we might end up basically having these huge combined address books from three messaging services,” he said.WHEN THIS WILL HAPPENYou’re not likely to see any of these changes anytime soon. In his blog post, Zuckerberg said the plan will be rolled out “over the next few years. … A lot of this work is in the early stages.”And it’s subject to change. EMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson points out that previous Facebook visions of the future haven’t quite panned out. A few years ago, for instance, Zuckerberg predicted that video and augmented and virtual reality would be a much bigger part of Facebook than what materialized, for example.But it shows that Facebook is trying to adapt as people shift toward services like Instagram and WhatsApp over Facebook—which today has 15 million fewer U.S. users than in since 2017 , according to Edison Research. In his post Zuckerberg said he expects Messenger and WhatsApp will eventually become the main ways people communicate on Facebook’s network.”There’s not a sense that things will fundamentally change overnight, or even probably this year,” Williamson said, “But it signals Facebook is thinking more seriously about embracing the way people communicate today.”WHAT IT MEANS FOR PRIVACY Explore further In this Nov. 15, 2018, file photo the icons of Facebook and WhatsApp are pictured on an iPhone in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Mark Zuckerberg’s privacy memo is a maneuver to make more palatable the planned merging of the instant-messaging services of WhatsApp, Instagram with Facebook’s core Messenger app, analysts say. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File) Citation: What Facebook’s ‘privacy vision’ really means (2019, March 9) retrieved 17 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-03-facebook-privacy-vision.html Its first step will be to make its three messaging services communicate better with each other. That would let you message a friend on WhatsApp from Facebook Messenger, which isn’t currently possible. It would also link your messaging accounts to your Facebook ID, so people can find you more easily.Zuckerberg also promised to greatly increase the security of these messages. It will implement so-called end-to-end encryption for messaging, which would scramble them so that no one but the sender and recipients could read them. That would bar access by governments and Facebook. WhatsApp is already encrypted this way, but Messenger and Instagram Direct are not. Looked at one way, the manifesto read as an apology of sorts for Facebook’s history of privacy transgressions, and suggested that the social network would de-emphasize its huge public social network in favor of private messaging between individuals and among small groups.Looked at another, it turned Facebook into a kind of privacy champion by embracing encrypted private messaging that’s shielded from prying eyes—including those of Facebook itself.Yet another reading suggested the whole thing was a public-relations exercise designed to lull its users while Facebook entrenches its competitive position in messaging and uses it to develop new sources of user data to feed its voracious advertising machine.As with many things Facebook, the truth lies somewhere in between. Facebook so far isn’t elaborating much on Zuckerberg’s manifesto. Here’s a guide to what we know at the moment about its plans.WHAT’S HAPPENING TO FACEBOOKIn one sense, nothing. Its existing social network, with its newsfeeds and pages and 2.3 billion global users and $22 billion in 2018 profit, won’t change and will likely continue to grow. Although user growth has been stagnant in North America, its global user base expanded 9 percent in the last quarter of 2018.But Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook’s future growth will depend more on private messaging such as what it offers with its WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct services. The Facebook CEO said private messaging between individuals and small groups is “by far” the fastest growing part of online communications.Naturally, Facebook wants to be there in a big way.WHAT’S CHANGING IN MESSAGING © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. In this April 11, 2018, photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg listens to a question as he testifies before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. Zuckerberg said Facebook will start to emphasize new privacy-shielding messaging services, a shift apparently intended to blunt both criticism of the company’s data handling and potential antitrust action. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Mark Zuckerberg’s abrupt Wednesday declaration of a new “privacy vision ” for social networking was for many people a sort of Rorschach test. This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. Encrypted messaging is in many ways a big plus for privacy. But the way Facebook collects information about you on its main service site isn’t changing, said Jen King, director of consumer privacy at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society.”This is limited to a very specific part of the platform and it doesn’t really address all the ways Facebook is still collecting data about you,” she said. So users should still be alert about privacy settings and careful about what they choose to share on Facebook.VANISHING POSTSThough the timeline is hazy, Zuckerberg did outline other changes users will eventually see. He said the company is looking at ways to make messages less permanent, a la Snapchat or Instagram “Stories,” which disappear after 24 hours.”Messages could be deleted after a month or a year by default,” Zuckerberg wrote. “This would reduce the risk of your messages resurfacing and embarrassing you later.” Zuckerberg said users will have the ability to change the time frame or turn off auto-deletion. “And we could also provide an option for you to set individual messages to expire after a few seconds or minutes if you wanted.”PAYMENTSFacebook will likely also expand the way users can use its platform to pay for things, said Justin Brookman, director of consumer privacy and technology policy for Consumer Reports. Zuckerberg didn’t mention any new payment plans specifically but did bring up payments four times in his post.Currently Facebook lets its users pay friends or businesses digitally by linking a credit card or PayPal account and that’s method is not likely to change anytime soon. But as Facebook looks to emulate Chinese behemoth WeChat , it could let you reserve a table through Facebook instead of going through an outside app, or order an Uber.”Ideally Facebook will try to get a cut of all transactions,” Brookman said. A digital currency of Facebook’s own is also rumored to be in the works.”Like many other companies Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of blockchain technology,” Facebook said in a statement. “This new small team is exploring many different applications. We don’t have anything further to share.” In this April 11, 2018, file photo Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Zuckerberg’s new “privacy-focused vision” for Facebook looks like a transformative mission statement for the much-criticized social network. But critics say the announcement obscures Facebook’s deeper motivations: To expand lucrative new commercial services, continue monopolizing the attention of users and to develop new data sources for tracking people. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Zuckerberg promises a privacy-friendly Facebook, sort of (Update)
