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Getting the balance right between risk and growth is at the heart of any successful small business. But making sure that threats are minimised so that resources can shift from operational tasks to business expansion can often be a case of whack-a-mole: as one risk recedes, another rears its head. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the category of payment fraud. Peter Santiago, director of small and medium business (SMB) at PayPal, says the past few years have seen an explosion in cybercrime. Erik Merkley, general manager at Echidna Sewing: security in online transactions is paramount. “Over a four-year period between 2019 to 2023 cybercrime has grown from about $US1.2 trillion to about $8.2 trillion – it’s an almost unbelievable level of growth,” says Santiago. “If cybercrime were actually the GDP of a country, it would be the third-largest economy after the US and China which is staggering. “The trajectory of it indicates that by the end of the decade cybercrime could be challenging China as the world’s second largest GDP.” In roughly the same timeframe from 2019 to 2022, he says PayPal doubled its payment volumes from $700 billion to $1.4 trillion as more businesses transition to ecommerce or digitise. At the same time, however, the payments platform slashed its losses due to fraud by half. “This is largely due to the fact that for a very long time we have been leveraging AI (artificial intelligence) at the heart of our risk management capabilities,” says Santiago. “This allows us to not only leverage our scale, but the scale of our transactional network to better manage risk for our business customers.” Peter Santiago, director of small and medium business at PayPal. As one of the most trusted and established payments platforms, PayPal’s fraud detection tools operate with advanced data analytics and machine learning, identifying transaction anomalies and monitoring user behaviour in real time. Santiago says the company has had some of these systems in place for the better part of a decade – long before AI became the tech buzzword it is today – allowing the payment platform to grow in sophistication alongside the threats it identifies. This is particularly valuable for businesses facing common threats like phishing, card testing, and chargeback fraud, allowing the platform to automatically block suspicious transactions while minimising impact on legitimate customers. For Echidna Sewing, an Australian family business dealing in high-value sewing and embroidery machines, security in online transactions is paramount. By transitioning to Complete Payments, the company not only streamlined its payment processing, but also gained critical protection through the platform’s built-in risk management tools. With machines priced as high as $20,000, this added security has helped Echidna Sewing safeguard its online sales and focus on building customer relationships. “Our focus is increasingly on fraud mitigation. We’re lucky to have fraud rates well below industry averages, but even a small amount can have a significant impact on our bottom line,” says Erik Merkley, general manager at Echidna Sewing. “Moving to PayPal for our credit card processing gave us access to 3D Secure, which shifts the liability for chargebacks onto the banks. Without 3DS, small businesses are left to bear the full cost of fraud. We got tired of always being the ones to lose out.” Keeping it safe, but at the same time keeping customers, is what a successful payments platform is all about, Merkley says. “Payments are the kind of thing you only hear about when they break! Customers want a quick and streamlined checkout experience, and they want total trust when they’re entering their card details. The PayPal platform’s card processing integrates seamlessly into our website checkout keeping roadblocks to purchase to a minimum.” PayPal’s Complete Payments platform helps SMBs reach consumers by providing secure, convenient checkout processes, supporting merchants in managing risk and reducing friction. By automating these protections, it enables businesses to focus on growth rather than managing every risk independently, says Santiago. “AI has been an area that we have been historically invested in, not just in terms of payments, but in ancillary kinds of capabilities such as fraud and risk,” he says. “It’s also been very critical in terms of personalisation – a very hot topic in our industry at the moment – which is all about offering relevant choices to our customers. It’s all about rethinking and re-energising what the path to purchase might look like.” Ultimately, payment platforms offer not only security, but opportunities to grow. One example of this is buy now, pay later. With current cost of living pressures, consumers are looking for flexibility in how they pay. One way businesses can offer consumers more choice is through providing a buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution, which can also help drive conversion for businesses, says Santiago. “PayPal’s BNPL solution is fairly unique as it has no consumer fees – and by that, I mean no late fees, no interest, no sign up or account keeping fees for consumers. This has led to it becoming popular with Australian consumers. What’s more, there is no additional cost to merchants beyond their existing PayPal rates. “In a market where many BNPL services charge merchants up to 6 per cent as a service fee, providing a BNPL solution that’s included at no additional cost is an attractive alternative.” To find out more, please visit https://www.paypal.com/au/business

WASHINGTON — The House shut down Democrats' efforts Thursday to release the long-awaited ethics report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, pushing the fate of any resolution to the yearslong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations into further uncertainty. Matt Gaetz talks before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate Nov. 14 in Palm Beach, Fla. Alex Brandon, Associated Press The nearly party-line votes came after Democrats had been pressing for the findings to be published even though the Florida Republican left Congress and withdrew as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., was the sole Republican to support the effort. Most Republicans have argued that any congressional probe into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House. Speaker Mike Johnson also requested that the committee not publish its report, saying it would be a terrible precedent to set. While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. People are also reading... Shortly before the votes took place, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., who introduced one of the bills to force the release, said that if Republicans reject the release, they will have “succeeded in sweeping credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.” Gaetz has repeatedly denied the claims. Earlier Thursday, the Ethics panel met to discuss the Gaetz report but made no decision, saying in a short statement that the matter is still being discussed. It's unclear now whether the document will ever see the light of day as lawmakers have only a few weeks left before a new session of Congress begins. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts It's the culmination of weeks of pressure on the Ethics committee's five Republicans and five Democrats who mostly work in secret as they investigate allegations of misconduct against lawmakers. The status of the Gaetz investigation became an open question last month when he abruptly resigned from Congress after Trump's announcement that he wanted his ally in the Cabinet. It is standard practice for the committee to end investigations when members of Congress depart, but the circumstances surrounding Gaetz were unusual, given his potential role in the new administration. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., the committee chairman, said Wednesday that there is no longer the same urgency to release the report given that Gaetz has left Congress and stepped aside as Trump's choice to head the Justice Department. “I’ve been steadfast about that. He’s no longer a member. He is no longer going to be confirmed by the Senate because he withdrew his nomination to be the attorney general,” Guest said. The Gaetz report has also caused tensions between lawmakers on the bipartisan committee. Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the panel, publicly admonished Guest last month for mischaracterizing a previous meeting to the press. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s separate investigation against him into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls ended without federal charges. His onetime political ally Joel Greenberg, a fellow Republican who served as the tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, admitted as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 that he paid women and an underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was sentenced in late 2022 to 11 years in prison. Here are the people Trump picked for key positions so far President-elect Donald Trump Among President-elect Donald Trump's picks are Susie Wiles for chief of staff, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state, former Democratic House member Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration's top diplomat.Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump's running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement.The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, now supports Trump's plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations. Wilfredo Lee, Associated Press Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year. George Walker IV, Associated Press Pam Bondi, Attorney General Trump tapped Pam Bondi, 59, to be attorney general after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration.She was Florida's first female attorney general, serving between 2011 and 2019. She also was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.Considered a loyalist, she served as part of a Trump-allied outside group that helped lay the groundwork for his future administration called the America First Policy Institute.Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appears on Fox News and has been a critic of the criminal cases against him. Derik Hamilton Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security Trump picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog, to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda.Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics.South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic.She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports. Matt Rourke, Associated Press Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior The governor of North Dakota, who was once little-known outside his state, Burgum is a former Republican presidential primary contender who endorsed Trump, and spent months traveling to drum up support for him, after dropping out of the race.Burgum was a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice this summer. The two-term governor was seen as a possible pick because of his executive experience and business savvy. Burgum also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs.Trump made the announcement about Burgum joining his incoming administration while addressing a gala at his Mar-a-Lago club, and said a formal statement would be coming the following day.In comments to reporters before Trump took the stage, Burgum said that, in recent years, the power grid is deteriorating in many parts of the country, which he said could raise national security concerns but also drive up prices enough to increase inflation.“There's just a sense of urgency, and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration,” Burgum said. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump. He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign.The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines. For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 62, is a former George Soros money manager and an advocate for deficit reduction.He's the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on-and-off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary.He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending.“This election cycle is the last chance for the U.S. to grow our way out of this mountain of debt without becoming a sort of European-style socialist democracy,” he said then. Matt Kelley, Associated Press Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Labor Secretary Oregon Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her reelection bid this month, but received strong backing from union members in her district.As a potential labor secretary, she would oversee the Labor Department’s workforce, its budget and put forth priorities that impact workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employer’s rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities.Chavez-DeRemer is one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and would add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Andrew Harnik, Associated Press Scott Turner, Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term in office. Trump, in a statement, credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” Andrew Harnik, Associated Press Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin who was one of Trump's most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business.Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children. Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Write is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.Wright also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States.Wright also won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump’s first term. Andy Cross, The Denver Post via AP Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education President-elect Donald Trump tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump promised to dismantle.McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut.She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she expressed support for charter schools and school choice. She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Manuel Balce Ceneta, Associated Press Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency.The 52-year-old is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration. She previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Evan Vucci Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce Trump chose Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he'd have a key role in carrying out Trump's plans to raise and enforce tariffs.Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social.Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration.The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial. AP Photo/Evan Vucci Doug Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial, which centered on U.S. assistance for Ukraine. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential nomination, but he was acquitted by the Senate.Collins has also served in the armed forces himself and is currently a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command."We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need," Trump said in a statement about nominating Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. John Bazemore, Associated Press Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history.The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps.Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, was a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term before she became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump's choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Ted Shaffrey, Associated Press Tulsi Gabbard, National Intelligence Director Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields.Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party's 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall.“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement.Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions. Evan Vucci, Associated Press John Ratcliffe, Central Intelligence Agency Director Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next.Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation's highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.” Manuel Balce Ceneta, Associated Press Kash Patel, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe.Patel called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who sought additional resources for the bureau. Though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters. José Luis Villegas, Associated Press Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added.During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration's promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration.In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.” Matt Rourke, Associated Press Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Trump has named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband.Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission.Carr made past appearances on “Fox News Channel," including when he decried Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' pre-Election Day appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” He wrote an op-ed last month defending a satellite company owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Jonathan Newton - pool, ASSOCIATED PRESS Paul Atkins, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation.“He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025.Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File) Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, 41, is a tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk. He is the founder and CEO of a card-processing company and has collaborated closely with Musk ever since buying his first chartered SpaceX flight. He took contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. John Raoux, Associated Press Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the United Nations Rep. Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump's staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment.Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership.Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile.If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah. Jose Luis Magana, Associated Press Matt Whitaker, Ambassador to NATO President-elect Donald Trump says he's chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO. Trump has expressed skepticism about the Western military alliance for years. Trump said in a statement Wednesday that Whitaker is “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is as a lawyer and not in foreign policy. Andrew Harnik, Associated Press Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel.Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.“He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.”Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland.Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Oded Balilty, Associated Press Steven Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East Trump on Tuesday named real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be special envoy to the Middle East.The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect's golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination.Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud."Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues, served as National Security Advisor to Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence.For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.”(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib Mike Waltz, National Security Adviser Trump asked Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday.The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah.“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump's statement said, "and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!”Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs.He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population. Ted Shaffrey, Associated Press Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration.Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families.Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Tom Homan, ‘Border Czar’ Thomas Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign.Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to "run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump's “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border. John Bazemore, Associated Press Billy Long, Internal Revenue Service commissioner Former Rep. Billy Long represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2023. Since leaving Congress, Trump said, Long “has worked as a Business and Tax advisor, helping Small Businesses navigate the complexities of complying with the IRS Rules and Regulations.” AP file Kelly Loeffler, Small Business Administration administrator Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler was appointed in January 2020 by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and then lost a runoff election a year later. She started a conservative voter registration organization and dived into GOP fundraising, becoming one of the top individual donors and bundlers to Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign.Even before nominating her for agriculture secretary, the president-elect already had tapped Loeffler as co-chair of his inaugural committee. Branden Camp Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, 64, is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime television talk show. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed Oz's bid for elected office. Matt Rourke, Associated Press Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to advise White House on government efficiency Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy speak before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at an Oct. 27 campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York.Trump on Tuesday said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency.The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added the move would shock government systems. It's not clear how the organization will operate.Musk, owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election. Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump. Trump said the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Evan Vucci, Associated Press photos Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency.After Trump’s initial term ended, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank that describes its mission as “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.”Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign.Vought has also previously worked as the executive and budget director for the Republican Study Committee, a caucus for conservative House Republicans. He also worked at Heritage Action, the political group tied to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Additional selections to the incoming White House Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staffScavino, whom Trump's transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump's longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president.Scavino had run Trump's social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.James Blair, deputy chief of staffBlair was political director for Trump's 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president.Blair was key to Trump's economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate's “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago.Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staffBudowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president.Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency.Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of HealthTrump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. He promoted the idea of herd immunity during the pandemic, arguing that people at low risk should live normally while building up immunity to COVID-19 through infection. The National Institutes of Health funds medical research through competitive grants to researchers at institutions throughout the nation. NIH also conducts its own research with thousands of scientists working at its labs in Bethesda, Maryland.Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug AdministrationMakary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. He cast doubt on vaccine mandates but supported vaccines generally. Makary also cast doubt on whether booster shots worked, which was against federal recommendations on the vaccine.Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Surgeon GeneralNesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor to Fox News.Dr. Dave Weldon, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionWeldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a Florida state legislative seat and lost; Trump backed Weldon’s opponent.In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s over quality of life and a right-to-die and whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed.Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representativeKevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic CouncilTrump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team. He announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council. While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy.Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.”Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. Jose Luis Magana, Associated Press Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!( MENAFN - IANS) Kolkata, Dec 30 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be visiting Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on Monday -- a first since the sexual harassment controversy broke out earlier this year. Several local women had made allegations of sexual harassment and land grabbing by local Trinamool congress leader sheikh Shahjahan -- who has since been suspended by the party -- and his two aides, Shibu Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar. The Chief Minister on December 26 announced that she would be going there to attend an official programme on December 30 and hand over documents of public services to 100 beneficiaries there. On Monday, 20,000 individuals will be handed over such papers from different camps established there on that day," Banerjee said. Earlier, when the controversy broke out, doubts were raised from different quarters, including the opposition parties in the state, as to why the Chief Minister was avoiding a visit to Sandeshkhali. Political observers feel that the Chief Minister's visit to Sandeshkhali now is significant as she is expected to make important announcements there. On January 5, Sandeshkhali hit the headlines as a group of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and their escorting Central Armed Forces Personnel (CAPF) personnel were attacked after attempting a raid and search operations at the residence of Sheikh Shahjahan in connection with the multi-core ration distribution case in West Bengal. After that, the local people whose land was allegedly grabbed by Shahahjan and his associates and the women, who had become victims of sexual harassment by them, came out on the streets protesting the issue. The Trinamool then said the allegations of sexual harassment were politically motivated and meant to defame the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The BJP, however, claimed the allegations were an example of the Trinamool misrule and exploitation of women. In the Lok Sabha election, the Trinamool Congress won the Basirhat seat, within which the Sandeshkhali Assembly constituency is located. Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested on February 29 after he managed to evade the police for around two months. Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition, BJP's Suvendu Adhikari has announced that he would hold a 'Jana Sanjog Yatra' in the area a day after the Chief Minister's visit. MENAFN29122024000231011071ID1109040150 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.

Trastuzumab rezetecan is under clinical development by and currently in Phase I for Head And Neck Cancer. According to GlobalData, Phase I drugs for Head And Neck Cancer have a 75% phase transition success rate (PTSR) indication benchmark for progressing into Phase II. GlobalData tracks drug-specific phase transition and likelihood of approval scores, in addition to indication benchmarks based off 18 years of historical drug development data. Attributes of the drug, company and its clinical trials play a fundamental role in drug-specific PTSR and likelihood of approval. Trastuzumab rezetecan overview Trastuzumab rezetecan (SHRA-1811) is under development for the treatment of HER2 expressing or mutated advanced malignant solid tumor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive breast cancer (HER2+ breast cancer), HER2-negative Advanced Breast Cancer, metastatic breast cancer, metastatic biliary cancer (BTC), advanced non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, recurrent ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer and adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction. It comprises of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab, a cleavable linker, and the topoisomerase I inhibitor payload SHR169265. It is administered by intravenous and parenteral route. The drug candidate is an antibody drug conjugate which acts by targeting cells expressing tyrosine kinase type cell surface receptor HER2. Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine overview (Jiangsu Hengrui) is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of novel pharmaceutical products. Its product portfolio includes anti-tumor drugs, surgical drugs, contrast agents, angiomyocardiac drugs, and antibiotics. The company is also developing pipeline products for the treatment of cancer, Crohn’s disease, anemia, diabetes, atopic dermatitis, chronic bone disease, blood pressure, and hypercholesterolemia. Jiangsu Hengrui has R&D facilities in China, the US, and Japan. The company offers products through its sales and distribution network in China, the US, Japan, Germany Switzerland and Australia. Jiangsu Hengrui is headquartered in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China. For a complete picture of Trastuzumab rezetecan’s drug-specific PTSR and LoA scores, This content was updated on 12 April 2024 From Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors. , the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article. GlobalData’s Likelihood of Approval analytics tool dynamically assesses and predicts how likely a drug will move to the next stage in clinical development (PTSR), as well as how likely the drug will be approved (LoA). This is based on a combination of machine learning and a proprietary algorithm to process data points from various databases found on GlobalData’s .Trump announces picks for IRS, SEC, NASA and a new ‘hostage affairs’ envoy

Final 2024 House race decided with Democrats scoring net gainInterview Now that criminals have realized there's no need to train their own LLMs for any nefarious purposes - it's much cheaper and easier to steal credentials and then jailbreak existing ones - the threat of a large-scale supply chain attack using generative AI becomes more real. No, we're not talking about a fully AI-generated attack from the initial access to the business operations shutdown. Technologically, the criminals aren't there yet. But one thing LLMs are getting very good at is assisting in social engineering campaigns. And this is why Crystal Morin, former intelligence analyst for the US Air Force and cybersecurity strategist at Sysdig, anticipates seeing highly successful supply chain attacks in 2025 that originated with an LLM-generated spear phish. When it comes to using LLMs, "threat actors are learning and understanding and gaining the lay of the land just the same as we are," Morin told The Register . "We're in a footrace right now. It's machine against machine." Sysdig, along with other researchers, in 2024 documented an uptick in criminals using stolen cloud credentials to access LLMs. In May, the container security firm documented attackers targeting Anthropic's Claude LLM model . While they could have exploited this access to extract LLM training data, their primary goal in this type of attack appeared to be selling access to other criminals. This left the cloud account owner footing the bill — at the hefty price of $46,000 per day related to LLM consumption costs. Digging deeper, the researchers discovered that the broader script used in the attack could check credentials for 10 different AI services: AI21 Labs, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Azure, ElevenLabs, MakerSuite, Mistral, OpenAI, OpenRouter, and GCP Vertex AI. We're in a footrace right now. It's machine against machine Later in the year, Sysdig spotted attackers attempting to use stolen credentials to enable LLMs. The threat research team calls any attempt to illegally obtain access to a model "LLMjacking," and in September reported that these types of attacks were "on the rise, with a 10x increase in LLM requests during the month of July and 2x the amount of unique IP addresses engaging in these attacks over the first half of 2024." Not only does this cost victims a significant amount of money, according to Sysdig, but this can run more than $100,000 per day when the victim org is using newer models like Claude 3 Opus. Plus, victims are forced to pay for people and technology to stop these attacks. There's also a risk of enterprise LLMs being weaponized, leading to further potential costs. In 2025, "the greatest concern is with spear phishing and social engineering," Morin said. "There's endless ways to get access to an LLM, and they can use this GenAI to craft unique, tailored messages to the individuals that they're targeting based on who your employer is, your shopping preferences, the bank that you use, the region that you live in, restaurants and things like that in the area." In addition to helping attackers overcome language barriers, this can make messages sent via email or social media messaging apps appear even more convincing because they are expressly crafted for the individual victims. "They're going to send you a message from this restaurant that's right down the street, or popular in your town, hoping that you'll click on it," Morin added. "So that will enable their success quite a bit. That's how a lot of successful breaches happen. It's just the person-on-person initial access." She pointed to the Change Healthcare ransomware attack - for which, we should make very clear, there is no evidence suggesting it was assisted by an LLM - as an example of one of 2024's hugely damaging breaches. In this case, a ransomware crew locked up Change Healthcare's systems, disrupting thousands of pharmacies and hospitals across the US and accessing private data belonging to around 100 million people . It took the healthcare payments giant nine months to restore its clearinghouse services following the attack. It will be a very small, simple portion of the attack chain with potentially massive impact "Going back to spear phishing: imagine an employee of Change Healthcare receiving an email and clicking on a link," Morin said. "Now the attacker has access to their credentials, or access to that environment, and the attacker can get in and move laterally." When and if we see this type of GenAI assist, "it will be a very small, simple portion of the attack chain with potentially massive impact," she added. While startups and existing companies are releasing security tools and that also use AI to detect and prevent email phishes, there are some really simple steps that everyone can take to avoid falling for any type of phishing attempt. "Just be careful what you click," Morin advised. Also: pay close attention to the email sender. "It doesn't matter how good the body of the email might be. Did you look at the email address and it's some crazy string of characters or some weird address like name@gmail but it says it's coming from Verizon? That doesn't make sense," she added. LLMs can also help criminals craft a domain with different alphanumerics based on legitimate, well-known company names, and they can use various prompts to make the sender look more believable. Even voice-call phishing will likely become harder to distinguish because of AI used for voice cloning, Morin believes. "I get, like, five spam calls a day from all over the country and I just ignore them because my phone tells me it's spam," she noted. "But they use voice cloning now, too," Morin continued. "And most of the time when people answer your phone, especially if you're driving or something, you're not actively listening, or you're multitasking, and you might not catch that this is a voice clone - especially if it sounds like someone that's familiar, or what they're saying is believable, and they really do sound like they're from your bank." We saw a preview of this during the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election, when AI-generated robocalls impersonating President Biden urged voters not to participate in the state's presidential primary election. Since then, the FTC issued a $25,000 reward to solicit ideas on the best ways to combat AI voice cloning and the FCC declared AI-generated robocalls to be illegal. Morin doesn't expect this to be a deterrent to criminals. "If there's a will, there's a way," she opined. "If it costs money, then they'll figure out a way to get it for free." ®

How co-writing a book threatened the Carters’ marriageCHESTERLAND, Ohio — Matt Rosati is cleared to return as football coach at West Geauga for the offseason and into next season after the school cleared him of any wrongdoing, according to reports by the News-Herald and Geauga County Maple Leaf . The school placed him on administration leave last month, pending an investigation into complaints that Rosati’s attorney called “nothing more than the cliché of a few disgruntled parents and players.” Attorney Vincent J. Calo followed up last week with a statement that Rosati received a letter from the school district, reinstating him as a teacher and football coach after finding “insufficient evidence to warrant a pre-disciplinary hearing.” The Geauga County Maple Leaf followed up Thursday by citing that letter to West Geauga superintendent Richard Markwardt. Calo added that Rosati “is thankful to WGSD for reaching the correct conclusion in this matter. Mr. Rosati has prided himself on helping instill integrity, accountability, and work ethic in his students and athletes during his stellar 35-year career. Allegations of any misconduct directed at him were vehemently denied at the onset of this matter.” RECOMMENDED • cleveland .com Geauga commissioners say they need time to mull over Grendell’s request for $300,000 for legal fees Nov. 19, 2024, 1:58 p.m. Grendell requests $300,000 from Geauga commissioners to fight disciplinary charges Nov. 18, 2024, 2:35 p.m. While West Geauga finished this season 2-8, Rosati missed the final two games while on administrative leave. It marked his third season at the school and second stint with the program, where he won 69 games from 1996 to 2007, before leading Perry to 111 victories and a Division IV state semifinal run in 2016 with three more regional final appearances. Calo added, “During this extremely stressful process, Coach Rosati has been overwhelmed and truly thankful for the outpouring of support he received from the community; alumni from 22 states; fellow coaches and teachers; administrators and athletic directors he has worked with for the past 35 years; friends and family. He looks forward to resuming his career as a teacher and coach and helping lead young men and women.” Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on X ( @mgoul ), Threads ( @mgoul ) or email ( mgoul@cleveland.com ).NoneThe past week has seen significant developments in the tech industry, with AI at the forefront. OpenAI announced its transition to a for-profit entity, President-elect Trump appointed a new senior AI advisor, and Google faced intense scrutiny following the release of ChatGPT. Here’s a quick recap of the top stories. OpenAI’s For-Profit Transition Microsoft Corp.-backed MSFT OpenAI has revealed its plans to evolve into a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). The company aims to balance shareholder and stakeholder interests while maintaining its public benefit mission. The transition is part of OpenAI’s mission to advance artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of all humanity. Read the full article here. Trump’s New AI Advisor President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Sriram Krishnan, a former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, as senior policy advisor for AI. Krishnan will work closely with David Sacks, recently named Trump’s "AI and crypto czar." The move is part of Trump’s efforts to ensure America’s technological dominance and foster scientific breakthroughs. Read the full article here. See Also: Microsoft Invested Nearly $14 Billion In OpenAI But Now It’s Reducing Its Dependence On The ChatGPT-Parent Google’s ‘Code Red’ Following the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL Google declared a “Code Red”. The tech giant faced criticism for lagging behind rivals like Microsoft in integrating ChatGPT-like capabilities into its products. However, Alphabet’s latest advancements in AI and quantum computing are rebuilding its reputation and investor confidence. Read the full article here. Palantir: The ‘Next Oracle’ According to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR could emerge as "the next Oracle" in the AI revolution. Despite its stock surging 395.42% in 2024, Ives maintains a strong conviction in the company's growth trajectory. Read the full article here. Microsoft’s Reduced Dependence on OpenAI Microsoft is reportedly planning to reduce its dependence on OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The company is working on integrating internal and third-party AI models into its AI product, Microsoft 365 Copilot. Read the full article here. Peter Thiel’s Bet on AI Former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel has shared his perspective on the evolving role of AI and its potential impact on math skills. Thiel suggested that the rise of AI could reduce the emphasis on math proficiency and lead to a societal transformation. Read the full article here. Read Next: NIO Announces Repurchase Opportunity For Convertible Senior Notes Due 2027 Photo courtesy: Shutterstock This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Rounak Jain © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) celebrated its annual Alumni Day on Sunday with a grand event recognising remarkable contributions by its alumni and a historic pledge of Rs 21.2 crore by the Silver Jubilee Batch (Class of ’99). The 'Distinguished Service Award', a coveted honour at IIT-B, was presented to three alumni. Rajindra Harcharan Singh, from the Mechanical Engineering batch of 1988, was recognised for his exceptional achievements in his field and continued support to the institute. Sandeep Asthana, from the Chemical Engineering batch of 1990, was lauded for his professional excellence and impactful contributions, while Sudhir Jayram Nikam, from the Chemical Engineering batch of 1993, was honoured for his remarkable career and dedication to IIT-B’s progress. Six alumni received the 'Chapter Service Awards' for their efforts in strengthening alumni networks and supporting the Institute. Recipients included Rajesh Soy, representing the Seattle, USA Chapter; Ranjan Ojha, from the Chicago, USA Chapter; and Shweta Bhandari and Sagar Shah from the Greater New York, USA Chapter. Indian chapters were represented by Sita Mahalakshmi Durvasula, from the Hyderabad Chapter, and Sunay Wagle, from the Pune Chapter. The highlight of the event was the pledge of Rs 21.2 crore by the Silver Jubilee Batch (Class of ’99) for the Legacy Project. The funds will be used to support academic and research initiatives, upgrade infrastructure, and advance IIT-B’s vision of ranking among the world’s top 50 universities by 2030. Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare emphasised the importance of alumni contributions, saying, “Our alumni are a big asset. They not only bring resources but also expertise and industry connections that drive IIT Bombay’s growth,” the institute’s director said. IIT-B also unveiled a "Donor Wall" to honour its top benefactors, whose contributions have established Centres of Excellence, funded Chair Professorships, and enhanced student development initiatives. The day also paid tribute to the Class of 1963, IIT-B’s second graduating batch. Dr. Dhirendranath N. Buragohain, representing the class, shared fond memories of his time at the Institute. The launch of the GO-IIT Bombay Campaign and the presentation of “Project Evergreen,” focusing on student housing, showcased the alumni community’s continued commitment to the Institute. Tribute to former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who passed away on December 26, was also paid during the celebration of the alumni day at IIT-B.LOS ANGELES , Dec. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The SmallRig Awards kicked off the Global Filmmaker Talk series last night with a preview screening of Miguel Gomes' Grand Tour , co-presented by the Los Angeles screening series Acropolis Cinema. Grand Tour , which earned Miguel Gomes the Best Director prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, was screened at the Culver Theater in historic Culver City . The screening was followed by an engaging conversation with director Miguel Gomes and Acropolis Cinema founder Jordan Cronk , focusing on the nonfiction techniques Gomes employed in the film. This marked Miguel Gomes' first-ever appearance in Los Angeles . The event attracted a vibrant audience of cinephiles, emerging filmmakers, film critics, industry professionals, and Oscar voters, as Grand Tour is also Portugal's official selection for the Academy Awards. SmallRig Awards, launched this year by SmallRig—renowned for its affordable, compact, and versatile rigs for filmmakers, journalists, and photographers—aims to discover impactful films and videos addressing global social issues. Winners will receive significant cash prizes and the opportunity to secure financial backing from SmallRig for future projects. From now until December 31 , the SmallRig Awards is accepting entries of fiction or documentary films and videos under 40 minutes in length, featuring compelling stories that shed light on worldwide challenges, including but not limited to: Participants will compete for 22 awards, with cash prizes ranging from $800 to $12,000 . The award categories include: With the slogan "See It. Change It.," the SmallRig Awards are designed to encourage young filmmakers with limited resources to think creatively about how films of modest scale and budget can engage with universal issues through a variety of tools and storytelling techniques. "The SmallRig Awards are for socially conscious filmmakers," says SmallRig founder Zhou Yang . "We believe that images are very powerful. They allow people, behavior, and important moments to be seen." He continues: "While we support films that call for action on global issues and aim to create positive change, our focus is more on addressing issues constructively rather than taking a critical or activist approach." As for eligibility, Zhang points out that "the award isn't limited to films alone. It's also open to other types of works, such as journalistic videos or even PSA videos. We hope applicants will join us in making change happen." The jury panel will be led by Ruby Yang , Academy Award-winning filmmaker of The Blood of Yingzhou District (2006). Yang has also been honored with an Emmy, the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award, FilmAid Asia's Humanitarian Award, the Global Health Council Media Award, and two IDA Pare Lorentz Award nominations. The jury will assess entries based on storytelling technique, production quality, and artistic creativity. For more information about the Smallrig Awards and submission guidelines, visit the official awards website at https://www.smallrig.com/activity/SmallRigAwards . Submissions can be made directly on the website or on Filmfreeway at https://filmfreeway.com/SmallRigAwards . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smallrig-awards-launches-the-global-filmmaker-talk-series-with-2024-cannes-best-director-miguel-gomes-302323241.html SOURCE Smallrig

NoneGCC-4001 is under clinical development by Artiva Biotherapeutics and currently in Phase II for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. According to GlobalData, Phase II drugs for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma have a 30% phase transition success rate (PTSR) indication benchmark for progressing into Phase III. GlobalData tracks drug-specific phase transition and likelihood of approval scores, in addition to indication benchmarks based off 18 years of historical drug development data. Attributes of the drug, company and its clinical trials play a fundamental role in drug-specific PTSR and likelihood of approval. GCC-4001 overview GCC-4001 (AB-101) is under development for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, pemphigus vulgaris, granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia, peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), R/R classical Hodgkin lymphoma, lupus nephritis (LN) and autoimmune disorders. The therapeutic candidate is an allogeneic, non-engineered, cord blood-derived natural killer (NK) cell therapy. It is administered through intravenous route and is being developed based on AlloNK platform. Artiva Biotherapeutics overview Artiva Biotherapeutics is a biotechnology company developing allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapies to treat hematologic cancers or solid tumors. It is investigating AB-101, an allogeneic NK cell therapy used for the treatment of B-cell malignancies; AB-201, a CAR-NK (chimeric antigen receptor-modified natural killer) cell therapy targeting HER2 positive solid tumors; and AB-202 against CD19 positive B-cell malignancies. Artiva Biotherapeutics utilizes its proprietary CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) platform to improve NK cells’ therapeutic activity and tumor-targeting capability. Artiva Biotherapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, California, the US. For a complete picture of GCC-4001’s drug-specific PTSR and LoA scores, This content was updated on 12 April 2024 From Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors. , the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article. GlobalData’s Likelihood of Approval analytics tool dynamically assesses and predicts how likely a drug will move to the next stage in clinical development (PTSR), as well as how likely the drug will be approved (LoA). This is based on a combination of machine learning and a proprietary algorithm to process data points from various databases found on GlobalData’s .

House rejects Democratic efforts to force release of Matt Gaetz ethics report

The New York Post has published what it reports as new footage of the suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . In the surveillance video obtained from a cigar store on Sixth Avenue, the suspected gunman can be seen leaving a subway station at around 6:15 a.m., 30 minutes before the fatal shooting occurred in front of the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan. The Post writes that it appears the suspect was leaving the 57th Street subway station, which is nearby the hotel’s location. The report did not include comment from the NYPD surrounding the footage. The NYPD previously released photos of the alleged suspect on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some taken at a nearby Starbucks before the shooting and others seemingly showing him unmasked and grinning. The suspect has yet to be identified, but several clues have since risen including the purchase of a gun seemingly linked to that used in the shooting and a phone dropped at the crime scene. A Catholic nun was among a group of 25 people arrested in Italy on Monday as part of a mafia bust for a laundry list of crimes that included extortion, drug trafficking, and money laundering. Anna Donelli, 57, of the Sisters of Charity Institute in Milan, volunteered at prisons around the city of Brescia—but a police investigation determined that her ostensibly spiritual services concealed a seedy criminal underside to her interactions with inmates, according to CNN. Prosecutors allege that she was “exploiting the very spiritual role she carried out” to run information back and forth between mob bosses and imprisoned foot soldiers for the infamous ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate. “She carried orders, directives, moral and material aid to associates, receiving in turn from the prisoners useful information to better plan criminal strategies,” prosecutor Francesco Prete said Thursday, according to CNN. Donelli’s cover story was that she was a liaison between prisoners and prison officials, in addition to refereeing soccer games at the prison. The anti-mafia operation that landed the nun and over two dozen other mobsters under arrest was carried out by over 300 officers and also resulted in the recovery of drugs, weapons, and the equivalent of nearly $2 million in cash. If you’re trying to pick up gifts for the loved ones on your list, here’s a tip: everyone appreciates the gift of softer and more manageable hair and skin. The Avon Company, North America has been in the beauty industry for over a century and stocks some of the trendiest skin care, fragrances, and personal care items on the market. These curated picks ensure your giftee will be glowing even on the dullest winter day. This moisturizer tackles one of winter’s biggest annoyances—chapped lips. It has a hydration-boosting formula that counteracts dry air while visibly softening lips and adding a glossy hint of color. Free Shipping Cold air strips away the skin’s natural moisture, which leads to cracking and flaking. The Beyond Glow Serum uses vitamin B3 to strengthen the skin’s barrier against colder temperatures and even out skin tone. Free Shipping This replenishing hair mist uses rice water—a popular traditional beauty treatment in Asia—to revitalize and nourish dull and damaged hair. Free Shipping If you buy something from this post, we may earn a small commission. Billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times , Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, has announced his plans to launch a “bias meter” for all articles on the outlet’s website as soon as next year. Speaking to CNN’s Scott Jennings on his radio show , the media mogul explained the meter would allow readers to view different perspectives on a news or opinion article in real time and allow them to write or read comments on the subject matter. “What we need to do is not have what we call ‘confirmation bias’ and then that story, automatically, the reader can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story based on that story and then give comments,” Soon-Shiong explained. “Now I’m giving you some little breaking news here but this is what we’re currently building behind the scenes. And I’m hoping that by January we launch this.” The billionaire proceeded to explain his hope for the module in building “respectful disagreement” and starting a “conversation.” Following his announcement, the L.A. Times ’ editorial guild released a statement in response writing, “the newspaper’s owner has publicly suggested his staff harbors bias, without offering evidence or examples” and that they value “an earnest search to understand all sides of an issue.” Soon-Shiong notably blocked the paper from publishing a Kamala Harris endorsement in October which was met with opposition from some staff. Timothée Chalamet thanked Bob Dylan for the shoutout after the legendary singer-songwriter praised his new biopic A Complete Unknown . “Floored. I am so grateful. Thank you Bob,” Chalamet posted on X . The film, set to be released on Dec. 25, stars Chalamet as a young Dylan. “Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me,” Dylan posted on X . Though Dylan didn’t share if he’s seen the film yet, he did recommend the book the biopic is based off of. “The film’s taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015. It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ‘60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport,” he added. “After you’ve seen the movie read the book.” Dylan also gave a nod to the film’s title, A Complete Unknown , which references lyrics from Dylan’s 1965 song “Like a Rolling Stone.” “What a title!” he wrote. Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission. It’s not every day that you can score a deal on a high-quality printer at a lower cost. Investing in a quality printer for your home or office is a game-changer, and while it’s not the most fun purchase, it’ll pay for itself in a couple of months. Fortunately, you don’t have to pay full price for a solid printer, thanks to HP’s current sale . Right now, you can score the HP Envy Inspire 7955e , the brand’s premium at-home photo printer for $70 off. If you’re looking for a solid holiday gift that they’ll actually use, the deluxe multi-purpose printer is a great choice—especially for photographers and anyone who works from home. The all-in-one printer is also designed with HP’s Wolf Essential Security system to keep your information secure and keep hackers out. Plus, unlike other printers that require you to get your hands dirty to replenish the ink, this one offers a 15-second mess-free ink refill experience with bottles that can be plugged into the tank. Say goodbye to messes and hello to your new printer . Best of all? For a limited time, score three months of Instant Ink with HP+. The slain UnitedHealthcare CEO had a criminal record for drunk driving and was secretly separated from his wife for years before he was shot dead in Manhattan on Wednesday, according to public records. Minnesota court filings show that in 2017 Brian Thompson was arrested and convicted on charges of fourth-degree driving while impaired, for which he received probation. In addition to legal troubles, the executive, who was gunned down in what NYPD has labeled a “premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack,” also seems to have faced recent marital issues. Based on property records, voter registration forms, and reports from neighbors, Brian and Paulette Thompson had lived in different homes less than a mile apart in Maple Grove, Minnesota, for the past several years, The Wall Street Journal reported . In 2018, Thompson bought a five-bedroom second house for around $1 million, while his wife’s residence remained in another house nearby, also worth about $1 million, based on Zillow listings and public records. Paulette Thompson told MSNBC her husband had received threats related to his company’s “lack of coverage” and said in a statement to a local Fox affiliate in Minnesota that his killing had left her and their two sons “shattered.” About 12 hours after his killing, someone made a bomb threat at his Minnesota home, but authorities did not find any evidence of explosives, TMZ reported . UnitedHealthcare and the Hennepin County District Court did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast inquiry about Thompson’s DUI. A top health insurance provider has scrapped a controversial plan to limit anesthesia coverage for surgical patients in at least one state. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will no longer try to implement the much-ridiculed cap—which would have required patients to pay out-of-pocket for any anesthesia administered after their surgery went over an arbitrary time limit—on plans in Connecticut, the state’s comptroller, Sean Scanlon, shared Thursday. “After hearing from people across the state about this concerning policy, my office reached out to Anthem,” he said in a statement. “I’m pleased to share this policy will no longer be going into effect here in Connecticut.” The controversial plan was announced last month for customers in Connecticut, New York, and Missouri. The pending policy went viral on Wednesday, however, after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was gunned down in Manhattan in a “targeted attack.” It remains unclear if the cap will still go into place next year for New Yorkers or those in the Show Me State. Anthem is yet to say what drove it to pull its plan in Connecticut. Bill Lawrence, creator of Scrubs , is currently developing a reboot of the widely loved sitcom for ABC, Variety reported. Despite having a deal with Warner Bros. Television, the studio is reportedly carving out space for Lawrence to work on the show. Citing a source familiar with the matter, Variety adds that Lawrence will not be serving as the reboot’s showrunner if it gets fully greenlit. Cast members have also yet to be attached, and no other deals for the reboot are reportedly in place. Running for nine seasons between 2001 and 2008, Scrubs followed the daily hijinks of a hospital staff and starred Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, Judy Reyes, Ken Jenkins, John C. McGinley, and Neil Flynn. A reboot of the show has been thrown around for some time, with Lawrence sharing at a 2022 ATX Festival panel , “We’re gonna do it, you guys know. If you ever have an excuse to work with people you want to spend time with anyway, run to it.” Lawrence also famously created or co-created series like Cougar Town , Ted Lasso , and Shrinking . A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Northern California on Thursday morning, briefly triggering a tsunami warning for nearly 5 million people . The earthquake hit at 10:44 a.m. PST west of Petrolia, California in the Pacific Ocean, the US Geological Survey said. A 5.8-magnitude aftershock was recorded minutes later near Cobb, California, and several other apparent aftershocks between 2.5 to 4.2 magnitude followed. A tsunami warning issued for parts of the Northern California and Oregon coastlines, however, was called off by the early afternoon. California officials are responding to earthquake activity Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X . The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is said to be coordinating with local officials in Humboldt and Lake counties, where significant earthquake activity was reported. More than 10,000 Humboldt County customers are reportedly without power. While no damage has been reported in San Francisco, the city’s Bay Area Rapid Transit, announced it is experiencing significant service disruptions due to the earthquake. Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission. Apparently, boosting prostate health can actually be pleasurable—at least, that’s what premium sexual wellness brand MysteryVibe says. The Molto, an ultra-slim and bendable prostate vibrator designed by a doctor, is engineered to be the same size and width as a doctor’s finger and to mimic similar motions to that performed during an exam, allowing for not only intense prostate (the prostate is often hailed as the male ‘G-spot’) and anal stimulation but also a release of prostatic fluids. According to the brand, some studies have found that excess prostatic fluid can lead to inflammation and pressure, so not only is this a sex toy , but it’s also possibly an investment in your prostate health. Think of it almost like a lymphatic massage for your prostate—except one that can give you intense orgasms, too. Made with body-safe silicone, the multifunctional and gender-fluid vibrator is powered by one “anatomically-placed” motor that delivers potent yet precise vibration to the anus and prostate without feeling bulky or inflexible. It’s a great sex toy for those new to anal play or who are looking for an ultra-sleek vibrator with possible health-boosting benefits. The prostate vibrator is equipped with 16 vibration settings and eight pre-set vibration patterns, allowing for superior control and customization. Plus, the device comes with access to a catalog of vibration patterns with the free MysteryVibe smartphone app. Best of all? Because the Molto vibrator is an FDA-registered class II medical device, it’s also FSA/HSA eligible. Associates of the right-wing firebrand Ric Grenell sought the help of MAGA influencers to secure him Donald Trump ’s nomination for s ecretary of state . Shortly after Trump’s election victory, an ally of Grenell’s approached conservative social media influencers, offering paid contracts up to five figures to post favorable content about Grenell, Politico reported Thursday. Influencers, the contract stipulated, would post pro-Grenell content and do so during “peak posting times,” ensure that “content must appear genuine,” and not “as an overt advertisement or promotional message.” Grenell denied the alleged influencer conspiracy to Politico. However, his desire for the highly coveted Cabinet position was no secret. Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence spent the past three years reportedly telling people in the president-elect’s orbit that it was secretary of state “or bust.” Despite being one of Trump’s most loyal cohorts, Trump ultimately chose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to lead the State Department . Grenell is said to have been offered other posts, including director of national intelligence, but has turned the offers down. Actress Amber Heard has announced that she is expecting her second baby. “It is still quite early in the pregnancy, so you will appreciate that we do not want to go into much detail at this stage,” a spokesman for Heard said Thursday to People . “Suffice to say that Amber is delighted both for herself and Oonagh Paige.” Heard welcomed her daughter in 2021. “I wanted to do it on my own terms,” Heard wrote in a post announcing Oonagh’s birth via a surrogate. “I hope we arrive at a point in which it’s normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib.” Heard has never commented on who the biological father is. The actress relocated to Madrid, Spain after the highly publicized defamation battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp . Heard told NBC News after the trial in 2022 that she was hoping to focus more on her growing family. “I get to be a mom, like, full time, you know? Where I’m not having to juggle calls with lawyers,” she said.Judge rejects request to sideline a San Jose State volleyball player on grounds she’s transgender

Vice President Kashim Shettima has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to improving healthcare delivery in Nigeria, especially in rural areas. Recognizing the critical role of medical professionals in Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem, Shettima assured of the government’s commitment to support and retain healthcare talent in the country. Speaking during a visit by a delegation from the West African College of Physicians (WACP), Vice President Shettima commended healthcare professionals for their dedication to serving the nation, despite challenges. “Yours is a very noble profession and many of the young ones are opting to leave the country but you did not. It’s not because you have not had options, but you felt a moral obligation to stay at home and serve,” he said. The Vice President assured the delegation that the government, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is committed to addressing healthcare challenges. He highlighted the appointment of Professor Muhammadu Ali Pate as the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, noting the Minister’s deep understanding of the health sector. “We will treat members of our professional bodies with dignity and respect. We will provide the enabling ground for you to work in Nigeria,” VP Shettima promised. Recalling his efforts to support healthcare education in Borno State, the Vice President said, “In 2014, as governor of Borno State, I took it upon myself to sponsor female citizens of the state to study Medicine and Surgery in Sudan. “The students have all graduated and licensed by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to practice medicine in Nigeria and are under the employment of the state government.” He emphasised the government’s moral obligation to assist the people, saying, “We have a moral obligation to assist our people. In the fullness of time, we will have a course to rejoice. We will support you.” Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Dr. Jeremiah Aboi Madaki, thanked the Vice President for his support of the 48th Annual General and Scientific Conference of the West African College of Physicians. Madaki expressed optimism about the government’s commitment to improving healthcare systems, even as he shared the communique of the conference with the Vice President. “We are here to thank you for your encouragement and for advancing discussions on health system revitalization under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said. Dr Madaki also assured of the College’s commitment to policy advocacy and its plans to work closely with the government to implement evidence-based policies that improve healthcare outcomes in Nigeria. Other members of the delegation included Dr. Habibu Galadanci, Dr. Ogugua Osi-Ogbu and Dr. Tahir Umar.