super game casino online Geoffrey Bawa’s Bengaluru momentKosovo arrests blast suspects, Serbia denies involvementNYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch made a round of administrative appointments Thursday, naming new heads to the department’s public information and technology bureaus. Tisch named Delaney Kempner as the new Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, replacing controversial top spokesman Tarik Sheppard . Kempner has spent the last four years as director of communications for New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Kempner will not start until Jan. 13. In the interim, Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves will serve as acting DCPI, officials said. Sheppard will be put back in uniform and assigned a leadership role in the department, law enforcement sources said. Other appointments include Kristine Ryan as Deputy Commissioner of Management and Budget — marking the second time she has been in this role — and Yisroel Hecht as the department’s new Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology. Hecht is currently serving as Deputy Commissioner of Infrastructure Management for the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation. Tisch named Alex Crohn as Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives and Steven Harte as Deputy Commissioner of Support Services. “This group of skilled and experienced leaders will answer the public call to transform NYPD technology, modernize our fleet, and elevate the department’s voice to make Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect central to our communication and interaction with the people we serve,” Commissioner Tisch said Thursday. “New Yorkers should have every confidence that these appointments make their police department stronger, our service better, and our city safer.” In one of his last acts as DCPI, Sheppard attended a luncheon at police headquarters for local media Thursday, where he thanked the press and his staff for getting out important information and sharing the NYPD’s story with the public. He pointed to the arrest of accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione as an example of how DCPI and the press worked together to distribute images of the gunman, which ultimately led to his arrest. Sheppard was considered one of the most visual, outspoken, and sometimes volatile public information commissioners in the department’s recent history He was often front and center at press conferences and was seen wearing a bullet-resistant vest at high-profile operations such as when the NYPD cleared the Columbia University campus of protesters. He also defended NYPD executives’ controversial use of social media to blast reporters and legislators they disagree with. During the New York Marathon last month, while he was temporarily reassigned as former Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlan’s Chief of Staff, Sheppard got into a public shouting match with the NYPD’s top cop . Nearby NYPD officers had to separate the two men, witnesses said. Tisch was sworn in as NYPD commissioner on Nov. 25. One of her first acts in office was to name longtime aide Ryan Merola, who had worked with her at the Department of Sanitation and other agencies, as her chief of staff .

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelanders voted to elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call an early election. This is Iceland’s sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability.

Government secrecy protects sources and methods. And liars and errors. And obsolete military procurement contracts that are too politically important to challenge or change. That may be the story behind government secrecy about UFOs, more recently called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs. On Nov. 13, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, chaired a hearing by two House Oversight subcommittees on UAPs, seeking to determine whether information about them has been withheld from Congress and the American people. One of the witnesses was journalist Michael Shellenberger. He recently revealed in a report for his online news site Public that the U.S. government has an “Unacknowledged Special Access Program” about UAPs. It’s called “Immaculate Constellation,” and it has collected high-resolution images, sensor data and first-hand reports about UAPs for decades without any authorization from Congress, without even informing Congress of the existence of the program. Shellenberger obtained an 11-page report on Immaculate Constellation from a whistleblower and turned it over to Mace and the House Oversight subcommittees. Mace made the report available to the public on her congressional website. “This document is the result of a multi-year, internal investigation into the subjects of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Technologies of Unknown Origin (TUO), and Non-Human Intelligence (NHI),” the report begins. It’s wild reading. According to the report, the U.S. government possesses full-motion video and forward-looking infrared imagery of a formation of a dozen “metallic orbs,” 3-6 meters in diameter, “skimming the ocean surface at high speed before dispersing in multiple directions.” Their maneuvering was “rapid and agile” and in the infrared footage they were “white-hot against the black-cold ocean.” Then there was a report of a “small-medium oval UAP” flying fast and low over a “sensitive coastal facility.” And there was another report of a “large equilateral-triangle UAP” that was “hovering and slowly rotating” directly over a grouping of ships that were engaged in intelligence collection in the Pacific Ocean. A report in the government’s files described a saucer-shaped UAP that ducked in and out of the clouds as if it “had become aware that it was under observation.” Another report told of a “boomerang UAP” that was observed “rapidly decelerating to a stationary hover, followed by the sudden emission of a sphere of light from the junction of the two ‘wings’ which expands to partially engulf the craft in a rotating sphere of light, at which point the available footage ends.” In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reviewed reports of UAPs and concluded that some of the flying objects appeared to have technological capabilities that the U.S. and its adversaries couldn’t match. Congress has been pressing the executive branch for more information. In March, the Department of Defense released a report stating that in decades of investigations, no evidence had been found that these UAPs were extraterrestrial spacecraft piloted by non-human intelligence from another planet. But what are they and why are they here? Former Department of Defense official Luis Elizondo testified at the November hearing that the government has a secret program to retrieve the wreckage of crashed UAPs and reverse engineer them. “Advanced technologies not made by our government, or any other government, are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe,” Elizondo testified. Last December, swarms of mystery drones buzzed Langley Air Force Base for 17 days, raising significant concerns. A Langley spokesman told the publication The War Zone that the “uncrewed aerial systems” didn’t “exhibit hostile intent, but anything flying in our restricted airspace can pose a threat to flight safety.” U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets are based at Langley, where they are part of the nation’s defense forces protecting Washington, D.C. In March, the Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony from U.S. Air Force General Gregory Guillot, who had recently become the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORTHCOM and NORAD. Guillot told the committee that drone incursions over the U.S. southern border numbered “in the thousands,” describing it as “alarming.” Since at least 2017, military experts have been warning of the danger presented by swarms of unmanned drones armed with surveillance equipment or weapons. “Imagine a world where somebody flies a couple hundred of those and flies one down the intake of my F-22s with just a small weapon on it,” General James Holmes said in a speech to the Air Force Association. The War Zone noted that the greater danger might be to fighter jets sitting “idle and vulnerable on the flight line.” One swarm of armed drones could destroy “a whole squadron of tightly packed fighters” without any chance to fight back. Non-hypothetical drone warfare is happening right now in the Russia-Ukraine war, and separately, a Pentagon spokesman acknowledged a series of drone incursions over U.S. air bases in England over the last 10 days. That raises a question: What has the Pentagon been doing all this time while the threat of inexpensive weaponized drones was developing? Is it possible that U.S. presidents, defense contractors, intelligence agencies and Pentagon officials intentionally hid from Congress and the public, for decades, all evidence that military drones were gradually becoming a reality, in order to protect existing defense procurement contracts that otherwise might have been questioned or rejected? To carry out a plan like that, multiple U.S. administrations would have to impose strict secrecy on every report of an unidentified flying object, then refuse to declassify the reports, or release them only with heavy redactions. In addition, the people making the reports would have to be ridiculed and marginalized to the point where they question their own sanity, making others afraid to report what they themselves have seen. If that sounds like a description of exactly what has happened, we may finally have solved the unsolved mystery of Unidentified Flying Objects. Sorry. I was rooting for it to be space aliens, too. Write Susan@susanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley

The Washington Commanders released 2023 first-rounder Emmanuel Forbes on Saturday, cutting ties with another high draft pick from the previous regime. All of previous coach Ron Rivera's first-rounders — including edge rusher Chase Young in 2020, linebacker Jamin Davis in ‘21 and wide receiver Jahan Dotson in '22 — are now gone. Forbes never showed progress to the new staff led by coach Dan Quinn and was a healthy scratch twice this season and did not play in two other games during which the 23-year-old was in uniform. It's unclear if Forbes' release means anything about the status of cornerback Marshon Lattimore , the Commanders' trade deadline pickup in early November who still has not played for them because of a hamstring injury. Lattimore was listed as doubtful for Washington's home game Sunday against Tennessee. The Commanders (7-5) also put running back Austin Ekeler on injured reserve because of a concussion . They elevated kicker Zane Gonzalez and defensive tackle Carl Davis from the practice squad in preparation for facing the Titans (3-8). Washington has lost three in a row to fall from first place in the NFC East to the conference’s final wild-card spot. The most recent loss, last weekend against division rival Dallas, came when Austin Seibert missed his second extra point of the game, which would have tied it with 21 seconds left. Seibert went on IR earlier in the week with a groin injury that Quinn said the kicker reported Monday. While injuries have piled up as the Commanders await their late bye week, the choice of Forbes has been second-guessed since the moment Rivera's front office chose the 166-pound Mississippi State defensive back with the 16th pick over Christian Gonzalez and others. Gonzalez was selected next, by New England, and has started 16 games for the Patriots. Forbes was benched last season by Rivera, who was in charge when Washington selected Davis ahead of offensive lineman Christian Darrisaw in '21 and traded down to take Dotson the following year instead of safety Kyle Hamilton or receiver Chris Olave. Forbes has two interceptions and 12 passes defensed in 20 games. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflSAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a reflection of the utility’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and corporate citizenship, Newsweek today named California Water Service Group (Group) (NYSE: CWT) one of “America’s Most Responsible Companies” for 2025. This is the fourth consecutive year that Newsweek and Statista Inc., a leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider, recognized Group with this honor. Group was one of only three investor-owned water utilities ranked in the Energy & Utilities category. The 2025 list spans 14 industries and recognizes the top 600 out of the 2,000 largest public companies by revenue. America’s Most Responsible Companies were selected this year based on 30 publicly available key performance indicators (KPIs) derived from corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and other reports, along with independent survey results. The KPIs focused on company performance in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) areas, while the survey asked respondents about their perception of company activities related to corporate social responsibility. “We have long operated by the mantra to always “do the right thing”—not simply the easy thing—for our customers, communities, employees, and stockholders, and for the environment,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, Group Chairman & CEO. “To be recognized for our efforts by Newsweek for the fourth year in a row is an honor we do not take lightly, and we will continue striving to enhance our efforts each year to do right by those we serve.” The full listing is published at www.newsweek.com/rankings/americas-most-responsible-companies-2025 . About California Water Service Group California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is the largest regulated water utility in the western United States. It provides high-quality, reliable water and/or wastewater services to more than 2.1 million people in California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Washington, and Texas through its regulated subsidiaries, California Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, and Washington Water Service, and its utility holding company, Texas Water Service. Group’s purpose is to enhance the quality of life for customers, communities, employees, and stockholders. To do so, it invests responsibly in water and wastewater infrastructure, sustainability initiatives, and community well-being. The company’s 1,200+ employees live by a set of strong core values and share a commitment to protecting the planet, caring for people, and operating with the utmost integrity. The company has been named one of “America’s Most Responsible Companies” and the “World’s Most Trustworthy Companies” by Newsweek , a Top Workplace, and a Great Place to Work ® . More information is available at www.calwatergroup.com . Media Contact Yvonne Kingman ykingman@calwater.com 310-257-1434Miguel Tomley scores 28 to lead Weber State over Pepperdine 68-53 at Arizona Tip-OffIowa moves on without injured quarterback Brendan Sullivan when the Hawkeyes visit Maryland for a Big Ten Conference contest on Saturday afternoon. Former starter Cade McNamara is not ready to return from a concussion, so Iowa (6-4, 4-3) turns to former walk-on and fourth-stringer Jackson Stratton to lead the offense in College Park, Md. "Confident that he'll do a great job," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of Stratton on his weekly radio show. "He stepped in, did a really nice job in our last ballgame. And he's got a good ability to throw the football, and he's learning every day. ... We'll go with him and see what we can do." Iowa had been on an upswing with Sullivan, who had sparked the Hawkeyes to convincing wins over Northwestern and Wisconsin before suffering an ankle injury in a 20-17 loss at UCLA on Nov. 8. Stratton came on in relief against the Bruins and completed 3 of 6 passes for 28 yards. Another storyline for Saturday is that Ferentz will be opposing his son, Brian Ferentz, an assistant at Maryland. Brian Ferentz was Iowa's offensive coordinator from 2017-23. "We've all got business to take care of on Saturday," Kirk Ferentz said. "I think his experience has been good and everything I know about it. As a parent, I'm glad he's with good people." Maryland (4-6, 1-6) needs a win to keep its hopes alive for a fourth straight bowl appearance under Mike Locksley. The Terrapins have dropped five of their last six games, all by at least 14 points, including a 31-17 loss at home to Rutgers last weekend. "It's been a challenging last few weeks to say the least," Locksley said. The challenge this week will be to stop Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson, who leads the Big Ten in rushing yards (1,328) and touchdowns (20), averaging 7.1 yards per carry. "With running backs, it's not always about speed. It's about power, vision and the ability to make something out of nothing," Locksley said. "This guy is a load and runs behind his pads." Maryland answers with quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who leads the Big Ten in passing yards per game (285.5) and completions (268). His top target is Tai Felton, who leads the conference in catches (86) and receiving yards (1,040). --Field Level Media

U.S. releases possible plans for managing Colorado River shortages

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