EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield embarrassed the woeful Giants with his arm and legs, and if that wasn't enough, he rubbed it in by mimicking New York fan favorite Tommy DeVito's celebratory dance after scoring a touchdown. Mayfield catapulted into the end zone on a spectacular 10-yard scramble for one of Tampa Bay's four rushing TDs, and the Buccaneers beat the Giants and new starting quarterback DeVito 30-7 on Sunday, snapping a four-game losing streak and extending New York's skid to six. With both teams struggling and coming off byes, most of the focus leading up to the game was on the Giants' decisions this week to bench and then release quarterback Daniel Jones. The brash DeVito was given the starting job and asked to spark coach Brian Daboll's team, as he did last season. Instead, Mayfield provided the energy with his play and his trolling of DeVito. “Tribute to Tommy,” said a straight-faced Mayfield, who was 24 of 30 for 294 yards. “He’s a good dude, that’s why. Most of the times, I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s spontaneous.” Mayfield was asked several times about the gesture and admitted he wanted to give Giants fans something they liked, adding he met DeVito at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas in February. “He had his chain blinged out, swag walking through the casino. It was awesome,” Mayfield said. “It was like a movie scene, honestly.” DeVito did nothing to help the NFL's lowest-scoring offense. He threw for 189 yards, mostly in the second half with New York well on its way to its sixth straight loss at home, where it is winless. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers dominated in every phase in a near-perfect performance that featured TD runs of 1 yard by Sean Tucker, 6 yards by Bucky Irving and 1 yard by Rachaad White. After recent losses to the Ravens, 49ers and Chiefs, Tampa Bay (5-6) moved within one game of idle Atlanta in the NFC South. “We’re hoping it builds confidence,” Mayfield said. “We have a belief that we are still sitting and controlling our own destiny.” Tampa Bay scored on five of its on first six possessions to open a 30-0 lead, and none was more exciting than Mayfield's TD run with 12 seconds left in the first half. On a second-and-goal from the 10, he avoided pressure and went for the end zone. He was hit by Cor'Dale Flott low and Dru Phillips high around the 2-yard line, and he was airborne when he crossed the goal line. The ball came loose when he hit the turf but he jumped up and flexed, DeVito-style, as the Bucs took a 23-0 lead. DeVito said players talked about the celebration in the locker room but he did not see it. Daboll was asked about the gesture and said Mayfield played well. He said the Giants' poor performance had nothing to do with Jones being released. “No excuse on that,” said Daboll, whose job is on the line despite making the playoffs in 2022. “We just didn’t do a good enough job.” “We played soft, and they beat the (expletive) out of us,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence added. Mayfield's favorite target Mike Evans returned to the lineup after missing three games with a hamstring injury and had five catches for 68 yards. Irving had 87 yards rushing and six catches for 64 yards. The Bucs held New York to three first downs and 45 yards in the first half, and they finished with 450 yards to the Giants' 245. DeVito had a 17-yard run in the fourth quarter to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Devin Singletary. The brash New Jersey native was sacked four times, including once in the fourth quarter, which forced him to go to the bench for one play. Buccaneers: LT Tristan Wirfs (knee) did not play and Justin Skule replaced him. ... Tampa Bay lost OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to an ankle injury in the second quarter and safety Jordan Whitehead to a pectoral injury in the fourth quarter. Giants: LT Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) and OLB Azeez Ojulari (toe) were hurt in the first quarter and did not return. Buccaneers: At Carolina next Sunday. Giants: At Dallas on Thanksgiving AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Saskatchewan premier says he won't allow Speaker intimidation as legislature resumes

Loneliness can occur when someone is feeling socially isolated, excluded, or misunderstood. It’s a serious public health concern and is something that many people experience daily, including healthcare workers, and their patients. Long-term loneliness can have an immense impact on physical and mental health, with some studies suggesting it can increase the likelihood of early death by as much as 26 percent . It is therefore important that healthcare workers and nurses across all settings can recognise the telltale signs of loneliness , both in their patients and co-workers, and that they are equipped with the knowledge and resources to offer the best support and treatment possible. To offer guidance, the patient safety and compliance experts at Radar Healthcare have compiled a list of effective ways healthcare professionals can combat loneliness within themselves and their peers. This information has been shared with Digital Journal . Larger break rooms for enhanced communication Offering healthcare workers a larger space for enhanced communication will allow those working unsociable and long hours together the space to communicate and unwind while having breaks from work. It is also beneficial if break rooms have access to windows that can be opened in order to let fresh air and sunlight in during long and overnight shifts. Supportive and comfortable spaces As well as providing larger break rooms, it is also important for healthcare workers to have additional spaces that contain access to comfortable furniture, relaxing lighting, or views of the outside world. These comfortable environments will provide more of a relaxing zone for healthcare workers to unwind and where healthcare professionals can provide emotional support to one another. Plants Studies have indicated that biophilic design (the presence of indoor plants) can improve concentration and productivity ( by up to 15 percent ), reduce stress levels, and boost your mood. This is why healthcare professionals should implement lots of greenery into their social spaces whilst at work in order to enhance their mood and reduce stress whilst taking a break from their busy and often long working hours. Outside eating areas It is important that healthcare professionals make the most of their breaks away from work in order to recharge and relax before continuing on in a stressful environment. One way healthcare workers can combat loneliness and improve their social interactions whilst in a working environment is to spend more time socialising outdoors. Eating a meal or having a picnic outside with co-workers is a beneficial way to take in the much-needed fresh air and also remove themselves from the normal work setting. Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news.Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.Baker Mayfield mocks Tommy DeVito's celebration as the Bucs embarrass the Giants 30-7Global energy executive joins Prometheus Hyperscale to accelerate sustainable data center growth and provide strategic counsel on $10B flagship project in Evanston, Wyoming HOUSTON , Nov. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prometheus Hyperscale, a leading developer of sustainable hyperscale data centres, is delighted to announce the appointment of Bernard Looney as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Looney, former CEO of BP, brings to the role more than three decades of energy sector expertise – from the frontline to the boardroom. He will provide strategic guidance on the development of the company's growth plans, including its $10B flagship data center in Evanston, Wyoming , which will be among the largest facilities of its kind in the world when completed. The announcement of Mr. Looney's appointment comes as societies and large technology companies grapple with how to power the explosive growth in artificial intelligence (AI). The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that by 2026 data centers globally will use over 1,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually, around the same as Japan uses today. Against this backdrop of soaring demand and squeezed supply, Prometheus is pioneering new standards in hyperscale data center operations. These approaches include harnessing a variety of energy sources to power its data centers, including renewables, natural gas and possibly nuclear at a later date through our strategic partnership with Oklo. Prometheus aims for its data centers to not impact grid customers. Another key challenge is the enormous amount of power and water used to cool data centers to prevent the servers from overheating. Prometheus Hyperscale uses a unique liquid cooling system that dramatically outperforms traditional air-cooling methods, reducing energy consumption by up to 50%. This system also utilises deep underground water reservoirs and captures the waste heat to reuse or sequester it. It's believed that Prometheus Hyperscale's flagship project will be the first hyperscale data center in the United States to combine liquid heat transfer and heat reuse technologies. Founded by Trenton Thornock , an experienced leader in energy, finance and infrastructure, Prometheus Hyperscale's flagship project in Evanston, Wyoming , promises to be the most advanced sustainable data center in the United States , and one of the largest in the world, when it becomes operational in 2025/26. The 1GW-capacity developed site will cover an area of 640-acres (one square mile), making it approximately three quarters the size of New York's Central Park. Four further sites are currently earmarked across Arizona and Colorado . As Chairman, Mr. Looney will ensure the successful execution of Evanston as well as Prometheus's broader business goals. His appointment comes following the recent announcement that Trevor Neilson , a renowned climate technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, will serve as the company's President. It's estimated that $1 trillion will be invested in the U.S. in data centers in the next five years – with an additional $1 trillion internationally. Trenton Thornock , Founder and CEO of Prometheus Hyperscale commented: "Having Bernard Looney join as Chairman is a tremendous step forward for Prometheus. Bernard's track record and transformative leadership in the energy sector aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of data centers. His insights, as well as his extensive operational and project delivery experience, will be invaluable as we bring our flagship project in Evanston, Wyoming to life and set new benchmarks for sustainable digital infrastructure." Trevor Neilson , President of Prometheus Hyperscale, commented: "Bernard is the perfect person to guide Prometheus as we form partnerships across the energy sector to access low-carbon electrons that will power the future of AI. His extensive industry experience and leadership will be instrumental as Prometheus establishes itself at the forefront of sustainable data center operations." Bernard Looney commented: "I am delighted to join Prometheus Hyperscale at this pivotal moment as the world grapples with the intersection of AI, Energy and Sustainability. Innovative power solutions are desperately needed to ensure that AI is unleashed to tackle some of the biggest global challenges including healthcare, economic growth, and the energy transition. We must work to find solutions that lead to Net Positive AI – where the benefits to our world outweigh any costs. The flagship Evanston project is one such solution and I look forward to lending a helping hand, working alongside Trenton, Trevor, and the entire Prometheus team to help bring this vision to life. I can't imagine a more exciting challenge." Factsheet: Prometheus Hyperscale's Flagship Project in Evanston, Wyoming Prometheus's site in Evanston, Wyoming , aims to redefine sustainable infrastructure in the data center industry, setting a new benchmark for operational excellence and environmental responsibility. Key aspects of the project include: Extensive Land and Power Capacity: The project encompasses a 12,000-acre ranch, including a dedicated 640-acre plot (about 1 square mile) for data center facilities. Prometheus has secured an initial 120 MW of grid power through Rocky Mountain Power, with plans for an additional 120 MW, ensuring robust power availability without curtailment risks. On-Site Renewable and Low-Carbon Power Generation: With an on-site generation goal of over 1 GW, which will make it one of the largest data centers in the world, Prometheus is incorporating a mix of wind, solar and gas power sources. Additionally, the company has a strategic partnership with Oklo focused on next-generation fission-based nuclear power, delivering reliable, sustainable baseload energy to the campus. High-Performance Fiber Connectivity: The Evanston site will connect directly to the Northern transcontinental fiber trunk, offering high-speed, low-latency connections between the East and West Coasts. With agreements for up to 400G of service and plans to scale up to 800G when commercially available, the project is poised to meet the rigorous connectivity needs of AI, cloud, and high-performance computing clients and to be one of the biggest data centers in the world. Cutting-Edge Liquid Cooling Technology: Prometheus's unique liquid cooling systems will be deployed to achieve unparalleled energy efficiency by capturing and reusing waste heat. This innovative solution is specifically engineered for high-performance computing environments and will play a critical role in reducing the carbon footprint of the facility. Strategic Location and Access to Skilled Labor: Located 80 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah , the Evanston site benefits from proximity to a large, skilled workforce, bolstered by a regional Journeyman Lineman program focused on data center operations. This strategic location supports the project's operational and expansion goals while reinforcing Prometheus's commitment to regional economic growth. For more information about Prometheus Hyperscale and its sustainability initiatives, please visit www.prometheushyperscale.com . About Prometheus Hyperscale Prometheus Hyperscale, founded by Trenton Thornock , is revolutionizing data center infrastructure by developing sustainable, energy-efficient hyperscale data centers. Leveraging unique, cutting-edge technology and working alongside strategic partners, Prometheus is building next-generation, liquid-cooled hyperscale data centers powered by cleaner energy. With a focus on innovation, scalability, and environmental stewardship, Prometheus Hyperscale is redefining the data center industry for a sustainable future.

When Mark Cuban is feeling spicy, he’ll always let you know. The billionaire businessman , basketball owner, and Shark Tank empresario lit up WIRED’s The Big Interview event on Tuesday, dropping hot takes about Elon Musk , the pharmaceutical industry, and why he thinks “couch fucking” and Gary Gensler’s crypto policy cost Kamala Harris the election. Chatting with WIRED senior writer Lauren Goode, Cuban touted the trajectory of Cost Plus Drugs, the pharmaceutical company he cofounded in 2022. By offering transparency on costs and pricing policies, Cuban says his company has been able to disrupt the drug industry, offering consumers drugs like Droxidopa for something like $20 per month versus the more than $3,000-a-month uninsured patients were being quoted. The Big Interview For the first time, WIRED’s iconic series came to life on stage with a series of unforgettable, in-depth live conversations. Check out more highlights here . “We’ve lowered the price of [one of our 2,500 medications] every single weekday for 18 months,” Cuban boasted, saying the company has also found great success in publishing its entire price list, something that’s always been incredibly hard to obtain from other drug providers for consumers and researchers alike. Now, Cuban says, studies have come out showing that if Medicare bought, for instance, nine specific drugs from Cost Plus Drugs instead of their other sources, the government would save billions of dollars, something that not only shows the bloat of the healthcare system but also the tangible effect that one well-funded company can have. It’s not that Cuban’s not making money on Cost Plus Drugs, either, because he is. He could be making more , he told Goode, but as he put it, “How much fucking money do I need? I’m not trying to land on Mars.” The crack, presumably directed at Elon Musk, was just one of several remarks Cuban made about the billionaire X owner. For one, he spoke about his own move from X to Bluesky in recent months, saying that he thinks it’s an overall “existential moment” for Musk’s platform. Because of Bluesky’s troll-blocking capabilities and what Cuban calls more engagement-friendly policies, he says he’s found it much easier to engage there, whether it’s Kamala Harris, cryptocurrency or the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, in which he owns a minority stake. “If you want to know what Elon thinks, Twitter’s amazing,” Cuban joked, but added that he thinks Bluesky is more of a true “social network” in comparison. Digging deeper into crypto, Cuban said that he thinks Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler’s villainization of the currency really hurt Harris’ chances during the US election. After polling the audience to see how many people owned crypto and sharing that he owns “a lot ” of bitcoin himself, Cuban said that because something like 40 percent of young men have owned or do own crypto, either because it’s the cool thing to do or because they don’t trust or understand the stock market or traditional banking system, “Gary Gensler telling you to ‘roll over and let me stick a bike handle up your ass’ ... did not make it good for people who own crypto and didn’t make it good for Kamala.” Cuban said he told both Harris and her team as much, ultimately asserting that with more young men coming out to the polls for the election than were previously expected, “I don’t think it’s a stretch to connect” the candidate’s loss to what he sees as her team’s antiquated crypto policy. He said he offered the Harris campaign thoughts on how to win over social media as well, though they didn’t take them. For anyone, candidate or not, to control the narrative on any given day, he said they need to “flood the zone,” putting memes, quips, and clickable videos out into the ether to be passed around online and covered in the news. (MAGA architect Steve Bannon has also used "flood the zone" to describe his strategies.) “It’s not like it was facts that made the difference in this election,” Cuban said, making a joke about Donald Trump’s assertion that Haitian immigrants are eating dogs in Ohio. The democrats, he said, “needed more couch-fucking stuff . Sixteen million couch-fucking extensions and everyone would have seen it. “ Weird . Brat . Fucking the couch. They started out flooding the zone,” Cuban said, “but then they dropped it and tried to use accuracy. Donald Trump floods the zone continuously [and that’s why he won.”

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's prime minister said Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad, but some state workers failed to return to their jobs, and a United Nations official said the country's public sector came "to a complete and abrupt halt." Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Assad's brutal rule. The rebel alliance now in control of much of the country is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and promises representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said Monday they would not tell women how to dress. "It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women's dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty," the command said on social media. Nearly two days after rebels entered the capital, some key government services shut down after state workers ignored calls to go back to their jobs, the U.N. official said, causing issues at airports and borders and slowing the flow of humanitarian aid. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met for the first time with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali, who stayed in Syria when Assad fled. Israel said it carried out airstrikes on suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets to keep them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel also seized a buffer zone inside Syria after Syrian troops withdrew. In northern Syria, Turkey said allied opposition forces seized the town of Manbij from Kurdish-led forces backed by the United States, a reminder that even after Assad's departure, the country remains split among armed groups that have fought in the past. The Kremlin said Russia granted political asylum to Assad, a decision made by President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Assad's specific whereabouts and said Putin did not plan to meet with him. Damascus was quiet Monday, with life slowly returning to normal, though most shops and public institutions were closed. In public squares, some people still celebrated. Civilian traffic resumed, but there was no public transport. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. There was little sign of any security presence, though in some areas small groups of armed men were stationed in the streets. Across swathes of Syria, families are now waiting outside prisons, security offices and courts, hoping for news of loved ones who were imprisoned or who disappeared. Just north of Damascus in the feared Saydnaya military prison, women detainees, some with their children, screamed as rebels broke locks off their cell doors. Amnesty International and other groups say dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, and they estimate that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016. "Don't be afraid," one rebel said as he ushered women from packed cells. "Bashar Assad has fallen!" In southern Turkey, Mustafa Sultan was among hundreds of Syrian refugees waiting at border crossings to head home. He was searching for his older brother, who was imprisoned under Assad. "I haven't seen him for 13 years," he said. "I am going to go see whether he's alive." Jalali, the prime minister, sought to project normalcy since Assad fled. "We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth," he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation already improved from the day before. At the court of Justice in Damascus, which was stormed by the rebels to free detainees, Judge Khitam Haddad, an aide to the justice minister in the outgoing government, said Sunday that judges were ready to resume work quickly. "We want to give everyone their rights," Haddad said outside the courthouse. "We want to build a new Syria and to keep the work, but with new methods." But a U.N. official said some government services were paralyzed as worried state employees stayed home. The public sector "has just come to a complete and abrupt halt," said U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula, noting, for example, that an aid flight carrying urgently needed medical supplies was put on hold after aviation employees abandoned their jobs. "This is a country that has had one government for 53 years and then suddenly all of those who have been demonized by the public media are now in charge in the nation's capital," Abdelmoula told The Associated Press. "I think it will take a couple of days and a lot of assurance on the part of the armed groups for these people to return to work again."As open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans continues through Jan. 15, you’re likely seeing fewer social media ads promising monthly cash cards worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars that you can use for groceries, medical bills, rent and other expenses. But don’t worry. You haven’t missed out on any windfalls. Clicking on one of those ads would not have provided you with a cash card — at least not worth hundreds or thousands. But you might have found yourself switched to a health insurance plan you did not authorize, unable to afford treatment for an unforeseen medical emergency, and owing thousands of dollars to the IRS, according to an ongoing lawsuit against companies and individuals who plaintiffs say masterminded the ads and alleged scams committed against millions of people who responded to them. The absence of those once-ubiquitous ads are likely a result of the federal government suspending access to the ACA marketplace for two companies that market health insurance out of South Florida offices, amid accusations they used “fraudulent” ads to lure customers and then switched their insurance plans and agents without their knowledge. In its suspension letter, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cited “credible allegations of misconduct” in the agency’s decision to suspend the abilities of two companies — TrueCoverage (doing business as Inshura) and BenefitAlign — to transact information with the marketplace. CMS licenses and monitors agencies that use their own websites and information technology platforms to enroll health insurance customers in ACA plans offered in the federal marketplace. The alleged scheme affected millions of consumers, according to a lawsuit winding its way through U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale that seeks class-action status. An amended version of the suit, filed in August, increased the number of defendants from six to 12: — TrueCoverage LLC, an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based health insurance agency with large offices in Miami, Miramar and Deerfield Beach. TrueCoverage is a sub-tenant of the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a building leased by the newspaper in Deerfield Beach. — Enhance Health LLC, a Sunrise-based health insurance agency that the lawsuit says was founded by Matthew Herman, also named as a defendant, with a $150 million investment from hedge fund Bain Capital’s insurance division. Bain Capital Insurance Fund LP is also a defendant. — Speridian Technologies LLC, accused in the lawsuit of establishing two direct enrollment platforms that provided TrueCoverage and other agencies access to the ACA marketplace. — Benefitalign LLC, identified in the suit as one of the direct enrollment platforms created by Speridian. Like Speridian and TrueCoverage, the company is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. — Number One Prospecting LLC, doing business as Minerva Marketing, based in Fort Lauderdale, and its founder, Brandon Bowsky, accused of developing the social media ads that drove customers — or “leads” — to the health insurance agencies. — Digital Media Solutions LLC, doing business as Protect Health, a Miami-based agency that the suit says bought Minerva’s “fraudulent” ads. In September, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in United States Bankruptcy Court in Texas, which automatically suspended claims filed against the company. — Net Health Affiliates Inc., an Aventura-based agency the lawsuit says was associated with Enhance Health and like it, bought leads from Minerva. — Garish Panicker, identified in the lawsuit as half-owner of Speridian Global Holdings and day-to-day controller of companies under its umbrella, including TrueCoverage, Benefitalign and Speridian Technologies. — Matthew Goldfuss, accused by the suit of overseeing and directing TrueCoverage’s ACA enrollment efforts. All of the defendants have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. The motions deny the allegations and argue that the plaintiffs failed to properly state their claims and lack the standing to file the complaints. The Sun Sentinel sent requests for comment and lists of questions about the cases to four separate law firms representing separate groups of defendants. Three of the law firms — one representing Brandon Bowsky and Number One Prospecting LLC d/b/a Minerva Marketing, and two others representing Net Health Affiliates Inc. and Bain Capital Insurance Fund — did not respond to the requests. A representative of Enhance Health LLC and Matthew Herman, Olga M. Vieira of the Miami-based firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, responded with a short message saying she was glad the newspaper knew a motion to dismiss the charges had been filed by the defendants. She also said that, “Enhance has denied all the allegations as reported previously in the media.” Catherine Riedel, a communications specialist representing TrueCoverage LLC, Benefitalign LLC, Speridian Technologies LLC, Girish Panicker and Matthew Goldfuss, issued the following statement: “TrueCoverage takes these allegations very seriously and is responding appropriately. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, we strongly believe that the allegations are baseless and without merit. “Compliance is our business. The TrueCoverage team records and reviews every call with a customer, including during Open Enrollment when roughly 500 agents handle nearly 30,000 calls a day. No customer is enrolled into any policy without a formal verbal consent given by the customer. If any customer calls in as a result of misleading content presented by third-party marketing vendors, agents are trained to correct such misinformation and action is taken against such third-party vendors.” Through Riedel, the defendants declined to answer follow-up questions, including whether the company remains in business, whether it continues to enroll Affordable Care Act clients, and whether it is still operating its New Mexico call center using another affiliated technology platform. The suspension notification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services letter cites several factors, including the histories of noncompliance and previous suspensions. The letter noted suspicion that TrueCoverage and Benefitalign were storing consumers’ personally identifiable information in databases located in India and possibly other overseas locations in violation of the centers’ rules. The letter also notes allegations against the companies in the pending lawsuit that “they engaged in a variety of illegal practices, including violations of the (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act), misuse of consumer (personal identifiable information) and insurance fraud.” The amended lawsuit filed in August names as plaintiffs five individuals who say their insurance plans were changed and two agencies who say they lost money when they were replaced as agents. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of 55 counts of wrongdoing, ranging from running ads offering thousands of dollars in cash that they knew would never be provided directly to consumers, switching millions of consumers into different insurance policies without their authorization, misstating their household incomes to make them eligible for $0 premium coverage, and “stealing” commissions by switching the agents listed in their accounts. TrueCoverage, Enhance Health, Protect Health, and some of their associates “engaged in hundreds of thousands of agent-of-record swaps to steal other agents’ commissions,” the suit states. “Using the Benefitalign and Inshura platforms, they created large spreadsheet lists of consumer names, dates of birth and zip codes.” They provided those spreadsheets to agents, it says, and instructed them to access platforms linked to the ACA marketplace and change the customers’ agents of record “without telling the client or providing informed consent.” “In doing so, they immediately captured the monthly commissions of agents ... who had originally worked with the consumers directly to sign them up,” the lawsuit asserts. TrueCoverage employees who complained about dealing with prospects who called looking for cash cards were routinely chided by supervisors who told them to be vague and keep making money, the suit says. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began contacting the company in January about customer complaints, the suit says TrueCoverage enrollment supervisor Matthew Goldfuss sent an email instructing agents “do not respond.” The lawsuit states the “scheme” was made possible in 2021 when Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in the wake of the COVID pandemic. The act made it possible for Americans with household incomes between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level to pay zero in premiums and it enabled those consumers to enroll in ACA plans all year round, instead of during the three-month open enrollment period from November to January. Experienced health insurance brokers recognized the opportunity presented by the changes, the lawsuit says. More than 40 million Americans live within 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level, while only 15 million had ACA insurance at the time. The defendants developed or benefited from online ads, the lawsuit says, which falsely promised “hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per month in cash benefits such as subsidy cards to pay for common expenses like rent, groceries, and gas.” Consumers who clicked on the ads were brought to a landing page that asked a few qualifying questions, and if their answers suggested that they might qualify for a low-cost or no-cost plan, they were provided a phone number to a health insurance agency. There was a major problem with the plan, according to the lawsuit. “Customers believe they are being routed to someone who will send them a free cash card, not enroll them in health insurance.” By law, the federal government sends subsidies for ACA plans to insurance companies, and not to individual consumers. Scripts were developed requiring agents not to mention a cash card, and if a customer mentions a cash card, “be vague” and tell the caller that only the insurance carrier can provide that information, the lawsuit alleges. In September, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claims. In addition to denying the charges, they argued that the class plaintiffs lacked the standing to make the accusations and failed to demonstrate that they suffered harm. The motion also argued that the lawsuit’s accusations failed to meet requirements necessary to claim civil violations of the RICO Act. Miami-based attorney Jason Kellogg, representing the plaintiffs, said he doesn’t expect a ruling on the motion to dismiss the case for several months. The complaint also lists nearly 50 companies, not named as defendants, that it says fed business to TrueCoverage and Enhance Health. Known in the industry as “downlines,” most operate in office parks throughout South Florida, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit quotes former TrueCoverage employees complaining about having to work with customers lured by false cash promises in the online ads. A former employee who worked in the company’s Deerfield Beach office was quoted in the lawsuit as saying that senior TrueCoverage and Speridian executives “knew that consumers were calling in response to the false advertisements promising cash cards and they pressured agents to use them to enroll consumers into ACA plans.” A former human resources manager for TrueCoverage said sales agents frequently complained “that they did not feel comfortable having to mislead consumers,” the lawsuit said. Over two dozen agents “came to me with these complaints and showed me the false advertisements that consumers who called in were showing them,” the lawsuit quoted the former manager as saying. For much of the time the companies operated, the ACA marketplace enabled agents to easily access customer accounts using their names and Social Security numbers, change their insurance plans and switch their agents of record without their knowledge or authorization, the lawsuit says. This resulted in customers’ original agents losing their commissions and many of the policyholders finding out they suddenly owed far more for health care services than their original plans had required, the suit states. It says that one of the co-plaintiffs’ health plans was changed at least 22 times without her consent. She first discovered that she had lost her original plan when she sought to renew a prescription for her heart condition and her doctor told her she did not have health insurance, the suit states. Another co-plaintiff’s policy was switched after her husband responded to one of the cash card advertisements, the lawsuit says. That couple’s insurance plan was switched multiple times after a TrueCoverage agent excluded the wife’s income from an application so the couple would qualify. Later, they received bills from the IRS for $4,300 to cover tax credits issued to pay for the plans. CMS barred TrueCoverage and BenefitAlign from accessing the ACA marketplace. It said it received more than 90,000 complaints about unauthorized plan switches and more than 183,500 complaints about unauthorized enrollments, but the agency did not attribute all of the complaints to activities by the two companies. In addition, CMS restricted all agents’ abilities to alter policyholders’ enrollment information, the lawsuit says. Now access is allowed only for agents that already represent policyholders or if the policyholder participates in a three-way call with an agent and a marketplace employee. Between June and October, the agency barred 850 agents and brokers from accessing the marketplace “for reasonable suspicion of fraudulent or abusive conduct related to unauthorized enrollments or unauthorized plan switches,” according to an . The changes resulted in a “dramatic and sustained drop” in unauthorized activity, including a nearly 70% decrease in plan changes associated with an agent or broker and a nearly 90% decrease in changes to agent or broker commission information, the release said. It added that while consumers were often unaware of such changes, the opportunity to make them provided “significant financial incentive for non-compliant agents and brokers.” But CMS’ restrictions might be having unintended consequences for law-abiding agents and brokers. A story on Nov. 11 quoted the president of the Health Agents for America (HAFA) trade group as saying agents are being suspended by CMS after being flagged by a mysterious algorithm that no one can figure out. The story quotes HAFA president Ronnell Nolan as surmising, “maybe they wrote too many policies on the same day for people who have the same income or they’re writing too many policies on people of a certain occupation.” Nolan continued, “We have members who have thousands of ACA clients. They can’t update or renew their clients. So those consumers have lost access to their professional agent, which is simply unfair.”None

IPL 2025 Mega Auction The TOI Entertainment Desk is a dynamic and dedicated team of journalists, working tirelessly to bring the pulse of the entertainment world straight to the readers of The Times of India. No red carpet goes unrolled, no stage goes dark - our team spans the globe, bringing you the latest scoops and insider insights from Bollywood to Hollywood, and every entertainment hotspot in between. We don't just report; we tell tales of stardom and stories untold. Whether it's the rise of a new sensation or the seasoned journey of an industry veteran, the TOI Entertainment Desk is your front-row seat to the fascinating narratives that shape the entertainment landscape. Beyond the breaking news, we present a celebration of culture. We explore the intersections of entertainment with society, politics, and everyday life. Read More Ethnic Statement Styles Inspired by Keerthy Suresh Stunning pictures of Nazriya Nazim Famous tea-tourism destinations in India 8 simple techniques to sharpen your eyesight Hansika Motwani's Indo-Western look sets the perfect bridesmaid style goals 8 South Indian delicacies that make for a light meal Sanya Malhotra radiates ethnic elegance in golden splendor Best boss Lady looks of Nita Ambani for your next boardroom meeting Radiant snaps of Helly Shah

TORONTO — President-elect Donald Trump was joking when he suggested Canada become the 51st U.S. state during a dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Canadian minister who attended their recent dinner said Tuesday. Fox News reported that Trump made the comment in response to Trudeau raising concerns that Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canada would damage Canada’s economy. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the Friday dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, said Trump’s comments were in jest. “The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue, in no way a serious comment,” LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa. LeBlanc described it as a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend of American Thanksgiving. “The conversation was going to be light-hearted,” he said. He called the relations warm and cordial and said the fact that “the president is able to joke like that for us” indicates good relations. On Tuesday, Trump appeared to continue with the joke, posting on his Truth Social platform an AI-generated image of himself standing on mountain with a Canadian flag next to him with the caption “Oh Canada!” Earlier last week, the Republican president-elect threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs. Trudeau requested the meeting in a bid to avoid the tariffs by convincing Trump that the northern border is nothing like the U.S. southern border with Mexico . Trudeau held a rare meeting with opposition leaders on Tuesday about U.S-Canada relations and later said that opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre shouldn’t amplify the erroneous narratives that Americans are saying about the border. “Less than one percent of migrants coming into the United States irregularly come from Canada and 0.2 percent of the fentanyl coming into the United States comes from Canada,” Trudeau said in Parliament. Canadian officials have said there are plans to put more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers at the border. At the dinner, Kristen Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to Washington, said America’s trade deficit with Canada was also raised. Hillman said the U.S. had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year but noted a third of what Canada sells into the U.S. is energy exports and prices have been high. “Trade balances are something that he focuses on so it’s important to engage in that conversation but to put it into context,” Hillman told the AP. “We are one-tenth the size of the United States so a balanced trade deal would mean per capita we are buying 10 times more from the U.S. than they are buying from us. If that’s his metric we will certainly engage on that.” Hillman said Canada sold $170 billion worth of energy products last year to the U.S. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security. About 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. Trudeau’s government successfully employed a “Team Canada” approach during Trump’s first term in office when the free trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico was renegotiated. But Trudeau’s minority government is in a much weaker position politically now and faces an election within a year. Poilievre, Canada’s opposition leader, said the tariffs would harm Americans. “The president-elect was elected on a promise to make America richer. These tariffs would make America poorer,” Poilievre said after meeting with Trudeau. Poilievre said the U.S. would be wise to do more free trade with its best friend and closest ally. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly 3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Trudeau returned home after the dinner at Mar-a-Lago club in Florida without assurances Trump would back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Trump called the talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. The flows of migrants and seizures of drugs are vastly different. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Most of the fentanyl reaching the U.S. — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with irregular migrants at the southwest border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. That compares to 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that time.Baker Mayfield mocks Tommy DeVito's celebration as the Bucs embarrass the Giants 30-7

For “Hysteria!” actresses Anna Camp and Julie Bowen, horror is harder than comedy. “Horror is really hard actually because there is a fine line you have to walk; you have to make it feel grounded and you’re put in these extreme circumstances: You’re being possessed or pulled through the air, there’s nothing you can do to relate to that,” explained Camp of “Pitch Perfect” fame. “With comedy, you can have a relatable situation and go, ‘I’ve been in situations like that.’ There’s nothing you can compare (horror) to, so you have to use your imagination. I find it harder. Your imagination goes home with you at the end of the day. You’re still thinking crazy thoughts.” Bowen, best known for playing Claire Dunphy on “Modern Family,” agreed. “Comedy’s pretty binary because it’s like either you can make people laugh or you don’t. I can’t watch horror. I’m terrified, terrified! I am the easiest scare in the world, so as far as doing (horror), I want to make it as real as possible. It was hard because I had to be really, really crazy. There were times when I’d get back to my hotel room at 3 a.m., I didn’t want to be alone in my head,” said Bowen, laughing. Camp, Bowen, Royal Oak native Bruce Campbell (“Evil Dead”), showrunner David A. Goodman (“Futurama”), and Ypsilanti native/creator Matthew Scott Kane (“American Horror Story”) were promoting “Hysteria!” at the New York Comic Con in October. The horror series is streaming on Peacock. Set in the fictional Michigan town of Happy Hollow, the first episode of “Hysteria” begins with a popular quarterback’s disappearance and a pentagram is discovered on a garage door. As a result, rumors of the occult and satanic influence run rampant through the town. A trio of outcasts in a heavy metal band called Dethkrunch exploit this by rebranding themselves as a satanic metal band, which leads to them becoming the targets of the town’s witch hunt. “Something on my mind a lot in 2019 was we’re living in this post-factual age with social media. It seemed like decades and decades ago, you could trust the news. Now everything is in question. When lies end up getting disseminated as truth, that starts to warp people’s version of reality. Suddenly, they’re living in a world other people are not. That was going on in the world I was living in and I very quickly connected it to the 1980s satanic panic. It’s not really that different because people were saying Ozzy Osbourne, Jason Voorhees (of ‘Friday the 13th’), and the Smurfs were going to turn your kids into satanists and kill you in your sleep. That didn’t happen. It wasn’t true, but so many people got worked up into such a fervor over it, bad things happened. ... It was smoke without fire,” Kane said. “Disinformation is not new,” Campbell said. “Disinformation will tear a town apart.” Campbell portrays Happy Hollow Police Chief Ben Dandridge. “This guy’s a reasonable cop; he’s a rational person who doesn’t treat the teenagers like they’re idiots. It’s all very refreshing,” he said. “I want to play that guy again. I want cops to be that guy. I’m playing the cop (that) cops need to be. That’s my whole motivation for playing this guy: How would you like cops to be, especially the guy in charge, the chief of police? They’re lucky to have Chief Dandridge.” “It was truly an exciting moment when Bruce signed on,” Goodman said. By the end of the first episode, a supernatural phenomenon happens to Linda Campbell, played by Bowen. “Linda seems like one thing, then you realize she’s bananas. She’s either bananas or she’s possessed. Either way, it’s a complicated thing to play,” Bowen said. “With Julie, you can have your cake and eat it too,” Kane said. “She’s this fun, quirky mom. ... As the episode goes on, she’s pulled deeper into this thing and crazy stuff starts happening. That final act of the first episode was my favorite moment with her because this announced that this is not Claire Dunphy. We’re not doing that again; we’re pushing her as a performer. “Julie was so excited about doing stunts. She told us on many occasions she’s very sturdy and can take it. The same goes for Bruce and for Anna. We didn’t ask anyone to give us a flavor of the thing they did before. We cast people we loved so much (in their famous projects) that we wanted to give them the opportunity to do the exact opposite.” Added Bowen: “I got this script and was like, ‘Oh great. She’s a mom. How fun.’ I love moms. I’m a mom, but I felt this was not worth flying out of town to Georgia and being away from my kids. Then I got to the end of the pilot and was like, ‘She’s crazy!’ Is she possessed? There’s a lot more questions. It’s fun to just stretch again and do things I haven’t done in a while, which I found really exciting.” Kane said he felt lucky Bowen signed on at the beginning. “She was the first adult actor to sign on. That gave us such credibility to have a two-time Emmy-winning actor leading this show. Suddenly, it goes from this script from a relatively unknown writer into the new Julie Bowen show,” he said. It was the quality of the writing that attracted Camp, Bowen and Campbell to “Hysteria!” “I loved the script; it was incredibly well-written. It was immersed in the time period. It was such a good coming-of-age story, too — the feeling of being in high school again, being in the 1980s,” Camp said. “I talked to Matt who said my character (Tracy) was incredibly pivotal to the series and we’ll learn about why she is the way she is. So I was like, ‘I’d love to do this!’” For Campbell, the writing is everything. “A lot of times, I’ll get a script that could make the words interchangeable with every other character because the writing is very bland and just doesn’t have the detail you need. This was different. Every character was pretty distinct and pretty well-drawn,” he said. “It’s quality. It’s not a (expletive) show. It’s a real show that’s playing around with interesting themes. A lot of it is still relevant to this day.” “Hysteria!” has other Michigan connections, including University of Michigan alumnus Jonathan Goldstein (“Spider-Man: Homecoming”) and Dondero High School alumnus Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“Kong: Skull Island”), who both serve as executive producers. Kane explained why he set “Hysteria!” in Michigan. “You write what you know. I grew up in Ypsilanti, so that had a lot to do with it. More importantly, when you’re in a small town in the Midwest — somewhere like Michigan — these things don’t ever happen and word spreads fast and paranoia spreads quickly and (everything’s) blown out of proportion and takes up a lot of people’s minds,” he said. “Whether or not something is real doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if there are people willing to believe it does and willing it into the world. What does it matter if it’s objectively real or living rent-free in someone’s head?”As Bitcoin hovers around $100,000, the entire crypto market is rejoicing with greens, which has sent the total crypto market cap past $3.5 trillion. While BTC, much like always, continues to lead bull cycles, memecoins have emerged as the leading narrative, surpassing utility coins. This time, there are no whitepapers or litepapers to take a deep dive into the project's value and understand the fundamentals. Crypto's run-up these past two years has been dominated by memecoin. A primary reason for this traction has been regular crypto users being fed up with backroom dealings where projects raise money from venture capitalists (VCs) by selling their coins at a really low price. These VCs then dump their coins on the retail after the project goes live, and the token gets an exchange listing. But with memecoins, there's no such shenanigans involved. With platforms like Pump.fun making it extremely easy for anyone to launch memecoins, everyone has to buy tokens in the open market and race to dump on each other. There are no rules either; memecoins are simply an attempt to be lighthearted and attract a user base by promising a fun community while offering a really low entry point. They have no utility beyond this and tend to be highly volatile, even more so than the typical crypto. Memecoins are simply cryptocurrencies representing animals, artwork, characters, or individuals. As a matter of fact, absolutely anything can be used for a memecoin. Actually, the coins that have been utility coins throughout your crypto journey have been switching into memecoins, too. This is exactly what digital silver and Bitcoin's digital gold, Litecoin (LTC), have done. On Nov. 14, this over-a-decade-old coin got renewed interest when the person behind Litecoin's X (previously Twitter) account put this on social media: The post came amidst the memecoin market cap reaching a new high, signaling a slow return of retail interest into the market. This was on the back of the listings of two popular memecoins, Pepe and Dogwifhat (WIF), and on major U.S. exchange Coinbase. Pepe, the frog coin that started the memecoin mania last year, was also listed on Robinhood, a leading brokerage platform popular among retail in the US. So, with its humorous attempt to get the same attention that memecoins have been getting, Litecoin also jumped in on the trend. As can be seen from the response the post generated, Litecoin suddenly got a lot of attention, which helped its price gain traction. The price of LTC surged more than 42% since that post as it moved past $106, a level last seen in early April this year. Crypto exchange Gate.io even listed it under the memecoin section. At the time of writing, the 26th largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $7.34 billion, has been trading at $97.57 while managing $1.174 billion in 24-hour volume. Still, LTC price is only up a mere 35.21% this year compared to other older coins like Bitcoin, which is up 133.35%, XRP's 144.5% gains, ADA's 79%, Tron's 96.69%, and XLM's 317% upside during the same period. But then, there's Ethereum, whose 52.66% year-to-date (YTD) performance has also been a disappointing one despite the second-largest cryptocurrency getting a Spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved. While ETH is only 29% off of its peak, LTC is a whopping 76.3% away from its all-time high (ATH) of $410.26 hit in May 2021. The same trend can be seen in Litecoin's open interest (OI), which surged to $472 million on Nov. 24, though nowhere near its last bull cycle peak of a billion dollars, as per Coinglass . A Memecoin or a Utility Coin: Understanding Litecoin Litecoin (LTC) was launched in 2011, only a few years after Bitcoin, by Charlie Lee, an MIT graduate and former Google engineer. It utilized Bitcoin's source code but made changes to make it faster and cheaper. Referred to as “the silver to Bitcoin's gold,” the idea with Litecoin wasn't to create a replacement for Bitcoin but to provide yet another blockchain to the developing crypto ecosystem, which is decentralized but has faster block generation. So, as a digital gold, Bitcoin acts as a store of value, while Litecoin, as a digital silver, is to be used to facilitate transactions. Much like Bitcoin, Litecoin also experiences halving every four years. So far, it has had three, with the last one occurring in August 2023, which reduced the block reward from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 BTC. The next halving is expected to occur in mid-2027, which will bring its rewards further down to 3.125 LTC, which is Bitcoins' current block reward following its most recent halving in April of this year. But while Litecoin also has a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain , it uses the Scrypt algorithm to Bitcoin's SHA-256, making it less energy-intensive than the world's largest cryptocurrency. Despite having many benefits compared to Bitcoin, which has been garnering the attention from institutions and even nations as it gears up to be a reserve asset, Litecoin has been pretty much lost to irrelevance as the crypto sector continues to grow with more innovative projects and new narratives. This was until Litecoin changed its tactics and jumped on the new trend. As the project stated in an X post , it was a lighthearted jab at the market's state and a self-deprecating acknowledgment that despite being the “oldest and most reliable cryptocurrencies in the world,” their accomplishments have been largely unnoticed all these years. So, while the LTC price has been rather limited, the Litecoin blockchain has been working just fine. In fact, the Litecoin network has achieved the milestone of processing 84 million transactions so far this year. “$LTC is more active than ever!” – posted Litecoin Foundation on X while sharing this achievement Yet another development has been its hashrate, which has been experiencing a constant increase throughout this year. Currently, sitting around 1.4112 PH/s, the hash rate is near its ATH of 1.49 PH/s hit on Nov. 18, as per Bitinfocharts . The growing hashrate shows that more and more computational power is being contributed to the network in order to get a chance to successfully mine a block and earn rewards . Then there are the short-term LTC holders, which are on the increase too. The number of such holders spiked over 30% in the past month as the token gained market attention, and traders and investors jumped to take advantage of the opportunity. In an interview with CCN, David Schwartz, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Litecoin Foundation, talked about Litecoin's speed, affordability, and utility as its unique selling point that makes it a practical tool for everyday transactions. Developers have also been working on offering Litecoin users optional privacy through MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB). This privacy feature enables confidential transactions without compromising the blockchain's integrity, which, according to Schwartz, makes it appealing to those individuals and businesses that value financial privacy. The average daily transaction activity for MWEB has tripled since July. But if this feature is incorporated by larger wallets, Schwartz sees it making “a significant difference in adoption. “ Besides adopting the memecoin trend, Litecoin has been keeping up with the market by integrating with DeFi. For this, the project introduced Wrapped Litecoin (wLTC), which enables the usage of LTC in the booming DeFi ecosystem. And now, Litecoin is seeing the potential to get its very own ETF, much like Bitcoin and Ether, which can supercharge its network metrics and market demand. The Most Bullish Upcoming Event: Will it Materialize? Spot ETFs have been the primary driver of Bitcoin's run-up this cycle. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) giving Bitcoin Spot ETFs a green light sent BTC's price up by 525% since Nov. 2021 low under $16K. Since getting the approval, all the Bitcoin ETFs have recorded a total of $30.84 billion in inflows, achieving $107.5 billion in net assets, according to SoSo Value . BlackRock's IBIT leads this Bitcoin ETF race with $31.33 bln in net inflows, followed by Fidelity's FBTC, which captured $11.54 bln. Then, in late July, Ethereum ETF got approved, which has so far only managed to gain $106.80 million in cumulative inflows. This is because Grayscale's ETHE still leads in net assets at $4.95 bln. With these approvals, the market is now trying to have institutions gain exposure to other crypto assets. In October, Canary Capital Group filed for a Litecoin ETF in addition to submitting documents for an XRP fund. However, the firm has yet to disclose the ticker or management fee for the funds. The filing was just an S-1 document, which is the first step to getting a new security issued and listed on a public stock exchange. It needs to be followed by the 19b-4 filing for the S-1 filing to have any meaning. And once that happens, the SEC has to make a decision, under a strict timeline, to approve or deny the application. Despite the move being primarily, LTC price spiked 5% on the news of the filing. Given that Litecoin had no token sale or pre-mining, its fair launch makes it a viable candidate for an ETF. The Spot Litecoin ETF, according to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, “should theoretically have the same pathway” as Bitcoin ETF. Already, there are several investment vehicles that give institutions a way to buy LTC. This includes CoinShares' LITE and ETC Group's ELTC, but both are in Europe. In the US, Grayscale remains the dominant force, which has several closed-end funds offering investment in various crypto assets such as Aave, Avalanche, Bitcoin Cash, Bittensor, Ethereum Classic, Filecoin, Horizon, Near, Solana, Stellar, XRP, Zcash, Stacks, and more. Grayscale Litecoin Trust ( LTCN ) meanwhile has $180.74 in assets under management (AUM). The asset manager charges a hefty management fee of 2.50% on this fund, but it still accounts for the majority of the funds invested in Litecoin-related ETPs globally. LTCN was launched in 2018 and began trading on the OTC market over two years later. While Grayscale has converted its both Bitcoin (GBTC) and Ethereum (ETHE) funds into an ETF, it hasn't filed for an ETF for LTCN. However, last month, Grayscale filed to have its multi-token fund converted into an ETF. The Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC:OTCQX) covers BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and AVAX. Despite all this, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee believes that Spot Litecoin ETF will get a green light from the regulator. “I'm excited to see the Litecoin ETF filing by Canary Capital. We are definitely seeing a lot of institutional demand for Litecoin. This is clear from the daily growth of the Grayscale Litecoin Trust, which has a price that is over twice the NAV. Given that Litecoin is a commodity that is very similar to Bitcoin, I hope to see the Litecoin ETF approved very soon.” – The Litecoin founder told Fox Business A Litecoin ETF is expected to see LTC as a seriously investable option for traditional market players, who can use LTC as a way to diversify their crypto portfolio without needing to buy the asset itself. The digital assets-linked ETF applications, as per Lee, can help more people adopt crypto. Much like Lee, Litecoin Foundation's Schwartz also believes it to be a matter of when and not if Litecoin will get an ETF due to LTC's value as a transactional currency. The approval, according to him, “could catalyze a broader recognition of Litecoin's utility.” Click here to learn if Litecoin can stand alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Here's How to Buy Litecoin (LTC) in Four Easy Steps Now, if all these factors that paint a bullish picture for Litecoin make you want to have an LTC bag, then here's how you can get that. The entire process of buying LTC is a simple one that'll take as little as ten minutes. To get started, first get your phone or computer. It's up to you which device you are most comfortable with. Next, choose a cryptocurrency exchange. There are a lot of options out there, each offering a different feature and tool. While you'll find that a vast majority of exchanges have listed LTC, we'd recommend using Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, KuCoin, Uphold, or Gate.io. Once you have chosen the trading platform that you want to use, create an account by verifying your email address. You'll also be required to verify your identity (KYC) by providing documents to prove your identity, address, and other details. In the next step, make a deposit. To fund your account with fiat currency, you can make use of a debit card, credit card, and bank transfer. You can also deposit BTC and USDT, which are popularly available as trading pairs against LTC. Then, simply use your funds to buy BTC by finding the coin on the platform, choosing your investment size based on how much you want to buy, and then clicking ‘buy. ‘ You'll find the purchased LTC in your exchange wallet. Once you are ready to sell, depending on your financial goal, you can sell your LTC on the same platform using the ‘sell ‘ button. Click here to learn all about buying Litecoin (LTC). The Road Ahead for Litecoin As we saw, Litecoin has a lot of things working out for it. For starters, Litecoin has been in the market for over thirteen years now, which makes it one of the oldest coins. This longevity factor is further supported by the growing miner activity, transaction volume, and user addresses. Built to be complementary to Bitcoin, Litecoin's accessibility and reliability can help it get the market's attention and gain adoption. So, as BTC hits six figures and retail feels priced out, they may even turn to LTC as a cheaper option. Notably, Litecoin has a fixed supply of 84 million. So, a continued increase in its demand can help its prices elevate substantially. The potential of an ETF presents yet another big tailwind for Litecoin. Depending on the institutional interest and capital flow it sees, LTC price can see an upside. Then there's the mainstream attention that old coins like XRP, ADA, and XLM are getting, which forecasts good things for Litecoin, too. Add the memecoin trend LTC has onboarded and the mind share it has been getting, thanks to the voice behind its X account, and LTC can enjoy good momentum. Retail interest in meme coins also has a long way to go. “A strong indicator of retail interest, “ memecoin activity is still low compared to that seen during the previous peaks of most memecoins, noted IntoTheBlock, adding that this divergence from the total memecoin market cap hitting new highs “suggests retail enthusiasm hasn't fully re-entered the crypto space yet.” The broad crypto market has certainly started the party, though, with BTC ready to blast through $100K, driven by both strong spot demand and institutional inflows. With President-elect Donald Trump's win, the most crypto-friendly administration ever, prices are expected to climb much higher. So, against this backdrop, Litecoin can potentially rise to new heights, which, unlike the last cycle , can actually be much higher than the 2017 peak if the coin is able to capture the memecoin and ETF trend well in this bull market! Click here to learn all about investing in Litecoin.

NoneIntuit's EVP Laura Fennell sells $5.06 million in stock

FBI director Christopher Wray has said he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January, an announcement that came a week and a half after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate loyalist Kash Patel for the job. At a town hall meeting with the bureau workforce, Mr Wray said he would be stepping down “after weeks of careful thought”. Mr Wray’s intended resignation is not unexpected considering that Mr Trump had picked Mr Patel for the role in his new administration. Mr Wray had previously been named by Mr Trump and began the 10-year term — a length meant to insulate the agency from the political influence of changing administrations — in 2017, after Mr Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey. Mr Trump had demonstrated his anger with Mr Wray on multiple occasions, including after Mr Wray’s congressional testimony in September. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day,” Mr Wray told agency employees. “In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.” Mr Wray continued: “It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people — but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI.” Mr Wray received a standing ovation following his remarks before a standing-room-only crowd at FBI headquarters and some in the audience cried, according to an FBI official who was not authorised to discuss the private gathering and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. Mr Trump applauded the news on social media, calling it “a great day for America as it will end the weaponisation of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice” and saying that Mr Patel’s confirmation will begin “the process of Making the FBI Great Again”. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Patel would herald a radical leadership transformation at the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. He has advocated shutting down the FBI’s Washington headquarters and called for ridding the federal government of “conspirators”, raising alarm that he might seek to wield the FBI’s significant investigative powers as an instrument of retribution against Mr Trump’s perceived enemies. Mr Patel said in a statement Wednesday that he was looking forward to “a smooth transition. I will be ready to serve the American people on day one”.Intuit's EVP Laura Fennell sells $5.06 million in stock

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Ruesha Littlejohn conceded that the Republic of Ireland players were “devastated” after their Euro 2025 dream ended in defeat to Wales. The Girls in Green went down 3-2 on aggregate in their play-off at the Aviva Stadium in front of 25,832 spectators on Tuesday evening. “We’re devastated. The team is devastated. We’re shellshocked tonight,” said the London City Lionesses player. “Credit to Wales. They took their chances. I thought we played well in the half. “We had a few good moments. But you need to score in the big games, or you get punished. We got punished.” The 34-year-old played down the VAR decision which saw the visitors awarded a penalty early in the second half to make it 1-0 on the night. “Honestly, it’s not coming into your head. You’re not thinking about those moments. But when you see it back. Honestly, it’s dreadful. “Patsy [Anna Patten] goes to head the ball. It came down and hit her arm. I don’t know how they judge these things, when you jump. I don’t know if there needs to be a new rule, that you can’t jump with your arms by your side. It’s so hard to do when you are in the moment in the game. “That’s a tough one for us to take. They’ve just built on it. We still had chances. But we just didn’t do enough.” Littlejohn went on to remark: “We gave it our all to get another one back after making it 2-1 [on the night]. If I’m being honest, their first goal rattled us a bit. None of us saw [the penalty] coming. “It took us a wee time to get back to the game plan.” With Megan Connolly lofting long throws into the box to try to find the vital equaliser, the Glasgow-born midfielder admitted: “If I’m being honest, in Irish football, we really need to go to grassroots here. We need to change our game, change our style, to compete with the best teams. “They’re all so comfortable on the football. They want the football; they want to play — everyone in the team. “That’s the journey we’re on now. It’s got to start with the young ones coming through. Get them on the football. Get to know it.” “Yes, we know we have heart, we can be resilient. We put our bodies on the line. “We’ve got Megan’s throw, we’ve got big girls that can win headers. We need to do more if we are to consistently go to these tournaments.” With no trip to Switzerland to look forward to next summer, Littlejohn stated: “Honestly, we all thought that we were going there. We gave it our all. It wasn’t good enough. We’re only going to watch it now.” With 76 caps under her belt, the midfielder conceded she may consider her own international future. “I’ll have to go away and think about it. It’s not something not to rush into yet. “I’d love to still play for Ireland. I’ll take a while and see what the future looks like.”China investors digest another letdown from big tech earnings