2024 was a period of time marked by instability in some locations around the world.

Haiti gangs fire on journalists covering a planned hospital reopening, leaving casualtiesExclusive: Former professional poker champion spearheads consortium ready to take a punt on Pars By STEPHEN MCGOWAN Published: 22:10 GMT, 9 December 2024 | Updated: 22:10 GMT, 9 December 2024 e-mail View comments A former professional poker player is in advanced talks over purchasing a stake in SPFL Championship club Dunfermline. Entrepreneur James Bord is the founder of San Francisco-based Short Circuit Science, a company which specialises in sports data analytics, medical prescription technology and climate adoption analysis. Originally from Stanmore, just outside of London, 43-year-old Bord quit banking in his mid-twenties to forge a career playing poker, gaining international attention when he won the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Dividing his time between London and the United States, Bord is spearheading a consortium in advanced discussions with German football investment group Fussball GmbH after they placed Dunfermline up for sale in August, citing supporter negativity following a poor start to the season. The Hamburg-based owners purchased a 30-per-cent stake in the Pars in 2020 before agreeing to increase that to 75 per cent the following year. Bord would be subject to SFA scrutiny under dual interest rules after Short Circuit Science became minority investors in Spanish second-tier strugglers Cordoba CF in September. James Bord quit banking to play poker and is now keen to purchase a stake in Dunfermline German football investment group Fussball GmbH put Dunfermline up for sale in August Tony Bloom, of Jamestown Analytics, is in the process of tying up a minority stake in Hearts While the rules on dual ownership were relaxed in 2023, anyone who owns or has an interest in any club in the world is restricted to a capped shareholding subject to the permission of the SFA board. Bournemouth owner Bill Foley was restricted to a maximum stake of 29.9 per cent in Hibernian. And Brighton owner Tony Bloom is in the process of tying up a minority stake in Hearts after the Tynecastle club agreed a data tie-up with his company Jamestown Analytics. The governing body’s Professional Game Board would also need to be satisfied over the fit and proper person status of any directors named on the club’s annual return. On their website, Short Circuit Science claim to be ‘at the forefront of sports analytics... through cutting edge algorithms, we uncover intricate details about players and teams offering invaluable insights for performance and strategic decision making’. Dunfermline currently sit sixth in the Championship on 15 points from 16 games. Mail Sport has approached Short Circuit Science for comment. London Share or comment on this article: Exclusive: Former professional poker champion spearheads consortium ready to take a punt on Pars e-mail Add comment

BATON ROUGE — Republican Gov. Jeff Landry got the Louisiana Legislature to back his bet of lowering individual and corporate income taxes to stimulate growth in the state. The Legislature adopted a 3 percent flat tax for individuals, trimmed corporate taxes and will make up some of the lost revenue by temporarily extending and increasing to 5 percent the state sales tax. Louisiana will now have the highest combined local and state sales tax in the nation at 10.6 percent. The tax package, passed Friday with the required two-thirds votes in both chambers, received bipartisan support by aligning Louisiana’s taxes with successful neighboring states. The bills now go to the governor for his signature. The action Friday closed a special session of the Legislature that opened on Nov. 6. “When we came to Baton Rouge, our goal was to have a long overdue conversation on our tax package,” said Sen. William Wheat, R-Ponchatoula. “This will put Louisiana in a better competitive space to compete with our surrounding states,” he said. In a closed-door session, Senate lawmakers merged the politically-palatable income tax cut with the steep sales tax increase to win support for the package as a whole. The idea was to flatten the personal income tax from a tiered-rate system with a top rate of 4.25 percent, which would have created over a billion dollars in deficits, prompting lawmakers to raise the sales tax and find other sources of revenue to offset the cuts. The bill passed the Senate 38-1 vote, with Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, casting the sole dissenting vote. House approval was 80-18, with Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Gray, as the only dissenting Republican. Still, it was not clear that all the revenue lost by cutting taxes would be made up. “You’re creating a budget shortfall to provide a tax break for people who don’t need it, and creating another fiscal cliff,” said Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan group in Baton Rouge that represents lower-income citizens. This proposed sales tax increase mirrors one pushed by former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2016, when Louisiana faced a significant deficit. However, Landry’s sales tax hike is intended to offset his plan to flatten income taxes, a step toward his long-term goal of eliminating income taxes entirely. To gain support, the income and sales tax measures were combined, enabling Republican legislators to stomach raising the sales tax to the highest rate in the nation. “We are not expanding sales tax into any new services,” Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, said. However, the package will for the first time tax digital services such as streaming services and games. The Senate approved a significant reduction in the corporate income tax and the complete elimination of the corporate franchise tax. The corporate income tax rate was lowered from 7.5 percent, one of the highest in the nation, to a flat 5.5 percent, a move legislators believe will make Louisiana more attractive to business. The bill was passed with a 38-1 vote in the Senate and a 90-9 vote in the House. The corporate franchise tax, a levy on owning property or conducting business in the state, will be fully eliminated starting Jan. 1, 2026. As part of this change, certain business tax credits will expire on June 30, 2025. Louisiana was previously one of only 17 states with a corporate franchise tax. The bill was passed unanimously in the Senate and by an 84-16 vote in the House. “Most states around us have eliminated the franchise tax,” said Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles, former marketing director for his family business, Stine Home and Yard. ”As a business owner this tax is a punishing tax.” The Senate also approved a bill to make permanent the $2,000 annual stipend teachers have received over the past two years. With Louisiana facing a shortage of some 2,500 teachers, this measure aims to retain current educators and attract new talent. The raise will be partially funded by reallocating $2 billion from the state’s Millennium Trust Fund, managed by the Louisiana Education Department, to reduce debt in the teachers’ retirement system. However, teachers at charter schools and other institutions that have not contributed to the retirement system will not qualify for the raise. Additionally, some school districts may have leftover funds after receiving this state funding. Any surplus must be directed toward other school employees rather than expenses like textbooks. The bill was unanimously passed in both houses. Two subsidies Landry wanted to eliminate were partially preserved after protests at the Capitol – tax credits for movie-making and historic preservation of buildings. “They can fill a room or two or three,” said Sen. Cameron Henry, R- Metairie, the president of the Senate.

Dec 10 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. The Reserve Bank of Australia 's interest rate decision takes center stage on Tuesday, while debate intensifies over the likely success - or otherwise - of China's surprise announcement that it plans to implement looser monetary and fiscal policy. The RBA is widely expected to keep its cash rate unchanged at 4.35%, so the focus will be on when Governor Michele Bullock signals the easing cycle might start. Economists polled by Reuters reckon it will be some time in the second quarter, and Aussie money markets are pointing to a quarter point cut on April 1. Sentiment across Asia may be dented by Wall Street's slide on Monday, but investors continue to digest the first shift in China's broad policy stance since 2010. The Politburo's recommendation that a "more proactive" fiscal policy and "moderately loose" monetary policy be followed may not be on the same scale as Mario Draghi's famous "whatever it takes" pledge to save the euro in 2012. But it could still be hugely significant in China's battle to emerge from the property bust, deflation and sub-par growth. China bulls argue that, following the blitz of fiscal and market-supporting liquidity measures earlier this year, Beijing's commitment to get the economy back on track can no longer be questioned. Although it will take time for policies to take effect, the dial has definitely shifted, so investors would do well to get in and buy Chinese equities now. Those of a more cautious persuasion will say actions speak louder than words, and point out that Beijing has promised much in recent years but always under-delivered. Unless Beijing assumes the banking sector's bad loans and bails out the banks, nothing will materially change. Chinese stocks are still considerably higher than they were before the first stimulus and market support measures were announced in September, and billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper's subsequent "buy everything" call on China. China's economic surprises index has bounced back too. But economists remain skeptical over the 2025 growth outlook and Chinese bond yields are sinking - the 10-year yield is below 2% for the first time on record, and the 30-year yield is below the Japanese equivalent for the first time in around 20 years. Hardly the signs of recovery. In addition, any optimism may be tempered by the latest inflation figures which suggest Beijing's efforts to revive economic activity and demand are having a limited impact so far. Sino-US trade tensions are bubbling up again too. China said on Monday it has launched an investigation into Nvidia Corp over suspected violations of the country's anti-monopoly law. The move is widely seen as a retaliatory shot against Washington's latest curbs on the Chinese chip sector. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - Australia's interest rate decision - China trade (November) - Taiwan's TSMC monthly sales announcement Sign up here. Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Thomson Reuters Jamie McGeever has been a financial journalist since 1998, reporting from Brazil, Spain, New York, London, and now back in the U.S. again. Focus on economics, central banks, policymakers, and global markets - especially FX and fixed income. Follow me on Twitter: @ReutersJamie

WARREN, N.J., Nov. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tevogen Bio (“Tevogen” or “Tevogen Bio Holdings Inc.”) (Nasdaq: TVGN ), a clinical-stage specialty immunotherapy biotech developing off-the-shelf, genetically unmodified T cell therapeutics to treat infectious disease and cancers, today expresses gratitude to shareholders for their unwavering support and trust in Tevogen Bio and its leadership. The commitment fuels the company’s determination to advance its mission of developing accessible, life-saving therapeutics. The company recently announced significant progress through its third quarter financial results for 2024, including, reduction of a net loss by $52.5 million, elimination of nearly all liabilities, and reiterating availability of sufficient capital to fund operations for the next 33 months. Ryan Saadi, MD, MPH, Founder and CEO, Tevogen Bio commented, "We remain steadfast in our mission to advance medical science, however as CEO of the company, preservation of shareholder value remains a priority. We urge all stakeholders to consider the profound impact short selling innovative healthcare companies has on lifesaving therapies. While stock price fluctuations are part of the public market dynamics, Tevogen Bio is acutely aware of the undue influence short sellers have.” William Keane, VP of Strategic Initiatives, and graduate of the FBI National Academy stated, “We are aware and monitoring the actions of potential short selling activity targeting our company. We will continue to bring light to this situation and will work with the appropriate authorities as needed.” The company plans to provide further updates on its progress in the coming weeks. About Tevogen Bio Tevogen is a clinical-stage specialty immunotherapy company harnessing one of nature’s most powerful immunological weapons, CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes, to develop off-the-shelf, genetically unmodified precision T cell therapies for the treatment of infectious diseases, cancers, and neurological disorders, aiming to address the significant unmet needs of large patient populations. Tevogen Leadership believes that sustainability and commercial success in the current era of healthcare rely on ensuring patient accessibility through advanced science and innovative business models. Tevogen has reported positive safety data from its proof-of-concept clinical trial, and its key intellectual property assets are wholly owned by the company, not subject to any third-party licensing agreements. These assets include three granted patents, nine pending US and twelve ex-US pending patents, two of which are related to artificial intelligence. Tevogen is driven by a team of highly experienced industry leaders and distinguished scientists with drug development and global product launch experience. Tevogen’s leadership believes that accessible personalized therapeutics are the next frontier of medicine, and that disruptive business models are required to sustain medical innovation. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements relating to: expectations regarding the healthcare and biopharmaceutical industries; Tevogen’s development of, the potential benefits of, and patient access to its product candidates for the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer and neurological disorders, including TVGN 489 for the treatment of COVID-19 and Long COVID; Tevogen’s ability to develop additional product candidates, including through use of Tevogen’s ExacTcell platform; the anticipated benefits of ExacTcell; expectations regarding Tevogen’s future clinical trials; and Tevogen’s ability to generate revenue in the future. Forward-looking statements can sometimes be identified by words such as “may,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “possible,” “potential,” “goal,” “opportunity,” “project,” “believe,” “future,” and similar words and expressions or their opposites. These statements are based on management’s expectations, assumptions, estimates, projections and beliefs as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of factors that involve known and unknown risks, delays, uncertainties and other factors not under the company’s control that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: that Tevogen will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the effect of the recent business combination with Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation (the “Business Combination”) on Tevogen’s business relationships, operating results, and business generally; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Tevogen; changes in the markets in which Tevogen competes, including with respect to its competitive landscape, technology evolution, or regulatory changes; changes in domestic and global general economic conditions; the risk that Tevogen may not be able to execute its growth strategies or may experience difficulties in managing its growth and expanding operations; the risk that Tevogen may not be able to develop and maintain effective internal controls; costs related to the Business Combination and the failure to realize anticipated benefits of the Business Combination; the failure to achieve Tevogen’s commercialization and development plans and identify and realize additional opportunities, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of Tevogen to grow and manage growth economically and hire and retain key employees; the risk that Tevogen may fail to keep pace with rapid technological developments to provide new and innovative products and services or make substantial investments in unsuccessful new products and services; the ability to develop, license or acquire new therapeutics; that Tevogen will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the risk of regulatory lawsuits or proceedings relating to Tevogen’s business; uncertainties inherent in the execution, cost, and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials; risks related to regulatory review, approval and commercial development; risks associated with intellectual property protection; Tevogen’s limited operating history; and those factors discussed or incorporated by reference in Tevogen’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Tevogen undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. Contacts Tevogen Bio Communications T: 1 877 TEVOGEN, Ext 701 Communications@Tevogen.comIt's a question that sparks arguments in offices across the UK. So, what is the optimal temperature for the office thermostat? With winter drawing in, many office managers may be tempted to crank up the heating. But according to Stephen Day, Heating Engineer at iHeat, the perfect temperature is actually a fairly mild 21°C. Speaking to MailOnline, he advised: 'The ideal temperature for an office is typically around 21°C. '[This] is a comfortable balance for most people, allowing employees to work productively without feeling too hot or cold.' If 21°C sounds too chilly for your liking, you're not alone. In fact, research has shown that women, the elderly, and underweight people tend to prefer a slightly warmer office. What's the perfect temperature to set the office thermostat at? Mr Day advises setting your office thermostat to 21°C. However, he points out that this isn't a hard and fast rule. 'This can vary depending on factors such as the humidity and airflow in the office,' he told MailOnline. 'More humid spaces likely need a slightly lower temperature to counteract the heat-trapping effect.' What temperature should you set your home thermostat at? The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends keeping your home at 18°C (64.4°F). 'Indoor housing temperatures should be high enough to protect residents from the harmful health effects of cold,' the WHO explains. With winter drawing in, many office managers may be tempted to crank up the heating. But according to Stephen Day, Heating Engineer at iHeat, the perfect temperature is actually a fairly mild 21°C (stock image) 'For countries with temperate or colder climates, 18°C has been proposed as a safe and well-balanced indoor temperature to protect the health of general populations during cold seasons.' While this sounds cold, Mr Day points out that people tend to have more control over their environment at home than they do in the office. 'Unlike in an office setting, most people can add extra... Shivali Best

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