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Chuck Woolery Dies: Former ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Love Connection’ Host Was 83Canada thumped Trinidad and Tobago 38-0 to win the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens on Sunday and qualify for World Rugby’s second-tier Challenger Series. The tournament-favourite Canadian men outscored their opposition 169-0 over five matches in a first step back up the rugby sevens ladder since being relegated from the elite HSBC SVNS circuit in June. The top four teams from the three-event Challenger Series will face off against the bottom four from the HSBC SVNS at the SVNS World Championships May 3-4 in Carson, Calif., in a promotion/relegation playoff. “I think it’s just about continually building,” said Canada captain Elias Hancock. “We know what we’re capable of. We’ve shown it at times. It’s just time to get back to that place where we know we belong.” Prior to relegation, Canada had been a core team on the top sevens circuit since 2012-13 and lifted the trophy in Singapore in 2017. The Canadian men finished eighth at the Tokyo Olympics. Trinidad had plenty of the ball in the first half of Sunday’s final at Larry Gomes Stadium. But Canada, helped by several penalties, scored first with Hancock touching down under the posts for a try converted by Thomas Isherwood. Matt Oworu, beating two defenders, added another converted try for a 14-0 lead at the break. Cooper Coats added a converted try early in the second half. And Hancock, Jack Shaw and Noah Bain added late tries after Trinidad lost a man to the sin-bin for two minutes midway through the second half for an infraction off a Canadian kickoff. Earlier Sunday, the Canadians defeated Jamaica 26-0 in semifinal play and the Cayman Islands 38-0 in the quarterfinal. Trinidad and Tobago made it to the final — for the first time since 2013 — with a 19-7 comeback win over Mexico. Jamaica defeated Mexico 12-0 to finish third. Weather was a factor during the three-day tournament in Arima, some 30 kilometres east of Port of Spain. After enduring 30-plus C heat and humidity Friday, their final Pool A game against Barbados was abandoned Saturday due to a storm. On Sunday, the Canadians played the Cayman Islands in a downpour and the skies opened again at halftime of the Jamaica game. Alex Russell, Josiah Morra, Coats and Hancock scored tries against Jamaica for Canada, which led 12-0 at the break. Thomas Isherwood added three conversions. Morra and Hancock each scored two tries against the Caymans and Ethan Hager and D’Shawn Bowen added singles for Canada, which led 19-0 at the half. Canada added four conversions. Canada, which blanked Guyana 29-0 Friday, dispatched Bermuda 38-0 Saturday and was leading Barbados 10-0 when the game was halted in the first half due to heavy rain and high winds. While play eventually resumed, the interrupted Canada game was ruled a scoreless draw. The Canadian men are coming off a disastrous 3-36-0 HSBC SVNS season that ended with a 22-14 loss to Spain with relegation on the line. It was a 29th straight defeat. After being relegated, coach Sean White’s team fell short in an Olympic repechage tournament in late June in Monaco, finishing fourth after losing 26-0 to eventual winner South Africa in the semifinals. The Blitzboks went on to claim bronze in Paris. The 13-man roster for the RAN 7s includes six players who were part of the relegation playoff in Madrid: Hancock, Isherwood, Morra, Coats, Oworu and David Richard. Morra, Coats and Oworu joined the sevens team from Bucharest where they were part of Kingsley Jones’ Canadian 15s squad for test matches against Chile and Romania. The Canadian men are scheduled to play in an invitational men’s sevens tournament taking place at B.C. Place Stadium alongside the HSBC SVNS Vancouver stop in February. The Canadian women left Sunday for Dubai and the opening stop of the 2005 HSBC SVNS season. The Olympic silver-medallist Canadians open play next Saturday against Japan before facing Brazil and Olympic champion New Zealand.
Chuck Woolery Dies: Former ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Love Connection’ Host Was 831. A pair of chic wireless headband sleep headphones so you can keep your ears comfortable listening to music, white noise, or calming affirmations as you drift off. Promising review : "I purchased this product to be able to listen to affirmations as I fall asleep. It has been great for that, and has also been very beneficial on long airplane flights when my ears hurt from the AirPods being in for so long. Also a great option when you are sleeping in a room with someone who snores! My kids keep stealing this from me so I purchased two more to get them for Christmas!" — Dawn Cooperider Get it from Amazon for $16.99 (clip the 20% off coupon on the product page for this price; available in 25 colors). 2. No Worries: A Guided Journal, a popular self-guided journal designed to help with managing anxiety, stress, and the general "adkfjgaldkjfgalkj" in your brain so you can rest a bit easier at night. Each day has a similar set of prompts for 12 undated weeks to help you reflect on your thought patterns and sources of anxiety, and gradually find self-care practices and management strategies that suit you best. Promising review: "I’ve never been a journal or diary person, but needed an outlet for my anxiety and stress . Each day has the same two-page spread that prompts you to think about your day, how you felt, and why you felt that way. There isn’t really any inspiration or advice, just open lines for your thoughts without it being an intimidating blank page. This journal has already helped me see patterns in my thoughts/emotions and I feel better overall. I would recommend this journal to anyone." — Kari Madsen Get it from Amazon for $9.95 . 3. A guided visual "breathing partner" you can use for meditation and calm to get yourself in a better mindset for sleep. This is designed to guide you through either the popular 4/7/8 or 5/5 "calming breaths" to help reduce stress and anxiety, using colors that fade in and out softly as cues. Bonus: it's kid-friendly! Mindset is a small business that specializes in calming personal care and decor products. Promising review: "Who doesn’t need less stress and more sleep these days! Here's your breathing meditation partner. Very useful at your desk and bed stand. So easy to charge and use, not to mention that he’s really cute!" — Cece Get it from Amazon for $21.95 (available in three styles). 4. A pack of drug-free Breathe Right nasal strips reviewers quite literally claim " saved their marriage " — these provide instant snoring *and* congestion relief by increasing nasal airflow. Bonus: there's an optional "scratch and sniff" lavender scent if you want an extra dose of calm. Promising review: "This product is a true gem. I’m eight months pregnant, and due to the baby pressing on my diaphragm, I’ve begun to snore terribly. My poor husband is a light sleeper, so I needed to figure something out. I started applying this at night, and he says he doesn’t hear a peep out of me! If you have trouble sleeping or snoring, this is something you need." — Raevyn Get a box of 26 strips from Amazon for $9.60 . 5. A set of delightfully ~~tingly~~ self-heating soothing foot masks made with Epsom salts, lavender, and peppermint perfect for anyone whose recent step count is "too many." Nothing like a lil' self-care on those aching feet to get into relaxation mode before bed! Check out a TikTok of the foot masks in action. I'm a long-ish distance runner, and these were certainly an interesting experience for my feet! You slide them on and, after a few minutes, feel a tingling, mildly burning (in a good way) sensation. It doesn't quite numb your feet, but it relaxes them. I kept them on for 30 minutes and then toweled my feet off, and the tingling sensation slowly faded over the next 30 minutes. After that my feet felt very refreshed and relaxed at a time of day when they're usually aching from all the miles I put in. The whole thing was a mess-free, easy process, and I will definitely keep them on hand for longer run days! Promising review: "These masks soften my feet right away after only one us e. I recommend using them before bed but do not discard them yet . You can use the same pair again the next morning as some products remain in the masks." — Guy Kositrana Get a set of three pairs from Amazon for $11.97 . 6. A set of review-beloved moisture-wicking double-brushed microfiber sheets with a softness so luxurious that you'll be like, "Cotton whomst?? " Reviewers especially love that the "cooling" effect of these is no joke, particularly for people in hot climates or people experiencing night sweats and hot flashes. P romising review : “LOVE THESE!! I was searching for a sheet set that would help me sleep more comfortably at night and found these. I have terrible hot flashes with night sweats and get up in the morning, just miserable. Of course, these do not eliminate my hot flashes as no sheets will, but they definitely make my nights much more comfortable by eliminating wet bedding, and I definitely appreciate that! Aside from their moisture-wicking abilities, they are very soft, easy to look at, and launder extremely well. I would highly recommend these for anyone shopping for sheet sets and especially for anyone experiencing night sweats!! ” — Shannon Warfel Get it from Amazon for $34.95+ (available in sizes Twin—California King, with deep pockets, and in 37 styles). 7. And a set of wildly popular ~hotel~ pillows that will make you feel like a lil' cherub falling asleep on a breezy cloud. Reviewers are obsessed with how these manage to be soft but firm at the same time, and how they're so breathable and cooling that they're basically a must-have for anyone who overheats at night. Promising review: "These had great reviews, but I was still skeptical. I'm a bit of a pillow snob. These pillows — these amazing, heavenly pillows — are now my favorite part of going to bed. Soft but firm. How does that work? It gives support for me to sleep slightly propped up but I sink into this comfortable personal cloud. Soft but firm. My head isn't sinking through the pillow to rest on my mattress, but I feel comfortably enveloped. Heaven. I bought two but think that would be too much fluff, so now my husband and I each have one. Buy them. Add to cart. Buy now with one click. Stop the research. You've found the pillows you were looking for. " — Marissa Urey Get a set of two from Amazon for $59.99+ (available in two sizes). 8. Plus a satin pillowcase to invest in not only for its cooling effect, but the fact that it's soft on your skin and creates less friction for your hair so that it won't get as tangled while you sleep. Reviewers also swear by these for helping clear up their acne and love how easy these are to wash while still maintaining their quality. Kitsch is an LA-based, self-financed, woman-owned small business established in 2010 that specializes in hair accessories. Check out a TikTok of the Kitsch satin pillowcase in action. Promising review: "I'm really liking this pillow. I woke up today with nice wavy hair, not dry tangled hair. I've been trying to grow out the layer of hair on the top back of my head and it's been so stubborn! Keeps getting tangled and breaks here and there from bleaching and dye damage, but with this new pillow I notice it doesn't tangle, which means it can grow right without rubbing and tangling/pulling! So I'm excited to see what happens by the end of summer! Also the pillow is soft and is so much more prettier in person! 😍😍😍💖💖💖" — Amazon Customer 🌷 Get it from Amazon for $17.99+ (available in two sizes and in 48 styles). 9. A set of light-dimming stickers you can stick on all the LED lights blasting their glow like tiny UFOs in your room at night. They come in a pack of all different sizes, so you can find the perfect ones to match your gizmos and finally get the restful sleep you deserve every night. Promising review : "Who knew such a simple little thing would actually help you sleep better? Works just as advertised. No more annoying lights to keep me up at night!" — Margo A. Castorena Get a set from Amazon for $8.99+ (available in 80% light blockage and 100% light blockage). 10. A set of wax earplugs that mold to the shape of your inner ear like putty, fully blocking out noises like snoring, car honking, or the night owl in your home queueing up The Office who forgot, yet again, to turn the sound down before the theme started playing on full blast 🫠. You can check out my review of Macks Earplugs for more deets: "The moldable silicone of Mack's Earplugs contours easily to the shape of your ear to block out noise much more effectively than other foam or plastic varieties, and the noise reduction is so good that if I pair them with a white noise machine (or just like a white noise loop on Spotify) I genuinely don't hear noises from outside my room. Not only that, but once they're in place, they stay locked there until you decide to pull them out. I've also *loved* these for traveling — if you put these babies in on a plane not only does it help reduce some of the YIKES factor when the plane takes off (it's loud!!), but it cancels out the murmuring noises of passengers on the flight and makes it easier to get some shuteye. " Promising review : "I had to travel for work and stayed in hotels. Noise always was a problem. These were the best solution to lessen noise because they mold to your ear better than foam ear plugs." — Bizeec Get 12 pairs from Amazon for $10.98 . 11. A contoured sleep mask designed to alleviate pressure from your eyes and plunge you into total delicious darkness all night long, while staying put on your head without any Velcro snagging in your hair in the middle of the night. I personally swear by this eye mask! I live in a super bright area and closing the window curtains makes me irrationally sad, so I use these to get to sleep and it's like lights out on the universe. These are also REALLY great for days when your work schedule is wonky or you need to take a day nap, since it not only blocks out all the light, but the contouring means it won't smudge your mascara if you're wearing any. It's also super comfy and never snags in my hair, even when it's not in a ponytail. Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (available in seven colors). 12. Or a Nodpod , a strap-free weighted sleep mask designed for back *and* side sleepers with a gentle pressure to encourage stress relief and deep sleep. Nodpod is a small business specializing in sleep products. Psst — you can also put it in the freezer, and the microbeads in the mask will stay cool for hours. Promising review : "There's something about placing this weighted thing on my eyes when I'm tossing and turning that lulls me back to sleep . The shape of it is a bit weird — it's not a typical eye mask, it's much bulkier and doesn't fasten on in the same way — but once you get beyond that, this can really be a beautiful thing. I keep it on my bedside table and use it if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep (which happens often) or once the sun rises and I want to sleep in a little more. If you have sleep issues I'd recommend trying this novel product." — Veronicam Get it from Amazon for $34 (available in six colors). 13. A migraine relief beanie for when your brain decides it's going to rattle against your skull at the least convenient time possible. (AKA, RIGHT BEFORE BED!!) This gets icy *and* hot depending on what kind of relief you're looking for, and doubles as a sleep mask so you can block out harsh light or try to get some shut-eye for further relief. IceBeanie is a small business that specializes in cold therapy products. Promising review: "I don’t usually write reviews but this thing is literally a game changer. Amazing quality, so comfortable to wear, and it really helps me to relax and also when I have a headache. This is top shelf. I am so happy with my purchase!" — Bonnie Boughton Get it from Amazon for $39.99 (available in two colors). 14. A caffeine-free herbal Sweet Dreams tea designed to promote better sleep with a mixture of chamomile rose blossoms and mint herbs, which have calming as heck properties. Promising review : "I have been having trouble sleeping A LOT lately, I'm very sensitive to sounds/light to where I wake up frustrated and ready to get out of bed to just get the day done. Now let me tell you that the first night, within seconds of sipping my tea, I yawn nonstop and am ready for bed. Knocked out and didn't wake up/toss or turn the entire night, woke up feeling so much better. Actually woke up smiling, too!" — Isa Get a 28-count pack from Amazon for $7 (available in various sizes). 15. An affordable sunrise alarm clock so you can trick your human brain into thinking you're already dappled in the light of a bright, sunshiny day when you wake up, even if the the sun hasn't quite caught up to your morning routine. This can be programmed with seven different light settings, seven different calming "wake up" noises, and to start gradually lighting up at 30, 20, or 10 minutes before you wake. Promising review: " I got this recommendation from TikTok, and it really has helped, especially with Oregon winters where the sun is not out by the time the alarm rings. It has several peaceful alarm settings and even has night music to put you to sleep. The sunrise with the alarm piano is what I play to wake me up every morning and it is a way better way than to wake up to an annoying phone alarm." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $31.92+ (available in three styles). 16. Or a gorgeously designed Hatch Restore 2 — this sunrise alarm and sound machine works overtime as a touch-controlled smart light, bedtime reading light, and even a wind-down light that helps you get into a healthier sleep routine at night, which is especially important to maintain when it's dark out for so long. Other bedside lamps could truly never. Hatch Restore lets you personalize a "bedtime routine" for each night to train your brain to recognize sleep cues and get a better night's rest. Options include changing the light settings to more amber tones to help produce melatonin for sleep, soothing noise options, and sleep meditations and sleep stories you can get in the Hatch app. Promising review: "The Hatch Restore 2 is truly a game changer for those looking to improve their night’s sleep and wake-up routine. It’s been the best bedside companion and has improved my overall health and well-being. The combination of sounds, lights, buttons, and aesthetics really all come to play to make this feel like a truly premium device. There are touch adjustments to adjust the volume and brightness of the clock, which work really well. My favorite feature is the physical buttons which you can press to start or stop the routines; it feels very intentional when I get ready for bed and really gets me in the right mindset to begin my bedtime routine ." — Natasha Advani Get it from Amazon for $169.99 (available in three styles). 17. A dual-zone comforter to quite possibly save y'all's relationship, particularly if you can never agree on where the thermostat should be. One side of this comforter runs cool, and the other one runs hot, so you can sleep under whichever side you prefer without waking up when one of you hogs or throws off the covers in the middle of the night. Promising review: "This comforter is what we’ve always needed . My husband and I are always tangled in blankets because I need more but yet they always end up on his side. This comforter provides an all-in-one solution that keeps me warm and him cool and our bedroom looking calm and zen. " — Hannah Get it from Amazon for $134.99+ (available in four colors and two sizes). 18. An insulated soundproofing strip that easily sticks to the outer rims of your door, giving you some peace and quiet at bedtime and making it *much* less likely that you'll hear people rooting around the Cheez-Its box in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Psst — this insulated strip also stops air conditioning and heat from escaping out of the crack under the door, saving energy and money! Promising review: "Lifesaver. I have roommates who always watch TV loudly until midnight, so I purchased this to seal the gap in my door. It really reduced 90% of the noise from the living room!!! I can finally have a nice sleep!!!" — wen yan Get it from Amazon for $7.97 (available in three sizes and four colors). 19. A plush memory foam mattress topper to quickly transform any old spring mattress into an oasis — this helps distribute your weight on your mattress more evenly to reduce pressure on your joints, so you're less likely to toss and turn. Promising review: "This thing has changed my sleep for the better. My mattress has always been kind of uncomfortable with painful springs, but I just put up with it. Since switching to working nights and sleeping during the day, I wake up more easily and needed something to help me fall asleep and stay asleep. This topper is so nice! It doesn’t feel cool to the touch, I just don’t overheat while I sleep. It’s so soft I can fall asleep without a pillow. I love it!" — Avery Basford Get it from Amazon for $59.99+ (available in two or three inch depth and in eight standard bed sizes). 20. Or a pillow-top mattress pad so you can pretend you're sleeping on Mount Olympus. (What up, Zeus??) Not only is this down alternative fill fluffy and soft as heck, but it's wick-away and ventilated to help keep you cool while you snooze. Promising review : "Whoaaa this thing is amazing. I have a very expensive, firm mattress that I bought when I was younger. I got this, put this over the foam mat, and it’s like a new mattress. I slept like a rock last night. Haven’t slept that well in a long time. I also like that it’s attached to the mattress pad, so it’s not sliding all over. It slept very cool, I’m assuming that’s because is cotton. Highly recommend if you’re looking to fix a mattress and not have to spend money on a new one ." — Julie Get it from Amazon for $76.99+ (available in sizes Twin–California king and in four colors). 21. A high-end sound machine that never ever ever loops, bless its technological heart, and has soundscapes so satisfyingly realistic that Dream You will be like, "Um, am I the main character swimming under this rushing waterfall/burrowed by this crackling fireplace/frolicking through this lush meadow?" Bonus — it's also adaptive and changes its volume and mix based on what it hears in your environment. Adaptive Sound Technologies is a small business established in 2009 specializing in sound technology for personal care. Psst — it's compatible with speakers *and* headphones, so if you're sharing the room you don't have to subject your partner to it. Promising review : "I have suffered from insomnia all my life, and have found if I fall asleep listening to something I sleep better. I tried falling asleep to the TV, but invariably around 3 a.m., I would wake up listening to infomercials. Then, while traveling, my husband and I stayed in a very nice hotel that had this product in our room. I tried it, and slept like a baby the whole time we were there! I knew I had to have one at home, and ordered this as soon as we got home. I love that it has so many different sounds to choose from, as well as volume adjustment. You can leave it on all night or set the timer to shut off. This is a fantastic product, and while not inexpensive, in my opinion, well worth the money." — Tamstrat Get it from Amazon for $90.28+ (available in three styles). 22. A bottle of Dr Teal's soothing foaming bath with Epsom salt to help relieve aching muscles, and give you something decadent to look forward to all day (aside from watching your frozen pizza go round in the microwave, that is). Promising review : "I needed something to help me relax that was not a nap and this did it for me! I used this in an evening bath. Not only did it help me relax, it also helped me fall asleep so good that night. I tend to stay awake in bed (usually on my phone) most nights, but after this bath I fell asleep right away. It didn't bubble a whole lot for me, but it smelled amazing and made my skin the softest it's been in a long time! It's a good sized bottle with a sufficient amount of baths per bottle. Overall, I loved it. I don't take baths too often, but this has inspired me to do this more! 10/10 would buy again. " — Priscilla Perez Get it from Amazon for $8.71 . 23. A handy dandy amber reading light that's 99.94% free of blue spectrum light — aka, the light that signals to your brain that it's daytime and keeps you up and attem. Now you can read your book at night without disrupting your unsuspecting circadian rhythms. Promising review: "This is a fantastic light! I use it every evening to continue reading while my son sleeps, it does not wake him or impede my sleep after I’m ready to go to bed. Great product." — Brian Masters Get it from Amazon for $11.99+ (available in four colors). 24. A Sleep Pod , aka a snuggly adult swaddle blanket that'll cocoon you like a snug little bug in a rug. It applies gentle pressure while still staying cool and breathable, so it basically mimics a light hug you can get a good night's sleep in. Hug Sleep is a Wisconsin-based, family-owned small business that specializes in quality products to improve sleep. Promising review : "I’ve used it for 10 nights now, and by night 4, I was hooked. It washed up well — quick dry too! I’m autistic and loving the swaddled feel at night, especially during these hot months when my weighted blanket makes no sense." — Kathryn Whittier Get it from Amazon for $84.99 (available in six sizes, four styles, and three colors). 25. And a weighted Bearaby napper that answers the question of, "What would it look like if a blanket had magic sleep-inducing powers?" This breathable chunky knit blanket is designed with a comforting weight to help soothe anxiety and promote calm, making it easier not just to fall asleep, but *stay* asleep. I've been using this weighted blanket for about three years now and what I find really remarkable about it is that I *never* feel overheated in it . It's also just so, SO soft, and looks absolutely beautiful at the foot of my bed where I leave it every night. It definitely helps me activate "sleep mode" at night — I find the weight very comforting and not at all stifling, because it spreads so evenly. Promising review: "I’m in love with my this blanket! It is absolutely gorgeous and has made a remarkable difference in my sleeping habits. If you are even thinking about a weighted blanket, this is a MUST! Just do it! You will only wish you’d done it sooner!" — Sandy Psst — to choose a style, Bearaby recommends a blanket that is about ten percent of your body weight. Get it from Bearaby for $179+ (originally $199+, available in four weights and nine colors). 26. A pair of breathable, lightweight satin pajamas that will make you feel like you're staying in a hotel suite instead of the same bed you frequently find stray Goldfish crumbs in between laundry days. Promising review: "These are the best pajamas I've ever purchased. I'm completely hooked. The quality is amazing and they're super comfortable. I will be ordering all the other colors." — Mandie Get them from Amazon for $26.09+ (available in women's sizes S–XL and nine colors). 27. A pack of cult-fave nonmedicated Vicks VapoPatches — these mess-free, wearable patches help relieve congestion with a blend of eucalyptus, essential oils, and menthol, so you can still get your ~beauty sleep~ even when your immune system/allergies aren't feeling quite as beauteous as you'd like. A heads-up that these are meant to be worn *over* your clothes. Promising review: "I was pleasantly surprised when the scent lasted all night! They absolutely help me sleep better when I have a cold. I ordered some for my mother so she’d have them on hand for the upcoming cold and flu season." — Ashley Get two five-packs from Amazon for $19.91 (also available as a single five-pack). 28. A tub of Lush's silky sleepy lotion for real overachievers, so you can get your skincare *and* sleepcare taken care of in one go. This is made with lavender and tonka to promote relaxation, and cocoa butter and almond oil to keep your skin moisturized and soft so you wake up fresh as a daisy. Promising review : "I love this cream dearly. I have so much trouble sleeping due to stress and anxiety. But, I think I may have Pavlov's-dogged myself with this lotion. Whenever I put on Sleepy, the lavender and tonka scent immediately relaxes my body. It has gotten to the point where I use the Sleepy bath bomb or shower gel before bed to prep myself mentally and physically for bed." — Princess Jo Here's what BuzzFeeder Heather Braga has to say about it: "I’m a pretty anxious person and have a hard time getting my brain to shut down before bed. This has been an absolute game changer for me. It’s not too thick, smells heavenly, and a little goes a long way. I apply to my chest and arms so the scent can easily lull me to sleep." Get it from Lush for $9.50+ (available in four sizes). 29. A splurgeworthy side sleeper pillow so gamechanging that you'll wish you had a time machine back to all the nights you slept without it. Reviewers swear by this pillow to help align their spine for relief from neck and shoulder pain, and *love* the genuinely cooling feeling the down alternative, gel memory foam insides. Honeydew is a small business that specializes in uniquely-designed sleep products. Promising review: "I have searched for a perfect pillow for many months, and finally found this one. I LOVE this pillow . It is soft yet supportive, and the shape is perfect for side sleeping. It is expensive, true, but I think well worth the price. The fill used is wonderful compared to shredded or molded memory foam. It feels like down but with more neck support, and not at all lumpy. I like to hug the side extensions which provide support for my upper body when sleeping on my side. I totally recommend this pillow for side sleepers. You won't be disappointed." — Elizabeth Wright Get it from Amazon for $199.99+ (available in Queen and King sizes). 30. A sleep-focused essential oils blend made with chamomile, sage, and lavender to help soothe anxiety and reduce stress before bedtime and promote prolonged sleep. Promising review: "I have bad insomnia on the nights before I have to go to work. In desperation I decided to try using a diffuser, and I heard Lavender was the go to scent for this. I ordered Dream Essential Oil hoping it would help me and was so glad that the price was so affordable. I don't usually write reviews but I am so happy that I am now getting a good night's sleep every night before work that I had to share. The scent is pleasant and I find myself relaxing into it and falling asleep and staying asleep like never before. I can keep it going all night and it doesn't lose its scent either. I would highly recommend this product!" — Kindle Customer Get it from Amazon for $11.95 . Psst — if you don't have a diffuser, you can get a popular, well-reviewed essential oil diffuser on Amazon for $13.99 . You waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat because you didn't buy those cult-fave cooling sheets yet: Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Tests keep coming for Auburn and Duke, who collide at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a typical prove-it game in a rare environment on Wednesday night. No. 2 Auburn and No. 9 Duke square off less than one month into the season as two of the most battle-tested teams in basketball. They're matched as one of the marquee games in the crossover showcase known as the ACC-SEC Challenge. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024Revenue grows 125% year over year Current hashrate surpasses 33.5 EH/s on track for 37 EH/s LAS VEGAS , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CleanSpark, Inc. CLSK (the "Company"), America's Bitcoin Miner®, today reported financial results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 . "Our performance this year reflects a sustained growth trajectory, solidifying our position as one of the top Bitcoin miners in the world, as we move into an anticipated new bull market," said CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford . "Reflecting on the past year, our results in FY 2024 and the positioning of the company going into 2025 demonstrated the wisdom of our counter-cyclical growth and capital allocation strategy. We produce durable, high performing growth and have been since our earliest days in Bitcoin mining," Bradford said. "CleanSpark has prioritized owned infrastructure as its core foundation, putting us in the best position to optimize our portfolio of data centers to drive ROI to our shareholders as we continue to rapidly deploy additional hashrate on our path to 37 EH by year-end and 50 EH and beyond in 2025." "We anticipated that there would be prime opportunities for M&A paired with organic growth, and over the past year we capitalized by adding 423 MWs to our operating portfolio bringing us to 726 MW, as of today. As we continue focusing on scale in FY 2025 and beyond, we will develop the remaining hundreds of MW in the near-term pipeline while always staying opportunistic," said Bradford. "The team produced our strongest year of financial performance to date, solidifying a track record of effective execution and keeping commitments to shareholders. This fiscal year included the fourth halving event in Bitcoin 's history, and our organizational commitment to operational excellence has allowed us to weather it more successfully than many of our industry peers," said CleanSpark CFO Gary Vecchiarelli . "Even with the halving event impacting block rewards and a significant increase in difficulty, our production outpaced both, yielding approximately 7,100 BTC thanks to our growth in hashrate and the efficiency improvements to our fleet. "CleanSpark's financial strength continued to grow in fiscal 2024," said Vecchiarelli. "Heading into 2025, we have significant scale and size, a healthy balance sheet, industry leading operations and a strong liquidity position, and we are well positioned to pursue diverse capital raising strategies," Vecchiarelli said. Financial Highlights: Full Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2024 . The Company's annual revenues were $378.9 million , an increase of $210.5 million , or 125%, from $168.4 million for the prior fiscal year. Net loss for the year ended September 30, 2024 , was ($145.8) million or ($0.69) basic loss per share compared to a net loss of ($138.1) million or ($1.30) loss per share for the prior fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA was $245.8 million , an increase of $220.8 million from $25.0 million for the prior fiscal year. 1 Balance Sheet Highlights as of September 30, 2024 Assets Cash: $122.2 million Bitcoin : $509.5 million (includes bitcoin receivable of $77.8 million posted as collateral), based upon 8,049 bitcoin at a price of $63,301 at September 30, 2024 Total Current Assets: $705.4 million Total Mining Assets (including prepaid deposits & deployed miners): $902.0 million Total Assets: $2.0 billion Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current Liabilities: $187.9 million Total Liabilities: $201.8 million Total Stockholders' Equity: $1.8 billion The Company had working capital of $517.5 million and $66.0 million of loans payable as of September 30, 2024 . 1 See "Non-GAAP Measure" and the related reconciliation below Investor Conference Call and Webcast The Company will hold its fiscal year 2024 earnings presentation and business update for investors and analysts today, December 2, 2024 , at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET . Webcast URL: https://investors.cleanspark.com The webcast will be accessible for at least 30 days on the Company's website and a transcript of the call will be available on the Company's website following the call. About CleanSpark CleanSpark CLSK , America's Bitcoin Miner ® , is a market-leading, pure play bitcoin miner with a proven track record of success. We own and operate a portfolio of mining facilities across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin , energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our mining facilities to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by securing the most important finite, global asset – Bitcoin – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Visit our website at www.cleanspark.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this press release, forward-looking statements include, but may not be limited to, statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions, and strategies. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "forecasts," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the risk that the electrical power available to our facilities does not increase as expected; the success of its digital currency mining activities; the volatile and unpredictable cycles in the emerging and evolving industries in which we operate, including the volatility of BTC prices; increasing difficulty rates for bitcoin mining; bitcoin halving; new or additional governmental regulation; the anticipated delivery dates of new miners; the Company's ability to successfully completed acquisitions, including integration risks relating to completed and potential acquisitions, the ability to successfully deploy new miners; the dependency on utility rate structures and government incentive programs; dependency on third-party power providers for expansion efforts; the expectations of future revenue growth may not be realized; and other risks described in the Company's prior press releases and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading "Risk Factors" in those filings. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as to the date of this press release, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of any new information, changed circumstances or future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Non-GAAP Measure The Company presents adjusted EBITDA, which is not a measurement of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). The Company's non-GAAP "Adjusted EBITDA" excludes (i) impacts of interest, taxes, and depreciation; (ii) the Company's share-based compensation expense, unrealized gains/losses on securities, and, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration with respect to previously completed acquisitions, all of which are non-cash items that the Company believes are not reflective of the Company's general business performance, and for which the accounting requires management judgment, and the resulting expenses could vary significantly in comparison to other companies; (iii) non-cash impairment losses related to long-lived assets (including goodwill); (iv) realized gains and losses on sales of equity securities, the amounts of which are directly related to the unrealized gains and losses that are also excluded; (v) legal fees related to litigation and various transactions, which fees management does not believe are reflective of the Company's ongoing operating activities; (vi) gains and losses on disposal of assets, the majority of which are related to obsolete or unrepairable machines that are no longer deployed; (vii) gains and losses related to discontinued operations that would not be applicable to the Company's future business activities; and (viii) severance expenses. The Company previously excluded non-cash impairment losses related to digital assets and realized gains and losses on sales of bitcoin from its calculation of adjusted EBITDA, but has determined such items are part of the Company's normal ongoing operations and will no longer be excluding them from its calculation of adjusted EBITDA. Management believes that providing this non-GAAP financial measure that excludes these items allows for meaningful comparisons between the Company's core business operating results and those of other companies, and provides the Company with an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating its own core business operating results over different periods of time. In addition to management's internal use of non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA, management believes that adjusted EBITDA is also useful to investors and analysts in comparing the Company's performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis. Management believes the foregoing to be the case even though some of the excluded items involve cash outlays and some of them recur on a regular basis (although management does not believe any of such items are normal operating expenses necessary to generate the Company's bitcoin related revenues). For example, the Company expects that share-based compensation expense, which is excluded from adjusted EBITDA, will continue to be a significant recurring expense over the coming years and is an important part of the compensation provided to certain employees, officers, and directors. Additionally, management does not consider any of the excluded items to be expenses necessary to generate the Company's bitcoin related revenue. The Company's adjusted EBITDA measure may not be directly comparable to similar measures provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in the Company's industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently. The Company's adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to operating (loss) income or any other measure of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. Although management utilizes internally and presents adjusted EBITDA, the Company only utilizes that measure supplementally and does not consider it to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results. Accordingly, adjusted EBITDA is not meant to be considered in isolation of, and should be read in conjunction with, the information contained in the Company's consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands, except par value and share amounts) September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 ASSETS Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 121,222 $ 29,215 Restricted cash 3,056 — Receivable for equity offerings — 9,590 Prepaid expense and other current assets 7,995 3,258 Bitcoin (See Note 2 and Note 6) 431,661 56,241 Receivable for bitcoin collateral (See Note 2 and Note 12) 77,827 — Note receivable from GRIID (see Note 7) 60,919 — Derivative investments 1,832 2,697 Investment in debt security, AFS, at fair value 918 726 Current assets held for sale — 445 Total current assets $ 705,430 $ 102,172 Property and equipment, net $ 869,693 $ 564,395 Operating lease right of use asset 3,263 688 Intangible assets, net 3,040 4,603 Deposits on miners and mining equipment 359,862 75,959 Other long-term asset 13,331 5,718 Goodwill 8,043 8,043 Total assets $ 1,962,662 $ 761,578 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 82,992 $ 39,900 Accrued liabilities 43,874 25,677 Other current liabilities 2,240 311 Current portion of loans payable 58,781 6,992 Current liabilities held for sale — 1,175 Total current liabilities $ 187,887 $ 74,055 Long-term liabilities Operating lease liability, net of current portion 997 519 Finance lease liability, net of current portion — 9 Loans payable, net of current portion 7,176 8,911 Deferred income taxes 5,761 2,416 Total liabilities $ 201,821 $ 85,910 Commitments and contingencies - Note 18 CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (continued) (in thousands, except par value and share amounts) September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 Stockholders' equity Preferred stock; $0.001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; Series A shares; 2,000,000 authorized; 1,750,000 issued and outstanding (liquidation preference $0.02 per share) Series X shares; 1,000,000 and 0 authorized, issued and outstanding, respectively 3 2 Common stock; $0.001 par value; 300,000,000 shares authorized; 270,897,784 and 160,184,921 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 271 160 Additional paid-in capital 2,239,367 1,009,482 Accumulated other comprehensive income 418 226 Accumulated deficit (479,218) (334,202) Total stockholders' equity 1,760,841 675,668 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 1,962,662 $ 761,578 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (in thousands, except per share and share amounts) For the year ended September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022 Revenues, net Bitcoin mining revenue, net $ 378,968 $ 168,121 $ 131,000 Other services revenue — 287 525 Total revenues, net $ 378,968 $ 168,408 $ 131,525 Costs and expenses Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below) 165,516 93,580 41,234 Professional fees 13,806 10,869 6,469 Payroll expenses 74,095 45,714 40,920 General and administrative expenses 30,185 20,823 10,423 Loss on disposal of assets 5,466 1,931 (643) Gain on fair value of bitcoin, net (see Note 2 and Note 6) (113,423) — — Other impairment expense (related to bitcoin) — 7,163 12,210 Impairment expense - fixed assets 197,041 — — Impairment expense - other 716 — 250 Impairment expense - goodwill — — 12,048 Realized gain on sale of bitcoin — (1,357) (2,567) Depreciation and amortization 154,609 120,728 49,045 Total costs and expenses $ 528,011 $ 299,451 $ 169,389 Loss from operations $ (149,043) $ (131,043) $ (37,864) Other income (expense) Other income — 11 308 Change in fair value of contingent consideration — 2,484 306 Recognized gain on bitcoin collateral returned 91 — — Change in fair value of bitcoin collateral 1,384 — — Realized gain on sale of equity security — — 1 Unrealized loss on equity security — — (2) Unrealized loss on derivative security (965) (259) (1,950) Interest income 8,555 481 190 Interest expense (2,455) (2,977) (1,078) Total other income (expense) $ 6,610 $ (260) $ (2,225) Loss before income tax expense (142,433) (131,303) (40,089) Income tax expense 3,344 2,416 — Loss from continuing operations $ (145,777) $ (133,719) $ (40,089) Discontinued operations Loss from discontinued operations $ — $ (4,429) $ (17,237) Income tax expense — — — Loss on discontinued operations $ — $ (4,429) $ (17,237) Net loss $ (145,777) $ (138,148) $ (57,326) Preferred stock dividends 3,422 — 336 Net loss attributable to common shareholders $ (149,199) $ (138,148) $ (57,662) Other comprehensive income, net of tax 192 116 115 Total comprehensive loss attributable to common shareholders $ (149,007) $ (138,032) $ (57,547) CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (continued) (in thousands, except per share and share amounts) For the year ended September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022 Loss from continuing operations per common share - basic $ (0.69) $ (1.30) $ (0.95) Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 Loss from continuing operations per common share - diluted $ (0.69) $ (1.30) $ (0.95) Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 Loss on discontinued operations per common share - basic $ - $ (0.04) $ (0.40) Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 Loss on discontinued operations per common share - diluted $ - $ (0.04) $ (0.40) Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 CLEANSPARK, INC. RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA (Unaudited, in thousands) For the Year Ended September 30, 2024 2023 Net income (loss) $ (145,777) $ (138,148) Adjustments: Loss on discontinued operations — 4,429 Impairment expense – fixed assets 197,041 — Impairment expense – other 716 — Depreciation and amortization 154,609 120,728 Share-based compensation expense 29,555 24,142 Other income — (11) Change in fair value of contingent consideration — (2,484) Unrealized loss (gain) of derivative security 965 259 Interest income (8,555) (481) Interest expense 2,455 2,977 Loss on disposal of assets 5,466 1,931 Income tax expense 3,344 2,416 Fees related to financing & business development transactions 4,059 697 Litigation & settlement related expenses 1,970 7,872 Severance and other expenses — 701 Total Adjusted EBITDA $ 245,848 $ 25,028 Investor Relations Contact Brittany Moore 702-989-7693 ir@cleanspark.com Media Contact Eleni Stylianou 702-989-7694 pr@cleanspark.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cleanspark-reports-record-breaking-fy-2024-results-outpacing-halving-and-difficulty-302320036.html SOURCE CleanSpark, Inc. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Pressure is on the Albanese government to make headway on its long list of stalled legislation before the federal election. Housing will be back in spotlight during the final sitting week of 2024, with the Help to Buy government equity scheme and incentives for build-to-rent to be brought to a final vote in the Senate. The two housing bills have struggled to attract the support of the opposition or the Greens, with Labor knocking back fresh demands from the latter. Central to the Greens' updated position is funding for 25,000 "shovel-ready" homes not given the go-ahead under the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. Labor insists the demand is unlawful and would result in the construction of million-dollar homes that are not value for money. Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his party had designed "a compromise offer that is popular, achievable and easy to accept, it requires no new legislation and sits broadly within government policy". With 30 or so bills still before the parliament, the government has been ramping up pressure on the Greens and the coalition to co-operate. "This is a week where we will see the colour of the eyes of Peter Dutton and the Greens party," Employment Minister Murray Watt told reporters on Sunday. A friendless crackdown on misinformation and disinformation has been shelved and gambling reforms have been pushed into next year. Though the government is expecting wins on its aged care reforms and its social media age limit, with the former expected to attract opposition support. Under world-first legislation, Australians younger than 16 will be banned from social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter). Labor will also be spruiking its Future Made in Australia plan, with its hydrogen and critical minerals production tax incentives to be introduced to parliament on Monday. Economic management will likely get some airtime after monthly inflation figures are released on Wednesday, with headline inflation expected to once again land within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band. But with the central bank's preferred underlying gauge - stripped of the volatility inflicting the headline number - likely to remain above the two-three per cent band, keenly-anticipated interest rate cuts are likely to stay on ice. The federal election is due to be held by May 17.A mystery is unfolding over a single Olive Garden breadstick. On Nov. 16, a TikTok user about an unfortunate extra they received with an order of breadsticks at the popular pasta chain. “Guys, why is there letters on my Olive Garden breadstick?” the user asked. The post consists of a single picture: a hand holding a half-eaten breadstick with the letters “O” and “K” as well as the number “6” in black printed text on its side. The image-based TikTok quickly went viral, amassing more than 4 million views and thousands of comments. “I’ve worked there and I’ve never seen this before 😭,” one user, and another , “How did it happen though?” “They’re from frozen bags so the label must’ve like gotten on that one,” one user . Other commenters who claimed to be or also thought the text was part of the coding on plastic bags that the sticks come in. “it’s like when you do the tongue tattoos with fruit rollups the print stuck onto the bread but just a thought,” one . Others chimed in with similar experiences they had while eating out at restaurants. “THIS HAPPENED TO MY FAMILY WHEN I WAS A KID!!!” one user . “they gave us a pizza w receipt ink on the cheeze we could literally read it all😭😭 we got free dessert.” “One time I had a price tag on the bottom of my egg bite from starbucks,” another , and when the original poster them if they ate it, the user , “I was hungry what can I say.” Neither the TikTok user nor representatives for Olive Garden immediately responded to TODAY.com’s request for comment. But the official Olive Garden account the following on the TikTok: “We are concerned to see this. Can you please send an email to social@olivegarden.com with your full name, and the location you went to?” Four days later, the TikToker and Olive Garden seemingly got in touch over email. Even though every Olive Garden entrée comes with a never-ending first course of soup or salad and breadsticks, the chain gifted the TikToker with a $100 gift card for the error. The user to their account on Nov. 20, four days after their breadstick blunder. “Thank you olive gardens,” the TikToker wrote over a screenshot of an email from Olive Garden. Commenters lauded the chain for its response. One , “Now that’s good service,” and another , “Olive Garden don’t play AROUND.” “How do I get numbers on my breadstick?” someone else . For now, this mystery surrounding the unlimited carb remains unsolved. Washington, D.C. native Joseph Lamour is a lover of food: its past, its present and the science behind it. With food, you can bring opposites together to form a truly marvelous combination, and he strives to take that sentiment to heart in all that he does.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change. A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since 2005. And those fires contributed to deforestation, with authorities suspecting some fires were set to more easily clear land to run cattle. The Amazon is twice the size of India and sprawls across eight countries and one territory, storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the planet. It has about 20% of the world’s fresh water and astounding biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species. But governments have historically viewed it as an area to be exploited, with little regard for sustainability or the rights of its Indigenous peoples, and experts say exploitation by individuals and organized crime is rising at alarming rates. “The fires and drought experienced in 2024 across the Amazon rainforest could be ominous indicators that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point,” said Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, an organization that works to protect the rainforest. “Humanity’s window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but still open.” There were some bright spots. The level of Amazonian forest loss fell in both Brazil and Colombia. And nations gathered for the annual United Nations conference on biodiversity agreed to give Indigenous peoples more say in nature conservation decisions. “If the Amazon rainforest is to avoid the tipping point, Indigenous people will have been a determinant factor,” Miller said. Wildfires and extreme drought Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon — home to the largest swath of this rainforest — dropped 30.6% compared to the previous year, the lowest level of destruction in nine years. The improvement under leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva contrasted with deforestation that hit a 15-year high under Lula’s predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who prioritized agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies. In July, Colombia reported historic lows in deforestation in 2023, driven by a drop in environmental destruction. The country’s environment minister Susana Muhamad warned that 2024’s figures may not be as promising as a significant rise in deforestation had already been recorded by July due to dry weather caused by El Nino, a weather phenomenon that warms the central Pacific. Illegal economies continue to drive deforestation in the Andean nation. “It’s impossible to overlook the threat posed by organized crime and the economies they control to Amazon conservation,” said Bram Ebus, a consultant for Crisis Group in Latin America. “Illegal gold mining is expanding rapidly, driven by soaring global prices, and the revenues of illicit economies often surpass state budgets allocated to combat them.” In Brazil, large swaths of the rainforest were draped in smoke in August from fires raging across the Amazon, Cerrado savannah, Pantanal wetland and the state of Sao Paulo. Fires are traditionally used for deforestation and for managing pastures, and those man-made blazes were largely responsible for igniting the wildfires. For a second year, the Amazon River fell to desperate lows , leading some countries to declare a state of emergency and distribute food and water to struggling residents. The situation was most critical in Brazil, where one of the Amazon River’s main tributaries dropped to its lowest level ever recorded. Cesar Ipenza, an environmental lawyer who lives in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, said he believes people are becoming increasingly aware of the Amazon’s fundamental role “for the survival of society as a whole.” But, like Miller, he worries about a “point of no return of Amazon destruction.” It was the worst year for Amazon fires since 2005, according to nonprofit Rainforest Foundation US. Between January and October, an area larger than the state of Iowa — 37.42 million acres, or about 15.1 million hectares of Brazil’s Amazon — burned. Bolivia had a record number of fires in the first ten months of the year. “Forest fires have become a constant, especially in the summer months and require particular attention from the authorities who don’t how to deal with or respond to them,” Ipenza said. Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guyana also saw a surge in fires this year. Indigenous voices and rights made headway in 2024 The United Nations conference on biodiversity — this year known as COP16 — was hosted by Colombia. The meetings put the Amazon in the spotlight and a historic agreement was made to give Indigenous groups more of a voice on nature conservation decisions , a development that builds on a growing movement to recognize Indigenous people’s role in protecting land and combating climate change. Both Ebus and Miller saw promise in the appointment of Martin von Hildebrand as the new secretary general for the Amazon Treaty Cooperation Organization, announced during COP16. “As an expert on Amazon communities, he will need to align governments for joint conservation efforts. If the political will is there, international backers will step forward to finance new strategies to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest,” Ebus said. Ebus said Amazon countries need to cooperate more, whether in law enforcement, deploying joint emergency teams to combat forest fires, or providing health care in remote Amazon borderlands. But they need help from the wider world, he said. “The well-being of the Amazon is a shared global responsibility, as consumer demand worldwide fuels the trade in commodities that finance violence and environmental destruction,” he said. Next year marks a critical moment for the Amazon, as Belém do Pará in northern Brazil hosts the first United Nations COP in the region that will focus on climate. “Leaders from Amazon countries have a chance to showcase strategies and demand tangible support,” Ebus said. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .
In 2020, a conspiracy theory spread across social media claiming that online home goods retailer Wayfair was involved in child trafficking . People claimed that odd pricing and certain product names were evidence of the theory. VERIFY reader Leslie emailed us to ask if Wayfair was ever involved in the sex trafficking of children. THE QUESTION Is Wayfair involved in the sex trafficking of children? THE SOURCES National Center on Sexual Exploitation DeliverFund , a nonprofit intelligence agency that uses technology to help law enforcement fight human trafficking Polaris , organization that operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking hotline Original VERIFY reporting in 2020 Statement from Wayfair to the BBC in 2020 THE ANSWER No, there is no evidence to support the claims that Wayfair was involved in the sex trafficking of children. WHAT WE FOUND When the conspiracy theory first spread in 2020, people on social media pointed to Wayfair products with strange names and disproportionately high prices as proof that the online furniture store was involved in child trafficking. These products included a “Samiyah Storage Cabinet” priced at over $14,000 and a “Duplessis Zodiac Sign Astrological Constellation Personalized Throw Pillow” at $9,999. At the time, people claimed that these products shared the names of girls that were reported missing. The theory followed that the products had high prices because they were fronts for selling the missing girls. Wayfair told the BBC in 2020 that the prices were accurate for the industrial grade cabinets and were the result of a glitch in the case of the pillows. The viral social media posts frequently linked products to girls who were no longer missing. Multiple anti-trafficking groups said the claims were unproven and likely false. “We believe that the accusations being leveled against Wayfair regarding sex trafficking are lacking credibility in significant ways and, in many places, demonstrably false,” the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said at the time. In 2020, VERIFY found that the family of Samara Duplessis, a missing girl purportedly linked to the overpriced pillows, reported she was back home a couple of months before the Wayfair conspiracy became widespread. When VERIFY searched Wayfair for “Duplessis” products in 2020, we found the name attached to a number of different items that were considerably less expensive than the pillow. When VERIFY searched Wayfair’s site again on Dec. 2, 2024, we found it’s using the “Duplessis” name for at least one product, a rug selling for $144.99 , years after the missing girl was found. As for the reference to the cabinets in the original rumors, people claimed that there was a missing teenager from Ohio named Samiyah, too. But VERIFY was unable to find any evidence that a girl by that name was missing, and a teenager some people believed to be Samiyah refuted that she was missing in a video posted to her Facebook account. Wayfair told the BBC in 2020 that the expensive cabinets were “industrial size,” meant for business or commercial use and that the $14,000 price point was accurate. “We have temporarily removed the products from our site to rename them and to provide a more in-depth description and photos that accurately depict the product to clarify the price point,” Wayfair told the BBC in 2020. Another example of a missing teenager’s name possibly matching a Wayfair product was Mary Durrett to a Durrett coffee table. But she went missing in 2017 and was found safe two days after she was first reported missing. The claim connecting her to the coffee table listing was posted three years later. Many anti-trafficking organizations addressed the rumors in 2020. They all said the claims lacked credibility. “We identified early on that this was a likely hoax or a case of overexuberance by someone who did not have the expertise and data-driven approach that DeliverFund has,” Michael Fullilove, chief of operations for DeliverFund , a nonprofit intelligence agency that uses technology to help law enforcement fight human trafficking, said in 2020. “Based on the original source of the information, we were able to use open source intelligence techniques to determine that it was highly unlikely that the trafficking of children was taking place through the sale of expensive items on Wayfair,” Fullilove said. Polaris , which operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, said the claims were unsubstantiated and did more harm than good. People overwhelmed the hotline to make reports related to the conspiracy, increasing wait times and potentially denying trafficking victims from reaching the hotline. The theory also resulted in harassment and privacy intrusions of people mistakenly believed to be victims, as well as broad sharing of online sexual abuse material of real victims never connected to the Wayfair conspiracy, Polaris said. Polaris pointed out that trafficking is rarely perpetrated by a total stranger who kidnaps children and is instead usually perpetrated by people the victims know or even love and trust. Scenarios where the trafficker locks up or imprisons the victim with literal shackles make up a minority of trafficking cases despite it being the common public perception of trafficking, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said. Traffickers usually groom their victims and keep them captive through forms of psychological abuse, manipulation and coercion that can be difficult to identify. There are real cases in which sex trafficking is perpetrated online, usually through prostitution sites and pornography websites, according to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation said in 2020 that traffickers were increasingly using “popular social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok to identify, groom and exploit children in the online space.” Anti-trafficking organizations say that sharing viral, unsubstantiated trafficking rumors online is generally unhelpful to trafficking victims. What’s more helpful, these organizations say , is to learn how to identify real, common cases of trafficking to spot victims who need help. VERIFY reached out to Wayfair for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Related Articles No, most sex trafficking victims are not kidnapped by strangers There’s no evidence sex traffickers use tactics in viral warnings to target victims Claim that 320,000 migrant children went missing during the Biden administration is misleading The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter , text alerts and our YouTube channel . You can also follow us on Snapchat , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok . Learn More » Follow Us YouTube Snapchat Instagram Facebook TikTok Want something VERIFIED? Text: 202-410-8808Bali Nine transfer plans clouded by legal issues
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ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 2, 2024-- The Coca-Cola Company today announced updated voluntary environmental goals, which replace previous environmental goals set by the company related to water, packaging, climate and agriculture. This evolution is informed by learnings gathered through decades of work in sustainability, periodic assessment of progress and identified challenges. The updated goals aim to build long-term business resilience and make a positive impact in local communities. Achieving these ambitions will require continued investments in innovation and infrastructure solutions, enabling legislation and further collaboration with bottling partners, industry peers, local governments and civil society. Please visit our website here for more details. About The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our water, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak and Ayataka. Our juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Instagram , Facebook and LinkedIn . The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website or social media channels is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain statements, estimates or projections that constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words “aim,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “seek,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Statements about our sustainability goals, aspirations and anticipated progress also constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause The Coca-Cola Company’s actual results to differ materially from its historical experience and our present expectations or projections. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving sustainability regulatory requirements and expectations, including evolving processes, controls and methodologies for identifying, measuring, assuring and reporting sustainability metrics and data, which could result in significant revisions to our previously reported data; increasing concerns about the environmental impact of plastic bottles and other packaging materials; water scarcity and poor quality; increased demand for food products, decreased agricultural productivity and increased regulation of ingredient sourcing due diligence; climate change and legal or regulatory responses thereto; adverse weather conditions; unfavorable economic and geopolitical conditions; disruption of our supply chain, including increased commodity, raw material, packaging, energy, transportation and other input costs; lack of necessary infrastructure for our packaging goals; varied and potentially differing local laws, regulations and policies; an inability to successfully integrate and manage our acquired businesses, brands or bottling operations; and other risks discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and our subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which filings are available through the SEC’s website. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241202496226/en/ CONTACT: Investors and Analysts: Robin Halpern,koinvestorrelations@coca-cola.com Media: Ana Zenatti,press@coca-cola.com KEYWORD: GEORGIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OTHER MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MANUFACTURING SUSTAINABILITY FOOD/BEVERAGE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) RETAIL SOURCE: The Coca-Cola Company Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/02/2024 04:07 PM/DISC: 12/02/2024 04:06 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241202496226/enFishburn leads at Sea Island as Dahmen keeps hope alive to keep jobThe report from the Justice Department inspector general's office knocks down a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the events that day, when rioters determined to overturn Republican Donald Trump's 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the building in a violent clash with police. The review, released nearly four years after a dark chapter in history that shook the bedrock of American democracy, was narrow in scope, but aimed to shed light on gnawing questions that have dominated public discourse, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. The report offers a mixed assessment of the FBI's performance in the run-up to the riot, crediting the bureau for preparing for the possibility of violence and for trying to identify known "domestic terrorism subjects" who planned to come to Washington that day. But it said the FBI, in an action the now-deputy director described as a "basic step that was missed," failed to canvass informants across all 56 of its field offices for any relevant intelligence. That was a step, the report concluded, "that could have helped the FBI and its law enforcement partners with their preparations in advance of January 6." The report found 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who were tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the day's events. While four informants entered the Capitol, none were authorized to do so by the bureau or to break the law, the report said. Many of the 26 informants provided the FBI with information before the riot, but it "was no more specific than, and was consistent with, other sources of information" that the FBI acquired. The FBI said in a letter responding to the report that it accepts the inspection general's recommendation "regarding potential process improvements for future events." The lengthy review was launched days after the riot as the FBI faced questions over whether it had missed warning signs or adequately disseminated intelligence it received, including a Jan. 5, 2021, bulletin prepared by the FBI's Norfolk, Virginia, field office that warned of the potential for "war" at the Capitol. The inspector general found the information in that bulletin was broadly shared. FBI Director Chris Wray, who announced this week his plans to resign at the end of Biden's term in January, defended his agency's handing of the intelligence report. He told lawmakers in 2021 that the report was disseminated though the joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post in Washington and posted on an internet portal available to other law enforcement agencies. "We did communicate that information in a timely fashion to the Capitol Police and (Metropolitan Police Department) in not one, not two, but three different ways," Wray said at the time. Separately, the report said the FBI's New Orleans field office was told by a source between November 2020 and early January 2021 that protesters were planning to station a "quick reaction force" in northern Virginia "to be armed and prepared to respond to violence that day in DC, if necessary." That information was shared with the FBI's Washington Field Office, members of intelligence agencies and some federal law enforcement agencies the day before the riot, the inspector general found. But there was no indication the FBI told northern Virginia police about the information, the report said. An FBI official told the inspector general there was "nothing actionable or immediately concerning about it." A cache of weapons at a Virginia hotel as part of a "quick reaction force" was a central piece of the Justice Department's seditious conspiracy case against Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes and other members of the far-right extremist group. The conspiracy theory that federal law enforcement officers entrapped members of the mob has been spread in conservative circles, including by some Republican lawmakers. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., recently suggested on a podcast that agents pretending to be Trump supporters were responsible for instigating the violence. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who withdrew as Trump's pick as attorney general amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations, sent a letter to Wray in 2021 asking how many undercover agents or informants were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and if they were "merely passive informants or active instigators." Wray said the "notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous."
Pressure is on the Albanese government to make headway on its long list of stalled legislation before the federal election. Housing will be back in spotlight during the final sitting week of 2024, with the Help to Buy government equity scheme and incentives for build-to-rent to be brought to a final vote in the Senate. The two housing bills have struggled to attract the support of the opposition or the Greens, with Labor knocking back fresh demands from the latter. Central to the Greens’ updated position is funding for 25,000 “shovel-ready” homes not given the go-ahead under the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. Labor insists the demand is unlawful and would result in the construction of million-dollar homes that are not value for money. Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his party had designed “a compromise offer that is popular, achievable and easy to accept, it requires no new legislation and sits broadly within government policy”. With 30 or so bills still before the parliament, the government has been ramping up pressure on the Greens and the coalition to co-operate. “This is a week where we will see the colour of the eyes of Peter Dutton and the Greens party,” Employment Minister Murray Watt told reporters on Sunday. A friendless crackdown on misinformation and disinformation has been shelved and gambling reforms have been pushed into next year. Though the government is expecting wins on its aged care reforms and its social media age limit, with the former expected to attract opposition support. Under world-first legislation, Australians younger than 16 will be banned from social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter). Labor will also be spruiking its Future Made in Australia plan, with its hydrogen and critical minerals production tax incentives to be introduced to parliament on Monday. Economic management will likely get some airtime after monthly inflation figures are released on Wednesday, with headline inflation expected to once again land within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target band. But with the central bank’s preferred underlying gauge – stripped of the volatility inflicting the headline number – likely to remain above the two-three per cent band, keenly-anticipated interest rate cuts are likely to stay on ice. The federal election is due to be held by May 17.The Air Force has given industry the green light to start working on and submitting proposals for a potential five-year, $750 million professional services contract vehicle focused on U.S. Central Command’s headquarters. Bids for the multiple-award contract known by the acronym of CHIPS are due no later than 10 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 9. Questions must be submitted no later than 10 a.m. Eastern time on Dec. 20, the Air Force said in a . Air Force officials plan to award approximately 20 positions on the vehicle, which is reserved for companies with the service-disabled veteran-owned and 8(a) distinctions. The service branch is also eyeing an even split of awards between both groups. Offerors must declare to which small business designation they are proposing, in this case either SDVOSB or 8(a). Work under the CENTCOM Headquarters IDIQ will primarily take place at the location indicated, or in this case at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. CENTCOM’s area of responsibility includes 21 countries that are mostly in the Middle East. The contract covers support for CENTCOM directorates, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff and other Defense Department components. Awardees will compete for task orders to carry out program management services, management and program analysis, assessment, monitoring, and evaluation, information technology, data science, logistics management, operational contract support, vendor threat mitigation, acquisition management, and intelligence services. CHIPS is a brand new requirement with no incumbent. The period of performance is one initial base year with up to four individual option years.
Andretti's Formula 1 dream comes to bittersweet fruition without his involvement

Chuck Woolery Dies: Former ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Love Connection’ Host Was 83Canada thumped Trinidad and Tobago 38-0 to win the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens on Sunday and qualify for World Rugby’s second-tier Challenger Series. The tournament-favourite Canadian men outscored their opposition 169-0 over five matches in a first step back up the rugby sevens ladder since being relegated from the elite HSBC SVNS circuit in June. The top four teams from the three-event Challenger Series will face off against the bottom four from the HSBC SVNS at the SVNS World Championships May 3-4 in Carson, Calif., in a promotion/relegation playoff. “I think it’s just about continually building,” said Canada captain Elias Hancock. “We know what we’re capable of. We’ve shown it at times. It’s just time to get back to that place where we know we belong.” Prior to relegation, Canada had been a core team on the top sevens circuit since 2012-13 and lifted the trophy in Singapore in 2017. The Canadian men finished eighth at the Tokyo Olympics. Trinidad had plenty of the ball in the first half of Sunday’s final at Larry Gomes Stadium. But Canada, helped by several penalties, scored first with Hancock touching down under the posts for a try converted by Thomas Isherwood. Matt Oworu, beating two defenders, added another converted try for a 14-0 lead at the break. Cooper Coats added a converted try early in the second half. And Hancock, Jack Shaw and Noah Bain added late tries after Trinidad lost a man to the sin-bin for two minutes midway through the second half for an infraction off a Canadian kickoff. Earlier Sunday, the Canadians defeated Jamaica 26-0 in semifinal play and the Cayman Islands 38-0 in the quarterfinal. Trinidad and Tobago made it to the final — for the first time since 2013 — with a 19-7 comeback win over Mexico. Jamaica defeated Mexico 12-0 to finish third. Weather was a factor during the three-day tournament in Arima, some 30 kilometres east of Port of Spain. After enduring 30-plus C heat and humidity Friday, their final Pool A game against Barbados was abandoned Saturday due to a storm. On Sunday, the Canadians played the Cayman Islands in a downpour and the skies opened again at halftime of the Jamaica game. Alex Russell, Josiah Morra, Coats and Hancock scored tries against Jamaica for Canada, which led 12-0 at the break. Thomas Isherwood added three conversions. Morra and Hancock each scored two tries against the Caymans and Ethan Hager and D’Shawn Bowen added singles for Canada, which led 19-0 at the half. Canada added four conversions. Canada, which blanked Guyana 29-0 Friday, dispatched Bermuda 38-0 Saturday and was leading Barbados 10-0 when the game was halted in the first half due to heavy rain and high winds. While play eventually resumed, the interrupted Canada game was ruled a scoreless draw. The Canadian men are coming off a disastrous 3-36-0 HSBC SVNS season that ended with a 22-14 loss to Spain with relegation on the line. It was a 29th straight defeat. After being relegated, coach Sean White’s team fell short in an Olympic repechage tournament in late June in Monaco, finishing fourth after losing 26-0 to eventual winner South Africa in the semifinals. The Blitzboks went on to claim bronze in Paris. The 13-man roster for the RAN 7s includes six players who were part of the relegation playoff in Madrid: Hancock, Isherwood, Morra, Coats, Oworu and David Richard. Morra, Coats and Oworu joined the sevens team from Bucharest where they were part of Kingsley Jones’ Canadian 15s squad for test matches against Chile and Romania. The Canadian men are scheduled to play in an invitational men’s sevens tournament taking place at B.C. Place Stadium alongside the HSBC SVNS Vancouver stop in February. The Canadian women left Sunday for Dubai and the opening stop of the 2005 HSBC SVNS season. The Olympic silver-medallist Canadians open play next Saturday against Japan before facing Brazil and Olympic champion New Zealand.
Chuck Woolery Dies: Former ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Love Connection’ Host Was 831. A pair of chic wireless headband sleep headphones so you can keep your ears comfortable listening to music, white noise, or calming affirmations as you drift off. Promising review : "I purchased this product to be able to listen to affirmations as I fall asleep. It has been great for that, and has also been very beneficial on long airplane flights when my ears hurt from the AirPods being in for so long. Also a great option when you are sleeping in a room with someone who snores! My kids keep stealing this from me so I purchased two more to get them for Christmas!" — Dawn Cooperider Get it from Amazon for $16.99 (clip the 20% off coupon on the product page for this price; available in 25 colors). 2. No Worries: A Guided Journal, a popular self-guided journal designed to help with managing anxiety, stress, and the general "adkfjgaldkjfgalkj" in your brain so you can rest a bit easier at night. Each day has a similar set of prompts for 12 undated weeks to help you reflect on your thought patterns and sources of anxiety, and gradually find self-care practices and management strategies that suit you best. Promising review: "I’ve never been a journal or diary person, but needed an outlet for my anxiety and stress . Each day has the same two-page spread that prompts you to think about your day, how you felt, and why you felt that way. There isn’t really any inspiration or advice, just open lines for your thoughts without it being an intimidating blank page. This journal has already helped me see patterns in my thoughts/emotions and I feel better overall. I would recommend this journal to anyone." — Kari Madsen Get it from Amazon for $9.95 . 3. A guided visual "breathing partner" you can use for meditation and calm to get yourself in a better mindset for sleep. This is designed to guide you through either the popular 4/7/8 or 5/5 "calming breaths" to help reduce stress and anxiety, using colors that fade in and out softly as cues. Bonus: it's kid-friendly! Mindset is a small business that specializes in calming personal care and decor products. Promising review: "Who doesn’t need less stress and more sleep these days! Here's your breathing meditation partner. Very useful at your desk and bed stand. So easy to charge and use, not to mention that he’s really cute!" — Cece Get it from Amazon for $21.95 (available in three styles). 4. A pack of drug-free Breathe Right nasal strips reviewers quite literally claim " saved their marriage " — these provide instant snoring *and* congestion relief by increasing nasal airflow. Bonus: there's an optional "scratch and sniff" lavender scent if you want an extra dose of calm. Promising review: "This product is a true gem. I’m eight months pregnant, and due to the baby pressing on my diaphragm, I’ve begun to snore terribly. My poor husband is a light sleeper, so I needed to figure something out. I started applying this at night, and he says he doesn’t hear a peep out of me! If you have trouble sleeping or snoring, this is something you need." — Raevyn Get a box of 26 strips from Amazon for $9.60 . 5. A set of delightfully ~~tingly~~ self-heating soothing foot masks made with Epsom salts, lavender, and peppermint perfect for anyone whose recent step count is "too many." Nothing like a lil' self-care on those aching feet to get into relaxation mode before bed! Check out a TikTok of the foot masks in action. I'm a long-ish distance runner, and these were certainly an interesting experience for my feet! You slide them on and, after a few minutes, feel a tingling, mildly burning (in a good way) sensation. It doesn't quite numb your feet, but it relaxes them. I kept them on for 30 minutes and then toweled my feet off, and the tingling sensation slowly faded over the next 30 minutes. After that my feet felt very refreshed and relaxed at a time of day when they're usually aching from all the miles I put in. The whole thing was a mess-free, easy process, and I will definitely keep them on hand for longer run days! Promising review: "These masks soften my feet right away after only one us e. I recommend using them before bed but do not discard them yet . You can use the same pair again the next morning as some products remain in the masks." — Guy Kositrana Get a set of three pairs from Amazon for $11.97 . 6. A set of review-beloved moisture-wicking double-brushed microfiber sheets with a softness so luxurious that you'll be like, "Cotton whomst?? " Reviewers especially love that the "cooling" effect of these is no joke, particularly for people in hot climates or people experiencing night sweats and hot flashes. P romising review : “LOVE THESE!! I was searching for a sheet set that would help me sleep more comfortably at night and found these. I have terrible hot flashes with night sweats and get up in the morning, just miserable. Of course, these do not eliminate my hot flashes as no sheets will, but they definitely make my nights much more comfortable by eliminating wet bedding, and I definitely appreciate that! Aside from their moisture-wicking abilities, they are very soft, easy to look at, and launder extremely well. I would highly recommend these for anyone shopping for sheet sets and especially for anyone experiencing night sweats!! ” — Shannon Warfel Get it from Amazon for $34.95+ (available in sizes Twin—California King, with deep pockets, and in 37 styles). 7. And a set of wildly popular ~hotel~ pillows that will make you feel like a lil' cherub falling asleep on a breezy cloud. Reviewers are obsessed with how these manage to be soft but firm at the same time, and how they're so breathable and cooling that they're basically a must-have for anyone who overheats at night. Promising review: "These had great reviews, but I was still skeptical. I'm a bit of a pillow snob. These pillows — these amazing, heavenly pillows — are now my favorite part of going to bed. Soft but firm. How does that work? It gives support for me to sleep slightly propped up but I sink into this comfortable personal cloud. Soft but firm. My head isn't sinking through the pillow to rest on my mattress, but I feel comfortably enveloped. Heaven. I bought two but think that would be too much fluff, so now my husband and I each have one. Buy them. Add to cart. Buy now with one click. Stop the research. You've found the pillows you were looking for. " — Marissa Urey Get a set of two from Amazon for $59.99+ (available in two sizes). 8. Plus a satin pillowcase to invest in not only for its cooling effect, but the fact that it's soft on your skin and creates less friction for your hair so that it won't get as tangled while you sleep. Reviewers also swear by these for helping clear up their acne and love how easy these are to wash while still maintaining their quality. Kitsch is an LA-based, self-financed, woman-owned small business established in 2010 that specializes in hair accessories. Check out a TikTok of the Kitsch satin pillowcase in action. Promising review: "I'm really liking this pillow. I woke up today with nice wavy hair, not dry tangled hair. I've been trying to grow out the layer of hair on the top back of my head and it's been so stubborn! Keeps getting tangled and breaks here and there from bleaching and dye damage, but with this new pillow I notice it doesn't tangle, which means it can grow right without rubbing and tangling/pulling! So I'm excited to see what happens by the end of summer! Also the pillow is soft and is so much more prettier in person! 😍😍😍💖💖💖" — Amazon Customer 🌷 Get it from Amazon for $17.99+ (available in two sizes and in 48 styles). 9. A set of light-dimming stickers you can stick on all the LED lights blasting their glow like tiny UFOs in your room at night. They come in a pack of all different sizes, so you can find the perfect ones to match your gizmos and finally get the restful sleep you deserve every night. Promising review : "Who knew such a simple little thing would actually help you sleep better? Works just as advertised. No more annoying lights to keep me up at night!" — Margo A. Castorena Get a set from Amazon for $8.99+ (available in 80% light blockage and 100% light blockage). 10. A set of wax earplugs that mold to the shape of your inner ear like putty, fully blocking out noises like snoring, car honking, or the night owl in your home queueing up The Office who forgot, yet again, to turn the sound down before the theme started playing on full blast 🫠. You can check out my review of Macks Earplugs for more deets: "The moldable silicone of Mack's Earplugs contours easily to the shape of your ear to block out noise much more effectively than other foam or plastic varieties, and the noise reduction is so good that if I pair them with a white noise machine (or just like a white noise loop on Spotify) I genuinely don't hear noises from outside my room. Not only that, but once they're in place, they stay locked there until you decide to pull them out. I've also *loved* these for traveling — if you put these babies in on a plane not only does it help reduce some of the YIKES factor when the plane takes off (it's loud!!), but it cancels out the murmuring noises of passengers on the flight and makes it easier to get some shuteye. " Promising review : "I had to travel for work and stayed in hotels. Noise always was a problem. These were the best solution to lessen noise because they mold to your ear better than foam ear plugs." — Bizeec Get 12 pairs from Amazon for $10.98 . 11. A contoured sleep mask designed to alleviate pressure from your eyes and plunge you into total delicious darkness all night long, while staying put on your head without any Velcro snagging in your hair in the middle of the night. I personally swear by this eye mask! I live in a super bright area and closing the window curtains makes me irrationally sad, so I use these to get to sleep and it's like lights out on the universe. These are also REALLY great for days when your work schedule is wonky or you need to take a day nap, since it not only blocks out all the light, but the contouring means it won't smudge your mascara if you're wearing any. It's also super comfy and never snags in my hair, even when it's not in a ponytail. Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (available in seven colors). 12. Or a Nodpod , a strap-free weighted sleep mask designed for back *and* side sleepers with a gentle pressure to encourage stress relief and deep sleep. Nodpod is a small business specializing in sleep products. Psst — you can also put it in the freezer, and the microbeads in the mask will stay cool for hours. Promising review : "There's something about placing this weighted thing on my eyes when I'm tossing and turning that lulls me back to sleep . The shape of it is a bit weird — it's not a typical eye mask, it's much bulkier and doesn't fasten on in the same way — but once you get beyond that, this can really be a beautiful thing. I keep it on my bedside table and use it if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep (which happens often) or once the sun rises and I want to sleep in a little more. If you have sleep issues I'd recommend trying this novel product." — Veronicam Get it from Amazon for $34 (available in six colors). 13. A migraine relief beanie for when your brain decides it's going to rattle against your skull at the least convenient time possible. (AKA, RIGHT BEFORE BED!!) This gets icy *and* hot depending on what kind of relief you're looking for, and doubles as a sleep mask so you can block out harsh light or try to get some shut-eye for further relief. IceBeanie is a small business that specializes in cold therapy products. Promising review: "I don’t usually write reviews but this thing is literally a game changer. Amazing quality, so comfortable to wear, and it really helps me to relax and also when I have a headache. This is top shelf. I am so happy with my purchase!" — Bonnie Boughton Get it from Amazon for $39.99 (available in two colors). 14. A caffeine-free herbal Sweet Dreams tea designed to promote better sleep with a mixture of chamomile rose blossoms and mint herbs, which have calming as heck properties. Promising review : "I have been having trouble sleeping A LOT lately, I'm very sensitive to sounds/light to where I wake up frustrated and ready to get out of bed to just get the day done. Now let me tell you that the first night, within seconds of sipping my tea, I yawn nonstop and am ready for bed. Knocked out and didn't wake up/toss or turn the entire night, woke up feeling so much better. Actually woke up smiling, too!" — Isa Get a 28-count pack from Amazon for $7 (available in various sizes). 15. An affordable sunrise alarm clock so you can trick your human brain into thinking you're already dappled in the light of a bright, sunshiny day when you wake up, even if the the sun hasn't quite caught up to your morning routine. This can be programmed with seven different light settings, seven different calming "wake up" noises, and to start gradually lighting up at 30, 20, or 10 minutes before you wake. Promising review: " I got this recommendation from TikTok, and it really has helped, especially with Oregon winters where the sun is not out by the time the alarm rings. It has several peaceful alarm settings and even has night music to put you to sleep. The sunrise with the alarm piano is what I play to wake me up every morning and it is a way better way than to wake up to an annoying phone alarm." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $31.92+ (available in three styles). 16. Or a gorgeously designed Hatch Restore 2 — this sunrise alarm and sound machine works overtime as a touch-controlled smart light, bedtime reading light, and even a wind-down light that helps you get into a healthier sleep routine at night, which is especially important to maintain when it's dark out for so long. Other bedside lamps could truly never. Hatch Restore lets you personalize a "bedtime routine" for each night to train your brain to recognize sleep cues and get a better night's rest. Options include changing the light settings to more amber tones to help produce melatonin for sleep, soothing noise options, and sleep meditations and sleep stories you can get in the Hatch app. Promising review: "The Hatch Restore 2 is truly a game changer for those looking to improve their night’s sleep and wake-up routine. It’s been the best bedside companion and has improved my overall health and well-being. The combination of sounds, lights, buttons, and aesthetics really all come to play to make this feel like a truly premium device. There are touch adjustments to adjust the volume and brightness of the clock, which work really well. My favorite feature is the physical buttons which you can press to start or stop the routines; it feels very intentional when I get ready for bed and really gets me in the right mindset to begin my bedtime routine ." — Natasha Advani Get it from Amazon for $169.99 (available in three styles). 17. A dual-zone comforter to quite possibly save y'all's relationship, particularly if you can never agree on where the thermostat should be. One side of this comforter runs cool, and the other one runs hot, so you can sleep under whichever side you prefer without waking up when one of you hogs or throws off the covers in the middle of the night. Promising review: "This comforter is what we’ve always needed . My husband and I are always tangled in blankets because I need more but yet they always end up on his side. This comforter provides an all-in-one solution that keeps me warm and him cool and our bedroom looking calm and zen. " — Hannah Get it from Amazon for $134.99+ (available in four colors and two sizes). 18. An insulated soundproofing strip that easily sticks to the outer rims of your door, giving you some peace and quiet at bedtime and making it *much* less likely that you'll hear people rooting around the Cheez-Its box in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Psst — this insulated strip also stops air conditioning and heat from escaping out of the crack under the door, saving energy and money! Promising review: "Lifesaver. I have roommates who always watch TV loudly until midnight, so I purchased this to seal the gap in my door. It really reduced 90% of the noise from the living room!!! I can finally have a nice sleep!!!" — wen yan Get it from Amazon for $7.97 (available in three sizes and four colors). 19. A plush memory foam mattress topper to quickly transform any old spring mattress into an oasis — this helps distribute your weight on your mattress more evenly to reduce pressure on your joints, so you're less likely to toss and turn. Promising review: "This thing has changed my sleep for the better. My mattress has always been kind of uncomfortable with painful springs, but I just put up with it. Since switching to working nights and sleeping during the day, I wake up more easily and needed something to help me fall asleep and stay asleep. This topper is so nice! It doesn’t feel cool to the touch, I just don’t overheat while I sleep. It’s so soft I can fall asleep without a pillow. I love it!" — Avery Basford Get it from Amazon for $59.99+ (available in two or three inch depth and in eight standard bed sizes). 20. Or a pillow-top mattress pad so you can pretend you're sleeping on Mount Olympus. (What up, Zeus??) Not only is this down alternative fill fluffy and soft as heck, but it's wick-away and ventilated to help keep you cool while you snooze. Promising review : "Whoaaa this thing is amazing. I have a very expensive, firm mattress that I bought when I was younger. I got this, put this over the foam mat, and it’s like a new mattress. I slept like a rock last night. Haven’t slept that well in a long time. I also like that it’s attached to the mattress pad, so it’s not sliding all over. It slept very cool, I’m assuming that’s because is cotton. Highly recommend if you’re looking to fix a mattress and not have to spend money on a new one ." — Julie Get it from Amazon for $76.99+ (available in sizes Twin–California king and in four colors). 21. A high-end sound machine that never ever ever loops, bless its technological heart, and has soundscapes so satisfyingly realistic that Dream You will be like, "Um, am I the main character swimming under this rushing waterfall/burrowed by this crackling fireplace/frolicking through this lush meadow?" Bonus — it's also adaptive and changes its volume and mix based on what it hears in your environment. Adaptive Sound Technologies is a small business established in 2009 specializing in sound technology for personal care. Psst — it's compatible with speakers *and* headphones, so if you're sharing the room you don't have to subject your partner to it. Promising review : "I have suffered from insomnia all my life, and have found if I fall asleep listening to something I sleep better. I tried falling asleep to the TV, but invariably around 3 a.m., I would wake up listening to infomercials. Then, while traveling, my husband and I stayed in a very nice hotel that had this product in our room. I tried it, and slept like a baby the whole time we were there! I knew I had to have one at home, and ordered this as soon as we got home. I love that it has so many different sounds to choose from, as well as volume adjustment. You can leave it on all night or set the timer to shut off. This is a fantastic product, and while not inexpensive, in my opinion, well worth the money." — Tamstrat Get it from Amazon for $90.28+ (available in three styles). 22. A bottle of Dr Teal's soothing foaming bath with Epsom salt to help relieve aching muscles, and give you something decadent to look forward to all day (aside from watching your frozen pizza go round in the microwave, that is). Promising review : "I needed something to help me relax that was not a nap and this did it for me! I used this in an evening bath. Not only did it help me relax, it also helped me fall asleep so good that night. I tend to stay awake in bed (usually on my phone) most nights, but after this bath I fell asleep right away. It didn't bubble a whole lot for me, but it smelled amazing and made my skin the softest it's been in a long time! It's a good sized bottle with a sufficient amount of baths per bottle. Overall, I loved it. I don't take baths too often, but this has inspired me to do this more! 10/10 would buy again. " — Priscilla Perez Get it from Amazon for $8.71 . 23. A handy dandy amber reading light that's 99.94% free of blue spectrum light — aka, the light that signals to your brain that it's daytime and keeps you up and attem. Now you can read your book at night without disrupting your unsuspecting circadian rhythms. Promising review: "This is a fantastic light! I use it every evening to continue reading while my son sleeps, it does not wake him or impede my sleep after I’m ready to go to bed. Great product." — Brian Masters Get it from Amazon for $11.99+ (available in four colors). 24. A Sleep Pod , aka a snuggly adult swaddle blanket that'll cocoon you like a snug little bug in a rug. It applies gentle pressure while still staying cool and breathable, so it basically mimics a light hug you can get a good night's sleep in. Hug Sleep is a Wisconsin-based, family-owned small business that specializes in quality products to improve sleep. Promising review : "I’ve used it for 10 nights now, and by night 4, I was hooked. It washed up well — quick dry too! I’m autistic and loving the swaddled feel at night, especially during these hot months when my weighted blanket makes no sense." — Kathryn Whittier Get it from Amazon for $84.99 (available in six sizes, four styles, and three colors). 25. And a weighted Bearaby napper that answers the question of, "What would it look like if a blanket had magic sleep-inducing powers?" This breathable chunky knit blanket is designed with a comforting weight to help soothe anxiety and promote calm, making it easier not just to fall asleep, but *stay* asleep. I've been using this weighted blanket for about three years now and what I find really remarkable about it is that I *never* feel overheated in it . It's also just so, SO soft, and looks absolutely beautiful at the foot of my bed where I leave it every night. It definitely helps me activate "sleep mode" at night — I find the weight very comforting and not at all stifling, because it spreads so evenly. Promising review: "I’m in love with my this blanket! It is absolutely gorgeous and has made a remarkable difference in my sleeping habits. If you are even thinking about a weighted blanket, this is a MUST! Just do it! You will only wish you’d done it sooner!" — Sandy Psst — to choose a style, Bearaby recommends a blanket that is about ten percent of your body weight. Get it from Bearaby for $179+ (originally $199+, available in four weights and nine colors). 26. A pair of breathable, lightweight satin pajamas that will make you feel like you're staying in a hotel suite instead of the same bed you frequently find stray Goldfish crumbs in between laundry days. Promising review: "These are the best pajamas I've ever purchased. I'm completely hooked. The quality is amazing and they're super comfortable. I will be ordering all the other colors." — Mandie Get them from Amazon for $26.09+ (available in women's sizes S–XL and nine colors). 27. A pack of cult-fave nonmedicated Vicks VapoPatches — these mess-free, wearable patches help relieve congestion with a blend of eucalyptus, essential oils, and menthol, so you can still get your ~beauty sleep~ even when your immune system/allergies aren't feeling quite as beauteous as you'd like. A heads-up that these are meant to be worn *over* your clothes. Promising review: "I was pleasantly surprised when the scent lasted all night! They absolutely help me sleep better when I have a cold. I ordered some for my mother so she’d have them on hand for the upcoming cold and flu season." — Ashley Get two five-packs from Amazon for $19.91 (also available as a single five-pack). 28. A tub of Lush's silky sleepy lotion for real overachievers, so you can get your skincare *and* sleepcare taken care of in one go. This is made with lavender and tonka to promote relaxation, and cocoa butter and almond oil to keep your skin moisturized and soft so you wake up fresh as a daisy. Promising review : "I love this cream dearly. I have so much trouble sleeping due to stress and anxiety. But, I think I may have Pavlov's-dogged myself with this lotion. Whenever I put on Sleepy, the lavender and tonka scent immediately relaxes my body. It has gotten to the point where I use the Sleepy bath bomb or shower gel before bed to prep myself mentally and physically for bed." — Princess Jo Here's what BuzzFeeder Heather Braga has to say about it: "I’m a pretty anxious person and have a hard time getting my brain to shut down before bed. This has been an absolute game changer for me. It’s not too thick, smells heavenly, and a little goes a long way. I apply to my chest and arms so the scent can easily lull me to sleep." Get it from Lush for $9.50+ (available in four sizes). 29. A splurgeworthy side sleeper pillow so gamechanging that you'll wish you had a time machine back to all the nights you slept without it. Reviewers swear by this pillow to help align their spine for relief from neck and shoulder pain, and *love* the genuinely cooling feeling the down alternative, gel memory foam insides. Honeydew is a small business that specializes in uniquely-designed sleep products. Promising review: "I have searched for a perfect pillow for many months, and finally found this one. I LOVE this pillow . It is soft yet supportive, and the shape is perfect for side sleeping. It is expensive, true, but I think well worth the price. The fill used is wonderful compared to shredded or molded memory foam. It feels like down but with more neck support, and not at all lumpy. I like to hug the side extensions which provide support for my upper body when sleeping on my side. I totally recommend this pillow for side sleepers. You won't be disappointed." — Elizabeth Wright Get it from Amazon for $199.99+ (available in Queen and King sizes). 30. A sleep-focused essential oils blend made with chamomile, sage, and lavender to help soothe anxiety and reduce stress before bedtime and promote prolonged sleep. Promising review: "I have bad insomnia on the nights before I have to go to work. In desperation I decided to try using a diffuser, and I heard Lavender was the go to scent for this. I ordered Dream Essential Oil hoping it would help me and was so glad that the price was so affordable. I don't usually write reviews but I am so happy that I am now getting a good night's sleep every night before work that I had to share. The scent is pleasant and I find myself relaxing into it and falling asleep and staying asleep like never before. I can keep it going all night and it doesn't lose its scent either. I would highly recommend this product!" — Kindle Customer Get it from Amazon for $11.95 . Psst — if you don't have a diffuser, you can get a popular, well-reviewed essential oil diffuser on Amazon for $13.99 . You waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat because you didn't buy those cult-fave cooling sheets yet: Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Tests keep coming for Auburn and Duke, who collide at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a typical prove-it game in a rare environment on Wednesday night. No. 2 Auburn and No. 9 Duke square off less than one month into the season as two of the most battle-tested teams in basketball. They're matched as one of the marquee games in the crossover showcase known as the ACC-SEC Challenge. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024Revenue grows 125% year over year Current hashrate surpasses 33.5 EH/s on track for 37 EH/s LAS VEGAS , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CleanSpark, Inc. CLSK (the "Company"), America's Bitcoin Miner®, today reported financial results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 . "Our performance this year reflects a sustained growth trajectory, solidifying our position as one of the top Bitcoin miners in the world, as we move into an anticipated new bull market," said CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford . "Reflecting on the past year, our results in FY 2024 and the positioning of the company going into 2025 demonstrated the wisdom of our counter-cyclical growth and capital allocation strategy. We produce durable, high performing growth and have been since our earliest days in Bitcoin mining," Bradford said. "CleanSpark has prioritized owned infrastructure as its core foundation, putting us in the best position to optimize our portfolio of data centers to drive ROI to our shareholders as we continue to rapidly deploy additional hashrate on our path to 37 EH by year-end and 50 EH and beyond in 2025." "We anticipated that there would be prime opportunities for M&A paired with organic growth, and over the past year we capitalized by adding 423 MWs to our operating portfolio bringing us to 726 MW, as of today. As we continue focusing on scale in FY 2025 and beyond, we will develop the remaining hundreds of MW in the near-term pipeline while always staying opportunistic," said Bradford. "The team produced our strongest year of financial performance to date, solidifying a track record of effective execution and keeping commitments to shareholders. This fiscal year included the fourth halving event in Bitcoin 's history, and our organizational commitment to operational excellence has allowed us to weather it more successfully than many of our industry peers," said CleanSpark CFO Gary Vecchiarelli . "Even with the halving event impacting block rewards and a significant increase in difficulty, our production outpaced both, yielding approximately 7,100 BTC thanks to our growth in hashrate and the efficiency improvements to our fleet. "CleanSpark's financial strength continued to grow in fiscal 2024," said Vecchiarelli. "Heading into 2025, we have significant scale and size, a healthy balance sheet, industry leading operations and a strong liquidity position, and we are well positioned to pursue diverse capital raising strategies," Vecchiarelli said. Financial Highlights: Full Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2024 . The Company's annual revenues were $378.9 million , an increase of $210.5 million , or 125%, from $168.4 million for the prior fiscal year. Net loss for the year ended September 30, 2024 , was ($145.8) million or ($0.69) basic loss per share compared to a net loss of ($138.1) million or ($1.30) loss per share for the prior fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA was $245.8 million , an increase of $220.8 million from $25.0 million for the prior fiscal year. 1 Balance Sheet Highlights as of September 30, 2024 Assets Cash: $122.2 million Bitcoin : $509.5 million (includes bitcoin receivable of $77.8 million posted as collateral), based upon 8,049 bitcoin at a price of $63,301 at September 30, 2024 Total Current Assets: $705.4 million Total Mining Assets (including prepaid deposits & deployed miners): $902.0 million Total Assets: $2.0 billion Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current Liabilities: $187.9 million Total Liabilities: $201.8 million Total Stockholders' Equity: $1.8 billion The Company had working capital of $517.5 million and $66.0 million of loans payable as of September 30, 2024 . 1 See "Non-GAAP Measure" and the related reconciliation below Investor Conference Call and Webcast The Company will hold its fiscal year 2024 earnings presentation and business update for investors and analysts today, December 2, 2024 , at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. ET . Webcast URL: https://investors.cleanspark.com The webcast will be accessible for at least 30 days on the Company's website and a transcript of the call will be available on the Company's website following the call. About CleanSpark CleanSpark CLSK , America's Bitcoin Miner ® , is a market-leading, pure play bitcoin miner with a proven track record of success. We own and operate a portfolio of mining facilities across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin , energy, operational excellence and capital stewardship, we optimize our mining facilities to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by securing the most important finite, global asset – Bitcoin – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Visit our website at www.cleanspark.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this press release, forward-looking statements include, but may not be limited to, statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions, and strategies. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "forecasts," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the risk that the electrical power available to our facilities does not increase as expected; the success of its digital currency mining activities; the volatile and unpredictable cycles in the emerging and evolving industries in which we operate, including the volatility of BTC prices; increasing difficulty rates for bitcoin mining; bitcoin halving; new or additional governmental regulation; the anticipated delivery dates of new miners; the Company's ability to successfully completed acquisitions, including integration risks relating to completed and potential acquisitions, the ability to successfully deploy new miners; the dependency on utility rate structures and government incentive programs; dependency on third-party power providers for expansion efforts; the expectations of future revenue growth may not be realized; and other risks described in the Company's prior press releases and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading "Risk Factors" in those filings. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made only as to the date of this press release, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of any new information, changed circumstances or future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Non-GAAP Measure The Company presents adjusted EBITDA, which is not a measurement of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). The Company's non-GAAP "Adjusted EBITDA" excludes (i) impacts of interest, taxes, and depreciation; (ii) the Company's share-based compensation expense, unrealized gains/losses on securities, and, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration with respect to previously completed acquisitions, all of which are non-cash items that the Company believes are not reflective of the Company's general business performance, and for which the accounting requires management judgment, and the resulting expenses could vary significantly in comparison to other companies; (iii) non-cash impairment losses related to long-lived assets (including goodwill); (iv) realized gains and losses on sales of equity securities, the amounts of which are directly related to the unrealized gains and losses that are also excluded; (v) legal fees related to litigation and various transactions, which fees management does not believe are reflective of the Company's ongoing operating activities; (vi) gains and losses on disposal of assets, the majority of which are related to obsolete or unrepairable machines that are no longer deployed; (vii) gains and losses related to discontinued operations that would not be applicable to the Company's future business activities; and (viii) severance expenses. The Company previously excluded non-cash impairment losses related to digital assets and realized gains and losses on sales of bitcoin from its calculation of adjusted EBITDA, but has determined such items are part of the Company's normal ongoing operations and will no longer be excluding them from its calculation of adjusted EBITDA. Management believes that providing this non-GAAP financial measure that excludes these items allows for meaningful comparisons between the Company's core business operating results and those of other companies, and provides the Company with an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating its own core business operating results over different periods of time. In addition to management's internal use of non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA, management believes that adjusted EBITDA is also useful to investors and analysts in comparing the Company's performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis. Management believes the foregoing to be the case even though some of the excluded items involve cash outlays and some of them recur on a regular basis (although management does not believe any of such items are normal operating expenses necessary to generate the Company's bitcoin related revenues). For example, the Company expects that share-based compensation expense, which is excluded from adjusted EBITDA, will continue to be a significant recurring expense over the coming years and is an important part of the compensation provided to certain employees, officers, and directors. Additionally, management does not consider any of the excluded items to be expenses necessary to generate the Company's bitcoin related revenue. The Company's adjusted EBITDA measure may not be directly comparable to similar measures provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in the Company's industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently. The Company's adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to operating (loss) income or any other measure of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. Although management utilizes internally and presents adjusted EBITDA, the Company only utilizes that measure supplementally and does not consider it to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results. Accordingly, adjusted EBITDA is not meant to be considered in isolation of, and should be read in conjunction with, the information contained in the Company's consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands, except par value and share amounts) September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 ASSETS Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 121,222 $ 29,215 Restricted cash 3,056 — Receivable for equity offerings — 9,590 Prepaid expense and other current assets 7,995 3,258 Bitcoin (See Note 2 and Note 6) 431,661 56,241 Receivable for bitcoin collateral (See Note 2 and Note 12) 77,827 — Note receivable from GRIID (see Note 7) 60,919 — Derivative investments 1,832 2,697 Investment in debt security, AFS, at fair value 918 726 Current assets held for sale — 445 Total current assets $ 705,430 $ 102,172 Property and equipment, net $ 869,693 $ 564,395 Operating lease right of use asset 3,263 688 Intangible assets, net 3,040 4,603 Deposits on miners and mining equipment 359,862 75,959 Other long-term asset 13,331 5,718 Goodwill 8,043 8,043 Total assets $ 1,962,662 $ 761,578 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 82,992 $ 39,900 Accrued liabilities 43,874 25,677 Other current liabilities 2,240 311 Current portion of loans payable 58,781 6,992 Current liabilities held for sale — 1,175 Total current liabilities $ 187,887 $ 74,055 Long-term liabilities Operating lease liability, net of current portion 997 519 Finance lease liability, net of current portion — 9 Loans payable, net of current portion 7,176 8,911 Deferred income taxes 5,761 2,416 Total liabilities $ 201,821 $ 85,910 Commitments and contingencies - Note 18 CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (continued) (in thousands, except par value and share amounts) September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 Stockholders' equity Preferred stock; $0.001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; Series A shares; 2,000,000 authorized; 1,750,000 issued and outstanding (liquidation preference $0.02 per share) Series X shares; 1,000,000 and 0 authorized, issued and outstanding, respectively 3 2 Common stock; $0.001 par value; 300,000,000 shares authorized; 270,897,784 and 160,184,921 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 271 160 Additional paid-in capital 2,239,367 1,009,482 Accumulated other comprehensive income 418 226 Accumulated deficit (479,218) (334,202) Total stockholders' equity 1,760,841 675,668 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 1,962,662 $ 761,578 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (in thousands, except per share and share amounts) For the year ended September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022 Revenues, net Bitcoin mining revenue, net $ 378,968 $ 168,121 $ 131,000 Other services revenue — 287 525 Total revenues, net $ 378,968 $ 168,408 $ 131,525 Costs and expenses Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below) 165,516 93,580 41,234 Professional fees 13,806 10,869 6,469 Payroll expenses 74,095 45,714 40,920 General and administrative expenses 30,185 20,823 10,423 Loss on disposal of assets 5,466 1,931 (643) Gain on fair value of bitcoin, net (see Note 2 and Note 6) (113,423) — — Other impairment expense (related to bitcoin) — 7,163 12,210 Impairment expense - fixed assets 197,041 — — Impairment expense - other 716 — 250 Impairment expense - goodwill — — 12,048 Realized gain on sale of bitcoin — (1,357) (2,567) Depreciation and amortization 154,609 120,728 49,045 Total costs and expenses $ 528,011 $ 299,451 $ 169,389 Loss from operations $ (149,043) $ (131,043) $ (37,864) Other income (expense) Other income — 11 308 Change in fair value of contingent consideration — 2,484 306 Recognized gain on bitcoin collateral returned 91 — — Change in fair value of bitcoin collateral 1,384 — — Realized gain on sale of equity security — — 1 Unrealized loss on equity security — — (2) Unrealized loss on derivative security (965) (259) (1,950) Interest income 8,555 481 190 Interest expense (2,455) (2,977) (1,078) Total other income (expense) $ 6,610 $ (260) $ (2,225) Loss before income tax expense (142,433) (131,303) (40,089) Income tax expense 3,344 2,416 — Loss from continuing operations $ (145,777) $ (133,719) $ (40,089) Discontinued operations Loss from discontinued operations $ — $ (4,429) $ (17,237) Income tax expense — — — Loss on discontinued operations $ — $ (4,429) $ (17,237) Net loss $ (145,777) $ (138,148) $ (57,326) Preferred stock dividends 3,422 — 336 Net loss attributable to common shareholders $ (149,199) $ (138,148) $ (57,662) Other comprehensive income, net of tax 192 116 115 Total comprehensive loss attributable to common shareholders $ (149,007) $ (138,032) $ (57,547) CLEANSPARK, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (continued) (in thousands, except per share and share amounts) For the year ended September 30, 2024 September 30, 2023 September 30, 2022 Loss from continuing operations per common share - basic $ (0.69) $ (1.30) $ (0.95) Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 Loss from continuing operations per common share - diluted $ (0.69) $ (1.30) $ (0.95) Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 Loss on discontinued operations per common share - basic $ - $ (0.04) $ (0.40) Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 Loss on discontinued operations per common share - diluted $ - $ (0.04) $ (0.40) Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted 216,860,819 102,707,509 42,614,197 CLEANSPARK, INC. RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA (Unaudited, in thousands) For the Year Ended September 30, 2024 2023 Net income (loss) $ (145,777) $ (138,148) Adjustments: Loss on discontinued operations — 4,429 Impairment expense – fixed assets 197,041 — Impairment expense – other 716 — Depreciation and amortization 154,609 120,728 Share-based compensation expense 29,555 24,142 Other income — (11) Change in fair value of contingent consideration — (2,484) Unrealized loss (gain) of derivative security 965 259 Interest income (8,555) (481) Interest expense 2,455 2,977 Loss on disposal of assets 5,466 1,931 Income tax expense 3,344 2,416 Fees related to financing & business development transactions 4,059 697 Litigation & settlement related expenses 1,970 7,872 Severance and other expenses — 701 Total Adjusted EBITDA $ 245,848 $ 25,028 Investor Relations Contact Brittany Moore 702-989-7693 ir@cleanspark.com Media Contact Eleni Stylianou 702-989-7694 pr@cleanspark.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cleanspark-reports-record-breaking-fy-2024-results-outpacing-halving-and-difficulty-302320036.html SOURCE CleanSpark, Inc. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Pressure is on the Albanese government to make headway on its long list of stalled legislation before the federal election. Housing will be back in spotlight during the final sitting week of 2024, with the Help to Buy government equity scheme and incentives for build-to-rent to be brought to a final vote in the Senate. The two housing bills have struggled to attract the support of the opposition or the Greens, with Labor knocking back fresh demands from the latter. Central to the Greens' updated position is funding for 25,000 "shovel-ready" homes not given the go-ahead under the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. Labor insists the demand is unlawful and would result in the construction of million-dollar homes that are not value for money. Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his party had designed "a compromise offer that is popular, achievable and easy to accept, it requires no new legislation and sits broadly within government policy". With 30 or so bills still before the parliament, the government has been ramping up pressure on the Greens and the coalition to co-operate. "This is a week where we will see the colour of the eyes of Peter Dutton and the Greens party," Employment Minister Murray Watt told reporters on Sunday. A friendless crackdown on misinformation and disinformation has been shelved and gambling reforms have been pushed into next year. Though the government is expecting wins on its aged care reforms and its social media age limit, with the former expected to attract opposition support. Under world-first legislation, Australians younger than 16 will be banned from social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter). Labor will also be spruiking its Future Made in Australia plan, with its hydrogen and critical minerals production tax incentives to be introduced to parliament on Monday. Economic management will likely get some airtime after monthly inflation figures are released on Wednesday, with headline inflation expected to once again land within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band. But with the central bank's preferred underlying gauge - stripped of the volatility inflicting the headline number - likely to remain above the two-three per cent band, keenly-anticipated interest rate cuts are likely to stay on ice. The federal election is due to be held by May 17.A mystery is unfolding over a single Olive Garden breadstick. On Nov. 16, a TikTok user about an unfortunate extra they received with an order of breadsticks at the popular pasta chain. “Guys, why is there letters on my Olive Garden breadstick?” the user asked. The post consists of a single picture: a hand holding a half-eaten breadstick with the letters “O” and “K” as well as the number “6” in black printed text on its side. The image-based TikTok quickly went viral, amassing more than 4 million views and thousands of comments. “I’ve worked there and I’ve never seen this before 😭,” one user, and another , “How did it happen though?” “They’re from frozen bags so the label must’ve like gotten on that one,” one user . Other commenters who claimed to be or also thought the text was part of the coding on plastic bags that the sticks come in. “it’s like when you do the tongue tattoos with fruit rollups the print stuck onto the bread but just a thought,” one . Others chimed in with similar experiences they had while eating out at restaurants. “THIS HAPPENED TO MY FAMILY WHEN I WAS A KID!!!” one user . “they gave us a pizza w receipt ink on the cheeze we could literally read it all😭😭 we got free dessert.” “One time I had a price tag on the bottom of my egg bite from starbucks,” another , and when the original poster them if they ate it, the user , “I was hungry what can I say.” Neither the TikTok user nor representatives for Olive Garden immediately responded to TODAY.com’s request for comment. But the official Olive Garden account the following on the TikTok: “We are concerned to see this. Can you please send an email to social@olivegarden.com with your full name, and the location you went to?” Four days later, the TikToker and Olive Garden seemingly got in touch over email. Even though every Olive Garden entrée comes with a never-ending first course of soup or salad and breadsticks, the chain gifted the TikToker with a $100 gift card for the error. The user to their account on Nov. 20, four days after their breadstick blunder. “Thank you olive gardens,” the TikToker wrote over a screenshot of an email from Olive Garden. Commenters lauded the chain for its response. One , “Now that’s good service,” and another , “Olive Garden don’t play AROUND.” “How do I get numbers on my breadstick?” someone else . For now, this mystery surrounding the unlimited carb remains unsolved. Washington, D.C. native Joseph Lamour is a lover of food: its past, its present and the science behind it. With food, you can bring opposites together to form a truly marvelous combination, and he strives to take that sentiment to heart in all that he does.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — 2024 was a brutal year for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought ravaging large parts of a biome that’s a critical counterweight to climate change. A warming climate fed drought that in turn fed the worst year for fires since 2005. And those fires contributed to deforestation, with authorities suspecting some fires were set to more easily clear land to run cattle. The Amazon is twice the size of India and sprawls across eight countries and one territory, storing vast amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the planet. It has about 20% of the world’s fresh water and astounding biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species. But governments have historically viewed it as an area to be exploited, with little regard for sustainability or the rights of its Indigenous peoples, and experts say exploitation by individuals and organized crime is rising at alarming rates. “The fires and drought experienced in 2024 across the Amazon rainforest could be ominous indicators that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point,” said Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, an organization that works to protect the rainforest. “Humanity’s window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but still open.” There were some bright spots. The level of Amazonian forest loss fell in both Brazil and Colombia. And nations gathered for the annual United Nations conference on biodiversity agreed to give Indigenous peoples more say in nature conservation decisions. “If the Amazon rainforest is to avoid the tipping point, Indigenous people will have been a determinant factor,” Miller said. Wildfires and extreme drought Forest loss in Brazil’s Amazon — home to the largest swath of this rainforest — dropped 30.6% compared to the previous year, the lowest level of destruction in nine years. The improvement under leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva contrasted with deforestation that hit a 15-year high under Lula’s predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who prioritized agribusiness expansion over forest protection and weakened environmental agencies. In July, Colombia reported historic lows in deforestation in 2023, driven by a drop in environmental destruction. The country’s environment minister Susana Muhamad warned that 2024’s figures may not be as promising as a significant rise in deforestation had already been recorded by July due to dry weather caused by El Nino, a weather phenomenon that warms the central Pacific. Illegal economies continue to drive deforestation in the Andean nation. “It’s impossible to overlook the threat posed by organized crime and the economies they control to Amazon conservation,” said Bram Ebus, a consultant for Crisis Group in Latin America. “Illegal gold mining is expanding rapidly, driven by soaring global prices, and the revenues of illicit economies often surpass state budgets allocated to combat them.” In Brazil, large swaths of the rainforest were draped in smoke in August from fires raging across the Amazon, Cerrado savannah, Pantanal wetland and the state of Sao Paulo. Fires are traditionally used for deforestation and for managing pastures, and those man-made blazes were largely responsible for igniting the wildfires. For a second year, the Amazon River fell to desperate lows , leading some countries to declare a state of emergency and distribute food and water to struggling residents. The situation was most critical in Brazil, where one of the Amazon River’s main tributaries dropped to its lowest level ever recorded. Cesar Ipenza, an environmental lawyer who lives in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, said he believes people are becoming increasingly aware of the Amazon’s fundamental role “for the survival of society as a whole.” But, like Miller, he worries about a “point of no return of Amazon destruction.” It was the worst year for Amazon fires since 2005, according to nonprofit Rainforest Foundation US. Between January and October, an area larger than the state of Iowa — 37.42 million acres, or about 15.1 million hectares of Brazil’s Amazon — burned. Bolivia had a record number of fires in the first ten months of the year. “Forest fires have become a constant, especially in the summer months and require particular attention from the authorities who don’t how to deal with or respond to them,” Ipenza said. Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guyana also saw a surge in fires this year. Indigenous voices and rights made headway in 2024 The United Nations conference on biodiversity — this year known as COP16 — was hosted by Colombia. The meetings put the Amazon in the spotlight and a historic agreement was made to give Indigenous groups more of a voice on nature conservation decisions , a development that builds on a growing movement to recognize Indigenous people’s role in protecting land and combating climate change. Both Ebus and Miller saw promise in the appointment of Martin von Hildebrand as the new secretary general for the Amazon Treaty Cooperation Organization, announced during COP16. “As an expert on Amazon communities, he will need to align governments for joint conservation efforts. If the political will is there, international backers will step forward to finance new strategies to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest,” Ebus said. Ebus said Amazon countries need to cooperate more, whether in law enforcement, deploying joint emergency teams to combat forest fires, or providing health care in remote Amazon borderlands. But they need help from the wider world, he said. “The well-being of the Amazon is a shared global responsibility, as consumer demand worldwide fuels the trade in commodities that finance violence and environmental destruction,” he said. Next year marks a critical moment for the Amazon, as Belém do Pará in northern Brazil hosts the first United Nations COP in the region that will focus on climate. “Leaders from Amazon countries have a chance to showcase strategies and demand tangible support,” Ebus said. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .
In 2020, a conspiracy theory spread across social media claiming that online home goods retailer Wayfair was involved in child trafficking . People claimed that odd pricing and certain product names were evidence of the theory. VERIFY reader Leslie emailed us to ask if Wayfair was ever involved in the sex trafficking of children. THE QUESTION Is Wayfair involved in the sex trafficking of children? THE SOURCES National Center on Sexual Exploitation DeliverFund , a nonprofit intelligence agency that uses technology to help law enforcement fight human trafficking Polaris , organization that operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking hotline Original VERIFY reporting in 2020 Statement from Wayfair to the BBC in 2020 THE ANSWER No, there is no evidence to support the claims that Wayfair was involved in the sex trafficking of children. WHAT WE FOUND When the conspiracy theory first spread in 2020, people on social media pointed to Wayfair products with strange names and disproportionately high prices as proof that the online furniture store was involved in child trafficking. These products included a “Samiyah Storage Cabinet” priced at over $14,000 and a “Duplessis Zodiac Sign Astrological Constellation Personalized Throw Pillow” at $9,999. At the time, people claimed that these products shared the names of girls that were reported missing. The theory followed that the products had high prices because they were fronts for selling the missing girls. Wayfair told the BBC in 2020 that the prices were accurate for the industrial grade cabinets and were the result of a glitch in the case of the pillows. The viral social media posts frequently linked products to girls who were no longer missing. Multiple anti-trafficking groups said the claims were unproven and likely false. “We believe that the accusations being leveled against Wayfair regarding sex trafficking are lacking credibility in significant ways and, in many places, demonstrably false,” the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said at the time. In 2020, VERIFY found that the family of Samara Duplessis, a missing girl purportedly linked to the overpriced pillows, reported she was back home a couple of months before the Wayfair conspiracy became widespread. When VERIFY searched Wayfair for “Duplessis” products in 2020, we found the name attached to a number of different items that were considerably less expensive than the pillow. When VERIFY searched Wayfair’s site again on Dec. 2, 2024, we found it’s using the “Duplessis” name for at least one product, a rug selling for $144.99 , years after the missing girl was found. As for the reference to the cabinets in the original rumors, people claimed that there was a missing teenager from Ohio named Samiyah, too. But VERIFY was unable to find any evidence that a girl by that name was missing, and a teenager some people believed to be Samiyah refuted that she was missing in a video posted to her Facebook account. Wayfair told the BBC in 2020 that the expensive cabinets were “industrial size,” meant for business or commercial use and that the $14,000 price point was accurate. “We have temporarily removed the products from our site to rename them and to provide a more in-depth description and photos that accurately depict the product to clarify the price point,” Wayfair told the BBC in 2020. Another example of a missing teenager’s name possibly matching a Wayfair product was Mary Durrett to a Durrett coffee table. But she went missing in 2017 and was found safe two days after she was first reported missing. The claim connecting her to the coffee table listing was posted three years later. Many anti-trafficking organizations addressed the rumors in 2020. They all said the claims lacked credibility. “We identified early on that this was a likely hoax or a case of overexuberance by someone who did not have the expertise and data-driven approach that DeliverFund has,” Michael Fullilove, chief of operations for DeliverFund , a nonprofit intelligence agency that uses technology to help law enforcement fight human trafficking, said in 2020. “Based on the original source of the information, we were able to use open source intelligence techniques to determine that it was highly unlikely that the trafficking of children was taking place through the sale of expensive items on Wayfair,” Fullilove said. Polaris , which operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, said the claims were unsubstantiated and did more harm than good. People overwhelmed the hotline to make reports related to the conspiracy, increasing wait times and potentially denying trafficking victims from reaching the hotline. The theory also resulted in harassment and privacy intrusions of people mistakenly believed to be victims, as well as broad sharing of online sexual abuse material of real victims never connected to the Wayfair conspiracy, Polaris said. Polaris pointed out that trafficking is rarely perpetrated by a total stranger who kidnaps children and is instead usually perpetrated by people the victims know or even love and trust. Scenarios where the trafficker locks up or imprisons the victim with literal shackles make up a minority of trafficking cases despite it being the common public perception of trafficking, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said. Traffickers usually groom their victims and keep them captive through forms of psychological abuse, manipulation and coercion that can be difficult to identify. There are real cases in which sex trafficking is perpetrated online, usually through prostitution sites and pornography websites, according to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation said in 2020 that traffickers were increasingly using “popular social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok to identify, groom and exploit children in the online space.” Anti-trafficking organizations say that sharing viral, unsubstantiated trafficking rumors online is generally unhelpful to trafficking victims. What’s more helpful, these organizations say , is to learn how to identify real, common cases of trafficking to spot victims who need help. VERIFY reached out to Wayfair for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Related Articles No, most sex trafficking victims are not kidnapped by strangers There’s no evidence sex traffickers use tactics in viral warnings to target victims Claim that 320,000 migrant children went missing during the Biden administration is misleading The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter , text alerts and our YouTube channel . You can also follow us on Snapchat , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok . Learn More » Follow Us YouTube Snapchat Instagram Facebook TikTok Want something VERIFIED? Text: 202-410-8808Bali Nine transfer plans clouded by legal issues
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ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 2, 2024-- The Coca-Cola Company today announced updated voluntary environmental goals, which replace previous environmental goals set by the company related to water, packaging, climate and agriculture. This evolution is informed by learnings gathered through decades of work in sustainability, periodic assessment of progress and identified challenges. The updated goals aim to build long-term business resilience and make a positive impact in local communities. Achieving these ambitions will require continued investments in innovation and infrastructure solutions, enabling legislation and further collaboration with bottling partners, industry peers, local governments and civil society. Please visit our website here for more details. About The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our water, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak and Ayataka. Our juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Instagram , Facebook and LinkedIn . The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website or social media channels is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain statements, estimates or projections that constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, the words “aim,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “seek,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. Statements about our sustainability goals, aspirations and anticipated progress also constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause The Coca-Cola Company’s actual results to differ materially from its historical experience and our present expectations or projections. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving sustainability regulatory requirements and expectations, including evolving processes, controls and methodologies for identifying, measuring, assuring and reporting sustainability metrics and data, which could result in significant revisions to our previously reported data; increasing concerns about the environmental impact of plastic bottles and other packaging materials; water scarcity and poor quality; increased demand for food products, decreased agricultural productivity and increased regulation of ingredient sourcing due diligence; climate change and legal or regulatory responses thereto; adverse weather conditions; unfavorable economic and geopolitical conditions; disruption of our supply chain, including increased commodity, raw material, packaging, energy, transportation and other input costs; lack of necessary infrastructure for our packaging goals; varied and potentially differing local laws, regulations and policies; an inability to successfully integrate and manage our acquired businesses, brands or bottling operations; and other risks discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and our subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which filings are available through the SEC’s website. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241202496226/en/ CONTACT: Investors and Analysts: Robin Halpern,koinvestorrelations@coca-cola.com Media: Ana Zenatti,press@coca-cola.com KEYWORD: GEORGIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OTHER MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MANUFACTURING SUSTAINABILITY FOOD/BEVERAGE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) RETAIL SOURCE: The Coca-Cola Company Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/02/2024 04:07 PM/DISC: 12/02/2024 04:06 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241202496226/enFishburn leads at Sea Island as Dahmen keeps hope alive to keep jobThe report from the Justice Department inspector general's office knocks down a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the events that day, when rioters determined to overturn Republican Donald Trump's 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the building in a violent clash with police. The review, released nearly four years after a dark chapter in history that shook the bedrock of American democracy, was narrow in scope, but aimed to shed light on gnawing questions that have dominated public discourse, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. The report offers a mixed assessment of the FBI's performance in the run-up to the riot, crediting the bureau for preparing for the possibility of violence and for trying to identify known "domestic terrorism subjects" who planned to come to Washington that day. But it said the FBI, in an action the now-deputy director described as a "basic step that was missed," failed to canvass informants across all 56 of its field offices for any relevant intelligence. That was a step, the report concluded, "that could have helped the FBI and its law enforcement partners with their preparations in advance of January 6." The report found 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who were tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the day's events. While four informants entered the Capitol, none were authorized to do so by the bureau or to break the law, the report said. Many of the 26 informants provided the FBI with information before the riot, but it "was no more specific than, and was consistent with, other sources of information" that the FBI acquired. The FBI said in a letter responding to the report that it accepts the inspection general's recommendation "regarding potential process improvements for future events." The lengthy review was launched days after the riot as the FBI faced questions over whether it had missed warning signs or adequately disseminated intelligence it received, including a Jan. 5, 2021, bulletin prepared by the FBI's Norfolk, Virginia, field office that warned of the potential for "war" at the Capitol. The inspector general found the information in that bulletin was broadly shared. FBI Director Chris Wray, who announced this week his plans to resign at the end of Biden's term in January, defended his agency's handing of the intelligence report. He told lawmakers in 2021 that the report was disseminated though the joint terrorism task force, discussed at a command post in Washington and posted on an internet portal available to other law enforcement agencies. "We did communicate that information in a timely fashion to the Capitol Police and (Metropolitan Police Department) in not one, not two, but three different ways," Wray said at the time. Separately, the report said the FBI's New Orleans field office was told by a source between November 2020 and early January 2021 that protesters were planning to station a "quick reaction force" in northern Virginia "to be armed and prepared to respond to violence that day in DC, if necessary." That information was shared with the FBI's Washington Field Office, members of intelligence agencies and some federal law enforcement agencies the day before the riot, the inspector general found. But there was no indication the FBI told northern Virginia police about the information, the report said. An FBI official told the inspector general there was "nothing actionable or immediately concerning about it." A cache of weapons at a Virginia hotel as part of a "quick reaction force" was a central piece of the Justice Department's seditious conspiracy case against Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes and other members of the far-right extremist group. The conspiracy theory that federal law enforcement officers entrapped members of the mob has been spread in conservative circles, including by some Republican lawmakers. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., recently suggested on a podcast that agents pretending to be Trump supporters were responsible for instigating the violence. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who withdrew as Trump's pick as attorney general amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations, sent a letter to Wray in 2021 asking how many undercover agents or informants were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and if they were "merely passive informants or active instigators." Wray said the "notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous."
Pressure is on the Albanese government to make headway on its long list of stalled legislation before the federal election. Housing will be back in spotlight during the final sitting week of 2024, with the Help to Buy government equity scheme and incentives for build-to-rent to be brought to a final vote in the Senate. The two housing bills have struggled to attract the support of the opposition or the Greens, with Labor knocking back fresh demands from the latter. Central to the Greens’ updated position is funding for 25,000 “shovel-ready” homes not given the go-ahead under the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. Labor insists the demand is unlawful and would result in the construction of million-dollar homes that are not value for money. Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his party had designed “a compromise offer that is popular, achievable and easy to accept, it requires no new legislation and sits broadly within government policy”. With 30 or so bills still before the parliament, the government has been ramping up pressure on the Greens and the coalition to co-operate. “This is a week where we will see the colour of the eyes of Peter Dutton and the Greens party,” Employment Minister Murray Watt told reporters on Sunday. A friendless crackdown on misinformation and disinformation has been shelved and gambling reforms have been pushed into next year. Though the government is expecting wins on its aged care reforms and its social media age limit, with the former expected to attract opposition support. Under world-first legislation, Australians younger than 16 will be banned from social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit and X (formerly Twitter). Labor will also be spruiking its Future Made in Australia plan, with its hydrogen and critical minerals production tax incentives to be introduced to parliament on Monday. Economic management will likely get some airtime after monthly inflation figures are released on Wednesday, with headline inflation expected to once again land within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target band. But with the central bank’s preferred underlying gauge – stripped of the volatility inflicting the headline number – likely to remain above the two-three per cent band, keenly-anticipated interest rate cuts are likely to stay on ice. The federal election is due to be held by May 17.The Air Force has given industry the green light to start working on and submitting proposals for a potential five-year, $750 million professional services contract vehicle focused on U.S. Central Command’s headquarters. Bids for the multiple-award contract known by the acronym of CHIPS are due no later than 10 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 9. Questions must be submitted no later than 10 a.m. Eastern time on Dec. 20, the Air Force said in a . Air Force officials plan to award approximately 20 positions on the vehicle, which is reserved for companies with the service-disabled veteran-owned and 8(a) distinctions. The service branch is also eyeing an even split of awards between both groups. Offerors must declare to which small business designation they are proposing, in this case either SDVOSB or 8(a). Work under the CENTCOM Headquarters IDIQ will primarily take place at the location indicated, or in this case at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. CENTCOM’s area of responsibility includes 21 countries that are mostly in the Middle East. The contract covers support for CENTCOM directorates, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff and other Defense Department components. Awardees will compete for task orders to carry out program management services, management and program analysis, assessment, monitoring, and evaluation, information technology, data science, logistics management, operational contract support, vendor threat mitigation, acquisition management, and intelligence services. CHIPS is a brand new requirement with no incumbent. The period of performance is one initial base year with up to four individual option years.
Andretti's Formula 1 dream comes to bittersweet fruition without his involvement