Romania's far-right candidate Calin Georgescu on Saturday urged voters to go to polling stations despite the country's top court having scrapped the presidential elections over alleged irregularities amid claims of Russian interference. The court's shock ruling, coming just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday, opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow." Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest at 0600 GMT, said his team. Earlier Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a 62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation". President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media". The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim the company has denied. Following the court's decision, the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and "denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack". His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016 because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new government is expected to set another date for the presidential vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains, securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine. In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising "stability". bur-jza/jjWestern Union Announces New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program and $0.235 Quarterly Dividend
lodibet promo code
。
Ekanit returns as Thais aim for victorySEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law , as most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party, but the party is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals. After the motion fell through, members of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party rallied inside the National Assembly, chanting slogans calling for Yoon's impeachment or resignation. The party's floor leader, Park Chan-dae, said it will soon prepare for a new impeachment motion. Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday. “We'll surely impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, who is the greatest risk to Republic of Korea,” party leader Lee Jae-myung said. “We'll surely bring back this country to normal before Christmas Day or year's end.” Many experts worry Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 1/2 years in office. They say some PPP lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further. The ruling party risks "further public outrage and national confusion if they don’t find a formula fast for Yoon’s departure,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. PPP chair Han Dong-hun said his party will seek Yoon’s “orderly” early exit but didn’t say when he can resign. Protests against Yoon are swelling On Saturday, tens of thousands of people packed several blocks of roads leading to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing. Protesters also gathered in front of PPP’s headquarters near the Assembly, shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied elsewhere in Seoul, calling the impeachment attempt unconstitutional. Impeaching Yoon required support from 200 of the National Assembly's 300 members. The Democratic Party and five other small opposition parties, which filed the motion, have 192 seats combined. But only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn’t reach 200. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy. If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days. The president apologizes for turmoil Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued an apology over the martial law decree, saying he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose it. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.” “The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.” The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. The turmoil has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the U.S. and Japan. “Yoon’s credibility overseas has been undermined by declaring martial law, so he won’t be able to exercise leadership in his foreign policies especially when his days are numbered,” Kim, the analyst, said. “Its government bureaucracy will need to continue business as usual for existing alliance and foreign policy initiatives as best it can because there is a lot of important work to do globally.” Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. PPP later decided to oppose Yoon's impeachment motion. Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marital law and facilitate Yoon’s early exit from office. Lee told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “greatly disappointing” and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yoon’s martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.” Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate stock price manipulation allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife. Yoon accused of ordering arrests of politicians On Friday, Han, who criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities.” Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s spy agency, told lawmakers Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians including Han, Lee and Woo. The Defense Ministry said Friday it suspended three military commanders including the head of the defense counterintelligence unit over their involvement in enforcing martial law. Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending to Yoon to enforce martial law. Kim Yong Hyun resigned Thursday, and prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him. Kim Tong-hyung And Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
Billionaire Elon Musk called Canada’s prime minister an “insufferable tool” on his social media platform today. Musk’s comments were in response to Justin Trudeau likening Kamala Harris’s defeat in the U.S. presidential election to an attack on women’s rights and progress. This afternoon, Trudeau met with provincial and territorial premiers to discuss Canada’s approach to negotiations with the U.S. Canada is facing a threat of a 25 per cent tariff hike from incoming president Donald Trump, who defeated Harris in the November election. Earlier this week, Trump taunted Trudeau on social media, referring to the prime minister as the governor of what he called the “Great State of Canada.” The post was an apparent reference to a joke Trump cracked at his dinner with Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago estate nearly two weeks ago, where the president-elect teased that Canada could join the U.S. as its 51st state. Speaking on Tuesday night at an event hosted by the Equal Voice Foundation — an organization dedicated to improving gender representation in Canadian politics — Trudeau said there are regressive forces fighting against women’s progress. “It shouldn’t be that way. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. We were supposed to be on a steady, if difficult sometimes, march towards progress,” Trudeau said, adding he is a proud feminist and will always be an ally. “And yet, just a few weeks ago, the United States voted for a second time to not elect its first woman president. Everywhere, women’s rights and women’s progress is under attack. Overtly, and subtly.” In a post on X on Wednesday, Musk responded to a clip of Trudeau’s remarks, saying, “He’s such an insufferable tool. Won’t be in power for much longer.”Nutritionist shares two simple rules to avoid inevitable Christmas weight gainGustavo Arellano’s commentary, “A thank you to the undocumented,” originally appearing in the Los Angeles Times, is a welcome, thoughtful and frank contribution highlighting the positive role of undocumented immigrants in American life. Arellano reminds us all of the importance of standing for fundamental values of humanity and dignity. With politicians putting forth so much hype against immigrants and advancing so many violent fantasies, he writes eloquently of the pain that so many will suffer if escalating deportations, as threatened, occur: families torn apart, and economic chaos. Arellano’s essay evokes the history of earlier immigrants and refugees, some imprisoned and/or deported, their lives “on hold” for years. My wife’s parents, medical doctors, fled Hitler’s Europe in 1939. Their lives at stake, they “overstayed” their three-week visa to the United States, living here in legal limbo for nine long years. Finally, an amnesty allowed them to file for citizenship. Without the uncertain safety America provided then, I would have no family now. Many other people were turned away from America to face concentration camps and death, victims of the same kind of stigmatization we see again today. Amidst such pain and uncertainty, we all lose. We lose the talents and skills people cannot develop; we lose the diverse heritages each of us brings to the United States. All of us — undocumented immigrants, children of immigrants, native-born citizens — are indeed no different from each other in the content of our characters. But our families have lost years to struggle and insecurity on the path to living here safely. Thank you, Gustavo Arellano, for taking apart so clearly the misconceptions, for challenging the fears, and for eloquently redefining the migrant “crisis” as a set of opportunities we can choose to support. Gerald Goldin, North Brunswick Note: The writer is a professor at Rutgers University, and the author of “America’s Welcome, ” a children’s book about an immigrant family. Trump’s successes will rattle Dems in 2028 I am watching Democrats closely analyzing the presidential election results, trying to see what they can change and concentrate on to win the next one. What a joke. They act as if the 2028 election will occur with the same national conditions and set of facts as in 2024, and all they’ll have to do to have a chance four years from now is make some minor changes. Perhaps they are forgetting that, by his last full year in office, President-elect Donald Trump will have tried to stop all illegal migration, and will have made a dent in fentanyl smuggling and deaths. He will have started more drilling for natural gas, and restarted other energy permits that President Joe Biden suspended. Hopefully, Trump will have also helped create a more peaceful world and crime-free cities. Democrats are also forgetting that under Trump, homebuilding will have likely accelerated, and food- and gasoline-price inflation will likely be under control. In my opinion, Trump did wonders once, during his first non-consecutive term. Now that he knows the tricks of all the players and has survived, he has a good chance to succeed far beyond our wildest expectations. We will be safe and prosperous again, and our food may just be more healthy. David F. Lipton, Toms River Proud of Joe Biden for pardon President Joe Biden has suffered the loss of two children and his first wife. He is the only one in the world who is capable of saving his son, Hunter, from what seems to be an unfair and politically motived prosecution. I am so proud of the president’s courageous action to grant his son an unconditional pardon before his scheduled sentencing. Joe Biden is a compassionate human being and a loving father. What would you do, if you had the power to grant pardons, and this was about was your child? I know what I would do. I am proud of President Biden. RECOMMENDED • nj .com Trump’s FBI pick should cause alarm | Letters Dec. 2, 2024, 5:53 p.m. Biden’s toxic pardon of his son | Moran Dec. 4, 2024, 6:47 a.m. Charles Farber, West Orange Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion . Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion . Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion . Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters .
Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” he said. ”And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy -- he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Joe Reedy, The Associated Press
Pathstone Holdings LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)Betty White Forever: New stamp will honor the much-beloved 'Golden Girls' actorNatixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Evergy, Inc. ( NYSE:EVRG – Free Report ) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,855 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $5,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 6,854.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502,493 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $112,464,000. Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 781.4% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062,434 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 7,234.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,374 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades EVRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88. Evergy Trading Down 0.5 % NYSE EVRG opened at $64.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.79. Evergy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.04 and a 12 month high of $64.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy ( NYSE:EVRG – Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year. Evergy Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%. Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,132.75. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock worth $3,777,059. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock. Evergy Profile ( Free Report ) Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EVRG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Evergy, Inc. ( NYSE:EVRG – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Evergy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Evergy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
A VoIP quality test measures the performance of your network connection. The test simulates a set number of calls on your network and uses key metrics to determine how calls would sound in different situations. It can help you understand whether your connection is strong enough before implementing a VoIP system and alert you to potential post deployment issues as well. Mean opinion score (MOS) is an industry standard metric for VoIP call quality — it’s a simple 1-5 rating system with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Anything above a 4 is sufficient and scores below 3.5 should be considered unacceptable. Below that range, users are more likely to experience mic echo, dropped calls, choppy or robotic sounds, and cutting out. This guide covers everything you need to know to perform VoIP tests and tweak settings to optimize for MOS. What a VoIP quality test measures Before we dive into how to run a VoIP quality test, it’s important to understand what metrics you’ll get back and what they mean. Every VoIP test is different, but most measure things like: Upload and download speed — Measures how fast data packets can move through your network. In general, the higher the speed, the better the quality. Bandwidth — The maximum amount of data that can be transmitted across your network. It directly impacts the number of simultaneous calls you can have before quality takes a nose dive. Jitter — Variations between sent and received data packets. If these variations are significant, users might miss entire words or sentences during the call. Latency (or ping) — Measures the delay from one caller to another. High latency is often caused by network congestion and results in echoing. Packet loss — Refers to data packets that never reach their final destination. If it exceeds 1%, calls will likely have choppy audio and other distortions. Many will also let you simulate calls with different VoIP codecs . This is a parameter that defines how much compression happens during a call. More compression makes packets smaller, resulting in faster transmissions and reduced network congestion. But too much compression can lower audio quality to the point it’s unrecognizable. The key is finding a good balance that works for your team. Lastly, some of the better VoIP quality tests calculate your MOS by factoring in all of these elements and metrics. It’s also worth noting that some tools let you run tests for different numbers of simultaneous calls, and you may even be able to change the origin location of the call. As you adjust different parameters and variables, you may get a different MOS. For example, you might have a perfect score right next to your router but a lower score if you’re on the other side of the building. SEE: Learn how to optimize your VoIP network . How to run a VoIP quality test There are dozens of tools that let you test VoIP quality. To keep it simple, I’ll show you how to do it in just a few minutes for free, and what to use if you’re a developer or need more granular insights. Free online VoIP quality tests Many business phone providers have their own online VoIP quality tests you can use for free. They’re very easy and quick, making them perfect if you’re not quite sure what’s going on and just need a simple way to tell if your network is stable enough. Most measure latency, jitter, upload speed, and download speed. Some (but not all) also measure packet loss and calculate your MOS. RingCentral’s quality of service test is one of the best free options I’ve seen. The best part about this test is that it gives you MOS. It also measures packet loss, latency, and jitter in your audit summary. Another standout of RingCentral’s test is the ability to adjust your codec. You can also test up to 50 simultaneous calls and run the test for up to five minutes — the longer you test, the better chance you have of finding an issue. Once the test is finished, it does a good job of explaining what all the numbers mean and whether or not your connection passes. It’s also about as easy as it gets to run. All you have to do is select your preferred number of concurrent calls, adjust the duration, and tweak the codec if you want. While RingCentral’s is one of the most detailed free options, there are others you can use to validate your results if you’d like. There are other VoIP quality tests on the market that you can use, and it might be a good idea to try multiple to see if you get consistent results across the board. Here are some others worth checking out: Nextiva’s test — Simple option for testing up to 200 simultaneous calls. Ooma’s test — Easy way to check latency, jitter, upload, and download speed. 8×8’s test — Similar to Ooma, but lets you change the host. Overall, RingCentral’s is the most detailed, but these other free VoIP quality tests can give you more data points to ensure accuracy. SEE: Learn more about our favorite VoIP providers: RingCentral review | Nextiva review | Ooma review | 8×8 review . Network monitoring software (paid with a free trial) Network monitoring software is typically used by IT network administrators to ensure their network is running smoothly. It’s also useful for identifying issues with various components (routers, servers, firewalls, switches, etc.). You can also use them for testing VoIP network quality, and they provide far more detailed information than any of the free tools out there. SolarWinds VoIP network quality manager is one of the best. Instead of one-off tests every now and then, it runs continuously in the background. Although SolarWinds isn’t free, there is a 30-day free trial. You can test your network for a full month to see how its performance changes over time. From there, you can decide if you want to keep using it. Beyond basic VoIP quality stats, it also provides WAN performance metrics. It also provides contextual information related to performance issues. For example, you can see the specific IP addresses of devices that are causing jitter, latency, or packet loss. This will help you determine if call quality issues are related to hardware on your network or something else. The software does a whole lot more than that, but it’s a great alternative if you need real-time data or more data points to understand and improve your MOS.Syrian insurgents reach the capital's suburbs. Worried residents flee and stock up on supplies BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria is gaining speed with news that they have reached the suburbs of the capital of Damascus. The government on Saturday was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels’ moves around Damascus were reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander. They came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions. The factions are by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. An archbishop's knock formally restores Notre Dame to life as winds howl and heads of state look on PARIS (AP) — France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral has formally reopened its doors for the first time since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019. The five-year restoration is widely seen as a boost for French President Emmanuel Macron, who championed the ambitious timeline, and brings a welcome respite from his domestic political woes. World leaders, dignitaries, and worshippers gathered on Saturday evening for the celebrations under the cathedral's soaring arches. The celebration was attended by 1,500 dignitaries, including President-elect Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince William, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For Catholics, Notre Dame’s rector said the cathedral “carries the enveloping presence of the Virgin Mary, a maternal and embracing presence.′′ Trump is welcomed by Macron to Paris with presidential pomp and joined by Zelenskyy for their talks PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Donald Trump to Paris with a full dose of presidential pomp. And they held a hastically-arranged meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a day that's mixing pageantry with attention to pressing global problems. The president-elect's visit to France is part of a global a celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire. Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Trump isn't back in office but he's already pushing his agenda and negotiating with world leaders NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is making threats, traveling abroad, and negotiating with world leaders. He has more than a month-and-a-half to go before he’s sworn in for a second term. But the president-elect is already moving aggressively to not only fill his Cabinet and outline policy goals, but also to try to achieve his priorities. In recent days, Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, two of the country’s largest trading partners. That led to emergency calls and a visit. And he's warned of “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas doesn't release the hostages still being held captive in Gaza. South Korea's president avoids an impeachment attempt over short-lived martial law SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol has avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law. Most of Yoon's ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea. A survey suggests a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party. But the party also apparently fears losing the presidency to liberals. Days after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, police push to ID him and FBI offers reward NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly four days after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police still do not know the gunman’s name or whereabouts or have a motive for the killing. But they have made some progress in their investigation into Wednesday's killing of the leader of the largest U.S. health insurer, including that the gunman likely left New York City on a bus soon after fleeing the scene. The also found that the gunman left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park. Police are working with the FBI, which on Friday night announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. UnitedHealthcare CEO's shooting opens a door for many to vent frustrations over insurance The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO has opened the door for many people to vent their frustrations and anger over the insurance industry. The feelings of exasperation, anger, resentment, and helplessness toward insurers aren’t new. But the shooting and the headlines around it have unleashed a new wave of patients sharing such sentiments and personal stories of interactions with insurance companies. Conversations at dinner tables, office water coolers, social gatherings and on social media have pivoted to the topic. Many say they hope the new amplified voices can bring about change for companies often accused of valuing profits over people. 2 Pearl Harbor survivors, ages 104 and 102, return to Hawaii to honor those killed in 1941 attack PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The bombing of Pearl Harbor 83 years ago launched the United States into World War II. Two survivors returned to the Hawaii military base on Saturday for a remembrance ceremony on the attack's anniversary. Both are over 100 years old. They joined active-duty troops, veterans and members of the public for an observance hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service. A third survivor was planning to join them but had to cancel due to health issues. The bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. servicemen. An explosion destroys an apartment block in a Dutch city, killing at least 3 and injuring others THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An explosion and fire has rocked a neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, killing three people and injuring other people and destroying several apartments. The cause of the disaster is unclear. Emergency authorities said four people were rescued from the rubble and taken to the hospital. The mayor said rescuers were no longer looking for survivors but for eventual bodies, but could not specify how many people might still be unaccounted for. Residents of the northeastern neighborhood of Mariahoeve in The Hague heard a huge bang and screams before dawn. Dutch authorities have deployed a specialized urban search and rescue team to find victims. How 'Mufasa' rose with Aaron Pierre and Blue Ivy's voices along with new Lin-Manuel Miranda music SAN DIEGO (AP) — When Aaron Pierre was cast as Mufasa, the weight of following in the late James Earl Jones’ legendary footsteps was enough to rattle any actor. But instead of letting the pressure roar too loudly, he harnessed his nerves to breathe fresh life into his young lion character. Pierre found parallels between himself and his character while filming his leading role in “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which opens in theaters Dec. 20. He took the reigns as the new voice of Mufasa after Jones played the iconic King Mufasa in both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Disney’s “The Lion King.” The prequel offers a fresh exploration into Mufasa’s origin story.
Cher, Dick Van Dyke, Gary Busey Among Thousands Forced to Evacuate Homes Amid Malibu WildfireThe AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . MACON, Ga. (AP) — Myles Redding returned an interception 25 yards for a first-quarter touchdown and Whitt Newbauer threw a four-yard touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter as No. 7-seeded Mercer beat No. 10 Rhode Island 17—10 on Saturday. Mercer advances to the FCS semifinals for the first time and will face No. 2 North Dakota State, which beat No. 15 Abilene Christian 51-31. Redding swooped in front of Hunter Helms’ intended receiver for his seventh interception of the season with 3:33 left in the first quarter, tying him with teammate TJ Moore for the most in the nation. Rhode Island got a 17-yard field goal from Ty Groff as time expired in the first half and took the lead late in the third quarter when Helms connected with Marquis Buchanan on a 56-yard touchdown for a 10-7 lead. Senior Dwayne McGee set up two fourth-quarter scores for the Bears, slashing through the right side for a 33-yard gain to give Mercer a first-and-goal at the Rhode Island 10. On third-and-goal from the 4, Newbauer found Adjatay Dabbs for the go-ahead touchdown. After the Bears twice forced the Rams to punt in their own half of the field, McGee ran 40 yards on first down to give Mercer a first down at the Rhode Island 25, setting up a 24-yard Reice Griffith field goal for the game’s final score. McGee finished with 114 yards on 21 carries and CJ Miller added 81 yards on 10 carries for Mercer (11-2), which remained unbeaten in seven home games. RELATED COVERAGE No. 16 Iowa State falls short in Big 12 title game again, this time with CFP at stake Arizona State makes College Football Playoff with 45-19 win over Iowa State in Big 12 title game Ashton Jeanty lets his play do the talking for CFP-bound Boise State Helms finished 22 of 33 passing for 266 yards and Buchanan caught 11 passes for 119 yards to lead Rhode Island (11-3), but the Rams managed just 46 yards on 26 carries on the ground. — Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Environment Don't miss out on the headlines from Environment. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australians have been warned to brace for more hot and sweaty nights this summer, with above-average maximum temperatures on the horizon. The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range forecast overview has anticipated above-average maximum and minimum temperatures “across almost all of Australia”. The bureau also warned of a risk of “unusually high maximum temperatures”, including in parts of NSW, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory. Some of those areas could swelter with more than four times the normal chance of abnormal temperatures, with parts of northern WA facing abnormally low maximums. Sky News Weather meteorologist Rob Sharpe earlier said heat records were likely to remain uncontested for the next few weeks, with records more likely to be broken towards the end of December. “We’ve seen some pretty significant wet weather ... slowed the heating trend a bit for Australia with all this rain and storm activity,” Mr Sharpe said. “It’s more about the rain and the storms this month.” Chance of exceeding medium minimum temperatures January to March 2025. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology As for rainfall, the bureau warned there was a 60 per cent to 80 per cent chance of above-average rainfall in eastern Australia between December and February. The highest chance of above-average rainfall is forecast for December when almost all of the country is likely to experience above average rain for that month. The chance of above-average falls has increased in recent weeks, according to the bureau, but typically drops off as the season progresses. Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jonathon How earlier said December was shaping up to be wetter than average. “High chance of being wetter than usual across most of the country, especially the east coast,” a bureau spokesperson said. Chance of exceeding medium rainfall, December, 2024. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology “Same deal goes for Adelaide, Melbourne, and Hobart – a wetter than usual December. “The main message for this week is it’s going be hot, humid and unsettled. “There’s a chance of seeing that for the rest of the month, but as we know, all we need is that one good day on Christmas.” Sydney’s maximum temperature average for this month is 25C, with Melbourne’s 24C, and Brisbane and Perth at 30C. Adelaide and Canberra are both at 27C, Hobart at 20C and Darwin at 33C. Originally published as Forecast reveals Aussies in for more hot nights between December and February More related stories Environment ‘Dangerous’: Wild weather to lash millions Millions of Australians have been warned to brace for potential flash flooding and severe thunderstorms as intense rain hits the east coast this week. Read more National Breaking News ‘Leave now’: Warning as new bushfire rages Evacuation centres have been set-up as residents of towns in southern WA are urged to get out while they can as a bushfire bears down. Read more
q lodge
lodibet 222