SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Two people were rescued and a third swam to safety after a California pier under construction partially collapsed and fell into the ocean Monday as the state’s central coast was pounded by heavy surf from a major storm expected to bring hurricane-force winds to the seas off the Pacific Northwest, authorities said. Residents were warned to stay away from low-lying areas near the beaches around the Santa Cruz Wharf, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of San Francisco, as the storm rapidly gained strength. The storm’s high surf likely pulled a man into the Pacific Ocean around noon Monday at Marina State Beach along the Monterey Bay, authorities said. Strong currents and high waves forced searchers to abandon their efforts roughly two hours later as conditions worsened. The man remained missing Monday evening. In the city of Capitola, police ordered guests at a waterfront hotel to evacuate if they had ocean-facing units. The county sheriff’s office ordered beachfront residents in nearby Rio Del Mar to evacuate as well. In Santa Cruz, lifeguards rescued two people from the water after a section of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed, officials said. No one had serious injuries, Mayor Fred Keeley said. The mayor said that section of the wharf had been damaged over time. The structure was in the middle of a $4 million renovation following destructive storms last winter. “It’s a catastrophe for those down at the end of the wharf,” said David Johnston, owner of Venture Quest Kayaking, who was allowed onto the pier to check on his business. Tony Elliot, the head of the Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department, estimated that about 150 feet (45 meters) of the end of the wharf fell into the water around 12:45 p.m. It was immediately evacuated and will remain closed indefinitely. Some of the wharf’s pilings are still in the ocean and remain “serious, serious hazards” to boats, the mayor said. Each piling weighs hundreds of pounds and is being pushed by powerful waves. “You are risking your life, and those of the people that would need to try and save you by getting in or too close to the water,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office said on the social platform X. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s has been briefed and the state’s Office of Emergency Services is coordinating with local officials, his office said. Forecasters warned that storm swells will continue to increase throughout the day. “We are anticipating that what is coming toward us is more serious than what was there this morning,” the mayor said. Ocean swells along California’s central coast could reach 60 feet (18 meters) as the Pacific storm gains strength through Monday, the weather service said. “A rapidly developing storm will bring hurricane force winds to the areas well offshore of the Pacific Northwest tonight,” the weather service’s Ocean Prediction Center said on X. The end of the pier that broke off had been shut down during renovations. The portion, which included public restrooms and the closed Dolphin restaurant, floated about half a mile (0.8 kilometers) down the coast and wedged itself at the bottom of the San Lorenzo River. Those who fell into the water were two engineers and a project manager who were inspecting the end of the wharf, officials said. No members of the public were in the area. Building inspectors were now looking at the rest of the Santa Cruz Wharf’s structural integrity. Monday’s collapse came about a year after the Seacliff State Beach pier just down the coast was battered beyond repair by a heavy winter storm. Further up the West Coast, dangerous surf conditions and waves up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) were expected from the central Oregon coast up through southwestern Washington. Winds could peak near 80 mph (130 kph) and a high surf warning in effect until 10 p.m. Monday night, forecasters said. In a post on X, the National Weather Service office in Portland, Oregon, said “it will likely go down as some of the highest surf this winter.” ___ Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Martha Mendoza And Stefanie Dazio, The Associated PressAryan Brotherhood leader accused of attempting to murder two prison guards
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New Zealand officials say testing shows they have contained the strain of the highly pathogenic H7N6 avian flu that infected a farm this month. or signup to continue reading Mary van Andel, chief veterinary officer at the Ministry of Primary Industries, said in a statement the government had tested farms connected with the first property with the virus and is confident it had been contained to that farm. "We are on track to stamp out this disease," van Andel said on Tuesday. The positive test for the virus in December on a chicken farm in Otago, in the South Island was New Zealand's first. The strain is different from the H5N1 strain, which has spread globally and raised fears of human transmission. Van Andel said the farm that reported the virus remains under a strict biosecurity lockdown while it undergoes cleaning and decontamination. New Zealand suspended all poultry exports following the virus's discovery. Van Andel said the government was in close contact with trade partners and an agreement has been reached with Australia to continue exporting some poultry products. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement AdvertisementAfram Plains North MP-Elect Worlase Kpeli Weighs Options for Parliamentary Alignment
Algert Global LLC lowered its holdings in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. ( NYSE:AEO – Free Report ) by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,850 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 23,316 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in American Eagle Outfitters were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 417.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,576 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,504,000 after buying an additional 141,628 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,731,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 165.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,107,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $62,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,938 shares in the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters during the 3rd quarter worth $3,146,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the second quarter valued at about $16,861,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock. American Eagle Outfitters Price Performance Shares of AEO opened at $19.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.64. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.88 and a 1-year high of $26.44. American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on American Eagle Outfitters from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on American Eagle Outfitters from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00. View Our Latest Analysis on AEO Insider Buying and Selling at American Eagle Outfitters In related news, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 2,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $49,061.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Also, CEO Jay L. Schottenstein sold 999,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total transaction of $20,039,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,771,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,507,894.04. The trade was a 36.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,050,702 shares of company stock worth $21,148,718. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company’s stock. American Eagle Outfitters Profile ( Free Report ) American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a multi-brand specialty retailer in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men under the American Eagle brand; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections under the Aerie and OFFLINE by Aerie brands. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AEO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. ( NYSE:AEO – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for American Eagle Outfitters Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Eagle Outfitters and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Nikki Kaye, former MP for Auckland Central died after a long battle with cancer. Kaye, 44, was a former deputy leader of the National Party and served as a Minister in John Key’s Government. She revealed in September 2016 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and returned to work the following year. Kaye announced in July 2020 that she was leaving politics at that year’s general election. Former National Party Minister Nikki Kaye has died at age 44. It’s understood she died at the weekend after a long battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. Her former colleague, Maggie Barry, posted on Facebook a short time ago a picture of the pair with the caption “farewell my friend”. Friends told NZME she was in great health up until a few months ago, when her health went downhill very suddenly. A funeral notice would be shared by family tomorrow. STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVEBLOG STORY CONTINUES Former National Party leader Todd Muller said he will miss her dearly. “A beautiful soul with a deeply caring heart fueled by a ferocious energy to serve her party, community and country often at the expense of her own health. “I will miss her dearly. Rest in peace Nikki” A beautiful soul with a deeply caring heart fueled by a ferocious energy to serve her party, community and country often at the expense of her own health. I will miss her dearly. Rest in peace Nikki Another colleague, Judith Collins, a Government Minister, said Kaye died “far too young and far too early”. I am so sorry to hear this. Far too young and far too early. RIP Nikki. Former National Party Minister Nikki Kaye has died https://t.co/mpDtJ3PjlH Kaye served as an MP for the Auckland Central electorate from 2008, when she entered Parliament at age 28, until 2020. In two races for the Auckland Central seat, she beat Jacinda Ardern. She had to fight for her seat in every election. Auckland Central is seen as one of the most marginal seats in the country, courtesy of the ever-changing population of students and apartment dwellers. In January 2013, she was appointed to Cabinet by Prime Minister John Key with the portfolios of Food Safety, Civil Defence, and Youth Affairs, and Associate Minister of Education and Immigration. In September 2016 she took sick leave from the House for breast cancer treatment. She returned to Parliament in early 2017, resuming full duties. She served as Deputy Leader of the National Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from May 2020 to July 2020. After retiring from parliament in 2020, Kaye spent time at former Prime Minister John Key’s holiday home in Maui. She told the Herald’s senior political correspondent Audrey Young a year later she had travelled to San Francisco and London and spent time on Great Barrier Island. She had joined the board of AUT Ventures, the commercial arm of the Auckland University of Technology. She did some work for the OECD and the Government of Bahrain, presenting to a virtual conference around 21st century education systems. She visited technology companies in California and friends in Britain before getting a ballot spot to return to MIQ. All up she spent five months overseas, before setting up her base on Great Barrier Island. Kaye was also wanting to make a contribution in the field of digital education in New Zealand and the United States and got herself a three-year visa to do so. She was also committed to helping breast cancer charities. Kaye was also a keen sportswoman. In 2020, she completed the Coast to Coast – a 243km running, cycling and kayaking race from Kumara’s Serpentine Beach to Christchurch’s New Brighton Beach. Speaking to Women’s Weekly in 2022, Kaye spoke candidly about her desire to find balance and time to look after herself. ”There’s this thing burning in me that loves to help people. There are always people who need help and if you’re someone who cares a lot, like I do, then you can never shut off,” she said at the time. ‘One of the bravest Parliamentarians NZ has seen’ The Prime Minister and Finance Minister have paid tribute to Nikki Kaye, described as a “cherished colleague, friend, and former Minister, Deputy Leader and Member of Parliament for Auckland Central”. Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister and National Party leader, said her contribution “to our party, her community, and New Zealand has left an indelible mark”. “Her tireless dedication, sharp intellect, and tenacity earned her the respect of people across the political spectrum,” Luxon said. ”Nikki was a remarkable person and a crusader for what she believed in, and her contribution has left our country in a better place.” - More to come Share this article Copy Link Email Facebook Twitter/X LinkedIn Reddit
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It looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. “The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more,” Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. “There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie,” said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction.” In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation , did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the “no-fault findings,” as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report , Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist “saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities.” But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's “decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable.” A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug “then entered the market through illegal channels,” he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles,” Li said. “The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice.” This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. “Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated,” he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. “It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. “Which clearly it has not.” AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-gamesNovember 25, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread by Jonas Roslund, Linköping University We distance ourselves from completely neutral products if they are liked by people who have political views that we find disagreeable. This is shown in four studies from Linköping University, Sweden. The behavior is reinforced if we have to make a decision when others are watching. Political distancing affects us more deeply than was previously known and governs our choices even when it is completely irrelevant. The studies show that even chocolate can be political. "From a social perspective, it can unfortunately be rational to distance ourselves from these neutral things, but this contributes to a more polarized society," says Arvid Erlandsson, senior associate professor at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning at Linköping University. In four studies, researchers investigated people's attitudes to completely non-political products before and after these were linked to people or groups with different political views . As far as is known, this is the first time such an investigation has been conducted. The results have been presented in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin . The first study concerned clothing. The more than 600 participants were first shown a number of pictures of people wearing formal clothes. The heads of the people were hidden. Participants were asked to give their opinion on the design, fit and color of the clothes and how much they would want to buy them. They were also asked their views on political parties . They then had to re-evaluate the clothes, but this time the faces of the people wearing them were visible. It turned out that the faces belonged to well-known Swedish politicians. This clearly affected the results in the second round. Clothes worn by a politician from the participants' least liked party were now more often perceived as less stylish than in the first assessment. In the next study, more than 800 participants first gave scores to eight well-known chocolate brands and stated their political stance. They were then divided into groups for a second round. One group was told that a previous pilot study showed that their political opponents liked a particular chocolate the best. A second group was instead told which kind their own side preferred. They then made a new assessment. It turned out that chocolate that was liked by political opponents had now become significantly less appealing. However, varieties that were liked by their own side did not become more popular. "It's less about you associating with what your own side likes and more about avoiding what's liked by the opposing side," summarizes Erlandsson. A third study similarly examined willingness to donate money to various charities. More than 1,200 people participated and the results were the same as in the previous studies. Participants were less likely to give money to organizations they were told were preferred by political opponents. The researchers think that we unconsciously behave this way to maintain a consistent self-image. What the participants did not know was that the pilot study showed that everyone—regardless of their political affiliation—had actually liked the same chocolate varieties and the same charities. In the last study, 1,295 people participated. They also had to choose between products, but with a difference. One group made their choices while being observed by animated faces they were told belonged to their own political grouping. It turned out that the tendency to distance oneself from products liked by political opponents was further reinforced. The researchers' conclusion is that we attach great importance to how we appear to others. "Knowing about it might make you think twice, instead of just going on a gut feeling," says Erlandsson. More information: Arvid Erlandsson et al, Politically Contaminated Clothes, Chocolates, and Charities: Distancing From Neutral Products Liked by Out-Group or In-Group Partisans, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2024). DOI: 10.1177/01461672241298390 Journal information: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Provided by Linköping University
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SAN FRANCISCO , Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced the appointment of Janesh Moorjani as the company's chief financial officer, effective December 16, 2024 . Moorjani brings over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, with deep expertise in driving growth and efficiency at scale. Most recently, Moorjani served as CFO and COO of Elastic NV (NYSE: ESTC), the Search AI Company. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.