Spiking employer healthcare insurance costs near the price tag of a new car
A new survey from KFF shows the average annual price of employer-sponsored health insurance now tops $28,000 – enough to buy a car.Continue Reading
FACT CHECK: No Palace announcement abolishing Grades 11 and 12
Claim: The Office of the President announced the official removal of Grades 11 and 12 from the country’s education system. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook user posted a supposed statement from the Office of the President, purportedly signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It read: “Inanunsyo naContinue Reading
FACT CHECK: No reports link Sandro Marcos, Romualdez to Laos drug bust
Claim: A Filipino suspect in the drug shipment intercepted in Laos, who was reportedly a former employee of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, identified presidential son and Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos as the alleged mastermind behind the operation. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook postContinue Reading
AI shakeout sends investors back to bonds | Morning Bid
AI stocks tumble as investors question how much spending, borrowing and optimism the sector can still sustain. Investors rush back into government bonds as expectations for a December Fed rate hike fade. And oil climbs above $114 a barrel as reports suggest the US and Israel could be preparing newContinue Reading
Russia’s Doppelgänger operation used fake Ukrainian channels to spread disinformation. Hacked files show who ran it
Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff of the Russian Presidential Administration, set the goals for the Ukraine strand of the operation, launched in early 2023 under the codename “Uganda.” Alexander Kharichev, now head of the Kremlin’s Directorate for Monitoring and Analysis of Social Processes, oversaw it, according to hackedContinue Reading
Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1702: Ukraine says Poland paused military aid package over Lviv vote honoring WWII nationalists
Exclusive One year of Ukrainian arms exports, and industry has questions: how much army gained, where Berlin office is, who joins joint ventures. Ukraine promised to sell surplus weapons abroad 12 months ago. Its arms makers now ask why a fee of up to 30% still blocks the deals. StarlinkContinue Reading
Being There: Are These People In the Room With Us?
These truly-through-the-looking-glass days, it seems the drunk uncle you really didn’t wanna ask to dinner is getting worse. Scarily and no longer mirthfully, the befuddled “head” of a GOP blitzed on projection daily spirals deeper into phantasmagoria – slurring words, crafting fictions, renaming oceans, rekindling grievances, losing it over triflesContinue Reading
New electronics reach Iran, but prices soar as gov’t fees, US sanctions hit
Latest smartphones are finding their way into Iran despite sanctions and trade restrictions, but many can’t afford them., Tehran, Iran – When the latest iPhone 18 lineup was released by Apple in the United States on September 18, it only took a couple of days for the new models toContinue Reading
Serbia’s snap election: What’s at stake and can students unseat Vucic?
A snap parliamentary vote on October 25 will determine whether a student-led group can loosen Vucic’s grip on power., Serbia will hold a snap parliamentary election on October 25 . The vote is seen as a test of whether President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) can extend its 14-yearContinue Reading
40 years later, Chernobyl’s nuclear fallout is not what scientists expected
Forty years after the Chornobyl disaster, tiny radioactive particles still linger in the soil, carrying a dangerous legacy. Using powerful X-rays, scientists discovered that some of these particles have remained surprisingly stable, trapping radioactive substances inside instead of releasing them into the environment., Read MoreContinue Reading
US Treasury proposes a rule to crack down on high-tech investments in China, other adversaries
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department proposed a rule Thursday to crack down on American high-tech investments such as supercomputing and artificial intelligence in China, Russia, North Korea and other “countries of concern.” The U.S. government has been working for years to deny China and other adversaries investments thatContinue Reading
Facing pushback on data centers, tech giants are promising hosts more money and fewer secrets
With host communities across the U.S. turning against their gargantuan data centers, America’s technology giants are promising to take fewer taxpayer handouts, keep fewer secrets or shower more money onto the communities willing to allow the server warehouses. The new raft of promises from the world’s richest companies comes asContinue Reading
Huge crowds fill Belgrade for final rallies before election | DW News
Just days before Serbia’s elections, Belgrade has seen competing rallies. The right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party is facing a challenge from an election ticket known as the “Student List” — a group of candidates backed by student protesters. Serbia has faced nearly two years of student-led anti-corruption protests, triggered byContinue Reading