(NewsNation) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announced he’s retiring Wednesday.

Brady — the most successful quarterback in NFL history, and one of the greatest athletes in team sports — posted the announcement on social media Wednesday morning, a brief video lasting just under one minute.

He tweeted: ““Good morning guys. I’ll get to the point right away, I’m retiring for good. I know the process was a pretty big deal last time so I figured when I woke up this morning I’d press record and let you guys know first.”

Brady announced his retirement from the NFL after winning seven Super Bowls and an unprecedented 22-year career. He announced he was retiring last year before changing his mind and playing the 2022 season.

FT. MYERS, Fla. (NewsNation) — Hurricane Ian devastated the Florida coast four months ago — for many, it seems like time a lot of time has passed but those impacted are still dealing with the aftermath of the devastating storm.

Residents in Fort Myers Beach, an island just off the coast, are still without food and housing and have been forced to live in tents.

While progress is being made, there’s still a lot of destruction. Some residents told NewsNation they feel forgotten, and a lot of people are still waiting on the aid they need to rebuild.

Bruiser Jungwirth sells fruits and vegetables on the side of the road in Ft. Myers Beach. He drove about an hour to pick fresh fruit because four months after Ian’s destruction, there is still no working grocery store on the island.

Just a few steps away, he and his wife now call a donated trailer home. Their home washed away in the category four hurricane last September. They’ve dipped into their savings to survive.

“(Federal Emergency Management Agency) pretty much denied us any (Small Business Association) loans for our businesses because they don’t think we can pay it back. Well, there’s no business so I guess they’re right,” Jungwirth said.

Ft. Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers dubbed the island “ground zero” after Ian.

“It hasn’t gone away, we’re still living it every day,” Allers said. “It’s taken a lot longer than I would like, but it’s progress. As long as we’re moving forward not backward, that’s all we could hope for.”

The seven-mile island is showing signs of a rebound. Cleanup is still happening and some restaurants are back open.

The Florida Department of Emergency Management has committed more than $500 million to places impacted by Ian, and FEMA said it’s given out more than $5 billion in grants and loans.

Yet, there are still people like Jay Burk, a captain and Vietnam veteran, who have been forced to live in tents over the past three months. Burk’s boat he lived and worked on was mangled in the hurricane.

“It’s almost three months and still no settlement with FEMA and I’m here,” he said. “I’ve got food everywhere. Everybody keeps giving me food, and we do the best we can. I have no problem with food, what I need is money to get by and a new boat.”

Burk said he’s been in touch with FEMA and they need another copy of his Social Security card. He’s been back and forth with the Social Security office to get that.

That’s the situation for a lot of people down in the area trying to track down the money they need to get back on their feet.

Source link

The post Austrian president visits mass burial site in Bucha appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

Supply backlink

The post Japan’s foreign minister vows to send “strong message” after meeting with NATO chief appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada said the quote she had included from Martin Luther King Jr. was “inappropriate and insensitive.”

Bettmann/Getty Images; Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch

• PagerDuty’s CEO has apologized for quoting Martin Luther King Jr. in an email about mass layoffs.
• The email, which also included info on an executive promotion, has been criticized as tone-deaf.
• The quote was “inappropriate and insensitive” and the email’s tone was wrong, CEO Jennifer Tejada said.

The CEO of tech company PagerDuty has apologized for quoting Martin Luther King Jr. in an email to staff announcing mass layoffs.

In a company-wide email on January 24, Jennifer Tejada announced that PagerDuty was cutting 7% of its workforce globally. She also said the company was cutting costs and reducing office space, attributing the changes to the “volatile economy.”

“I am reminded in moments like this, of something Martin Luther King said, that ‘the ultimate measure of a [leader] is not where [they] stand in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] stand in times of challenge and controversy,'” Tejada wrote, slightly tweaking the original quote from the civil-rights activist and including her own words in brackets.

The original quote was first said by King in a 1958 speech, and was included in his 1963 book “Strength to Love.”

Tejada faced backlash for the email, seen by many as tone-deaf. Tom Gara, a technology communications manager at Meta, called it an “all-time classic bad layoff announcement.”

Tejada also used the email to announce the promotion of an executive, saying in an upbeat tone that she was “excited” to appoint him.

“It is unbelievably callous to announce layoffs and the promotion of executives in the same email,” one person wrote on Twitter.

In a follow-up email to staff on Friday, Tejada apologized for the initial announcement.

“The way I communicated layoffs distracted from our number one priority: showing care for the employees we laid off, and demonstrating the grace, respect, and appreciation they and all of you deserve,” she wrote.

“There are a number of things I would do differently if I could,” Tejada continued. “The quote I included from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inappropriate and insensitive. I should have been more upfront about the layoffs in the email, more thoughtful about my tone, and more concise. I am sorry.”

As of January 2022, the company had 950 employees. It has offices in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Portugal.

Tech companies including Google, Meta, Salesforce, Amazon, and Microsoft have all announced mass layoffs in recent months. Many companies have resorted to laying off staff using abrupt and largely impersonal emails.

Some affected Google staff told Insider they were surprised they were let go by email, which one calling it “super disrespectful.”

U.S. Rep.-elect George Santos at the US Capitol Building on January 6, 2023.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• George Santos became angry when challenged by a reporter over his lies on the campaign trail. 
• The exchange took place during an otherwise softball interview on the right-wing OAN network.
• Santos has been found to have fabricated a string of claims about his background and career.

Rep. George Santos became irate when questioned by an OAN host about the sincerity of his apology for making a series of false claims about his background and personal history. 

In an interview with the far-right OAN network, host Caitlin Sinclair initially seemed to sympathize with Santos over the negative media coverage he’s received over his lies, and threw him a series of softball questions. 

—One America News (@OANN) February 1, 2023

 

She then directly challenged him over the falsehoods, along with the sincerity of his contrition, and the mood soured. 

“History has shown that the American people can pretty much forgive anything, but that starts with a sincere apology. Normally a lot of remorse shown. Prevailing opinion is you have not yet shown that,” Sinclair said.

“You know, I don’t know what you mean by that, because I have,” Santos replied, as Sinclair remarked that he seemed to be becoming angry. 

“I’ve said I was sorry many times. I’ve behaved as if I’m sorry. Look, if. If you’re…If you want to compare emotions, people show emotions differently. I am sorry. I’m deeply sorry,” he said.

“And, you know, I don’t know what is asked of me right now when you ask: ‘Oh, you have not shown remorse or you don’t seem to look sorry’. I don’t know what looking sorry looks like to you, Caitlin,” he added.

On Tuesday Santos said he was stepping down from his House committee assignments until his name was cleared, remarking that his presence in Congress had become a distraction for the Republican Party. 

Though he has apologised for some of his lies, he has also sought to portray them as harmless embellishments of his résumé.

In Tuesday’s interview he denied being elected on the basis of a deception.

Santos was found to have made up claims about his career, personal and family history, including that his mother was present at 9/11 and that his family fled the Holocaust. Earlier claims of Jewish ancestry have also been rowed back.

Santos is now facing investigation from federal authorities in New York over his financial affairs, and from authorities in Brazil over allegations he used a stolen checkbook. 

According to one poll, 78 percent of voters in the New York congressional district he represents now want him to resign, though he has so far resisted calls to do so.

China’s stock market appears to be buying into the ChatGPT hype, with local AI stocks flourishing.

NurPhoto/Contributor/Getty Images

• Chinese AI stocks have been rallying as the market appears to join ChatGPT-driven hype.
• Computer vision tech group Beijing Deep Glint Technology Co. rose more than 15% Wednesday.
• The stocks initially disappointed after China’s economy reopened due to weak balance sheets, per BBG.

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are surging as a wave of ChatGPT hype fans investor enthusiasm toward competitors.

Some AI stocks jumped more than 10% Wednesday, and are in the midst of a rally that has seen others increase their market value by more than half.

Beijing Deep Glint Technology Co., a researcher of computer vision technology and big data analysis, surged more than 15% on the day, and is up more than 60% since the beginning of 2023.

Hanwang Technology Co., a manufacturer of pattern recognition technology, jumped more than 10% Wednesday, taking year-to-date gains above 43%. Facial recognition software firm CloudWalk Technology Co. rose more than 8%, with a 2023 gain of nearly 49%.

The buzzy ChatGPT — an AI writing tool developed by OpenAI — has caused much excitement since its  beta version was released in November, touting its ability to do everything from writing children’s books to explaining Warren Buffet’s investment methods.

It’s also caused competitors and investors to scramble to catch up with the burgeoning sector, with Google management issuing a “code red” over the chatbot and redirecting employees to work on AI projects.

Indeed, AI stocks in the US have enjoyed their own bull run since the launch of ChatGPT, with chipmakers Nvidia and Ambarella among companies enjoying double-digit stock rallies.

The recent surge in Chinese AI stocks appears to be in a similar vein, and follows a disappointing month for the shares due to concerns over weak balance sheets and slow progress in delivering ambitious targets, per Bloomberg.

LGBT+ activists in Democratic Republic of Congo are celebrating the arrival of Pope Francis, whose recent push for the decriminalisation of same-sex relations has given them hope of greater acceptance of their community across Africa.

Same-sex relations are illegal or taboo in many socially conservative African countries, including in South Sudan which the pope will visit after Congo. Some influential African religious leaders preach against it as a corrupting force and LGBT+ people often face threats and exclusion.

The Catholic Church teaches that while same-sex attraction is not a sin, same sex acts are. However, activists like Scaly Kep’na in Kinshasa have taken heart from the pope speaking out against the criminalisation of same-sex relations in a recent interview.

“It is a beautiful message, which advocates inclusion and marks an evolution of the Church too,” said Kep’na, who set up youth organisation Jeunialissime to fight discrimination.

In past years, Pope Francis has said he could not judge gay people, that they were “children of God” and the Catholic Church should apologise to gay people for the way they have been treated.

Africa accounts for half of the world’s 64 countries that criminalise same-sex relations, according to the most recent data from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association World (ILGA World).

“These declarations are a step forward for the future of Africa, the future of our country and especially the future of religious discourse in the world,” Kep’na told Reuters as the pope’s plane touched down in Kinshasa on Tuesday for the first papal visit since 1985.

Even in African countries like Congo that do not explicitly outlaw same-sex activity, LGBT+ people often still face legal discrimination under public decency laws and other broader legislation.

While it is unclear if the pope will speak on the topic during his visit to Congo and South Sudan that runs to Feb 5, his message will have been heard by the continent’s many Catholic faithful, said Julia Mukuala, 38, Congolese activist and member of the Pan-Africa ILGA Board.

“We think it will change the perception of all the religious people in our countries who think that when you are homosexual, you are to be slaughtered, to be dehumanised, you are devils,” she said by phone.

On Tuesday, her organisation put up a large banner in Kinshasa on behalf of the Congolese LGBT+ community, decorated with a rainbow flag and a welcoming message to Pope Francis.

Not everyone sees the pope as an LGBT+ ally.

“The Holy Father is far far from being a supporter of homosexuality,” said Father Alain Difima, head of Kinshasa’s Catholic abbots, who interpreted the pope’s comments seeking decriminalisation as a sign of his mercy.

The pope “simply wanted to show that a person who practices homosexuality is still capable of remaining in society,” he said by phone. “It’s his way of giving a chance to a homosexual person whom the world sees as a criminal.”

Other Catholic clergy take a sterner view. Father Samuel Abe, Administrator of the Catholic Archdiocese in South Sudan’s capital Juba, said he hoped LGBT+ rights would not come up during the pope’s visit.

In “our South Sudanese culture we don’t even practice or do this kind of thing,” Abe said by phone. “We don’t need to be debating what doesn’t affect us.”

In Kinshasa on Wednesday as thousands queued for the pope’s open air mass, many declined to answer when asked what they thought about his stance on decriminalisation.

For Bienvenue Lukokisa, who campaigns for the rights of military wives and children, the issue comes down to personal beliefs and culture. “People should do what they want, but for us we say we are rooted in and protectors … of African values.”

U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday as investors cautiously waited for the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later in the day and a reading on private job additions last month.

The Fed is widely seen as raising its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in its first policy meeting of the year, after the rapid increases in 2022 to tame decades-high inflation.

Investors will also likely parse Chair Jerome Powell news conference for clues on the trajectory of future rate hikes.

Money markets are betting on one more 25 basis point (bps) hike in March, and a terminal rate of 4.9% in June.

“A rise by 25 bps is likely to be interpreted as a more cautious move… officials will hope that the central bank’s aggressive tightening slows economic activity and wage growth without causing a recessionary spike in the unemployment rate,” said Richard Flynn, UK managing director at Charles Schwab.

Recent readings have indicated that inflation is easing, with the Fed also looking at data which will determine the resilience of the labor market and the pace of wage growth.

The ADP National Employment report, due at 0815 a.m. ET, is expected to show that private payrolls increased in January by 178,000, which is less than the 235,000 rise in the previous month, as per a Reuters poll.

The survey will be seen as a precursor to the Labor Department’s more comprehensive reading on nonfarm payrolls for January on Friday.

On Tuesday, Wall Street indexes reversed declines and rallied when the Fed’s preferred wages gauge, the U.S. Employment Cost index, showed its smallest increase in a year during the fourth quarter.

Halfway into the busiest week of earnings season, videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc (EA.O) slumped 10.1% in premarket trading on lowering its annual bookings forecast.

Snap Inc (SNAP.N) tumbled 15% after the social media company said it expects current-quarter revenue to decline by as much as 10%. Other social media and internet firms like Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Pinterest (PINS.N) were flat to 0.7% lower.

Facebook parent Meta is expected to report quarterly results after the bell.

Bucking the recent nervousness among chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) added 3.4% after projecting that it expects its business to improve in the second half of the year, boosting hopes that it is gaining on rival Intel Corp (INTC.O). Intel shares dipped 0.1%.

At 7:25 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 122 points, or 0.36%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.25 points, or 0.18%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 7.5 points, or 0.06%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average component (.DJI) Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) fell 1.1% as the drugmaker said its fourth-quarter revenue fell slightly.

As of Tuesday, quarterly earnings of S&P 500 firms are expected to decline 2.4%, improving from 3% decline in the previous session as per Refinitiv.

Global stocks rose on Wednesday as signs of slowing U.S. wage growth supported expectations the Federal Reserve could signal an end to interest-rate hikes at its meeting later on.

U.S. benchmark indices rallied and bond prices rose, while the dollar eased overnight when the Fed’s preferred wages gauge, the U.S. employment cost index, showed a 1% rise last quarter, its smallest increase in a year.

The MSCI All-World index (.MIWD00000PUS) was last up 0.2% on the day, having ended January with a 7% gain, thanks in large part to investors growing more optimistic about the outlook for global inflation and interest rates.

The Fed will announce its rate decision at 1900 GMT, followed by a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell.

Interest-rate markets have priced in a slowdown in the pace of hikes, with Wednesday’s expected 25 basis point (bps) increase seen bringing the Fed funds rate target range to 4.5%-4.75%.

Investors will try to gauge whether and how hard Fed Chair Jerome Powell will push back on market pricing for rate cuts beginning as soon as the second half of this year.

“The market is anticipating some pushback from Powell, although it’s difficult to pin down how much is enough to convince the market,” said Brian Daingerfield, head of G10 currency strategy at NatWest Markets.

“Anything short of Powell going 10 for 10 hawkish may ultimately be seen as being not hawkish enough. Conversely, the market may take even the smallest dovish concession and run with it.”

Strategist at ING said economic data should play a greater role in shaping investor expectations for monetary policy.

“One of the reasons is that central banks are purposefully behind the curve,” Padraig Garvey, who is ING regional head of research for the Americas, said.

“Their past mistake in anticipating the inflation surge means they’re unlikely to acknowledge it is going back to target until they have a much higher degree of confidence than now,” he said.

“The other reason is that markets are correctly priced for the next few meetings.”

Data on Wednesday showed headline inflation in the euro zone moderated to 8.5% in January, from 9% in December, while core prices picked up to 7% from 6.9%. This measure will keep the heat on the ECB to raise interest rates, as it could prove much tougher to tame.

“As the ECB’s attention is gradually turning away from the main measure and on to core inflation, we think that falls in headline inflation will do little to stem the central bank’s hawkishness,” said Mateusz Urban at Oxford Economics.

In Europe, the STOXX 600 (.STOXX) rose 0.3%, boosted by industrials and tech stocks, while an early lift from healthcare stocks faded.

Currency markets have also been treading water in the run-up to the Fed meeting, and ahead of the Bank of England and European Central Bank meetings on Thursday.

The dollar dropped for a fourth straight month in January, and lost 1.5% on the euro and 0.8% on the yen . The euro was last up 0.2% at $1.0882, while against the yen, the dollar fell 0.2% to 129.81.

U.S. Treasury prices edged higher, pushing the benchmark 10-year yield down 4 bps to 3.4846%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.2%.

Investors are more sanguine about the outlook for inflation, but cracks are appearing in the global economy.

Manufacturing activity across Europe and Asia contracted again last month, underscoring the fragility of the global economic recovery, although factories in the euro zone at least may have passed the trough, surveys showed on Wednesday.

Facebook owner Meta (META.O) reports earnings later on Wednesday. Company executives had struck a cautious tone at earnings calls on Tuesday as the economy slows.

Exxon (XOM.N) posted a record $59 billion adjusted profit, though Caterpillar (CAT.N) and McDonald’s (MCD.N) shares fell as the companies warned of inflation squeezing profit margins.

In commodity markets, optimism for demand supported oil prices and Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to $85.74 a barrel, while gold , which rallied on the dollar’s weakness through January, rose 0.1% to $1,928.20 an ounce.

Indian conglomerate Adani Group, meanwhile, remained under pressure, with its flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) shares down 3% and below the lower end of the offer price for a $2.5 billion stock sale that ended on Tuesday.

Prices for dollar bonds in Adani Group companies steadied after last week’s rout.

Related Galleries: