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Amazon Black Friday deals are here—We found the 59 best deals to shop todayChannel 10’s The Cheap Seats co-hosts Tim McDonald and Melanie Bracewell ruffled some feathers at the 2024 GQ Australia Men of the Year Awards, held on Wednesday night at Sydney’s White Bay Power Station. The pair, known for their sharp humour, didn’t hold back as they delivered a cutting monologue that had the celebrity-packed audience laughing- and cringing. "Tonight is all about honouring the unsung heroes," McDonald began, before Bracewell cheekily added: "Yes, hot, rich, successful people." Throughout the night, they poked fun at big names, including fellow Channel 10 star Osher Gunsberg. "A lot of outstanding people are here tonight," McDonald said. Bracewell nodded knowingly: "[Social media stars] The Inspired Unemployed are here." McDonald quipped back: "You mean Jack and Falcon?" to which Bracewell replied, deadpan: "No, sorry, Osher Gunsberg and Daniel Ricciardo." Radio icon Jackie 'O' Henderson’s memoir also got a roasting. "Finally, someone who talks about her life for five hours a day was ready to share her story," Bracewell said. McDonald added: "Jackie's book bravely recounts her struggles with addiction ... to Prada handbags and 20-year-old men." For the influencers in the room, Bracewell offered a helpful explanation: "A 'book' is like a really long Instagram caption." Even the event’s venue wasn’t spared. "Where better to honour the next generation of Aussie talent than at a 112-year-old decommissioned power station?" McDonald joked. Bracewell, ever quick, chimed in: "Some of you may recognise us from Channel 10... which was also decommissioned in 1984." As the awards rolled on, the evening celebrated the best of Australian and international talent. Australian actor Sam Worthington was crowned GQ Australia’s Man of the Year, presented by his wife, model Lara Worthington. Emma McKeon won Sportsperson of the Year, while Noemie Fox took home Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year. Eddie Betts, former AFL star, was honoured as Sporting Icon of the Year. Felix Mallard, best known for his acting roles, was named Actor of the Year. American model and musician Gabbriette was crowned International Sensation. Cooper Koch, star of Monsters, won International Actor, while country pop star Orville Peck took home International Musician of the Year. Peck, known for his masked persona and flamboyant style, added his own humour to the night. "Some of you may know me as Orville Peck, the country star, and some of you may know me as the yodelling poof who wears a mask," he joked during his speech. "Either way, I’m very happy to be here." Peck also took a moment to celebrate Australia’s contributions to global talent. "I really love Australia... you gave us Bailey Smith, Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman, so on behalf of gay people everywhere, thank you very much," he said, drawing big laughs from the audience. Speaking to SkyNews.com.au on Thursday, McDonald said it was an honour to be "even allowed into the building", let alone to host the awards. "I reckon because it’s the Men of the Year awards all the actual talent are in the crowd, so they need an average man to hand out their trophies and point out where the bathrooms are," he said. According to McDonald, the stars on the roasting hot seat were none the wiser about their foreboding roast but were happy to still chat with the comedians afterwards. "We didn’t speak to any of the celebs beforehand - the event security kept us 500 metres from the actual stars at all times," McDonald joked. "But afterwards we met a lot of them which was great, and some of their legal teams, which was less great. "Plus I reckon we roasted each other more than anyone, we try to make sure no one in the crowd cops it more than we do!"
The hosts of MSNBC ’s Morning Joe , Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski , allegedly met with President-elect Donald Trump over fears that then-attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz would investigate the death of an intern in Scarborough’s office during his time as a Florida Republican congressman, according to a Puck News report. On Monday, Brzezinski said: “For those asking why we would go speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, ‘Why wouldn’t we?’” “Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him,” she added. Their mostly liberal audience dropped by 17 percent in the hour after they made the revelation about the Trump meeting, and their ratings were down 38 percent the following day compared to the average for the year. Scarborough and Brzezinski have reportedly told friends since the election that they’re concerned about retribution from Trump over their consistent criticism of the president-elect since they last met with him seven years ago. Those worries grew when Trump nominated former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general. Gaetz announced on Thursday that he would be stepping down as the nominee. The Morning Joe hosts told friends and allies before the departure that they were concerned that Trump and Gaetz would bring back up baseless conspiracy theories regarding the death of 28-year-old intern Lori Klausutis, who died from complications from a heart condition in 2001, Puck News noted. The concerns were linked to worries that Gaetz and Trump would use the conspiracy to put legal pressure on Scarborough. In 2022, former White House communications director and current The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin testified before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, saying that she once encountered Gaetz outside the Oval Office, adding that Gaetz was carrying a folder with “conspiracy theories about Joe Scarborough murdering his intern.” Gaetz presented the contents to Trump, who subsequently posted about it on what was then Twitter. A source told Puck that the hosts were “petrified of retribution” and concerned that Gaetz, who represented the same Florida congressional district as Scarborough, would probe the death of the intern. The source said the fears had “nothing to do with ratings or Comcast.” A separate source told Puck that Scarborough and Brzezinski thought that by meeting Trump, they could lessen his desire for revenge. A spokesperson for MSNBC told Puck that this characterization of the motivations for the meeting was false and inaccurate. The Independent has contacted MSNBC for comment. Trump said on Fox News on Monday morning that the meeting with the Morning Joe hosts had been “very cordial.” “Many things were discussed, and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have open communication,” he said. “The meeting ended in a very positive manner, and we agreed to speak in the future,” Trump added. The president-elect went on to say that he expected that other meetings would occur with others in the press “even those that have been extremely hostile.” The former president said he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press. ... If not treated fairly, however, that will end. The media is very important to the long-term success of the United States of America.”Kelowna RCMP have concluded investigation into year-old gas station incident
There are many unexpected places Tony Armstrong’s career has taken him since his stratospheric rise from News Breakfast sports host to double Logie winner (most popular new talent and most popular presenter) and then Gold Logie nominee in just four short years, but none so unexpected as Eat the Invaders . The six-part documentary finds him in the avant-garde surroundings of Tasmania’s Mona Museum, trying to eat his way out of Australia’s invasive species problem. It’s not so much “lions and tigers and bears ... oh my!” and more “rabbits, cane toads, carp, camels and cats and ... oh, deer.” Tony Armstrong, Kirsha Kaechele and Vince Trim. Credit: ABC TV “I ate camel testicle,” he says over Zoom from his holiday spot on the NSW North Coast. “I don’t know if that made the cut because we all went ‘blurrrrrgh’. So, with all due respect to camels, no thank you, but I can say I’ll try anything once. So I keep that unblemished record of fearlessness intact.” That fearlessness even extended to eating feral cats in the remote Indigenous community of Kiwirrkurra in Western Australia, where the felines are traditionally hunted – and then eaten – to protect the local bilby population. “I ate and loved it,” says Armstrong. “It was honestly so nice. I know I sound like a freak saying that, but It was the way that we hunted the cat as well, out with the ladies in the Western Desert. They were looking after their totems and they were protecting their lands. “We talk about ethical eating, and I don’t think it gets more ethical than that. And then we cooked it in the dirt – wrapped in foil – and it tasted like the yummiest rotisserie chicken I’ve ever had. Tony Armstrong filming Eat The Invaders. Credit: ABC TV “We’re not telling people to kill your cat and eat it. It’s more [making cat owners think], ‘I need to maybe change my habits as a cat owner.’ Don’t let your cat out. If they get out, they are a killing machine, and that’s what we want people to get.” As well as hunting with the women of Kiwirrkurra, Armstrong joins others on the front line of feral pest eradication, observing how rabbits, camels and deer are caught, as well as cane toads (the only animal he wasn’t allowed to eat) and carp, aka “dumpster dolphins”. He also consults invasion biologists professors Andrew Lowe and Phill Cassey about the ethical implications of creating a market for eating the animals before returning to Mona to dine with artist Kirsha Kaechele, whose surrealist art book Eat the Problem inspired the show, and high-profile guests to sample dishes featuring the pest created by Mona head chef Vince Trim. It’s a wild idea – quite literally – especially when you consider invasive species have a devastating effect on Australia’s biodiversity, damaging native soils, plants and animals. Feral cats, for example, are believed to kill more than 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs each year. Wild rabbits, meanwhile, which started as a population of just 13 when they were first introduced by grazier Thomas Austin in 1859 in Victoria, are now thought to number more than 200 million. Sounds fishy? Tony Armstrong in Eat The Invaders. Credit: ABC TV However, the idea that we simply eat our way out of the problem hasn’t come without criticism. When Kaechele’s book, with its complementary exhibition, was published in 2019, it was labelled “little more than an exquisitely designed elitist spectacle” that failed to “to take into consideration the complex realities this proposition entails”, by University of Tasmania lecturer Dr Svenja Kratz in a piece written for The Conversation. In December, the Invasive Species Council also criticised the documentary without having seen it, saying it was “well-intentioned” but a “fantasy” and “could make matters worse”. “The show, by showcasing these animals as food, risks making their presence more desirable – creating a dangerous paradox that could lead to the further spread of some species. We have particular concerns about the show promoting carp, camels and deer,” wrote Carol Booth, a policy analyst for the council, in an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald. Armstrong, however, says Eat the Invaders isn’t as straightforward about promoting the consumption of invasive pests – it’s more about creatively tackling a challenging problem. Tony Armstrong with other 2024 Good Logie nominees. Credit: Jessica Hromas “Hopefully, when they [the Invasive Species Council] do watch it, if they do watch it, they can see that we’re not being flippant,” says Armstrong. “This isn’t necessarily in response to them; it’s just general, but the show isn’t actually a cooking show. “It’s a show about ways of thinking. We use this sort of punk rock, almost shocking title and shocking premise as a way to then get people to think about the ways in which they might own their cats, the ways in which the food [we eat on the show] impacts biodiversity. Eating our way out of the problem is just our way of being at the front of the jungle, cutting through the shrubs so that behind it, there are different ways of thinking.” In a weird way, Eat the Invaders dovetails neatly into Armstrong’s other Australiana projects on the ABC, particularly Great Australian Stuff and Tony Armstrong’s Extra-Ordinary Things . He also has another documentary in the works, End Game , about racism in Australian sport, which will air in 2025. It’s been quite the rise, considering he has only been on the ABC since 2020, when he joined as a sports producer and presenter, before being elevated to the N ews Breakfast sports presenting role in 2021. It’s also something Armstrong is still getting his head around. He left News Breakfast in October to recalibrate after three years of brutally early starts. “It’s like, ‘What the f--- is going on,’” he says, laughing, of his rapid rise. “I’ve definitely got impostor syndrome, that’s for sure. But, I guess, timing is everything. People got a decade’s worth of News Breakfast in like 18 months [during COVID], so they saw way more of me than they would have. So I think that’s got a lot to do with it [his popularity and visibility]; everyone was stuck at home watching the ABC, and I was the part of the news that wasn’t COVID. I was kind of like, ‘Oh my god, yes, we could talk about sport. We don’t have to talk about [case] numbers.’ So I put a lot of what’s happened down to timing and taking the opportunity when it came.” Does he have any advice for News Breakfast ’s new full-time host, James Glenday, and new full-time sports presenter, Catherine Murphy? “They know this because I say it to anyone who asks,” says Armstrong. “Care heaps about it. Care heaps about your effort, and then as soon as you’ve done it, you can’t worry about what anyone else thinks. Because you don’t get to choose how people react to what you’re doing and if you make a mistake on it, honestly, it’s not the end of the world. Guess what? You’ll be on air tomorrow, and everyone will have forgotten. “I think that’s the thing. It’s the most daunting when you’re going in, you’re like, ‘Shit. This is a huge audience. What if I say a name wrong?’ And then you realise, if you’re trying your best, you’re allowed to make mistakes, right?” Eat the Invaders premieres on Tuesday, January 7, at 8.30pm on the ABC. Find the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday .
Thousands of protesters marched through Barcelona on Saturday demanding lower rents in Spain's second city. Barcelona, which has already taken action to stop the spread of holiday rental apartments, is the latest Spanish city to see protests for cheaper housing. Backed by left-wing parties and unions, the demonstrators gathered in central Barcelona behind a giant banner declaring "Lower the rents". "Today a new political cycle starts concerning housing," Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for the Catalan Tenants Union, the main organiser, told reporters. "Investors must not be allowed to come to our cities and play with the apartments like a game of Monopoly," she added. The union would target "profiteers" who are taking "half of our salaries", Arcarazo said. The demonstrators demanded a 50 percent cut in rents, leases with an unlimited term and a ban on "speculative" sales of buildings. They threatened to start a rent strike. An estimated 22,000 people took part in a similar demonstration in Madrid on October 13. Campaigns have been launched in other cities. According to the Idealista specialised website, rental prices per square metre have risen 82 percent across Spain over the past decade. The average salary has gone up by 17 percent in that time, according to the national statistics institute. Facing pressure over a housing crisis, the government in 2023 passed legislation calling for more social housing, greater restrictions on rents in high demand areas and penalties for owners who do not occupy properties. But rents have continued to rise while the government has battled city and regional authorities to get some parts of the law applied. vid-vab/tw/jm
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders took quite the hit during Saturday's game against Kansas. The senior quarterback was on the receiving end of a hit to the knees by Jayhawks linebacker Dean Miller that sent Sanders to fall backwards and grip his knee. Sanders did not depart from the game, but the severity of the hit had many take to social media to criticize the hit not being penalized. This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis. For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app , homepage and social feeds—including Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok .But that’s not the end of the delaysA gunman has shot and wounded two children at a California primary school before shooting himself dead, the local sheriff's department says. or signup to continue reading The shooting occurred on Wednesday at Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Oroville, California, located about 90km north of Sacramento, the Butte County Sheriff's office said. Megan McMann, a spokesperson for the Butte County Sheriff's Office, said officers responded quickly to reports of an unidentified adult male firing shots at students on campus at 1.09pm. By the time deputies arrived, the man was dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gun wound, McMann said. "Two students sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to local hospitals for treatment," McMann said, adding that she did not know their conditions. There is as yet no known motive for the shooting nor has the gunman been identified. In a post on social media, the Butte County Sheriff's Office said students were being taken to a nearby church. McMann said an investigation is ongoing and officers are trying to determine whether the suspected gunman had a connection to the school. The Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists, operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, serves children from kindergarten to the eighth grade, from ages 5 to 13, according to its website. 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 Advertisement
Thousands demand lower rents at Barcelona demo
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The world stands at the dawn of a “third nuclear age” in which Britain is threatened by multiple dilemmas, the head of the armed forces has warned. But alongside his stark warning of the threats facing Britain and its allies, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said there would be only a “remote chance” Russia would directly attack or invade the UK if the two countries were at war. The Chief of the Defence Staff laid out the landscape of British defence in a wide-ranging speech, after a minister warned the Army would be wiped out in as little as six months if forced to fight a war on the scale of the Ukraine conflict. The admiral cast doubt on the possibility as he gave a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) defence think tank in London. He told the audience Britain needed to be “clear-eyed in our assessment” of the threats it faces, adding: “That includes recognising that there is only a remote chance of a significant direct attack or invasion by Russia on the United Kingdom, and that’s the same for the whole of Nato.” Moscow “knows the response will be overwhelming”, he added, but warned the nuclear deterrent needed to be “kept strong and strengthened”. Sir Tony added: “We are at the dawn of a third nuclear age, which is altogether more complex. It is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.” The first nuclear age was the Cold War, while the second was “governed by disarmament efforts and counter proliferation”, the armed forces chief said. He listed the “wild threats of tactical nuclear use” by Russia, China building up its weapon stocks, Iran’s failure to co-operate with a nuclear deal, and North Korea’s “erratic behaviour” among the threats faced by the West. But Sir Tony said the UK’s nuclear arsenal is “the one part of our inventory of which Russia is most aware and has more impact on (President Vladimir) Putin than anything else”. Successive British governments had invested “substantial sums of money” in renewing nuclear submarines and warheads because of this, he added. The admiral described the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers on Ukraine’s border alongside Russian forces as the year’s “most extraordinary development”. He also signalled further deployments were possible, speaking of “tens of thousands more to follow as part of a new security pact with Russia”. Defence minister Alistair Carns earlier said a rate of casualties similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to the army being “expended” within six to 12 months. He said it illustrated the need to “generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis”. In comments reported by Sky News, Mr Carns, a former Royal Marines colonel, said Russia was suffering losses of around 1,500 soldiers killed or injured a day. “In a war of scale – not a limited intervention, but one similar to Ukraine – our Army for example, on the current casualty rates, would be expended – as part of a broader multinational coalition – in six months to a year,” Mr Carns said in a speech at Rusi. He added: “That doesn’t mean we need a bigger Army, but it does mean you need to generate depth and mass rapidly in the event of a crisis.” Official figures show the Army had 109,245 personnel on October 1, including 25,814 volunteer reservists. Mr Carns, the minister for veterans and people, said the UK needed to “catch up with Nato allies” to place greater emphasis on the reserves. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Defence Secretary John Healey had previously spoken about “the state of the armed forces that were inherited from the previous government”. The spokesman said: “It’s why the Budget invested billions of pounds into defence, it’s why we’re undertaking a strategic defence review to ensure that we have the capabilities and the investment needed to defend this country.”
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 18, 2024-- GoodRx Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GDRX) (“GoodRx” or the “Company”), the leading prescription savings platform in the U.S., today announced that executives from the Company will participate in a fireside chat at the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time (12:45 p.m. Eastern Time). A live webcast will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website, https://investors.goodrx.com/ . Following the conference, an archived recording will be available on the Company’s website for at least 30 days. About GoodRx GoodRx is the leading prescription savings platform in the U.S. Trusted by more than 25 million consumers and 750,000 healthcare professionals annually, GoodRx provides access to savings and affordability options for generic and brand-name medications at more than 70,000 pharmacies nationwide, as well as comprehensive healthcare research and information. Since 2011, GoodRx has helped consumers save over $75 billion on the cost of their prescriptions. GoodRx periodically posts information that may be important to investors on its investor relations website at https://investors.goodrx.com . We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult GoodRx’s website regularly for important information, in addition to following GoodRx’s press releases, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and public conference calls and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, GoodRx’s website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241218989923/en/ CONTACT: Investor Contact GoodRx Aubrey Reynolds ir@goodrx.comPress Contact GoodRx Lauren Casparis lcasparis@goodrx.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY PHARMACEUTICAL INTERNET HEALTH SOURCE: GoodRx Holdings, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/18/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/18/2024 04:06 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241218989923/en
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1 2 3 Pune: Mahayuti gained over 100 seats in assembly polls compared to its performance in Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. The Mahayuti alliance partners were leading in 230 assembly seats at 10pm on Saturday, compared to their leads in 125 assembly segments during LS polls. With leads in 132 seats, BJP nearly doubled its leads in 79 assembly segments in LS polls. NCP jumped from leads in six assembly segments during LS polls to 41 seats. Shiv Sena secured leads in 57 seats compared to 40 assembly segments in LS polls. At the same time, MVA lost immense ground after LS polls. The alliance was leading only in 46 seats compared to its lead in 153 assembly segments during general elections. Congress was in front in only 16 seats, compared to leads in 63 assembly segments during LS polls. Sena (UBT) won only 20 of 57 assembly seats it had secured a lead on in LS polls. NCP (SP) was leading in 10 seats against its leads in 33 assembly segments in LS polls. BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, "People realised that LS election campaign was based on a fake narrative. Our campaign focused on development and projects we implemented." Maharashtra Jharkhand Maharashtra Alliance View i Party View Seats: 288 Results Majority: 145 BJP+ 229 MVA 47 OTH 12 Results : 288 / 288 BJP+ WON Jharkhand Alliance View i Party View Seats: 81 Results Majority: 41 INDIA 56 NDA 24 OTH 1 Results : 81 / 81 INDIA WON Source: PValue Though Mahayuti gained seats, vote share of its partners remained more or less the same when compared to LS elections. BJP's vote share in June was 26.18% compared to 26.77% in assembly polls till late night. Shiv Sena's vote share remained over 12%. NCP made an impressive gain, jumping from 3.6% in LS polls to over 11% in results declared on Saturday. All MVA partners saw a drop in their vote share compared to LS polls. Rajas Parchure, former director of Gokhale Institute of Economics and Politics, told TOI Mahayuti's clear sweep indicated voters found a chord of connection with govt having executed its promises. Prakash Pawar, a poll analyst, told TOI, "BJP managed to secure all internal conflict by getting a grip on groups in every constituency. Congress failed to be present on the ground for the last few months, especially when they all rushed to Wayanad for Priyanka Gandhi's form submission. They ended up ignoring on-ground campaigning." Pune: Mahayuti gained over 100 seats in assembly polls compared to its performance in Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. The Mahayuti alliance partners were leading in 230 assembly seats at 10pm on Saturday, compared to their leads in 125 assembly segments during LS polls. With leads in 132 seats, BJP nearly doubled its leads in 79 assembly segments in LS polls. NCP jumped from leads in six assembly segments during LS polls to 41 seats. Shiv Sena secured leads in 57 seats compared to 40 assembly segments in LS polls. At the same time, MVA lost immense ground after LS polls. The alliance was leading only in 46 seats compared to its lead in 153 assembly segments during general elections. Congress was in front in only 16 seats, compared to leads in 63 assembly segments during LS polls. Sena (UBT) won only 20 of 57 assembly seats it had secured a lead on in LS polls. NCP (SP) was leading in 10 seats against its leads in 33 assembly segments in LS polls. BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, "People realised that LS election campaign was based on a fake narrative. Our campaign focused on development and projects we implemented." Though Mahayuti gained seats, vote share of its partners remained more or less the same when compared to LS elections. BJP's vote share in June was 26.18% compared to 26.77% in assembly polls till late night. Shiv Sena's vote share remained over 12%. NCP made an impressive gain, jumping from 3.6% in LS polls to over 11% in results declared on Saturday. All MVA partners saw a drop in their vote share compared to LS polls. Rajas Parchure, former director of Gokhale Institute of Economics and Politics, told TOI Mahayuti's clear sweep indicated voters found a chord of connection with govt having executed its promises. Prakash Pawar, a poll analyst, told TOI, "BJP managed to secure all internal conflict by getting a grip on groups in every constituency. Congress failed to be present on the ground for the last few months, especially when they all rushed to Wayanad for Priyanka Gandhi's form submission. They ended up ignoring on-ground campaigning."
In an era where digital connectivity shapes business success, one engineer's innovative approach to fiber service adoption has established new benchmarks in data-driven sales optimization. Under the leadership of Rajkumar Kyadasu, the Fiber Accelerator project at AT&T emerged as a transformative initiative, strategically revolutionizing the identification and conversion of potential fiber service customers within existing infrastructure zones. The project arose as a critical business imperative for the need to maximize the return on investments made in fiber infrastructure by AT&T. Recognizing that there was great scope in converting non-fiber users within areas already equipped with fiber capabilities provided Rajkumar with the rationale to develop an advanced data analytics framework designed to identify and prioritize high-potential conversion opportunities and, in doing so, fundamentally changed the way the sales organization approached customer acquisition. At its core, Rajkumar's innovation came from his attitude toward data engineering and analytics. He made use of the most advanced tools such as SQL, Python, and Spark, building very complex algorithms for analyzing vast datasets of customers, clearly illuminating subscribers for fiber service within the coverage areas. His usage of real-time data processing solutions inside Databricks made sure that the latest customer insights were always available to sales teams, thereby greatly increasing the efficiency of targeting. Under his guidance, the technical architecture consisted of several cutting-edge elements that were hugely enhancing sales capabilities. With automated data pipelines, the entire workflow of data processing became streamlined, and comprehensive Power BI dashboards offered an unprecedented view into customer locations, subscription statuses, and fiber availability, thus involving the proactive engagement of customers approaching renewal dates for further opportunities at service upgrades. Performance metrics also reflected high levels of influence from Rajkumar, as customer conversion within target areas increased by 20%. Efficiency benefits were equally impressive, as conversion times improved by 25% and data processing by 40%. These benefits directly translate into improved resource allocation and more efficient sales operations, which thus substantially improved the return on investments from AT&T's fiber infrastructure. It could be highlighted that one development was in the area of creating an integrated monitoring solution by Rajkumar, which monitored all contract expirations and was aligned to the customers' engagement pattern. All these developments ensured the sales teams could close more value-added opportunities and properly target customers nearing the tail end of their contracts. The highly developed approach to data visualization and analysis gave the sales representative a holistic view, creating a better-prepared base for customer interactions. Thus, cross-functional collaboration emerged as a key ingredient in the recipe for the success of the project. Rajkumar actively collaborated with sales and operations teams and customer success teams to ensure that the perfect alignment of the technical solution was done in terms of business objectives. This cross-functional collaboration, therefore, allowed for the continuous refinement of the system based on real-world feedbacks to enable better targeting and conversion strategies. Rajkumar thus revolutionized the organization's approach to sales intelligence through automated pipelines for data. He made it easier, extracting the transformation and loading processes that a solid foundation would lead to real-time decision-making through efficient processing and analytics of large datasets in the system; therefore, there were fast responses to opportunities or changing market conditions based on current information from sales teams. At that level, the system design impact went far beyond any direct operational benefits to Rajkumar through the strategic approach of implementing scalable and automated solutions. It established new market standards in terms of data-driven sales optimization and created a prototype that will be followed in similar efforts across the whole telecommunications sector. With the success of his approach toward striking the balance between technical sophistication and practical usability setting new standards, the sales enablement technology has never been the same in terms of sales effectiveness. Looking ahead, the initiative that Rajkumar has built is going to form a solid foundation for all future sales optimization efforts. The flexible and scalable architecture he designed facilitates continuous improvement and adaptation to evolving market requirements and emerging opportunities. His comprehensive success in approaching both near-term needs for selling sales and longer-term goals for operational efficiency offers a model for future transformations in telecommunications sales. The long-term impact of the effort begun by Rajkumar continues to resonate in the decision-making processes of AT&T's fiber service. That, truly, is a significant endorsement of his skills in combining innovative data engineering with deep business acumen as an effort towards meaningful, long-lasting improvements in sales effectiveness. His means of integrating technical capabilities with an appropriate understanding of business needs have created a solution that drives organizational success and efficiency toward new standards for optimizing the adoption of fiber services. About Rajkumar Kyadasu A visionary technical leader, Rajkumar Kyadasu combines deep expertise in data engineering with exceptional cloud architecture skills. His career highlights include developing groundbreaking solutions for public sector analytics and telecommunications infrastructure optimization, resulting in substantial operational improvements and cost savings. Known for his ability to bridge complex technical challenges with business objectives, Rajkumar has consistently delivered innovative solutions in data migration, cloud transformation, and advanced analytics. His work in implementing automated data pipelines and machine learning models has revolutionized how organizations leverage their data assets for strategic decision-making.There was no guarantee that a long-awaited House Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz would ever see the light of day, especially once the Florida GOP lawmaker abruptly quit his job last month in Congress. But the public on Monday did get to read and learn the details of allegations that played a role in disqualifying Gaetz from making it through the Senate confirmation process to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general. In releasing the report , the committee – which is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats – made Gaetz one of only a few former members whose Ethics Committee investigation was made public after they had resigned from office. The committee said it unearthed "substantial evidence" that Gaetz engaged in "prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use" and obstruction of Congress, including paying for sex with a 17-year-old, though he did not know or ask her age at the time. While Gaetz has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct in the past, the House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct was thrown into the spotlight when Trump nominated him to be attorney general in the incoming administration. Senators demanded more information about the allegations against Gaetz as they prepared to consider his nomination, with some Republican senators demanding access to the report as some details leaked to the press. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he would "strongly request" the committee keep it private . The panel met to consider whether to release the report and deadlocked along party lines in November. Gaetz pulled out of consideration shortly afterward. In a second vote earlier this month, two Republicans quietly joined their Democratic colleagues in supporting its release. "The Committee has typically not released its findings after losing jurisdiction in a matter," the report read. "However, there are a few prior instances where the Committee has determined that it was in the public interest to release its findings even after a Member’s resignation from Congress. The Committee does not do so lightly." Here's what to know about the committee's decision to release the report. What has happened in the past? It is extremely rare that the House Ethics Committee would release a report on a former member of Congress – so much so that resigning from Congress has long been considered a way for members plagued by ethics questions to avoid public release of their alleged wrongdoing. "It's an inducement for members to exit that the reports are not released," said Norm Eisen, former co-counsel to the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee during then-President Trump's first impeachment. "So it encourages a natural sanction of the offender no longer being in a position of public service." In only a handful of cases, the committee has determined that the information is in the public interest despite the lawmaker no longer serving in Congress. For example, the committee released a report in 1987 a few months after former Rep. Bill Boner, D-Tenn., resigned from Congress to become the mayor of Nashville . The report indicated Boner had taken bribes and misused campaign funds. In another case, the committee continued to investigate sexual harassment allegations against former Rep. Eric Massa , D-N.Y., who resigned in 2020, to determine whether other members covered up his conduct. Why did the committee decide to release the report? Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., is a member of the committee who voted for the Gaetz report's release. He told USA TODAY it was important to release the document because "the public had the right to know this sort of thing." In cases where there was a "relatively minor incident" the committee will choose not to release the report, Ivey said, adding: "This was anything but that." It was also important to signal to other House members what is expected of them as a member of Congress, Ivey said. "Our job as the watchmen for the Congress is to let our colleagues know when there's conduct that crosses the line," he said. "So that it gives them guidance as to how they should conduct themselves going forward." Others argued the panel was dealing with another problem : Much of the information in the report had already leaked, leaving the public to speculate without the full picture. Gaetz and Trump "put these issues in the public eye" by putting him up for attorney general, Eisen said. "They open Pandora's Box, some of the details came out, so at that point it's hard to close Pandora's Box back up." What was the argument against releasing it? Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., penned an addendum to the report explaining why several committee members voted against releasing the document. Guest and his other like-minded GOP members "do not challenge the committee's findings," he wrote, but "we take great exception" to the decision to deviate from "well-established standards" and release a report on someone who no longer serves in the House. Doing so is "extremely rare," Guest argued, and may be perceived as an attempt to "weaponize" the committee's investigation process. Releasing the report, he added, was "a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences." What does Matt Gaetz say? Gaetz has maintained his innocence and attacked the credibility of the Ethics Committee. On Monday, he published a series of posts on X with snippets of witness testimony that he argued refute the committee's findings. “Giving funds to someone you are dating - that they didn’t ask for - and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he wrote . “There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” The former Florida GOP lawmaker made a last-minute attempt in federal court Monday to block the committee's release of the findings, claiming the committee was outside of its jurisdiction. But while Gaetz sought a temporary restraining order Monday morning to prevent the report being released, the judge in the case asked Gaetz an hour later to explain why the case was still relevant once the materials were public. Monday evening, Gaetz's attorneys submitted a filing acknowledging that he "has no suffered irreversible and irreparable harm" and agrees with the judge that immediate action is no longer relevant.Bizman files defamation case against KTR
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