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Vodafone axing 11,000 jobs as UK wireless carrier aims to cut costs, boost growth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Wireless carrier Vodafone said Tuesday that it’s laying off 11,000 workers as part of a major revamp aimed at cutting costs and boosting flagging financial performance.Vodafone, one of the world’s biggest mobile phone companies by subscribers, made the announcement as it reported that its annual earnings dropped 1.3% and forecast little or no earnings growth over the financial year.“The circumstances of our industry and the position of Vodafone within it require us to change,” CEO Margherita Della Valle said. “We need to take out complexity and simplify how we operate.” Vodafone said the reductions would be carried out over the next three years, with cuts already announced in Italy, Germany and at its U.K. headquarters. Della Valle, who took over the top job in January, aims to cut costs by 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) by 2026.The job losses come amid sweeping cuts in the wider technology industry amid flagging economic growth and surging inflation. Vodaf...

UN reports extensive flooding damage in central Somalia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Floods caused by the annual rains have left “a trail of destruction” across Somalia, a United Nations spokesman said, citing inundated homes and farmland as well as the shutdown of health facilities.“According to early estimates by our partners, more than 460,000 people have been impacted, including nearly 219,000 men, women and children who have been displaced due to this (flooding),” Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. At least five people, including three children, have been killed in the flooding, Mohamed Moalim of the Somalia National Disaster Management Agency told The Associated Press.The destruction is greatest in the Hiiraan region of the central Somali state of Hirshabelle. Thousands of families have been displaced in Beledweyne, the regional city with the highest population density. The Shabelle river running through the town burst its banks amid heavy rainfall. If the rains persist in Somalia and in the Ethiopian highlands, “we es...

Top Toronto mayoral candidates target frontrunner Chow in first major debate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

Five of the main candidates answered questions about how they would address the soaring cost of living and food insecurity in the first major debate of Toronto’s mayoral campaign.Monday night’s event was hosted by the Daily Bread Food Bank in Etobicoke and featured five of the six top polling candidates. Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter and Josh Matlow appeared on stage while former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders declined an invitation.Donation bins in front of the candidate podiums were full of food, serving as a reminder of the affordability crisis currently plaguing the city.Chow, widely considered the frontrunner according to most polls, was grilled by the other candidates about where the funding for her proposed plans will come from.“How much are you going to jack everybody’s taxes here in Toronto?” questioned Bradford.Chow maintained she knows the city budget well, and says she didn’t mind being the target of the oth...

Millennial Money: What’s concierge medicine? Is it worth it?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

My primary care doctor recently left her practice and invited me to join her at her new gig — a concierge medicine group. There, for a membership fee, I’d have better and more personal access to her services: same-day appointments and long conversations!Concierge medicine — a model in which patients pay a membership fee for a more direct relationship with a primary care doctor — used to feel like a perk for the superwealthy. But as fees have come down and people have gotten more frustrated with the state of traditional primary care, concierge services may not seem like such a pie-in-the-sky option. There’s less waiting, more access, longer visits and greater coordination of care. However, the fees can be high, and if you don’t have complex medical needs, it may not feel worth the expense.WHAT IS CONCIERGE MEDICINE?Concierge medicine is an arrangement in which a patient pays a membership fee to gain access to a doctor’s practice. Your fee may cover a wide range of services, with insu...

Private investment needed to ramp up climate adaptations in infrastructure: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

A new report by the Canadian Climate Institute says private capital is needed to invest in climate adaptation infrastructure as extreme weather events like fires and floods become more acute by the year. The report co-authored by insurance firm The Co-operators Group Ltd.and Climate Resilience Consulting says public funding isn’t enough to meet the investment needs for adapting Canadian infrastructure to climate change. The report says the challenge is particularly acute for municipalities, which have limited resources and capacity to address the effects of climate change on Canada’s public infrastructure despite owning and operating almost two-thirds of it. The report authors say costly extreme weather events like Hurricane Fiona, flooding in British Columbia and the Fort McMurray fires highlight the urgent need to adapt.  They say climate adaptation is chronically underfunded in Canada and around the world, and yet without proactive adaptation, the effects of climate c...

Tunisia’s moderate Islamist leader sentenced in absentia to year in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A court has sentenced moderate Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi to a year in prison for allegedly referring to police officers as tyrants in what his party said early Tuesday amounted to a sham trial.Ghannouchi, 81, founder of the Ennahdha party, has refused to be removed from his place of detention for questioning or to attend Monday’s trial, considering that the cases are “political settling of scores targeting opponents of the regime,” lawyer Samir Dilou, a former party leader, said in an interview with The Associated Press.Ghannouchi, a former speaker of parliament, is the most prominent critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied. He has maintained that Saied’s move in 2021 to take all powers into his hands amounted to a coup d’etat.Ghannouchi was detained in mid-April on the charge of plotting against the security of the state. He has been called in numerous times for questioning on various matters, but this was the first time he was not released.Mo...

APD: SWAT situation ends at north Austin apartment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin Police said a SWAT situation at a north Austin apartment complex ended Tuesday morning but gave no other details. According to an earlier report from police, a robbery call at the Starburst Apartment complex on Interstate 35 turned into a SWAT situation just after midnight Tuesday morning. According to Austin Police, officers were called to the complex just north of US 183 around 9 p.m. Monday. Police said the caller was robbed at the door of an apartment. Police believe the suspect went inside the apartment.According to APD, officers called SWAT because the suspect had used a weapon during the robbery. According to police, officers contained the scene to the apartment itself. A police spokesperson did not know if any contact was made with the suspect. Police said the caller was not hurt in the robbery.

Scattered rain returns today ahead of brief dry out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After a healthy round of scattered storms Monday, we'll have one more opportunity for heavy rain today before drier and hotter weather makes a brief return midweek. Observed 1-week rainfall totals as of Monday afternoonWhile rainfall has been welcome and added some moisture to the soil, it has thus far failed in producing significant runoff into the lakes. Lake Travis is up 6 inches in the past week, but is still more than 30 feet below its average May level.Scattered rain continuesSpotty to scattered storms and showers will be possible this afternoon and evening, some of which could produce 1-3 inches of additional rain. A low flash flood risk is in place for most of Central Texas - be mindful of saturated soils and low-lying areas.Tuesday's flood risk: 1 out of 4Drier, hotter weather comingDrier and warmer weather takes hold Wednesday and Thursday as high temperatures return to the upper 80s. Partly sunny skies and muggy to humid conditions can be expected areawid...

Lost your car keys? How an Austin library membership key tag can help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An Austin resident reunited with his missing set of car keys two weeks after they were lost, all thanks to his library membership.A person who follows Austin Public Library on social media reached out to the library system, saying they had found a missing set of car keys while paddle boarding on Lady Bird Lake. Austin Public Library’s puppetry program delights audiences for 45 years The only identifying information available was the person's library key tag attached to the set.Austin Public Library staff reunited a resident with his missing car keys using his library key tag. (Courtesy: Austin Public Library)APL staff scanned the key tag, which is unique to the individual owner. The scan brought up the resident's name and contact information, which is privately stored and only accessible to staff members.Staff were able to connect with the resident, who'd been missing his keys for about two weeks.

Off the Beaten Path: Robert Frost Stone House Museum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:16 GMT

SHAFTSBURY, Vt. (NEWS10) - In this week’s Off the Beaten Path, we’re taking you to a literary landmark where the poet, Robert Frost, found inspiration. Once a family home, the Robert Frost Stone House Museum at Bennington College now serves as a museum and classroom to preserve the legacy of the famous American poet. Taking you inside the Architectural Parts Warehouse "He wrote to a friend, 'I mean to plant a new garden of Eden with a thousand apple trees of some unforbidden variety,' so he was taken with the property and he moved out here with his wife Eleanor and four children,” said Erin McKenny, the director of the Robert Frost Stone House Museum. 19th century glass bottle found in Albany The Robert Frost Stone House Museum is located at 121 Vermont Route 7a in Shaftsbury. Beginning May 1, the museum is open on weekends. The grounds are always open to the public.