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As 2024 Looms, Democrats’ Campaign Tech Crumbles Under Private Equity Squeeze

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

The company in charge of the Democratic Party’s prized campaign technology tools announced its second round of layoffs in just under a year on September 6, slashing a total of nearly 350 jobs this year just as the 2024 elections ramp up.In recent years, the privately owned monopoly over the Democratic Party’s voter data has changed hands from one for-profit company to another. Apax Partners, a global private equity firm, currently owns EveryAction and NGP VAN, the firms that house the Democrats’ suite of voter file, compliance, and organizing tools. Apax acquired them from another private equity firm in 2021, creating a new merged entity called Bonterra.Last month, according to current and former employees, Bonterra cut at least 20 percent of its staff, more than 200 employees. Staff members across EveryAction and NGP VAN, which hold the Democratic Party’s most sensitive data, were cut. At least a quarter of the people laid off belonged to the union, 51 of them unit members from Eve...

UCLA’s defense in for its biggest test of the season against Cameron Ward and No. 13 Washington St.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA’s defense has made marked improvement in D’Anton Lynn’s first season as coordinator. That unit though will face its biggest litmus test of the season on Saturday when the Bruins host No. 13 Washington State at the Rose Bowl.The unbeaten Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) come into the game with the nation’s sixth-ranked offense and have what might be the Pac-12’s most overlooked quarterback in Cameron Ward. While most of the attention has been focused on USC’s Caleb Williams, Washington’s Michael Penix and Colorado’s Shadeur Sanders, Ward is third nationally in passing (347.2 yards per game) and total offense (374.5 ypg).“I think he should be in the conversation with the top quarterbacks in the country,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said. “He’s athletic, he’s sharp, he throws an extremely accurate ball. I think he’s got great ball location, repetitive accuracy.”Ward and the Cougars have already had two significant victories. Th...

Putin says probe into crash of Wagner mercenary chief’s plane found hand grenade fragments in victims’ bodies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Putin says probe into crash of Wagner mercenary chief’s plane found hand grenade fragments in victims’ bodies.Source

Oklahoma judge arrested in Texas reported pistol stolen from his pickup truck

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma authorities confirmed this week they are investigating a report of a pistol stolen from the vehicle of an Oklahoma judge who was arrested in Texas last month after officials there say he opened fire on parked vehicles while driving.The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation also is investigating a drive-by shooting in February at the ranch of Judge Brian Lovell’s brother-in-law, Garfield County Undersheriff Ryan Fuxa told The Oklahoman newspaper on Wednesday.Lovell, an associated district judge in Garfield County, was arrested Sept. 11 in Austin, Texas, on a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. A felony count of engaging in deadly conduct with a firearm was forwarded to a grand jury for consideration.He was released on $10,000 bond and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.A telephone message left Thursday at Lovell’s office wasn’t immediately returned.Lovell’s brother-in-law, Kenneth Markes, reported someone fired at l...

Feds ask IRS to waive penalties for families in troubled Maryland college savings plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Maryland families who had to make multiple withdrawals from tax-free college savings accounts shouldn’t face a tax penalty because of errors plaguing the now-discontinued state Prepaid College Trust program, federal lawmakers said Wednesday.Access to the principal balance in more than 30,000 trust accounts was frozen for more than a year after the former Maryland 529 board discovered a widespread accounting error in early 2022.Now families may need to make multiple rollovers to catch up with college expenses, which could lead to a 10% penalty the lawmakers want waived.“Owners of 529 accounts may initiate a single 529 plan rollover per beneficiary within a 12-month period. Executing more than one rollover within this period would make the additional rollovers taxable and potentially subject to a 10% penalty. Due to unique and unexpect...

Flash floods kill at least 18 in northeastern India and leave nearly 100 missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescue workers were searching for nearly 100 people on Thursday after flash floods triggered by sudden heavy rainfall swamped several towns in northeastern India, killing at least 18 people, officials said.More than 2,000 people were rescued after Wednesday’s floods, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that state authorities set up 26 relief camps for more than 22,000 people impacted by the floods.Eighteen bodies have been found so far, said Vinay Bhushan Pathak, the top state bureaucrat.Twenty-six people have suffered injuries and were undergoing treatment at various hospitals across Sikkim, he said.Among the missing were 22 soldiers, officials said. One soldier who had been reported missing on Wednesday was later rescued by authorities, the army said in a statement.The Press Trust of India news agency cited a statement by neighboring West Bengal state as saying that the bodies of four soldiers were found. However, it wasnR...

A look at Russia’s deadliest missile attacks on Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.One of the deadliest such attacks happened Thursday when a Russian rocket struck a village cafe and store in the village of Hroza in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 51 civilians.The Kremlin often claims the missiles are aimed at military assets or blames the strikes on Ukraine. A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin insists Russia does not target civilians.A look at some of the deadliest strikes:___MARCH 9, 2022 — An apartment building in Izium in eastern Ukraine was hit in an attack that Human Rights Watch later said killed at least 44 people. Russian forces took control of the city and surrounding area beginning in late March and occupied it for six months. At the time of the strike, HRW said the area was under the control of Ukrainian forces who were trying to keep Russian troops from entering the ...

Drone strikes at Syrian military ceremony kill 67 people and wound 180, health official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian health official says the drone strikes on Thursday at a military graduation ceremony in the central city of Homs have killed 67 people and wounded 180. Dr. Musalem al-Atassi, the city’s health director, says the strikes hit a packed army ceremony in Homs, as it was wrapping up earlier in the day. He says both civilians and military personnel are among the casualties. Many of the wounded are in critical condition and are being treated in several hospitals in Homs, Syria’s third largest city. In an earlier statement, Syria’s military said that drones laden with explosives targeted the ceremony packed with young officers and their families as it came to an end. They accused insurgents “backed by known international forces” of the attack, without naming any particular group. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.The military has not provided any casualty numbers but Syria’s state television said the government announced a three-day...

Joel Embiid decides to play for USA — not France — in Paris Olympics, AP source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Joel Embiid will wear red, white and blue in Paris next summer — not rouge, blanc and bleu.The NBA’s reigning MVP and scoring champion has told USA Basketball that, after more than a year of deliberating, he has picked the Americans over France as his team for the Paris Olympics, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.The Philadelphia 76ers’ star let USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill know his mind was made up on Thursday, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because Embiid has not yet revealed his choice publicly. Embiid is scheduled to speak at 76ers’ camp in Fort Collins, Colorado, later Thursday.“The stronger the team, the better,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who coached the Americans at the 2019 World Cup and then to gold at the Tokyo Games, said Thursday when told of Embiid’s decision. “International competition is tough. … That’s great for us.”ESPN first report...

Actualización a Android 14: novedades, características y modelos compatibles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

(CNN Español) — Google presentó este miércoles la actualización a Android 14, su último sistema operativo. De acuerdo con el sitio web oficial, Android 14 “está repleto de actualizaciones que te ayudan a personalizar la experiencia de tu dispositivo, te dan más control sobre tu salud y seguridad y mejoran la accesibilidad”.Entre las novedades figuran más y mejores opciones de personalización de los dispositivos, de accesibilidad de los mismos y una serie de características que son posibles gracias a lo que Google llamó “la era de la IA generativa”.Aquí, un repaso con las principales novedades del Android 14, publicadas por Google:Más y mejores opciones de personalización: las novedades van desde accesos directos personalizados en la pantalla de bloqueo, como el lector QR o la aplicación Google Home, hasta nuevas plantillas de pantalla de bloqueo, con opciones de fuentes, widgets, colores y formatos.Mejor cámara y fotografías: gracias al soporte para imá...