Every graduating student present at the May 16 commencement for the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (UMass) received an unexpected bonus when they got their degrees: a $1,000 cash gift from billionaire Robert Hale Jr, the founder and CEO of Granite Telecommunications.There were two requirements though — the student had to be there, in person, at the commencement ceremony to receive the money. They also had to give half of the gift away to a charitable organization.However, not all graduates were present at the commencement ceremony. A New York Times article published earlier this week noted that about 20% of…
Author: Team_Benjamin Franklin Institute
In September 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in police custody after she was detained by the morality police for wearing a hijab “improperly,” sparked widespread protest around Iran. Authorities claimed Amini died of a heart attack while in custody, while her family said she was beaten. The demonstrations over her death quickly morphed into wider discontent with the regime.In the six months since, Iranian security forces have routinely used draconian tactics to try to suppress protests, going so far as to arrest children. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International found children arrested during…
Getty ImagesMorrisons has apologised after tech problems affected discounts and online deliveries across the UK.Customers were unable to redeem discounts on their loyalty cards and had Christmas deliveries postponed at short notice on Monday morning.Morrisons said it was investigating the issues in store and online but did not give any information on the causes of the outage. All stores were back to normal by Monday evening, the BBC understands.In response to the problems at the tills, the supermarket chain has applied some loyalty discounts to all customers.It is making its top 100 More Card prices the regular price for all…
This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters hereGood morning. Today I’ll be covering:The deal drought squeezing private equity payoutsRussia’s Christmas Day attack on UkraineAmerica’s vanishing drugstoresAnd why young Canadians are steering clear of ice hockeySales of electric vehicles are set to overtake traditional cars in China for the first time next year, putting the country miles ahead of Europe, the US and Japan, where competition weighs on national manufacturing champions and domestic EV…
Credit: Screenshot via Andy Ngo X Some alleged shoplifters in California were surprised to learn that shoplifting is now classified as a felony due to new laws. Well, to be fair, one of them seemingly knew they were facing more dire repercussions and went about lifting a total of around $1,000 from an Ulta Beauty store and a Kohl’s anyway. The other had no clue. She thought stealing was just a misdemeanor. She got slapped with reality in the back of a police car when her accomplice informed her of the bad news. The following conversation is borderline Shakespearean in…
On Friday, December 27, the Oscar-winning actor announced the launch of his new weekly newsletter, “Lyrics of Livin’.” Described as “a collection of thought-provoking notes, tips, truths, and inspirations he’s gathered over decades of life,” the newsletter promises readers a glimpse into McConaughey’s reflections on life, growth, and personal philosophy.In addition to the written content, Matthew McConaughey will personally narrate each edition, offering an audio version for fans who prefer to listen to his signature drawl deliver the wisdom.Article continues below advertisementMatthew McConaughey Gets Ready To Launch New Weekly NewsletterSet to launch on Friday, January 3, “Lyrics of Livin’” will…
“Based on the opinion of experts and on the words of eyewitnesses, it can be concluded that there was external interference,” Azerbaijani’s transport minister, Rashad Nabiyev, told reporters.”It is necessary to find out from what kind of weapon,” he added, citing reports from survivors of hearing “three explosions” as the plane was over Grozny.Azerbaijan Airlines said it had suspended flights to 10 Russian airports and that preliminary results suggested the crash of Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 was “due to physical and technical external interference”.The head of Russia’s civil aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, said in an earlier statement that “the situation on…
Continued rise in homelessness in the United States driven largely by lack of affordable housing options, experts say.The number of people living in homelessness in the United States has increased by 18 percent over the last year, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said in a new report. Data released on Friday showed that more than 771,000 people were experiencing homelessness across the country, according to an annual count that was carried out on a single night in January 2024. The figure — which HUD said was the highest-ever recorded — includes people staying in emergency shelters,…
While Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels largely impressed fans and other onlookers as he guided his club to a 10-5 record, first-overall draft choice Caleb Williams has often looked and sounded like “a defeated guy” amid the Chicago Bears’ losing streak that’s now at 10 straight games. Well-known NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger recently spoke with Dan Duggan of The Athletic about why Daniels has flourished playing under offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury as Williams has endured a rough debut season.”It always looks like Jayden has an answer no matter what you do,” Baldinger explained. “If you go blitz-zero on him,…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming regulated industries like healthcare, finance and legal services, but navigating these changes requires a careful balance between innovation and compliance.In healthcare, for example, AI-powered diagnostic tools are enhancing outcomes by improving breast cancer detection rates by 9.4% compared to human radiologists, as highlighted in a study published in JAMA. Meanwhile, financial institutions such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia are using AI to reduce scam-related losses by 50%, demonstrating the financial impact of AI. Even in the traditionally conservative legal field, AI is revolutionizing document review and…