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The US SEC sued crypto platform Coinbase a day after suing Binance

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NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday sued Coinbase ( COIN.O ), accusing the largest U.S. cryptocurrency platform of operating illegally after failing to register as an exchange.

The SEC’s second case against a major crypto exchange in two days follows the lawsuit against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Finance and founder Changpeng Zhao.

The two civil suits are part of an effort by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler to assert jurisdiction over crypto markets, which he again called a “Wild West” investment on Tuesday, and boost investor confidence in capital markets.

“Crypto markets are undermining that confidence, and I will say this: It’s undermining our overall capital markets,” Gensler told CNBC.

Crypto companies, including Coinbase, have said the SEC rules are unclear and that the regulator overreaches by emphasizing oversight of their industry.

Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s general counsel, said in a statement that the company will continue to operate as usual and “expresses its commitment to compliance.”

Ten US states Led by California They also accuse Coinbase of violating securities laws in its staking rewards program.

Shares of Coinbase’s parent company, Coinbase Global Inc, were down $6.42, or 10.9%, at $52.29 in afternoon trading, having previously fallen as much as 20.9%.

Coinbase customers withdrew more than $57 million within hours of the SEC filing, according to data firm Nansen.

Reuters Graphics

Thirteen Crypto Assets

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the SEC alleged that Coinbase has operated as an intermediary in crypto transactions since at least 2019, making billions of dollars while avoiding disclosure requirements to protect investors.

The SEC said Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that must be registered securities, including tokens such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon.

A representation of the cryptocurrency is seen in front of the Coinbase logo in this chart taken on March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Founded in 2012, Coinbase recently served more than 108 million customers, and ended March with $130 billion in customer crypto assets and funds on its balance sheet. Transactions generated 75% of its $3.15 billion in net revenue last year.

In its Staking Rewards program, which has about 3.5 million customers, Coinbase collects crypto assets and uses them to support operations on the blockchain network, offering them to customers in exchange for “rewards” after buying a commission.

States focused on the program include Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. New Jersey A fine was imposed Coinbase $5 million for selling unregistered securities.

‘Rules cannot be ignored’

The SEC’s filing on Tuesday seeks civil penalties, ill-gotten gains and injunctive relief. The SEC warned Coinbase in March that charges could be coming.

“You can’t ignore the rules just because you don’t like them or want something different,” SEC Enforcement Chief Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

Gensler’s crackdown on crypto has prompted the industry to increase compliance, stack products and expand outside the country.

Christine Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association trade group, dismissed Gensler’s efforts to oversee the industry.

“We hope the courts will prove Chairman Gensler wrong in due course,” he said.

In the Binance case, the SEC alleged that it inflated trading volumes, diverted customer funds, improperly pooled assets, failed to keep wealthy US customers off its platform and misled customers about its regulations.

Finance He promised strongly argued against the lawsuit, and said the lawsuit reflects the SEC’s “wrongful and conscious refusal” to provide clarity and guidance to the crypto industry.

Coinbase’s friction with Gensler dates back to 2021, when the SEC threatened to sue Coinbase if it allowed users to earn interest by lending digital assets. The company dropped the idea.

The case is SEC v Coinbase Inc et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 23-04738.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Hannah Long and Michelle Price in Washington, DC and Manya Saini in Bangalore; Editing by Jason Neely, Louise Heavens, Chisu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

James Webb telescope detects organic molecules in distant galaxy

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Galaxy of complex organic molecules

Astronomers using the Webb Telescope discovered evidence of complex organic molecules, such as smoke or smog, in the distant galaxy shown here. The galaxy, more than 12 billion light-years away, lines up almost exactly with a second galaxy three billion light-years away from our line of sight on Earth. In this false-color web image, the foreground galaxy is shown in blue and the background galaxy in red. Organic molecules are highlighted in orange. Credit: J. Spilker / S. Doyle, NASA, ESA, CSA

Astronomers have discovered complex organic molecules in a galaxy 12 billion light-years away.

Using[{” attribute=””>NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers detected complex organic molecules, akin to Earth’s smoke, soot, and smog, in a galaxy 12 billion light-years away. The discovery challenges previous understanding about the link between these molecules and star formation, as some regions showed the presence of these molecules without star formation, and vice versa. The detection was made possible by the combined power of Webb and gravitational lensing, a phenomenon that occurs when two galaxies align perfectly from an observer’s perspective on Earth. This is Webb’s first detection of complex molecules in the early universe and opens up possibilities to further understand the nature of galaxies and the universe’s history.

An international team of astronomers has detected complex organic molecules in the most distant galaxy to date using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

The discovery of the molecules, which are familiar on Earth in smoke, soot and smog, demonstrates the power of Webb to help understand the complex chemistry that goes hand-in-hand with the birth of new stars even in the earliest periods of the universe’s history. At least for galaxies, the new findings cast doubt on the old adage that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Using the Webb telescope, Texas A&M University astronomer Justin Spilker and collaborators found the organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away. Because of its extreme distance, the light detected by the astronomers began its journey when the universe was less than 1.5 billion years old — about 10% of its current age. The galaxy was first discovered by the National Science Foundation’s South Pole Telescope in 2013 and has since been studied by many observatories, including the radio telescope ALMA and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Eintstein Ring Webb Infographic

The galaxy observed by Webb shows an Einstein ring caused by a phenomenon known as lensing, which occurs when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned from our perspective on Earth. The gravity from the galaxy in the foreground causes the light from the background galaxy to be distorted and magnified, like looking through the stem of a wine glass. Because they are magnified, lensing allows astronomers to study very distant galaxies in more detail than otherwise possible. Credit: S. Doyle / J. Spilker

Spilker notes the discovery, reported on June 5 in the journal Nature, was made possible through the combined powers of Webb and fate, with a little help from a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Lensing, originally predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, happens when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned from our point of view on Earth. The light from the background galaxy is stretched and magnified by the foreground galaxy into a ring-like shape, known as an Einstein ring.

“By combining Webb’s amazing capabilities with a natural ‘cosmic magnifying glass,’ we were able to see even more detail than we otherwise could,” said Spilker, an assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Physics and Astronomy and a member of the George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy. “That level of magnification is actually what made us interested in looking at this galaxy with Webb in the first place, because it really lets us see all the rich details of what makes up a galaxy in the early universe that we could never do otherwise.”

The data from Webb found the telltale signature of large organic molecules akin to smog and smoke —building blocks of the same cancer-causing hydrocarbon emissions on Earth that are key contributors to atmospheric pollution. However, Spilker says the implications of galactic smoke signals are much less disastrous for their cosmic ecosystems.

“These big molecules are actually pretty common in space,” Spilker explained. “Astronomers used to think they were a good sign that new stars were forming. Anywhere you saw these molecules, baby stars were also right there blazing away.”

The new results from Webb show that this idea might not exactly ring true in the early universe, according to Spilker.

“Thanks to the high-definition images from Webb, we found a lot of regions with smoke but no star formation, and others with new stars forming but no smoke,” Spilker added.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate student Kedar Phadke, who led the technical development of the team’s Webb observations, noted that astronomers are using Webb to make connections across the vastness of space with unprecedented potential.

“Discoveries like this are precisely what Webb was built to do: understand the earliest stages of the universe in new and exciting ways,” Phadke said. “It’s amazing that we can identify molecules billions of light-years away that we’re familiar with here on Earth, even if they show up in ways we don’t like, like smog and smoke. It’s also a powerful statement about the amazing capabilities of Webb that we’ve never had before.”

The team’s leadership also includes NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center astronomer Jane Rigby, University of Illinois professor Joaquin Vieira and dozens of astronomers around the world.

The discovery is Webb’s first detection of complex molecules in the early universe — a milestone moment that Spilker sees as a beginning rather than an end.

“These are early days for the Webb Telescope, so astronomers are excited to see all the new things it can do for us,” Spilker said. “Detecting smoke in a galaxy early in the history of the universe? Webb makes this look easy. Now that we’ve shown this is possible for the first time, we’re looking forward to trying to understand whether it’s really true that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Maybe we’ll even be able to find galaxies that are so young that complex molecules like these haven’t had time to form in the vacuum of space yet, so galaxies are all fire and no smoke. The only way to know for sure is to look at more galaxies, hopefully even further away than this one.”

The team’s paper, “Spatial variations in aromatic hydrocarbon emission in a dust-rich galaxy,” can be viewed online along with related figures and acknowledgments.

Reference: “Spatial variations in aromatic hydrocarbon emission in a dust-rich galaxy” by Justin S. Spilker, Kedar A. Phadke, Manuel Aravena, Melanie Archipley, Matthew B. Bayliss, Jack E. Birkin, Matthieu Béthermin, James Burgoyne, Jared Cathey, Scott C. Chapman, Håkon Dahle, Anthony H. Gonzalez, Gayathri Gururajan, Christopher C. Hayward, Yashar D. Hezaveh, Ryley Hill, Taylor A. Hutchison, Keunho J. Kim, Seonwoo Kim, David Law, Ronan Legin, Matthew A. Malkan, Daniel P. Marrone, Eric J. Murphy, Desika Narayanan, Alex Navarre, Grace M. Olivier, Jeffrey A. Rich, Jane R. Rigby, Cassie Reuter, James E. Rhoads, Keren Sharon, J. D. T. Smith, Manuel Solimano, Nikolaus Sulzenauer, Joaquin D. Vieira, David Vizgan, Axel Weiß and Katherine E. Whitaker, 5 June 2023, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05998-6

JWST is operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute under the management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. The South Pole Telescope is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the United States Antarctic Program.

Are stocks in a new bull market? It depends.

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The S&P 500, an index frenzied by investors, executives and government officials, closed more than 20 percent below its 2022 low on Monday in what some on Wall Street see as the start and new phase of a bull market. Investing is fun.

The index fluctuated around the threshold on Monday, moving above it several times before ending the day 0.2 percent lower, 19.5 percent above its October low.

However, the move underscores a strong recovery in the stock market. A decline of 20 percent or more from the index’s highs — in June of that year — continued to decline until reaching a low in October.

The terms “bull” and “bear” are shorthand for excitement or fear among investors about the prospects for public companies. While investors agree on how to mark the start of a bear market, there is less consensus on how to define the start of a bull market, especially when the concerns that initially dragged stocks down are still lingering.

A rule of thumb is that a new bull market is confirmed when an index sets a new high after rising from a bear-market low. By that measure, the S&P 500 is still up less than 10 percent.

But some investors say it’s easy to see a gain of 20 percent or more in a broad-based index like the S&P 500 as an important milestone. With the measurement taken at the end of the trading day. More than $15 trillion of investable assets are benchmarked or indexed to the S&P 500, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, which manages the index.

“We’re not in a terrible place,” said James Masserio, co-head of U.S. equities at Societe Generale. “Definitely there are downside risks, but we have to see how they play out over the next several months and next year. So technically it’s a bull market.

However, a 20 percent rise from a low is mathematically less substantial than a 20 percent fall from a high. Other investors prefer an assessment that includes a broader view of investor sentiment, economic growth and the direction of the market.

“When a stock goes from $10 to $5 and then to $6, that’s not a new bull market,” said Peter Bookwar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Financial Group. “Defining a bull or bear market, no matter how it is done, must be done through a broader view of the market.”

The S&P 500’s recent rally has been led by a small group of tech stocks driven by interest in the profit-generating potential of artificial intelligence, particularly those at the center of its development and manufacturing the hardware needed to enable it. Chipmaker Nvidia has come to symbolize this newfound enthusiasm for AI, as its semiconductors are used in the technology. The company has rallied nearly 170 percent this year — gains that have brought its value close to $1 trillion.

The average individual stock in the S&P 500 has risen less than 3 percent this year, market data showed Friday’s close, compared with a gain of more than 11 percent. Percentage for overall index. About 90 percent of the index’s rise was driven by bumper gains by seven major companies — Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla and Google’s parent company Alphabet.

Apple rose 2.2 percent on Monday afternoon, briefly marking a new high for the company, before falling 0.8 percent and weighing on the index.

The S&P 500 tracks only the largest companies listed in the United States. Because large companies generate a significant share of revenue overseas, smaller companies are generally more exposed to fluctuations in the U.S. economy.

The Russell 2000 Index, which tracks smaller public companies, has recently posted modest gains over its larger peers. The index fell more than 30 percent from its peak in November 2021 to its low last June. Since then, the index has risen about 9 percent. On Monday, the index fell 1.3 percent after weaker-than-expected economic data in the services sector.

By contrast, the Nasdaq composite index, which is heavily weighted toward large technology companies, has risen more than 26 percent this year alone. Nevertheless, it is nearly 20 percent below its previous peak in late 2021.

“I think the 20 percent rule has been an easy one for everyone to follow,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “Unfortunately, some of these bear-market rallies are pushing that threshold, which we see as a false signal.”

For many investors, bumper returns in the stock market are not reflected in the performance of their portfolios. That’s because, increasingly concerned about a potential recession, fund managers are holding more cash and forgoing gains in favor of greater safety, protecting their stocks against the risk of a rapid decline.

More than 27 percent of funds tracked by Morningstar benchmarked to the S&P 500 have beaten the index this year, compared with nearly 52 percent last year and an average of 40 percent since 2000.

Hedge funds and other leveraged investors have made particularly big bets on the S&P 500 falling, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“Everyone is very defensive,” said Andrew Brenner, head of international fixed income at National Alliance Securities. “There’s a lot of money on the side, so it’s really painful for a lot of fund managers.”

Kyrie Irving asks LeBron James if he wants to join Mavericks: How realistic is a reunion?

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Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has reached out to former teammate LeBron James in an effort to see if the Los Angeles Lakers star will come to Dallas, according to league sources. Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Irving and James previously played together for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 to 2017.
  • The Nets traded Irving to the Mavericks in early February after requesting a trade from Brooklyn.
  • James signed with the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 and agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million extension with the team through 2022.

AthleticInstant Analysis:

What does this mean for Dallas?

Re-signing Irving was the team’s top priority this offseason, and this doesn’t change that. But it’s clear that Irving and James still have a strong desire to play with each other again — and Dallas should at least consider acquiring James or trying to make it a priority. – Cato

How can Dallas get James and will it work?

Getting three max players on a roster is tougher than ever, especially under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement. Whether James is acquired via trade or free agency, Dallas will have to trim its roster — including shooting and defense — to accommodate both players.

Which leads to a question that seems ridiculous on its face: Would Irving, James and Luka Doncic be title favorites if they joined forces? The team will be a ridiculous offensive force, but they were last season as well. Finding shooters and covering defenders will be difficult, and adding James will give them less realistic lanes. – Cato

How realistic is a James-Irving reunion?

From the moment James announced his retirement, there was a feeling among the Lakers and those around him that James’ comments were a ploy to apply pressure on the organization to improve significantly this season.

James announced last summer, ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline, that he wanted Irving next to him and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles. The summary also suggests that James and Irving are serious about teaming up this summer.

Where is the obvious follow-up? The Lakers have no interest in buying Dallas’ younger players or limited draft assets. James can try to force their hand, but it gets messy. If James wanted to buy out and sign with Dallas as a free agent, he technically could, but he would be leaving a lot of money on the table (with both him and Irving taking steep discounts).

The clean path for James and Irving to play together in Los Angeles is either Irving takes a waiver to sign with the Lakers in free agency or Dallas sends him in a sign-and-trade. James to Dallas is possible, but incredibly unlikely. – Flea

Backstory

Irving is set to become a free agent this summer. Last month, Athletic The Mavericks said they were confident they could re-sign the guard after trading him with the intent of a long-term partnership with Doncic. The disastrous season began long before Irving’s arrival, when Dallas went 5-11 when Doncic and Irving played together. Its eventual loss, which rested starters in the final two games to boost draft standing, didn’t shake the team’s hopes for what the duo could be.

Meanwhile, James caused quite a stir in the NBA world when he said he was at least considering the possibility of retirement this season following his team’s win at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.

Sources close to James downplayed the idea that he would actually retire. Athleticof Sam Amick recently reported.

Required reading

(Photo: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Ukraine war: Russia says it has repelled a major offensive in Ukraine

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  • By George Wright in London & James Waterhouse in Kiev
  • BBC News

image source, Good pictures

image caption,

Ukraine has been planning a counterattack for months

Russia’s Defense Ministry says it has repelled a major offensive by Ukraine in Donetsk, saying it killed 250 troops and destroyed armored vehicles.

The video, which Russia says is a war, appears to show military vehicles entering fields under heavy fire.

But there was no comment from Kiev and Russia’s claim has not been independently verified.

Kyiv says the Ukrainian counteroffensive is long-awaited, but its launch cannot be forewarned.

It is too early to say whether this alleged attack is the start of Kiev’s long-awaited counterpunch.

However, there has been a significant increase in military operations, claiming some gains elsewhere on Ukraine’s front line.

Ukraine launched a “large-scale offensive” using six mechanized and two tank battalions in the Donetsk region on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Ukrainians tried to break through Russian defences, which Kiev saw as the most vulnerable part of the front line – but it “did not achieve its tasks, it did not succeed”, it said.

Moscow said Ukraine lost 250 troops and 16 tanks.

Footage showed masked and armed troops holding their fingers to their lips.

Claims by Russia’s Defense Ministry have yet to be verified. If the footage of armored vehicles coming under heavy fire is real, it reflects the fierce resistance Ukrainian forces will face as they try to liberate more territory.

If it’s not what it seems, it’s Moscow’s attempt to take control of the story.

There has been a significant increase in Ukrainian news on when and how their much-anticipated counter-offensive might take shape.

Ukraine has been planning a counterattack for months. But it wanted as much time as possible to train troops and acquire military equipment from Western allies.

Officials in Kiev have warned against public speculation about the attack, saying it could help the enemy.

In a video posted to Telegram on Sunday, the Defense Ministry said, “The plans are peaceful. There will be no announcement at the start. Footage showed masked and armed troops holding their fingers to their lips.

It will take time for Ukraine to achieve its goal of liberating territory captured by Russia nine years ago.

Moscow had time to prepare. If Ukraine can mount a counterattack, it will take some time.

The government in Kiev has much at stake because it must show the people of Ukraine — and its Western allies — that it can break through Russian lines, end the effective military stalemate, and recapture some of its sovereign territory.

On Monday morning, Oleksandr Chirsky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said troops were “moving forward” towards Bagmut and had destroyed a Russian position near the town.

The statement was described by the Liberty of Russia Legion (FRL) as a joint statement with the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK).

Both groups want to topple President Vladimir Putin. They oppose the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that he launched in February last year.

Belgorod’s top official, Vyacheslav Klatkov, said the soldiers had agreed to meet their captors if they were alive. But the militants later said that the governor did not have the courage to meet them and that they would hand over the captives to Ukraine.

Russia has blamed Ukraine for recent attacks on its border areas, but Kyiv has not been directly contacted.

An energy plant caught fire following a drone attack on Monday morning, officials in Belgorod said.

Governor Vladislav Shabsha said two drones fell on a major road in Russia’s Kaluga region – bordering southern districts around Moscow. Mr Shabsha said there was no explosion and the area was now cordoned off.

There is no independent confirmation of any attack, but Moscow says the Belgorod region is a regular target for drone strikes from Ukraine.

Norma Hunt, president of the Kansas City Chiefs, has died at the age of 85

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Adam TeicherESPN staff writerJune 4, 2023, 08:16 PM ET2 minute reading

Kansas City, Mo. — Norma Hunt, wife of the late Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, who attended all 57 Super Bowl games, has died, Hunt’s family announced in a statement.

She is 85 years old. No cause of death was reported.

“Gorgeous, generous and unfailingly positive, Mom was one of a kind,” Hunts said in their statement. “Her joy and zest for life were contagious. She loved caring for others and always had an encouraging word. She was a loyal friend, the consummate host and had a rare ability to make everyone she met feel valued and at ease.

“Mom was fiercely devoted to her family and passionate about her family’s sports teams. She was by our father Lamar’s side — from the merger of the AFL and NFL to the creation of Major League Soccer, the World Championship. Tennis, the North American Soccer League and Chicago. Their founding investment in the Bulls. She was the only person we knew who rivaled his passion for sports. Whether at home or on the field around the stadium, the two found happiness together. The world.”

Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes Expressed his condolences on Twitter.

In a statement released by the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell said he had known Hunt for nearly 40 years and was always “struck by her warmth and kindness.”

“Norma’s sense of family extended to the organization of leadership she greatly admired,” the statement said. “Norma was one of the Chiefs and the NFL’s most passionate fans and understood and enjoyed every aspect of the game. She loved being around the team and referred to the players as ‘real-life superheroes.’ Norma attended every Super Bowl ever played, including two recent Chiefs victories, and She was the only woman to do so.”

Lamar Hunt died in 2006. Their son Clark has been the leader of the first leaders.

Missing man’s body recovered from Iowa apartment collapse; Two more are missing

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DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The body of one of three people missing after a partial apartment building collapse has been found. The discovery was made in Davenport, Iowa, a city official confirmed Sunday.

Brandon Colvin Sr.’s body was recovered Saturday, city spokeswoman Sarah Ott said. Two other men – 51-year-old Ryan Hitchcock and 60-year-old Daniel Brien – are still unaccounted for. Colvin, 42, was the first person confirmed to have died in the collapse.

No other details were immediately released. Brien’s daughter, Nancy Brien Frezza, told The Associated Press that she had not received any updates on the search for her father.

Quad-City Times Colvin’s son, Brandon Colvin Jr., graduated from high school Saturday. He and other family members remained at the crash site hoping for a miracle.

Colvin’s body was found a day after authorities announced the end of the search for survivorsAs attention turns to improving the structure, recovery efforts can begin.

The remains of the six-story apartment building were in constant motion for the first 24 to 36 hours after it collapsed on May 28, posing a danger to rescuers searching for survivors, officials said.

City officials previously said Colvin, Hitchcock and Brien had a “high probability of being home during the collapse.”

Officials said the search for the building was extremely dangerous – it was constantly shifting and in danger of collapsing, putting rescuers at great risk. Iowa task forces ended their search for survivors Thursday and began focusing on improving infrastructure for rescue efforts.

“We’re doing our best to balance building conditions and the safety of our responders,” Fire Chief Mike Carlston told reporters. He said conditions forced a response that could take “days and weeks” instead of minutes or hours.

Mayor Mike Madsen said the trash pile “could be a resting place for some unaccounted for.”

Demolition of the century-old building is moving forward amid questions about why neither the owner nor city officials warned residents of the danger, even after a structural engineer reported that a wall of the century-old building was in imminent danger of collapsing. collapses.

City officials and the building’s owner had been warned for months that parts of the building were unstable, documents released by the city show.

Tenants have complained to the city in recent years about a number of problems they say have been neglected by property managers, including weeks or even months without heat or hot water, as well as mold and water leaks from ceilings and toilets. While city officials tried to address some complaints and issued evacuation orders to individual residences, a broad evacuation was never ordered, records show.

Current and former residents told The Associated Press about internal cracks in the wall, which eventually collapsed and were reported to building management.

Andrew Woldt, the building’s owner, released a statement dated May 30 saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with our residents.” He has not issued a statement since then, and efforts to reach him, his company and a person believed to be his lawyer have been unsuccessful.

Davenport Hotels LLC bought the building in 2021 in a $4.2 million deal, county records show.

iOS 17 Release Date: When will iOS 17 be available for download?

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iOS 17, the next major version of Apple’s mobile operating system, will be announced on Monday as part of Apple’s WWDC presentation. But when can you expect to use iOS 17? The iOS 17 release date has yet to be officially confirmed, but the company has usually stuck with a familiar format on the calendar…

Ahead of June 5, rumors are rife about the Apple Reality Pro headset … or whatever it’s going to be called. But WWDC is the time when Apple unveils new software features for the coming year for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

In fact, for iOS 17, Apple has already shared details about new accessibility features coming later this year, including a new simplified alternative app launcher layout and a live talk feature using your own voice.

But the rest of the consumer features will be announced on Monday. When the iPhone is docked, expect to see a sophisticated Always On Display, similar to the Smart Display. Amazon Echo Show, a new journaling app, a new Wallet app and location sharing features, additional Dynamic Island functionality for iPhone 14 Pro (and soon, iPhone 15) owners, and a few other surprises that have yet to be rumored. However, since Apple’s focus is primarily on the XR headset this year, iOS 17 won’t feature anything major like the iOS 16 lock screen redesign or the iOS 14 home screen widgets update.

When will iOS 17 be released?

As for the release date, expect iOS 17 to be available as a developer beta seed following the main announcement on Monday. That means around 1pm PST iOS 17 Beta 1 will be available for developers to install on their test devices. Developer Seeds are only available to registered Apple developers.

Assuming Apple sticks to its predictable schedule, a public beta of iOS 17 could follow a few weeks later, either in late June or early July. In comparison, the first public beta of iOS 16 was released on July 11, 2022. Anyone can register Apple should be part of the beta software program.

iOS 17 will go through several more rounds of beta seeds over the summer months, and will be officially released to the world in the fall alongside the release of the iPhone 15 lineup. This time is always in the second or third week of September.

Apple usually releases the next version of watchOS at the same time as iOS, but the iPadOS 17 and macOS 14 releases may not ship until a little later, usually around October.

Before that, iOS 16.6 is currently in the beta testing phase — including minor improvements like iMessage contact key verification — and will ship by the end of June.

Stay tuned to 9to5Mac as we bring you full coverage of all the WWDC announcements and get your hands on iOS 17 as it becomes available.

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GOP 2024 hopefuls descend on Iowa for Ernst’s ‘roast and ride’ rally

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Rachel Mummy/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Former Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, right, rides motorcycles.



CNN

Full Field of 2024 Republican Candidates and potential competitors – Minus the front runner — descended on Iowa on Saturday for a fundraiser for veterans that featured a motorcycle ride and barbecue while engaging with politically plugged-in voters in the first state on the GOP nominating calendar.

When former Vice President Mike Pence, clad in leather, rode by on a motorcycle, he and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, host of the annual “Roast and Ride” rally, led hundreds of riders to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Retail politics were heating up at fair-price stores. Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, Wife of Newly Announced 2024 Candidate Ron DeSantisThey signed hats, took photos with voters and got on a tractor with their two children.

Ex President Donald Trump His absence came two days after he made several campaign appearances in the state and participated in a Fox News town hall with Iowa voters. But DeSantis, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. All the other leading candidates, including Tim Scott and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, made public appeals for support.

Like Trump and DeSantis escalating their ongoing enmityThe Florida governor took some veiled shots at his rival on Saturday, arguing that “leadership is entertainment” or “building a brand” and that the Republican Party needs to “abandon the culture of losing.”

Rachel Mummy/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis poses with Roast and Ride participants on June 3, 2023 in Des Moines.

DeSantis also doubled down on him Conflict with entertainment giant DisneyHe acknowledged some Republican concerns about his targeting of a private business.

“We stand for the safety of our children. We will wage war against anyone who seeks to take away their innocence, and on those principles, I will not compromise. Here I stand,” DeSantis said.

Ernst’s eighth annual roast-and-ride event was attended by nearly all of the 2024 GOP contenders, demonstrating his influence within the party — in Washington, where he is the fourth-highest-ranking Republican senator, and in Iowa, where a strong performance in one of the caucuses is building critical momentum for presidential hopefuls.

Ernst said Saturday that he believes voters are focusing on the future as they begin to gauge the party’s field of candidates.

“I know President Trump has a great foundation here. It’s strong, but at the same time, we don’t want to hear what happened in the past because two years of the Biden administration is destroying our nation,” the senator told CNN. “So they want to know what the future decisions are that will turn our country around and who is going to lead us forward.”

Ernst, who is unlikely to endorse a candidate in the race, stressed that Trump is not governing for voters, but said voters are “keen to hear about the future.”

Pence said Wednesday he would “announce in Iowa” on Saturday Expected to launch His presidential campaign. The former vice president was a 2024 hopeful who took part in a motorcycle ride from the Big Barn Harley-Davidson dealership in Des Moines to the fairgrounds to kick off the rally.

“I believe that as conservatives, men and women, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the leadership of this party like never before,” Pence said.

Hayley, who will be Participating in a CNN Town Hall in Iowa On Sunday, he spoke about the importance of state caucuses on the primary calendar.

“If you don’t play this caucus, don’t complain about what you get in the general. Because it’s important,” she said. “I think we’ve done over 25 events. I’m going to keep coming. I’m not taking shortcuts. I’m not going to rally and leave you,” he said.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks to guests on June 3, 2023 in Des Moines.

Haley’s husband, Michael Haley, was with the South Carolina Army National Guard in Africa in the coming weeks for a roast and ride event.

Scott, who Among the best-funded GOP hopefulsJustified his candidacy.

“I scare the dickens out of the far left and Joe Biden — the proof of my life — destroys their lies,” said the lone black Republican in the U.S. Senate.

The roast and ride event kicks off a summer of “cattle calls” — large gatherings of Republicans in early voting states on the primary calendar — where presidential candidates gather for opportunities to woo activists and voters and build support for their campaigns.

Many of the same 2024 hopefuls Spring Kickoff of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition It’s April, but most have yet to officially launch their campaigns.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Improving memory with deep brain stimulation during sleep

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Deep sleep brain enhancement concept

Researchers at UCLA Health and Tel Aviv University have found evidence to support the theory that the brain strengthens memory during sleep. This study used targeted deep brain stimulation in epilepsy patients, which resulted in improved memory consolidation. These findings may be of potential help in the treatment of memory disorders.

The researchers also report the first direct evidence to support a key theory of how human memory is consolidated during sleep.

Although it is known that sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation, scientists are trying to decode how this process works in the brain overnight.

New research led by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health and Tel Aviv University provides the first physiological evidence from inside the human brain that supports the dominant scientific theory of how the brain consolidates memory during sleep. Furthermore, the researchers found that targeted deep brain stimulation at a critical time in the sleep cycle improved memory consolidation.

The research, published June 1 in the journal Natural neuroscienceDeep brain stimulation during sleep could one day provide new clues about how to help patients with memory impairments[{” attribute=””>Alzheimer’s disease, said study co-author Itzhak Fried, MD, PhD. This was achieved by a novel “closed-loop” system that delivered electrical pulses in one brain region precisely synchronized to brain activity recorded from another region.

According to the dominant theory for how the brain converts new information into long-term memories during shuteye, there’s an overnight dialogue between the hippocampus – the brain’s memory hub – and the cerebral cortex, which is associated with higher brain functions like reasoning and planning. This occurs during a phase of deep sleep, when brain waves are especially slow and neurons across brain regions alternate between rapidly firing in sync and silence.

“This provides the first major evidence down to the level of single neurons that there is indeed this mechanism of interaction between the memory hub and the entire cortex,” said Fried, the director of epilepsy surgery at UCLA Health and professor of neurosurgery, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “It has both scientific value in terms of understanding how memory works in humans and using that knowledge to really boost memory.”

The researchers had a unique opportunity to test this theory of memory consolidation via electrodes in the brains of 18 epilepsy patients at UCLA Health. The electrodes had been implanted in the patients’ brains to help identify the source of their seizures during hospital stays typically lasting around 10 days.

The study was conducted across two nights and mornings. Just before bedtime, study participants were shown photo pairings of animals and 25 celebrities, including easily identifiable stars like Marilyn Monroe and Jack Nicholson. They were immediately tested on their ability to recall which celebrity was paired with which animal, and they were tested again in the morning after a night of undisturbed sleep.

On another night, they were shown 25 new animal and celebrity pairings before bedtime. This time, they received targeted electrical stimulation overnight, and their ability recall the pairings was tested in the morning. To deliver this electrical stimulation, the researchers had created a real-time closed-loop system that Fried likened to a musical conductor: The system “listened” to brain’s electrical signals, and when patients fell into the period of deep sleep associated with memory consolidation, it delivered gentle electrical pulses instructing the rapidly firing neurons to “play” in sync.

Each individual tested performed better on memory tests following a night of sleep with the electrical stimulation compared to a night of undisturbed sleep. Key electrophysiological markers also indicated that information was flowing between the hippocampus and throughout the cortex, providing physical evidence supporting of memory consolidation.

“We found we basically enhanced this highway by which information flows to more permanent storage places in the brain,” Fried said.

Fried in 2012 authored a New England Journal of Medicine study that for the first time showed that electrical stimulation can strengthen memory, and his work has continued to explore how deep brain stimulation could improve memory, now moving into the critical stage of sleep. He recently received a $7 million NIH grant to study whether artificial intelligence can help pinpoint and strengthen specific memories in the brain.

“In our new study, we showed we can enhance memory in general,” Fried said. “Our next challenge is whether we have the ability to modulate specific memories.”

Reference: “Deep brain stimulation during sleep enhances human brain synchrony and memory” 1 June 2023, Nature Neuroscience.
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01342-3

Yuval Nir of Tel Aviv University co-supervised the study with Fried. Other authors include lead author Maya Geva-Sagiv, as well as Emily Mankin, Dawn Eliashiv, Natalie Cherry, Guldamla Kalender and Natalia Tchemodanov from UCLA, and Shdema Epstein from Tel-Aviv University.

Funding: National Science Foundation, U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, European Research Council