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bet fortune rabbit With Trump on the way, advocates look to states to pick up medical debt fightThe New York Rangers and goalie Igor Shesterkin have agreed to an eight-year contract extension, sources told ESPN's Kevin Weekes and Emily Kaplan. The average annual value on the contract is $11.5 million, according to sources. That will make him the highest paid goalie in NHL history, beating Carey Price's previous contract. Shesterkin, 28, is on the final year of a four-year deal with an AAV of $5.66 million. His camp and the Rangers have been negotiating an extension for several months. Shesterkin's camp had argued that he should be the team's highest-paid player. Currently that's Artemi Panarin , who has an AAV of $11.6 million. Editor's Picks Rangers end Trouba tenure with trade to Ducks 10m Greg Wyshynski 'There's not one right way to do it': Why paying goalies is so complicated in today's NHL 18d Emily Kaplan NHL trade grades: Who comes out ahead on the Jacob Trouba swap? 1m Ryan S. Clark, Greg Wyshynski Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy in 2022. The Russian-born netminder is 8-9-1 this season with a 3.05 GAA with a .908 percentage and one shutout this season. News of Shesterkin's deal comes at a busy time for the Rangers. Also on Friday, New York traded its captain, Jacob Trouba , to the Anaheim Ducks . The Rangers are in a playoff position as of Friday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins , but are not pleased with their results of late and are hoping to go on a push going forward.

Matthew Berry's Love/Hate for Week 15 of 2024 seasonWith so few genuine surprises remaining in life, few things are better than getting a box of goodies from a loved one or pal, expected or not. And few things are worse than opening that box and seeing shards of a broken toy, memento or other gift. So, here’s a holiday mailing guide, with deadlines to know, packaging tips and more. “We just tell people to ship as early as possible and have their packages ready,” said USPS spokeswoman Naddia Dhalai. DATES TO KNOW Christmas Eve is Tuesday, Dec. 24. Hanukkah is Wednesday evening, Dec. 25, to Thursday, Jan. 2. Christmas Day is Wednesday, Dec. 25. Kwanzaa is Thursday, Dec. 26, to Wednesday, Jan. 1. New Year’s Eve is Tuesday, Dec. 31. New Year’s Day is Wednesday, Jan. 1. SHIPPING DEADLINES USPS Recommended send-by dates for expected delivery before Dec. 25: Military First Class and Priority Mail: Monday, Dec. 9. USPS Ground Advantage: Wednesday, Dec. 18 (Monday, Dec. 16, for Hawaii and Alaska). F irst Class: Wednesday, Dec. 18. Priority Mail: Thursday, Dec. 19. Priority Mail Express: Saturday, Dec. 21 (Friday, Dec. 20, for Hawaii and Alaska). FedEx Last shipping dates for select services to help ensure delivery before Dec. 25: Ground Economy: Friday, Dec. 13. Home Delivery: D ec. 17-Dec. 23. Ground: Dec. 17-Dec. 23. Express Saver: Thursday, Dec. 19. 2Day AM: Friday, Dec. 20. Overnight: Monday, Dec. 23. SameDay: Tuesday, Dec. 24. UPS Recommended last days to ship for expected delivery before Dec. 25: 3 Day Select: Thursday, Dec. 19. 2nd Day Air: Friday, Dec. 20. Next Day Air: Monday, Dec. 23. Ground: Calculate shipping time and cost at ups.com/ctc . PACKING TIPS Here are some tried-and-true packing tips: If possible, use new, double-corrugated boxes. If you are reusing a box, make sure it is in good shape. If it’s flimsy, toss it in the recycle bin. Don’t overpack. If something is in a box and poking the sides, you need a bigger box. If an item rattles, you didn’t cushion it well enough. Wrap items separately, no matter what the item is. That beloved pet portrait should be separate from the frame. Use packing materials. Bubble wrap, newspaper, packing peanuts, air packs, crinkled butcher paper and shredded paper work nicely. Consider saving these items throughout the year and reusing for holiday mailing. For heavy items, use thick cardboard as protection inside boxes. Allow at least a 2-inch space around items for cushioning materials. Consider putting wrapped items in plastic bags to protect against moisture, especially if the box might sit outside on a snowy or rainy day. And if you are shipping clothes with something delicate, use the clothing as protection. If you mail via USPS boxes, make sure your item will fit into the mailbox slot. They should weigh no more than 10 ounces and be a half-inch thick or less. For box restrictions, go online. If your item is breakable, write “fragile.” But no cute doodles. Keep it clean so postal workers can read it quickly. Non-lithium batteries should be left in original packaging. Do not put them in toys, clocks or other items before mailing. In transit, a device could turn on and raise security concerns. Batteries should be sent separately. Or mail a gift card for a store that sells batteries. Consider media mail. Positive: It’s cheaper. Negative: Restrictions exist. It’s limited to books, video and sound recordings, manuscripts, play scripts, printed music, some films, loose-leaf pages and binders with medical information and more. Advertising, video games and comic books are among restricted items. Media mail takes two to eight days. Two-inch-wide tape is best. Do not use masking, cellophane or duct tape. Tape side seams first, then across the top. Reinforcing bottom flaps is a good idea. If a box has tape, make sure its adhesive sticks. Never use brown paper as a mailing wrapper. Labels can be torn, and paper can rip. Do not use string, rope, cord or twine. It’s impractical and can muck up machinery. Consider Click-N-Ship to pay for and print postage at home. You leave the package for your carrier and don’t have to leave the house. Note: 70-pound box limits. Free priority boxes — if it fits, it ships — incur flat-rate postage. Or you can fill, wrap, measure and weigh your box, then enter specifications online. Required postage amount will be given. LABELING TIPS Carefully remove old labels. Mark out notations, names, codes or addresses. Write neatly in block letters or print labels with clean fonts, nothing fancy. Do not write “to” and “from” all over the box. Use one side only. Put addressee’s name and address inside the package. If you print a mailing label, print two — one for outside, one for inside. Be an editor. Did you leave off a ZIP code, return address, apartment number? Know ZIP codes. Look them up. If you know the +4 code, use it. USPS says no ZIP is better than a wrong one. If you use self-serve USPS kiosks, make extra sure the address is correct. A clerk will look, but at the kiosk it’s on you. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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In Duluth, we’ve seen our share of public officials rise and fall. The mayoral podium or county board seat may seem like a pinnacle of respect, but history has a peculiar way of leveling the field. A celebrated public servant can easily find his or her reputation tarnished when ambition overrides humility — or when actions taken in haste, or hubris, come back to haunt. For those who serve, let this be a caution: No matter how good your deeds, power has a tendency to inflate egos, and inflated egos rarely escape the weight of reckoning. ADVERTISEMENT Take Rudy Giuliani, once hailed as “America’s Mayor” for his leadership in revitalizing New York City and his unwavering presence amid the devastation of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. His story serves as a stark reminder. Once the darling of the national stage, Giuliani now finds himself embroiled in legal battles that have reduced his larger-than-life persona to that of a man grasping to retain even a shred of dignity. No longer are there throngs of well-wishers chanting his name, nor the bright lights of City Hall welcoming him each morning. Today, Giuliani stands not in the embrace of the public’s admiration but under the glare of courtroom proceedings. A federal judge has issued warnings of contempt — words that sting like a parent’s scolding — as Giuliani scrambles to comply with orders that demand he surrender possessions both symbolic and practical: a Mercedes, a co-op, even the heirloom watch that ticks with echoes of generations past, all claimed under the weight of a court’s decree. What a peculiar twist for a man who once strode through life with the confidence of an urban knight, ready to defend the city’s honor with the fervor of a crusader. But time humbles even the mightiest, peeling away the layers of grandeur until what remains is a human being, exposed and vulnerable. Accusations stem from defamation — words spoken in passion or ambition that, like pebbles tossed into water, rippled far beyond their intended reach. Now, two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, find themselves at the center of the Giuliani tale, seeking justice for reputations they say were shredded by him in the name of political theatrics. There is, of course, a sadness in watching someone who once commanded the highest podium in the room speaking from the stand of a defendant. “They can have all my property,” Giuliani reportedly said, a line laced with both defiance and weariness. It was the voice of a man who has spent many a night staring into the shadows, pondering how it all came to this. And then there is the staggering $148 million judgment, a figure so outsized that many Americans view it as a travesty, an unconstitutional overreach that transforms justice into something more akin to vengeance. Such a sum would be substantial even in cases involving loss of life, leaving some to question how defamation, however serious, could justify financial penalties that verge on punitive excess. The judge, unmoved by legacy or sentimental details — like that old watch passed down from Giuliani’s grandfather — responds with the cold precision of law: “The law is the law,” the judge said. ADVERTISEMENT And that, perhaps, is the ultimate lesson here: how swiftly and impartially the scales of justice or injustice tilt and how even the great and storied must answer for their choices when the scales demand balance. Here in Duluth, the lesson is clear for those who serve in public office, whether you sit on the City Council, represent the county, or wear the mayoral chain. Public service is not a shield against scrutiny or consequence. It is a calling that demands humility and accountability at every turn. History does not measure your deeds by the press clippings or the cheers at a parade. It measures them by the integrity of your actions and the way you treat even the least powerful among your constituents. So, we watch Giuliani’s saga unfold, a cautionary tale for leaders near and far. To our own local officials: let it be a reminder that the road to redemption or ruin is often paved with the choices made when the cameras are off. History, after all, has no shortage of examples to draw from. The question is, will you heed the warnings? John Grandson of Hill City, South Dakota, grew up in Lakewood Township and writes short stories in his retirement. He wrote this exclusively for the News Tribune.

With Trump on the way, advocates look to states to pick up medical debt fight

Though the drop in valuation might raise some eyebrows, county officials aren't worried. And other than a slight increase in the county's mill levy, officials don't anticipate any impacts to residents. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.Organto Releases Fiscal 2024 Third Quarter Financial Results

The Great Restaurant Development Holdings Limited Files for 2M Share IPO at $4-$6/shDon’t be surprised if your favourite young person’s Christmas list includes a few more books this holiday season. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Don’t be surprised if your favourite young person’s Christmas list includes a few more books this holiday season. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Don’t be surprised if your favourite young person’s Christmas list includes a few more books this holiday season. In recent years, teens and young adults have been digging into books, particularly novels, with greater voracity, thanks in large part to the TikTok, the social media platform and app many parents love to hate. BookTok is a sub-community of TikTok where users can either post their book-related video content or search for existing TikTok posts about books by using the #booktok hashtag. It’s a phenomenon that took off in part as a response to the COVID-19 lockdowns. “During the pandemic, people didn’t really have anything else to do. So they were starting to pick up books and post about them,” says Elissa Hall, who handles McNally Robinson Booksellers’ social media for kids’ books and runs the booksellers’ TikTok account. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press McNally Robinson Booksellers staff members (from left) Elissa Hall, Angela Torgerson and Matthew Montgomery show off titles that garnered a boost in sales thanks to BookTok’s popularity with teens and young adults. The bookstore has tailored its social media approach, title ordering and live events to cater to the spike in interest from these demographics. It wasn’t just new titles that were taking off; popular BookTokers would often post reviews of older books, which would suddenly see a jump in sales and loans at bookstores and libraries. “The big one for us during that period, and which continues to be big, is (Madeline Miller’s) ,” says Shamin Alli, senior sales director at HarperCollins Canada. “That was a backlist title; it was published in 2012, and had fairly consistent sales, but then in that 2020-21 period, it spiked. It’s now gone on to sell over 250,000 units in Canada, across all formats, and still sits in our top title list year over year.” Alli says HarperCollins — which has a specific publicity contact email for “online reviewers and book bloggers” — also saw sales bumps in titles such as Matt Haig’s as well as young-adult titles such as Adam Silvera’s and Tahereh Mafi’s . “Those were titles we were really chasing during that period,” she says. “We were constantly reprinting stock, trying to keep up with the demand. You could see that growth, that excitement online.” Booksellers also noticed the trend of older titles garnering attention, including by Edward Powys Mathers (a.k.a. Torquemada), a puzzle book originally published in 1934 and quietly re-released in 2019. ​​”The publisher didn’t have any stock. It was a curiosity that had probably sold next to nothing,” says McNally Robinson’s Matthew Montgomery, who handles the social media for adult titles. But when it comes to skyrocketing popularity thanks to BookTok, no one can touch Texas author Colleen Hoover, whose 2016 romance novel became a TikTok sensation. “All of a sudden we were getting scores of special orders for a book that had been out of print... we were trying to figure out why on earth people were looking for this book,” says Angela Torgerson, general manager at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location. “That’s when the younger staff pointed out they’d seen it on TikTok.” Why Hoover in particular enjoyed such a bump isn’t clear. “I don’t know if there’s a patient zero for this — I don’t know if there was one person that discovered Colleen Hoover,” says Montgomery. “I think it might have to do with the rise of the reaction video. When you have something that’s so raw, emotion-wise, and somebody has an exaggerated or elevated reaction, it tends to make people curious. “For Colleen Hoover, I’m betting it was luck — it could have been anybody.” topped the bestseller list in 2022, six years after its publication, selling nearly five million copies over the next two years. A film adaptation was released in August 2024, pushing the book back to the ’ top spot. In addition to modern romance novels, fantasy, science fiction, manga and the fantasy-romance mashup dubbed “romantasy” are among the genres that have seen a significant jump in sales and library lending thanks to BookTok. “Fiction about inclusion has been popular as well,” says Wilma Bagay, a school library technician in the St. James Assiniboia School Division. “Some of the books have LGBTTQ+ characters or situations, books that have more of a ‘real’ fiction feel ... the same kind of experiences as a high school student.” A lot of the most popular BookTok titles are relatively easy to spot. Many fantasy titles from wildly popular authors such as Sarah J. Maas, for example, are beefy hardcovers adorned with ornate, -like scripts and art, and sport fancy coloured, deckled edges. Today’s romance novels, meanwhile, aren’t the grocery-store bodice-rippers of old; gone are the open-shirted Fabios and buxom babes, replaced by more modern covers featuring relatable couples rendered in stylized illustrations. Popular examples include Ali Hazelwood’s , Sally Thorne’s and Tessa Bailey’s . “ started out as Rey/Kylo Ren fan fiction. I can’t believe I know that,” says Montgomery, laughing, in reference to the characters. “And so the dude on the cover is kind of drawn to look a little like Adam Driver. You couldn’t put Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver on the cover, so you draw them to look like a reasonable facsimile.” The rise of the romance novel has also seen McNally Robinson venture into new kinds of events. “We had a rom-com book launch this spring, which was outside of our normal,” says Torgerson. “It was massive. We saw customers from different demographics, customers we don’t usually reach in the same way. “They’d often buy these books at Shoppers (Drug Mart) or Indigo. It was really exciting.” Some books made popular by BookTok may not be quite the right fit for younger TikTok users; the typical trending romance novels, for example, can get a bit explicit, the fantasy novels a bit graphic. “A lot of teenagers are looking for adult books, because 90 per cent of the books on BookTok are adult books,” Hall says. “The majority of the time they don’t really know what the book’s about ... it’s not often there’s an actual book review on TikTok; it’s usually just a short clip of someone reacting.” Indeed, some BookTokers seem to plow through more books than seems reasonably possible, keen on pumping out videos to gain/retain followers. More videos and followers equals more review copies from publishers, whether or not the books are actually being read before videos are posted. The frequency with which some BookTokers post also runs the risk of sapping the joy out of settling in and leisurely enjoying a book. Regardless, post-lockdown the BookTok trend continues as strongly as ever, with young readers scouring bookstores and libraries for the latest trending titles. “I still have students, particularly high school students, that will come in and request certain books that I have yet to purchase or have in my collection, books that are popular on BookTok,” notes librarian Bagay. As BookTok accounts go, few are as big as the aptly named . With more than 275,000 followers and millions of views, likes and comments on each of her BookTok videos, Lauren Hower’s influence has rippled across the TikTok book community. Like many, Hower started watching and posting BookTok videos around the time the pandemic took hold. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Lauren Hower, now a full-time content creator on TikTok, regularly posts two or three BookTok videos each week. “For the longest time I’d just go to McNally; their new releases section is so well curated that I would often just go there and read book jackets and pick up a couple books,” says the 27-year-old. “And then during the pandemic, when you couldn’t go to a bookstore, I started watching videos on Tiktok and finding book recommendations there.” Hower made her first BookTok video as a bit of a joke. “It was titled ‘Books to read on the bus,’ and all the titles were ones that you’d never want people to see you reading on the bus,” she says, laughing. Having caught the bug, Hower kept posting BookTok videos, connecting with other BookTokers with a similar interest in literary fiction (rather than the more popular romance, fantasy and romantasy genres). “Most of the people that were also creating similar book content to me, we had full-time jobs ... BookTok was just a hobby,” Hower says. “And then I just kept doing it; I was kind of obsessed with it, and wanted to see how far it could go.” A hairstylist at the time with an art history degree under her belt, Hower would post at least one book-related video a day on TikTok, eventually deciding to hire a social media manager to see about taking things to the next step. TikTok Winnipegger Lauren Hower (a.k.a. @bigbooklady) shares her interest in literary fiction with her 275,000-plus BookTok followers The move paid off — for the last year she has worked full-time for herself as a content creator, posting two to three BookTok videos per week (which she also posts on Instagram as Reels), along with longer, more lifestyle-oriented videos of her day-to-day life on YouTube, where her channel has more than 70,000 subscribers. “The people who made videos similar to the ones I make, and recommended books similar to books that I recommend, don’t create nearly as much content anymore — that community I forged with those people has tapered off a little bit, and I’ve started moving to other platforms a little bit more,” she says. “I do still consume a lot of content on BookTok, but not nearly to the same extent that I was.” Hower earns revenue through ads and sponsored content on both YouTube and TikTok, although when it comes to books, she’s particular about only working with ones that suit her more literary tastes. “People are surprised that there are videos recommending literary fiction being made,” she says. “If you search BookTok on Tiktok, you’ll mainly see Colleen Hoover-type books, but if you search literary fiction on Tiktok, that’s when you start to find this other subculture within the BookTok community.” Naturally, Hower is reading all the time — either leafing through physical copies of books or listening to audiobooks. And she’s as thankful for the feedback and recommendations she gets from other BookTokers on her posts as she is for the literary discoveries of her own that she’s made on TikTok. “I wasn’t familiar with Toni Morrison’s writing at all until I saw her recommended on TikTok, and she’s now one of my favorite authors — I’ve read most of her work,” she says. “She’s such an iconic writer and her books are considered modern classics at this point, but when I started, I had no idea who she even was.” books@freepress.mb.ca @bensigurdson Ben Sigurdson is the ‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly drinks column. He joined the full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. . In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the ’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Ben Sigurdson is the ‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly drinks column. He joined the full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. . In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the ’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support. Advertisement Advertisement

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — John Buggs III's 15 points helped East Tennessee State defeat Austin Peay 79-57 on Saturday night. Buggs shot 4 for 7 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Buccaneers (6-2). Jaden Seymour scored 13 points and added 11 rebounds. Quimari Peterson had 13 points and went 6 of 11 from the field. The Governors (4-4) were led in scoring by LJ Thomas, who finished with 15 points. Austin Peay also got 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals from Tate McCubbin. Tekao Carpenter also had eight points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

Buggs' 15 lead East Tennessee State over Austin Peay 79-57HUMBOLDT, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man was convicted Thursday of killing two men and wounding a third in a shooting at a high school basketball game three years ago. Jadon Hardiman, 21, was found guilty in Gibson County of charges including second-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, district attorney Frederick Agee said in a statement. He faces up to 76 years in prison at sentencing in April. Hardiman, of Jackson, attended a basketball game between Humboldt and North Side high schools on Nov. 30, 2021. Then 18, Hardiman entered the Humboldt gymnasium's crowded concession area and pulled a semi-automatic .40 caliber handgun, prosecutors said. He fired three shots at Justin Pankey, a 21-year-old former Humboldt basketball player. Pankey was hit one time and died within seconds, Agee said. A second bullet hit Xavier Clifton, a former North Side student and basketball player, who was standing in the concession line. Clifton was shot in the neck and paralyzed. He died in March 2022. A third shot struck another man in the back of the head. He survived. “Many people were placed in fear of imminent bodily injury by Hardiman’s shooting, as shown by video footage of their fleeing into the gym, into bathrooms, and other areas of the school,” Agee said. Hardiman ran away and drove to Jackson, disposing of the murder weapon along the way, the district attorney said. The U.S. Marshals Service contacted his family, and he was arrested the next day. Agee said the shooting "frightened every adult, student, and child present, who were only there to support their team and enjoy a good game.” Hardiman's lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

On Dec. 4, U.S. intelligence officials and the FBI announced a hacking campaign affecting at least eight U.S. telecommunication firms, including Verizon and AT&T. In response, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with domestic and international partners, issued guidance for telecommunication companies to strengthen their security. Recommendations include implementing measures like end-to-end encryption to safeguard both company and customer data. Several news outlets reported that officials are advising against sending unencrypted text messages in the aftermath of the hack, so bad actors can’t read them. VERIFY readers Barbara and Joseph asked us if Chinese hackers can actually read people’s text messages. Here’s what we can VERIFY about protecting your text message privacy. THE QUESTION Can hackers intercept and read some types of text messages? THE SOURCES Joint guide from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), the FBI and other international partners published Dec. 3 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Apple Google WhatsApp , Signal and Telegram SoCRadar and How-To Geek , technology blogs McAfee THE ANSWER Yes, hackers can intercept and read some types of text messages. But there are ways to protect them. Sign up for the VERIFY Fast Facts newsletter here . WHAT WE FOUND Messages sent between Apple and Android devices, as well as some types of messages sent between multiple Android devices, can be susceptible to hackers. But there is a type of protection that can ensure no hackers can read your texts. It’s called encryption. Encryption uses an algorithm to scramble information, like text messages, that can only be un-scrambled by the recipient’s device. This layer of protection ensures that even if hackers or scammers intercept your texts, they can’t access the content. When text messages aren’t encrypted, they travel across networks in plain text, making them vulnerable to interception, the SoCRadar and How-To Geek technology blogs explain. It’s like sending a letter without an envelope . Encrypted messages aren’t plain text. They’re transformed into what’s called ciphertext , which appears across a network as a scrambled, unreadable string of characters. Hackers can use tricks like creating fake cell towers or spying on public wireless networks to capture the messages. Without protection, text messages can be read and other personal information can be stolen. So, hypothetically, if a hacker is monitoring a network and you send a message in plain unprotected text that says, “Meet at my house at 123 Elm Street, the door will be unlocked.” That is the message a hacker can read, leaving you (and your home) vulnerable. But, if you send it as an encrypted message, a hacker would only see gibberish, like "Ff8g$%qLq9d@8z.” Your intended recipient, though, would receive the real message. Cellular providers don’t directly provide end-to-end encryption automatically, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says , but the device manufacturers and independent messaging apps often do. Here’s how some devices work and tips to protect yourself. For Apple users : iMessages sent between Apple devices – the messages that appear in blue bubbles – are encrypted from end to end. However, messages sent from an Apple device to a non-Apple device – the messages that appear in green – are not encrypted. For Android users : For Android users using Google Messages , there is a feature known as Rich Communication Services. If that feature is turned on ( here’s how ) on both devices, the messages are encrypted. Cross-platform messaging and third-party applications: Text messages sent between Apple gadgets are encrypted, as are those exchanged between users of Google Messages, but text messages between Android and Apple devices are not encrypted, CISA says . That’s where third-party applications come in. Apps like WhatsApp , Signal and Telegram encrypt messages automatically and work between any device. WhatsApp describes their encryption technology like having a key that is exchanged between recipients. The technology locks (encrypts) a message before it leaves a device, turning it into a jumbled code. Only the recipient’s device has the unique "key" to unlock (decrypt) it and make it readable again. Stay secure with updates While the use of these technologies is important to understand, you should also keep your software updated, McAfee , a security company, says. These security updates for devices and applications patch vulnerabilities that hackers or scammers exploit. On an Android device, go to settings and click on software update. On an iPhone, go to settings, then general and then continue to software updates. For more tips on protecting yourself from scammers and hackers, visit VERIFY’s website . Related Articles Watch out for these common holiday scams 5 tips to avoid online shopping scams: VERIFY Fact Sheet VERIFYING 6 kinds of social media scams The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter , text alerts and our YouTube channel . You can also follow us on Snapchat , Instagram , Facebook and TikTok . Learn More » Follow Us YouTube Snapchat Instagram Facebook TikTok Want something VERIFIED? Text: 202-410-8808BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) — As the situation stands, snowboarder/ski racer Ester Ledecka has two Olympic races on the same day in 2026, at nearly the same time and in Italian mountain towns hours apart. The Czech Republic standout simply can’t make both starting gates. So she may have a big decision to make on Feb. 8, 2026 — race in the women's downhill at the Milan-Cortina Games or go for a three-peat in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom. Unless, of course, her lobbying efforts pay off. Ledecka said she's going through her country's Olympic committee to reach out and see if one of the events can be switched. The Winter Games schedule was just recently released. “It’s like someone has broken your dream,” the 29-year-old Ledecka said after a training run in Beaver Creek as she prepares for a World Cup downhill and super-G this weekend. “So please change it. Please, please, please. It’s my biggest dream to do both. I can create a great show for people.” Ledecka is the rare athlete to do both winter sports at such a gold medal-winning level. Nearly seven years ago, Ledecka was a surprise winner in the super-G at the Pyeongchang Games — from bib No. 26, no less. A week later, she captured gold in the parallel GS (PGS). At the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, she defended her PGS crown along with finishing fifth in the super-G, 27th in the downhill and fourth in the Alpine combined. To amend an Olympic schedule would not be unprecedented. Before the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, the International Olympic Committee and the governing body for track and field accommodated a request from Allyson Felix to go for a 200-400 double. She earned a silver in the 400. In 1996, the schedule was shifted so American sprinter Michael Johnson could run in the 200 and 400 at the Atlanta Games. He won gold in both. “I would appreciate it,” said Ledecka, who started skiing at 2 years old and snowboarding three years later. “They’re fighting (for it) right now.” The current schedule has snowboarding parallel giant slalom holding a qualifying round from 9 a.m. to 11 on Feb. 8 in Livigno, Italy. The final is set for 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the women's downhill is set to take place in Cortina at 11:30 a.m. It's about a 4-hour drive between the two events. For now, she's leaning toward snowboarding. Only because a few days later she could ski race in a super-G. “I was quite sad about that fact,” Ledecka said of the conflict between events. "We'll see. It’s still quite far away.” Ledecka has 88 World Cup starts in skiing, with 10 podium finishes and four wins. She has 63 World Cup starts in snowboarding, featuring 39 podium finishes and 25 wins. “I don’t know how she does it,” said American ski racer Jacqueline Wiles, who dabbled in snowboarding as a kid. “It’s absolutely insane.” Ledecka enjoys both sports for different reasons. In skiing, it's for the speed. For snowboarding, it's the execution of a turn. It's not always easy splitting her time between the two sports, fitting in training around events. She won a PGS race on Nov. 30 in China before arriving in Beaver Creek. After this, it's off to St. Moritz, Switzerland, for more ski racing. She's currently traveling with eight snowboards and 20 pairs of skis. “You cannot believe how stacked the ski room is right now,” Ledecka cracked. “I really admire my tech guy and how he's handling it all. I’m very happy to have my team help me do this, my dream, of going from the snowboard World Cup to the ski World Cup. I'm having a lot of fun.” Notes: Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland had the fastest time in the second training run Thursday. Italians racers Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone were both within a second. ... Lindsey Vonn is not expected to forerun before the third and final training session Friday. The 40-year-old Vonn still plans on testing out the course before this weekend's races on the Birds of Prey course. AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiingThe USS Zumwalt is at a Mississippi shipyard where workers have installed missile tubes that replace twin turrets from a gun system that was never activated because it was too expensive. Once the system is complete, the Zumwalt will provide a platform for conducting fast, precision strikes from greater distances, adding to the usefulness of the warship. “It was a costly blunder. But the Navy could take victory from the jaws of defeat here, and get some utility out of (the ships) by making them into a hypersonic platform,” said Bryan Clark, a defence analyst at the Hudson Institute. The US has had several types of hypersonic weapons in development for the past two decades, but recent tests by both Russia and China have added pressure to the US military to hasten their production. Hypersonic weapons travel beyond Mach 5, five times the speed of sound, with added manoeuvrability making them harder to shoot down. Last year, The Washington Post newspaper reported that among the documents leaked by former Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was a defence department briefing that confirmed China had recently tested an intermediate-range hypersonic weapon called the DF-27. While the Pentagon had previously acknowledged the weapon’s development, it had not recognised its testing. One of the US programmes in development and planned for the Zumwalt is the Conventional Prompt Strike. It would launch like a ballistic missile and then release a hypersonic glide vehicle that would travel at speeds seven to eight times faster than the speed of sound before hitting the target. The weapon system is being developed jointly by the Navy and Army. Each of the three Zumwalt-class destroyers would be equipped with four missile tubes, each with three of the missiles for a total of 12 hypersonic weapons per ship. In choosing the Zumwalt, the Navy is attempting to add to the usefulness of a 7.5 billion US dollars (£5.9 billion) warship that is considered by critics to be an expensive mistake despite serving as a test platform for multiple innovations. The Zumwalt was envisioned as providing land-attack capability with an advanced gun system with rocket-assisted projectiles to open the way for Marines to charge ashore. But the system featuring 155mm guns hidden in stealthy turrets was cancelled because each of the rocket-assisted projectiles cost up to one million dollars (£790,000). Despite the stain on their reputation, the three Zumwalt-class destroyers: Zumwalt, Michael Monsoor and Lyndon B Johnson; remain the Navy’s most advanced surface warships in terms of new technologies. Those innovations include electric propulsion, an angular shape to minimise radar signature, an unconventional wave-piercing hull, automated fire and damage control and a composite deckhouse that hides radar and other sensors. The US is accelerating development because hypersonics have been identified as vital to US national security with “survivable and lethal capabilities”, said James Weber, principal director for hypersonics in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies. “Fielding new capabilities that are based on hypersonic technologies is a priority for the defence department to sustain and strengthen our integrated deterrence, and to build enduring advantages,” he said.

Know thy enemy: Has Washington overtaken Cowboys in NFC East pecking order?Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel installs Quick Custom Intelligence's Enterprise PlatformNASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Javon Small scored five of his 31 points in overtime and Tucker DeVries added key free throws late in regulation and finished with 16 points as West Virginia beat No. 3 Gonzaga 86-78 in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday. Small's layup with under 2 minutes left in OT gave West Virginia a 79-75 lead. After a Gonzaga miss, Sencire Harris hit two free throws to make it a six-point lead. With 27.1 seconds left, Harris made a steal and scored on a dunk for an eight-point lead, putting the game out of reach. Amani Hansberry scored a career-high 19 points and Toby Okani added 10 for West Virginia (3-2). Braden Huff scored 19 points and Khalif Battle 16 for Gonzaga (5-1). Gonzaga showed its depth, outscoring the West Virginia bench 30-2. West Virginia’s only loss was by 24 points at Pitt, but the rebuild under Darian DeVries is showing promise. Gonzaga turned it over at midcourt late in regulation when Tucker DeVries poked it away from Nolan Hickman and raced the other way before getting fouled. DeVries made two free throws with 5.9 seconds left to tie it at 71-all. Battle inbounded the ball and got it back, but lost control on a drive as time expired. The shorter Mountaineers outrebounded Gonzaga 42-36 and shot 50% in the second half, battling the Zags to a draw in the paint. Nembhard had 12 assists and just one turnover in 43 minutes, but was 1 of 10 from the field. West Virginia will play Louisville on Thursday in the winner's bracket. Gonzaga faces No. 14 Indiana on the consolation side. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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