jili super ace code Over 1,800 Elders and IP Scholars Supported by DigiPlus, BingoPlus Foundation As part of its pledge committed during National Indigenous Peoples Month in October, BingoPlus Foundation, the social development arm of DigiPlus Interactive, extended its commitment to community welfare by organizing a two-day optical mission and distribution of tablets to members of the Carol-an Indigenous Community in Kabankalan City. A Sustained Way of Life Through Clearer Vision Held on November 20-21, the medical mission reached 1,829 indigenous senior citizens from Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities across 12 barangays, providing much-needed eye care services and support. The Foundation offered free eye screenings, glasses, and eyedrops to the beneficiaries, ensuring 100% reach for all indigenous senior citizens of the community. Additionally, individuals requiring further medical attention were referred for advanced check-ups and testing, giving comprehensive care for all. The initiative supported the Kabangkalan City Indigenous People Youth Organization (KaCIPYO) in their bid to give back to their elders to safeguard their culture. The successful turnout of the program demonstrates the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to making healthcare more accessible in remote areas and vulnerable communities. “We are dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the lives of underserved communities. This optical mission is part of our broader effort to empower and support the well-being of Indigenous Peoples, especially senior citizens who are often marginalized in healthcare access,” said VP DigiPlus Interactive, COO BingoPlus Foundation Celeste Jovenir. A Brighter Future with Technology Beyond healthcare for elders, BingoPlus Foundation also extended its support to the younger generation. During their Kabankalan City visit, 50 students from the KaCIPYO received tablets to assist in their studies. These beneficiaries, including high school, senior high school, and college students from the Carol-an IP Community, expressed their gratitude for the tools that will ease the challenges of pursuing education in remote areas. “Our elders face challenges in accessing healthcare programs in the city because of the distance they need to travel, while many of our youth are unable to continue their education because of a lack of tools to complete their requirements. We are honored to be among the beneficiaries of DigiPlus and BingoPlus Foundation in Negros Occidental,” shared Jeolina Largado, President of the KaCIPYO. The success of these initiatives highlights BingoPlus Foundation’s dedication to addressing healthcare and educational inequalities, particularly in underserved and remote communities. By bridging these gaps, the foundation continues to bring hope and opportunity to Indigenous communities across the country.DETROIT (AP) — General Motors said Tuesday it will retreat from the robotaxi business and stop funding its money-losing Cruise autonomous vehicle unit. Instead the Detroit automaker will focus on development of partially automated driver-assist systems for personal vehicles like its Super Cruise, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel. GM said it would get out of robotaxis “given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market.” The company said it will combine Cruise's technical team with its own to work on advanced systems to assist drivers. GM bought control of San Francisco-based Cruise automation in 2016 with high hopes of developing a profitable fleet of robotaxis. Over the years GM invested billions in the subsidiary and eventually bought 90% of the company from investors, all while racking up millions in losses. GM’s brushoff of Cruise represents a dramatic about-face from years of full-blown support that left a huge financial dent in the automaker. The company invested $2.4 billion in Cruise only to sustain years of uninterrupted losses, with little in return. Since GM bought a controlling stake in Cruise for $581 million in 2016, the robotaxi service piled up more than $10 billion in operating losses while bringing in less than $500 million in revenue, according to GM shareholder reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The automaker even announced plans for Cruise to generate $1 billion in annual revenue by 2025, but it scaled back spending on the company after one of its autonomous Chevrolet Bolts dragged a San Francisco pedestrian who was hit by another vehicle in 2023. The California Public Utilities Commission alleged Cruise then covered up details of the crash for more than two weeks. The embarrassing incident resulted in Cruise’s license to operate its driverless fleet in California being suspended by regulators and triggered a purge of its leadership — in addition to layoffs that jettisoned about a quarter of its workforce . GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts on a conference call Tuesday the the new unit will focus on personal vehicles and developing systems that can drive by themselves in certain circumstances. The company has agreements to buy another 7% of Cruise and intends to buy the remaining shares so it owns the whole company. The move is another step back from autonomous vehicles, which have proved far harder to develop than companies once anticipated. Two years ago, crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. disbanded its Argo AI autonomous vehicle venture in Pittsburgh that it co-owned with Volkswagen. At the time the company said it didn’t see a path to profitability for a number of years. Yet other companies are pressing forward with plans to deploy autonomous vehicles and expanding their services. Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo is accelerating plans to broaden its robotaxi service beyond areas of metropolitan Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Last week the company said it would begin testing its driverless Jaguars in Miami next year, with plans to start charging for rides in 2026. The move comes less than a month after Waymo opened up its robotaxi service to anyone looking for a ride in an 80-square-mile (129 square kilometer) area of Los Angeles. Waymo also has plans to launch fleets in Atlanta and Austin next year in partership with ride-hailing leader Uber. In April, a company called Aurora Innovation plans to start hauling freight on Texas freeways using fully driverless semis. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said his company plans to have autonomous Models Y and 3 running without human drivers next year. Robotaxis without steering wheels using Tesla's “Full Self-Driving” system would be available in 2026 starting in California and Texas, he said. But an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into Full Self-Driving's ability to see in low visibility conditions cast doubt on whether Teslas are ready to be deployed without humans behind the wheel. The agency began the investigation in October after getting reports of four crashes involving “Full Self-Driving” when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust. An Arizona pedestrian was killed in one of the crashes. GM said it will work with Cruise’s leadership to restructure the company and refocus Cruise’s operations on driver assist systems. The company expects the restructuring to reduce spending by more than $1 billion annually. Cruise has about 2,300 employees and will retain a presence in San Francisco, GM said. It’s too early to talk about employment levels until the restructuring is completed next year, a spokesman said. Dave Richardson, senior vice president of software and services engineering, said Cruise will bring its software, artificial intelligence and sensor development to GM to team up on improving GM’s driver-assist systems. “We want to leverage what already has been done as we go forward, and we think we can do that very effectively,” Barra said. Shares of GM rose about 3% in trading after Tuesday's closing bell. They are up about 47% for the year. AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.

THE US sanctioned a Chinese company it accused of working for intelligence agencies and charged one of its employees with hacking into the computer systems of thousands of businesses across the globe, including American critical infrastructure firms. The Treasury Department on Tuesday (Dec 10) announced sanctions against Chengdu-based Sichuan Silence Information Technology Company, Limited and one of its security researchers, Guan Tianfeng. Federal prosecutors also unsealed an indictment charging Guan with breaking into more than 80,000 firewalls in 2020 to steal company data and install a ransomware virus. Guan discovered a previously unknown flaw in a firewall product and used it to deploy malware on the devices, according to the Treasury Department. The purpose was to use the compromised firewalls to steal data, including usernames and passwords. But Guan also attempted to infect the victim’s systems with ransomware, according to the US officials. Neither Guan nor an attorney for him could be reached for comment. Sichuan Silence and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment. The US State Department announced that it’s offering an award of as much as US$10 million for information that helps the government find Guan. More than 23,000 of the firewalls Guan compromised were in the US and three dozen of those were meant to protect critical infrastructure companies, including one that was drilling for oil at the time of the breach, according to the Treasury Department. The sanctions freeze any assets of Sichuan Silence and Guan in the US and block business with them, according to the US. Sichuan Silence provides Chinese government intelligence officials with varied hacking and cybersecurity services, US authorities said. The breached firewalls were sold by Sophos, which patched the vulnerability Guan had used “shortly after the intrusion”, the indictment states. If not for the quick fix by the UK-based cybersecurity firm, the Treasury Department said, the breach could have caused potentially deadly malfunctions on oil rigs. Ross McKerchar, Sophos’ chief information security officer, welcomed the US actions in a statement. “The scale and persistence of Chinese nation-state adversaries poses a significant threat to critical infrastructure, as well as unsuspecting, everyday businesses,” McKerchar said. BLOOMBERG

Social media users are misrepresenting a report released Thursday by the Justice Department inspector general's office, falsely claiming that it's proof the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The watchdog report examined a number of areas, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. Claims spreading online focus on the report's finding that 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who had been tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the events. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.

AP News Summary at 5:57 p.m. ESTSANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Persistent high surf and flooding threats along California’s coast had residents on high alert a day after a major storm was blamed for one man’s death and the partial collapse of a pier , which propelled three people into the Pacific Ocean. The National Weather Service on Christmas Eve warned of dangerous, large-breaking waves of up to 35 feet (10.7 meters). Its latest high surf warning will be in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday. “Large waves can sweep across the beach without warning, pulling people into the sea from rocks, jetties and beaches,” the weather service said in a Christmas Eve bulletin. In Santa Cruz, where a municipal wharf under construction partially collapsed on Monday, most beaches were cordoned off as they were inundated with high surf and debris. Residents received an alert on their phones Tuesday morning notifying them to “avoid all beaches including coastal overlook areas such as rocks, jetties or cliffs.” It warned powerful waves could sweep entire beaches unexpectedly. Local officials said there could be further damage to the wharf, but no more pieces broke off overnight. The wharf collapsed and fell into the ocean midday Monday, taking three people with it. Two people were rescued by lifeguards and a third swam to safety. No one was seriously injured. Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley said in the weeks and months ahead officials will have to assess long-term solutions for protecting the coastal city from the impacts of climate change . “Hallelujah that no one was hurt in this, which could have been orders of magnitude worse in terms of any injuries to human beings and damage to property onshore and offshore,” he said at a media briefing Tuesday. “But I think we have somewhat of a question mark as we move through time,” he added. “And I don't think we're by ourselves. I think this is what coastal communities around the world are probably dealing with.” The structure was in the middle of a $4 million renovation following destructive storms last winter about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of San Francisco. “It’s a catastrophe for those down at the end of the wharf,” said David Johnston, who was allowed onto the pier on Monday to check on his business, Venture Quest Kayaking. Tony Elliot, the head of the Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department, estimated that about 150 feet (45 meters) of the end of the wharf fell into the water. It was immediately evacuated and will remain closed indefinitely. Some of the wharf’s pilings are still in the ocean and remain “serious, serious hazards” to boats, the mayor said. Each piling weighs hundreds of pounds and is being pushed by powerful waves. “You are risking your life, and those of the people that would need to try and save you by getting in or too close to the water,” the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office said on the social platform X. Building inspectors were looking at the rest of the pier’s structural integrity. Some California cities ordered beachfront homes and hotels to evacuate early Monday afternoon as forecasters warned that storm swells would continue to increase throughout the day. In Watsonville along the Monterey Bay, first responders were called to Sunset State Beach, a state park, around 11:30 a.m. Monday for a report of a man trapped under debris. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office believes a large wave pinned him there. The man was pronounced dead at a hospital. The storm’s high surf also likely pulled another man into the Pacific Ocean around noon Monday at Marina State Beach, nearly 13 miles (21 kilometers) south of Watsonville, authorities said. Strong currents and high waves forced searchers to abandon their efforts roughly two hours later as conditions worsened. The man remained missing Monday evening. Further south in Carmel Bay, a man remained missing as of Tuesday afternoon after reports that someone was swept off the rocks into the ocean at Pebble Beach on Monday, local emergency responders said. The U.S. Coast Guard will "transition to a recovery search as ocean conditions improve in the coming days,” officials said in a statement. In a post on X, the National Weather Service office in Portland, Oregon, said, “It will likely go down as some of the highest surf this winter.” Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento and Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles contributed.

Kuster wants to lead by example; that’s why she’s retiring from Congress