Stock market today: Wall Street inches higher to set more recordsNEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday's targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business. As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company's highest-paid executives. The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at PwC and had little name recognition beyond the health care industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company's face belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before Congress. When Thompson did occasionally draw attention, it was because of his role in shaping the way Americans get health care. At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company's shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy rather than focusing on treating them once sick. “Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time. “We are cognizant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the ... family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.” Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to start denying payment for what it deemed non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the chief executive of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter addressed to Thompson. “Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care.” United Healthcare responded by delaying rollout of the change. Thompson, who lived in a Minneapolis suburb and was the married father of two sons in high school, was set to speak at an investor meeting in a midtown New York hotel. He was on his own and about to enter the building when he was shot in the back by a masked assailant who fled on foot before pedaling an e-bike into Central Park a few blocks away, the New York Police Department said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were looking at Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members. “Didn’t seem like he had any issues at all,” Kenny said. "He did not have a security detail.” AP reporters Michael R. Sisak and Steve Karnowski contributed to this report. Murphy reported from Indianapolis. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

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Huge Australian crocodile made famous by cameo role in Crocodile Dundee diesA New Brunswick entrepreneur whose family pioneered the baby eel industry in Canada is suing Ottawa again after it told her she would likely lose nearly 90 per cent of her business to First Nations and other people who want to get in on the lucrative fishery. In a filing in the Court of King’s Bench in Fredericton on Dec. 9, Mary Ann Holland accuses the defendants, who include three successive federal fisheries ministers and eight high-ranking officials in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO, of having “engaged in a carefully calculated plan” over the years to drive her “out of business,” and give it away to First Nations and other fishers. “Such a plan represents patent gross abuse,” that they know will cause her companies, Brunswick Aquaculture and Alder Seafood, great damage, the lawsuit states. She complains that Ottawa did little to enforce the fishing rules on the water, and was, in effect, in cahoots with First Nations leaders who told their people to exert their Aboriginal right to pluck eels out as they wished. Holland declined to be interviewed for this article. But she has stewed about Ottawa’s decisions in recent years to allow more First Nations to catch the elvers and its lack of enforcement on waters in southwestern New Brunswick where she’s a licence holder, a spring fishery that’s been cancelled a few times because of poaching and spasms of violence. Now the trouble has boiled over. Holland’s late husband, Philip Holland, was the first commercial eel licence holder in the Maritimes, setting up the practice and developing overseas markets for the creatures 36 years ago. The Holland family has held a licence continuously since 1988. Mary Ann Holland has argued in other lawsuits against Ottawa and First Nations that they are destroying her business. The Wolastoqey Nation dismisses her claims and says they have a traditional right to fish. In the latest filing, Holland says DFO has invited some of the people who worked for her to become licence holders. A spokeswoman for the department said officials were aware of the allegations in Holland’s lawsuit, which have not been tested in court. “As the department is a named party and this matter is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate for DFO to comment,” said Debra Buott-Matheson in an email to Brunswick News. One of Holland’s colleagues in the baby eel industry in Nova Scotia warned that no one in the fishing industry would be safe from federal confiscation of their licences without any financial compensation. In a two-page letter sent Dec. 5 to nine enterprises in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that have elver, or baby eel, commercial licences, Jennifer Ford, the director of the elver review team in the Maritimes for DFO, outlined the latest proposed changes following consultations. Ford – who is named as a defendant in Holland’s lawsuit – said the federal fisheries minister, Diane Lebouthillier, favoured “broadening the benefits” of the elver fishery to boost First Nations’ participation and give people already working for the commercial elver industry a shot at having their own licenses. She said redistributing existing quotas was the only way of ensuring the species’ long-term survival. A table attached to the letter showed that of the nine licence holders, before 2022, eight of them had a quota of 1,200 kilograms each (a ninth had a quota of 360 kg). The new proposal would see all their quotas – or total allowable catch – significantly reduced by between 60 and nearly 90 per cent. Holland’s company fares the worst, going from 1,200 kg annually down to 123 kg. The letter appears to be the last straw for Holland, whose lawyer filed the legal paperwork only a few days later. Stanley King, whose in-laws have owned Atlantic Elver Fishery near Kejimkujik National Park in southwestern Nova Scotia since the early 1990s, said the department was being unfair to hard-working entrepreneurs who’d developed the business. “The process has been an exercise in futility,” he said of the letters sent from the minister seeking the industry’s input into the changes. “It was a sham consultation. They didn’t listen to one thing we said.” He also described it as a “five-year coup de grâce of DFO mismanagement that’s destroyed an entire industry that took 30 some odd years to create.” King said the industry wasn’t against First Nations having access to the fishery. But the proper process to follow, he said, was the “willing buyer-willing seller” model to ensure there would be no animosity between the fishermen. Such a model has been used in other fisheries, including crab and lobster, since the Supreme Court ruled 25 years ago that Aboriginal people have a right to pursue a moderate income from fisheries, a case that pitted Donald Marshall Jr., an adult eel fisherman, against the province of Nova Scotia. For the most part, those new agreements have reduced tension on the water. According to Holland’s lawsuit, Ottawa also proposed buying out her licence in 2021 but it didn’t go anywhere. DFO eventually decided to reduce the commercial eel quotas unilaterally. It’s not the first time in recent years DFO has made such a move. It reduced the number of traps of crab fishers in Tofino, B.C., by half in 2022, after a court ordered that part of the fishery had to be Indigenous. No compensation was offered. “I want other fishermen to realize this is now the government’s path forward,” King said. “Other fishermen should be very afraid and should pay very close attention, because they will be next.” As prices for the translucent baby eels have risen, people have fought over the spring run in dozens of rivers in the Maritimes. The violence and unauthorized fishing got so bad that the federal fisheries minister suspended the season in the Maritimes this year. The popularity of the American eels in Asian cuisine and the collapse of stocks in Europe has pushed prices up markedly. Buyers who ship the eels to Asia, where they’re grown in tanks to adulthood and then made into sushi or other tasty dishes, have paid as much as $5,000 a kilogram for them, although prices have moderated this year to closer to $4,000 per kg. It is the most lucrative seafood by weight in Canada. Holland’s lawsuit does not specify how much damages she’s seeking. No statement of defence has been filed.

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Drug policy and harm reduction organizations are celebrating a small victory after the province repealed Bill 34 last week. Bill 34, the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, would have rolled back the freedoms granted under British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot project. Decriminalization lets people 18 and older carry a combined total of 2.5 grams of opioids, crack and powder cocaine, meth and MDMA for personal use. The pilot project does not allow people to use drugs near children, for example schools or child-care facilities, or in airports or cars. Following public outcry to a perceived increase in public drug use, the province introduced Bill 34 in November 2023, which further limited where people could publicly use drugs and gave police additional powers to police people using drugs, or who they suspected of having done so in the past. But the bill was never implemented. The non-profit Harm Reduction Nurses Association fought Bill 34, arguing it would push people to use drugs alone thereby increasing their risk of dying of overdose. Unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 10 to 59, with more people dying from drug poisoning than from homicide, suicide, accidents and natural disease combined. In late December 2023 a Supreme Court of BC justice granted an injunction, agreeing with the Harm Reduction Nurses Association that the bill would cause “irreparable harms,” by isolating people who use drugs and saying it needed to assess whether the bill violated Charter rights. Before the Supreme Court of BC could complete its assessment, the province repealed the bill. The Tyee reached out to the province for comment about the court case, the repeal of the bill, and to respond to criticism from advocates late Friday, but did not hear back by press time Monday, given holiday hours and the tight turnaround. In an April press release, then-minister of public safety and solicitor general Mike Farnworth said the province was balancing the rolling back of decriminalization of public drug use with expanding access to treatment. In a Dec. 19 press release, the new Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Garry Begg said, “Decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of certain illegal drugs for personal use is a life-saving measure and one action the province is taking to address the toxic-drug crisis. This must be balanced with the needs of people who want to enjoy community spaces, parks and local businesses without encountering open drug use.” Only a small victory Repealing the legislation is only a “small” victory because the province found another way to introduce some its policies, says DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Larkin says these polices are harmful to people who use drugs. In April 2024 the B.C. government asked Health Canada to amend the decriminalization pilot project, banning public drug use so that the only places it is allowed is overdose prevention sites, private residences and legal tenting spaces for unhoused folks. Sarah Lovegrove, vice-president of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association, dubs this “recriminalization.” The only difference between the decriminalization amendment and Bill 34 is that it didn’t give police enhanced powers to arrest people for drug use or suspected drug use, she said. “It represents a small victory over laws and policies that are disproportionately harming people and targeting specific communities at risk of toxic drug poisoning,” she added. Lovegrove characterizes the amendment as an “egregious side stepping of court proceedings.” The province was able to take the drug policies the courts said would cause irreparable harm and ask Health Canada to implement them instead of doing it through its own legislation, she said. “From a public policy perspective, it is very concerning that government would avoid [the courts] by recreating those harms through another means,” said Larkin. Larkin, who is also a lawyer, says this move by the province was “quite unique” and compared it to enacting the notwithstanding clause. “Going around a court decision like this is a real sign the government is acting in a way that is not respectful of the court’s decision and not respectful of the evidence of the harms this policy creates,” they said. “When a court says this law could do irreparable harm, that is not an activist statement. It is merely the court saying, ‘this is what the evidence shows me,’” they said. “Governments need to take heed of that.” Pop-up OPS returning to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital It’s good that discretionary police powers weren’t expanded further because people who use drugs already have to navigate widely varying responses between police officers or police forces, said Dr. Ryan Herriot, a spokesperson for Doctors for Safer Drug Policy and a family and addictions medicine doctor in Victoria. In November the organization set up two unsanctioned overdose prevention sites near Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. The responses to these two unsanctioned sites are illustrative in terms of the varying responses between police forces. While an unsanctioned overdose prevention site was able to run as planned in Nanaimo, it hit a snag in Victoria, where volunteers were told to take down a tent and said people were not allowed to use drugs in the area. Ultimately what is driving toxic drug deaths is a toxic drug supply, stigma and isolation, Lovegrove said. “None of these factors are solved by criminalization and the emergency is being made infinitely worse by these colliding housing and affordability crises.” “We need real solutions that are driven by evidence and not politics,” she added. Lovegrove says that a group of 13 non-profits, including the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society, have applied for a judicial review on the province’s decision to amend its decriminalization project. Herriot says Doctors for Safer Drug Policy will also be back with more pop-up overdose prevention sites near the Nanaimo Hospital on Dec. 28, and from Jan. 4 to 7. More pop-up overdose prevention sites might be coming to other hospitals across B.C. and Canada. Herriot says they’ve had around 20 groups reach out and ask how they could set up their own local overdose prevention site.

SEALSQ Corp's stock rallied by more than 20% in early trading on Tuesday, reaching its highest level since August 2023, following the company’s announcement of its advancements in quantum-resistant technology aimed at protecting blockchain systems like Bitcoin from quantum computing threats. Following the initial surge, the stock’s gains tapered to 10% by 10 a.m. ET. Even so, SEALSQ stock’s value has more than doubled since Friday, marking a significant three-day rally. SEALSQ, a subsidiary of WISeKey, is advancing post-quantum cryptography (PQC) with innovative solutions, including quantum-resistant hardware, through its QUASARS project. WISeKey’s U.S.-listed shares also saw a significant boost, rising over 15% during morning trade. WISeKey initially announced the QUASARS project on Feb. 3, last year, when they incorporated SEALSQ Corp as a new company dedicated to developing post-quantum cryptography solutions. According to SEALSQ’s analysis, quantum computers could potentially hack Bitcoin signatures within 30 minutes, threatening the security of blockchain networks. Key vulnerabilities include exposed public keys, which could allow hackers to derive private keys, and dormant coins with lost private keys that remain unprotected. Retail sentiment around SEALSQ remained optimistic, with investors anticipating further gains as the company prepares for its satellite launch in collaboration with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX. Many investors on Stocktwits booked profits at market open, contributing to the stock’s slight pullback. The stock has gained 357.39% year-to-date. For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.< Read also: Broadcom Stock Rises Pre-Market Despite Netflix Patent Lawsuit Against VMware: Retail Reaction SubduedMagna International Inc. stock rises Tuesday, outperforms marketLEONARD QUART: Post-election rumination

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LONDON (AP) — An artist whose work exploring her Scottish Sikh identity includes a vintage Ford car draped in a crocheted doily won the U.K.’s prestigious Turner Prize on Tuesday, during a ceremony picketed by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Jasleen Kaur was awarded the 25,000-pound ($32,000) prize by actor James Norton at the Tate Britain gallery in London. Kaur used her acceptance speech to express support for scores of demonstrators outside. She is among signatories to a letter demanding Tate, which runs several major British art museums, cut ties with donors who are linked to Israel over its war in Gaza. “This is not a radical demand,” Kaur said. “This should not risk an artist’s career or safety. “We need a proper ceasefire now,” she said. The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas health officials in Gaza. Israel launched the war in response to the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage. A jury led by Tate Britain director Alex Farquhar praised the way 38-year-old Kaur “weaves together the personal, political and spiritual” through “unexpected and playful combinations of material.” Her winning exhibition mixes sculpture, print, everyday items — including family photos, a Ford Escort car and the popular Scottish soda Irn Bru — and immersive music to reflect on her upbringing in Glasgow’s Sikh community. Three other finalists – Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson and Delaine Le Bas – received 10,000 pounds ($12,670) each. Named for 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and founded in 1984 to reward young artists, the prize helped make stars of shark-pickling artist Damien Hirst, potter Grayson Perry, sculptor Anish Kapoor and filmmaker Steve McQueen . But it has also been criticized for rewarding impenetrable conceptual work and often sparks debate about the value of modern art, with winners such as Hirst’s "Mother and Child Divided,” which consists of two cows, bisected and preserved in formaldehyde, and Martin Creed’s “Lights On and Off” -- a room with a light blinking on and off – drawing scorn from sections of the media. In 2019, all four finalists were declared winners after they refused to compete against one another, “to make a collective statement in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity.” In 2021, all five finalists were collectives rather than individual artists. The award was initially open to artists under 50 but now has no upper age limit. Works by the four finalists are on display until Feb. 16. Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tasked Nigerians to pray for their leaders, saying that the country is on the path of restoration and progress. In his Christmas message on Tuesday, President Tinubu appealed to the citizens, urging them to embrace love, peace, and unity during the festive season, urging them to remain hopeful about the nation’s future. He also commiserated with those affected by the stampede in Ibadan, Oyo State; Okija, Anambra State and Abuja, praying that Nigeria never witness such tragedy again. The statement reads: “Christmas embodies the fulfilment of divine prophecy and symbolizes the triumph of love, peace, and unity. “It reminds us that light can emerge even in the darkest times, bringing solace and hope. READ MORE: “Tax Reforms Here To Stay” – Tinubu Insists, Says Poorest Nigerians Will Benefit “Nigeria is on a promising path of restoration and progress. Let us renew our hope and belief in a prosperous Nigeria,” “Our thoughts are with those who continue to suffer from these heartbreaking events. We pray that such misfortunes do not revisit our families and communities. “Our compassionate and merciful God stands with the weak, the brokenhearted, and the sick.”

AP Trending SummaryBrief at 6:13 p.m. ESTEven with technology taking over much of our day-to-day lives, board games still offer quality entertainment that can’t be beaten. Of course, the popular board games of today are a far cry from the games your parents grew up playing. are perfect for encouraging your family to work together or for bringing your group of friends around the table for an evening. If you’d like to start up a weekly game night, let this helpful list of the most popular board games be your guide. This game will have every player rolling in stitches with each ridiculous phrase that’s uttered. Combine crazy accents and hilarious phrases to impress the Nonsense Judge and win the round. The player with the highest number of wins ultimately wins the game, but the true fun of this card game is listening to your fellow players trying to say some of the most entertaining phrases of all time. This game is perfect for game nights or parties. This hilarious game is perfect if you have teenagers or are hosting a party with all adults. To play, you insert a mouthpiece that alters the sound of your speech, making every word sound silly. Set the timer and read one of the phrases on the cards and try to help your teammate guess what you’re saying. Speak Out easily provides hours of fun that even grandparents will love. What’s the next best thing to trying to break out of a room? Escape Room in a Box, of course. This thrilling, immersive game involves solving 2D and 3D puzzles in order to prevent a mad scientist from turning you and your friends or family into werewolves. Work together to escape your fate and use Amazon Alexa to enhance the experience. This fun strategy game is perfect for anyone with teenagers. Form two teams and select a spymaster on each team. Using clues, spymasters try to help their teammates find all 25 of the agents they’re in contact with, hopefully without selecting the other team’s agents or running into the deadly assassin. This innovative game offers a challenging and rewarding time working together. Excite your kids on game night with this modern twist on a classic. Play as six recognizable Hogwarts characters — Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny or Neville — to solve the mystery behind a fellow student’s disappearance. It’s up to you to figure out who attacked the student, what bewitching spell they used and where it occurred. Watch out for the Dark Mark, moving staircases and secret passages as you travel along in this magical family game. If you’ve ever wanted to save humanity from a deadly outbreak, you’ll love spending an hour playing Pandemic. You and your teammates must fight to contain four deadly diseases threatening the human race. Players must learn to work with their teammates to control outbreak hotspots and treat diseases. Win the game by curing all diseases without wiping out humanity first. ​​​​​​​ This tactical 60-minute game will push your imagination to its limits as you embark on a journey across Catan. Acquire crucial resources as you travel, build roads, buildings, and cities, and be wary of the ruthless robber and other players halting you on your own road. Through careful trading and clever decisions, you can lead your travelers to victory in this role-playing game of limitless possibilities. Play again and again. Every game is different. Train lovers will enjoy this innovative board game which has won numerous awards. This cross-country train adventure game mimics the concept of traveling around the world in 80 days. Collect train cars and claim railways across the country. Players earn the most points by establishing long train routes and connecting distant cities. Each game takes roughly 30 to 40 minutes to complete, and every adventure is different. This quick-paced game gives each player five seconds to name items on a certain topic. Although the topics are objectively easy —“Name 3 Mountains,” “Name 3 Types of Hats” or “Name 3 Super Heroes,” the pressure of the time crunch is likely to put you on edge. Race the clock and remain composed to win this game. You can even make up your own topics if you prefer. Half the fun is just hearing what other people blurt out, whether it’s relevant to the topic or not.