Latest news with #COVID-era
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Star Entertainment posts wider loss as regulatory squeeze, carded play weigh
(Reuters) -Australia's Star Entertainment on Wednesday reported a deeper quarterly loss sequentially, underscoring the prolonged pressure on the casino operator from regulatory crackdowns and the shift to mandatory carded play. The embattled gaming group posted a fourth-quarter loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of A$27 million ($17.58 million), compared with a loss of A$24 million in the prior quarter. Star has been reeling from a series of regulatory inquiries into alleged breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws, coupled with a broader downturn in gaming revenue. A recent move by the New South Wales government to ban cash transactions in casinos — though not in pubs and clubs — has further impacted the company's earnings potential. The broader casino sector in Australia has yet to recover from the lasting effects of COVID-era lockdowns, border closures and now rising interest costs. Star, in particular, has endured years of instability — marked by two Bell inquiries, the departure of its CEO and chairman, and a near-collapse that required urgent capital support. On Wednesday, the company confirmed that its Sydney casino licence remains suspended. It plans to make a formal submission to the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission on August 31 as part of efforts to regain regulatory approval. ($1 = 1.5356 Australian dollars) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Business
- Reuters
Star Entertainment posts wider loss as regulatory squeeze, carded play weigh
July 30 (Reuters) - Australia's Star Entertainment ( opens new tab on Wednesday reported a deeper quarterly loss sequentially, underscoring the prolonged pressure on the casino operator from regulatory crackdowns and the shift to mandatory carded play. The embattled gaming group posted a fourth-quarter loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of A$27 million ($17.58 million), compared with a loss of A$24 million in the prior quarter. Star has been reeling from a series of regulatory inquiries into alleged breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws, coupled with a broader downturn in gaming revenue. A recent move by the New South Wales government to ban cash transactions in casinos — though not in pubs and clubs — has further impacted the company's earnings potential. The broader casino sector in Australia has yet to recover from the lasting effects of COVID-era lockdowns, border closures and now rising interest costs. Star, in particular, has endured years of instability — marked by two Bell inquiries, the departure of its CEO and chairman, and a near-collapse that required urgent capital support. On Wednesday, the company confirmed that its Sydney casino licence remains suspended. It plans to make a formal submission to the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission on August 31 as part of efforts to regain regulatory approval. ($1 = 1.5356 Australian dollars)
Gulf Today
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Trump's order on homelessness gets it all wrong
Steve Lopez, Tribune News Service President Trump has the answer to homelessness. Forcibly clear the streets. Recently, he signed an executive order to address "endemic vagrancy" and end "crime and disorder on our streets." He called for the use of "civil commitments" to get those who suffer from mental illness or addiction into "humane treatment." This comes after last year's US Supreme Court ruling making it legal for cities to punish people for being homeless, even if they have nowhere to go. There's some truth in what he says, and California's record on housing and homelessness is ripe for criticism. I've watched too many people suffer from addiction and mental illness and asked why the help is so slow to arrive. But I also know there are no simple answers for either crisis, and bluster is no substitute for desperately needed resources. Like a lot of what Trump does, this is another case of grandstanding. In the meantime, the Washington Post reported Thursday that the "Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in COVID-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants." As it happens, I was in the middle of a column on the latest Los Angeles homeless count when news of Trump's executive order broke. I had just spent time with two homeless women to hear about their predicaments, and none of what Trump is proposing comes close to addressing their needs, which are tragically commonplace. Namely, they're living in poverty and can't afford a place to live. In his executive order, Trump said that "nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having used hard drugs ... in their lifetimes. An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions." I don't know where he got those numbers, but truth and accuracy are not hallmarks of this administration. No doubt, addiction and mental illness are significant factors, and more intervention is needed. But that's more complicated than he thinks, especially given the practical and legal issues surrounding coercive treatment — and it's not going to solve the problem. When the latest homeless count in Los Angeles was released, a slight decline from a year ago was regarded by many as a positive sign. But when Eli Veitzer of Jewish Family Service LA dug into the numbers, he found something both unsurprising and deeply disturbing. The number of homeless people 65 and older hadn't gone down. It had surged, in both the city and county of Los Angeles. "This isn't new this year. It's a trend over the last couple of years," said Veitzer, whose nonprofit provides meals, housing assistance and various other services to clients. "It's meaningful, and it's real, and these people are at the highest risk of mortality while they're on the streets." The numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed a 3.4% decrease in the total homeless population in the city, but a 17.6% increase among those 65 and older. The county numbers showed a 3.99% decrease overall, but an 8.59% increase in the 65 and older group. In the city, the increase over two years was from 3,427 in 2023 to 4,680 this year — up 37%. Reliable research has shown that among older adults who become homeless, the primary reason is the combination of poverty and high housing costs, rather than mental illness or addiction. "They or their spouse lost their job, they or their spouse got sick, their marriage broke up or their spouse or parent died," Dr. Margot Kushel of UC San Francisco's Homelessness and Housing Initiative was telling me several hours before Trump's executive order was issued. Her team's landmark study, released two years ago (and covered by my colleague Anita Chabria), found that nearly half the state's homeless residents were 50 and older, and that participants in the study reported a median monthly household income of $960. "The results ... confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing," Kushel said at the time. Among the older population, Veitzer said, the jump in homelessness comes against the backdrop of federal and local budget cuts that will make it harder to reverse the trend. And harder for nonprofits, which rely in part on public funding, to keep providing group meals, home-delivered meals, transportation, social services and housing support. "Every provider I've talked to in the city of L.A. is cutting meal programs," Veitzer said. "We're going to have to close two of our 13 meal sites, and last year we closed three. We used to have 16, and now we're down to 11." On Wednesday, I went to one of the sites that's still up and running on Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405, and met Jane Jefferies, 69. She told me she's been camping in her vehicle since February when living with her brother became impossible for various reasons. She now pulls into a Safe Parking LA lot each night to bed down. Jefferies said she collects about $1,400 a month in Social Security, which isn't enough to get her into an apartment. At the senior center, she uses her own equipment to make buttons that she sells on the Venice boardwalk, where she can make up to $200 on a good weekend. But that's still not enough to cover the cost of housing, she told me, and she's given up on government help. "All the funding has been cut, and I don't know if it's because a lot of the city and state funding is subsidised by the federal government. We all know Trump hates California," she said. As Veitzer put it: "There's nowhere near enough low-income senior housing in L.A. County. Wait lists open up periodically," with far more applicants than housing units. "And then they close." His agency delivers a daily meal to Vancie Davis, 73, who lives in a van at Penmar Park in Venice. Her next-door neighbor is her son, Thomas Williamson, 51, who lives in his car. Davis was in the front seat of the van when I arrived, hugging her dog, Heart. Her left leg was amputated below the knee two years ago because of an infection, she told me. Davis said she and another son were living in a trailer in Oregon, but the owner shut off the utilities and changed the locks. She said she reached out to Williamson, who told her, "I've got a van for you, so you'll have a place to live, but it's going to be rough. And it is. It's very, very rough." I've heard so many variations of stories like these over the years, I've lost count. The magnitude that exists in the wealthiest nation in history is a disgrace, and a sad commentary on an economic system and public policy that have served to widen, rather than narrow, the inequity gap. On Thursday, Trump's executive order on homelessness grabbed headlines but will do nothing for Jane Jefferies or Vancie Davis and for thousands like them. We know the interventions that can work, Kushel said, but with deep cuts in the works, we're moving in the wrong direction. Davis' son Thomas told Times photographer Genaro Molina about another person who lives in a vehicle and has been a neighbour of theirs in the parking lot. She wasn't there Wednesday, but we'll check back. It's a 91-year-old woman.
Axios
9 hours ago
- Axios
Denver leads 29 U.S. cities in homicide decline, report finds
Denver logged the steepest drop in homicides among 29 U.S. cities in the first half of 2025, according to a new report from the Council on Criminal Justice. Why it matters: It's another datapoint suggesting Denver is getting safer — especially when it comes to violent crime. The city's homicide rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade. By the numbers: Homicides in Denver fell 45% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, per CCJ, a nonpartisan think tank. Since January 2019, killings are down 31%. Other major crimes also fell year-over-year: Carjackings: -27%. Car theft: -46%. Robbery: -20%. Residential burglary: -19%. Non-residential burglary: -36%. Yes, but: Not every trend is positive. Drug offenses rose 5%, and shoplifting ticked up 12%. The big picture: CCJ's report analyzed monthly crime data from 42 cities going back to 2019. It found that most criminal activity has fallen below pre-pandemic levels — a major narrative reversal from the COVID-era crime spikes.
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Korea Herald
Global hunger falls but conflict and climate threaten progress: UN
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -- The number of hungry people around the world fell for a third straight year in 2024, retreating from a COVID-era spike, even as conflict and climate shocks deepened malnutrition across much of Africa and western Asia, a UN report said on Monday. Around 673 million people, or 8.2 percent of the world's population, experienced hunger in 2024, down from 8.5 percent in 2023, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, jointly prepared by five UN agencies. They said the report focused on chronic, long-term problems and did not fully reflect the impact of acute crises brought on by specific events and wars, including Gaza. Maximo Torero, the chief economist for the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, said improved access to food in South America and India had driven the overall decline but cautioned that conflict and other factors in places such as Africa and the Middle East risked undoing those gains. "If conflict continues to grow, of course, if vulnerabilities continue to grow, and the debt stress continues to increase, the numbers will increase again," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a UN food summit in Ethiopia. "Conflict continues to drive hunger from Gaza to Sudan and beyond," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in remarks delivered by video link to the summit. "Hunger further feeds future instability and undermines peace." In 2024, the most significant progress was registered in South America and Southern Asia, the UN report said. In South America, the hunger rate fell to 3.8 percent in 2024 from 4.2 percent in 2023. In Southern Asia, it fell to 11 percent from 12.2 percent. Progress in South America was underpinned by better agricultural productivity and social programs like school meals, Torero said. In Southern Asia, it was mostly due to new data from India showing more people with access to healthy diets. The overall 2024 hunger numbers were still higher than the 7.5 percent recorded in 2019 before the COVID pandemic. The picture is very different in Africa, where productivity gains are not keeping up with high population growth and the impacts of conflict, extreme weather and inflation. In 2024, more than one in five people on the continent, 307 million, were chronically undernourished, meaning hunger is more prevalent than it was 20 years ago. Africa is projected to account for nearly 60 percent of the world's hungry people by 2030, the report said. The gap between global food price inflation and overall inflation peaked in January 2023, driving up the cost of diets and hitting low-income nations hardest, the report said. Overall adult obesity rose to nearly 16 percent in 2022, from 12 percent in 2012, it added. The number of people unable to afford a healthy diet dropped globally in the past five years to 2.6 billion in 2024 from 2.76 billion in 2019, the report said.
