Latest news with #March2024
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
US crude oil output hit record high in March, while demand fell, says EIA
May 30 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil output rose to a monthly record high in March, while demand for oil products declined to the lowest in a year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM) report on Friday. U.S. crude output rose to 13.488 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, up from 13.159 million bpd in February and the prior all-time high of 13.450 million bpd in October 2024. U.S. product supplied of crude oil and petroleum products, a measure of demand, fell to a 12-month low of 19.950 million bpd in March, down from 20.225 million bpd in February. That was the lowest product supplied since March 2024 and compares with a monthly record high of 21.666 million bpd in August 2005.
Geek Tyrant
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Fun New Trailer For Pixar's Sci-Fi Comedy Adventure Film ELIO — GeekTyrant
Disney has released another trailer for Pixar's sci-fi comedy adventure film Elio , which follows a young boy who is abducted by aliens and is mistaken for the leader of Earth. The movie looks like it'll give audiences a fun moving-going experience. It might just end up being another winner for Pixar. The synopsis reads: 'For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers—in Disney and Pixar's all-new movie Elio , the universe calls back! The original feature film introduces Elio, an underdog with an active imagination who finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. 'Mistakenly identified as Earth's ambassador to the rest of the universe, and completely unprepared for that kind of pressure, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, survive a series of formidable trials and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.' Yonas Kibreab ( Obi-Won Kenobi ) takes on the role of the young boy, and he's joined by America Ferrera as Olga, his mom. She is described as being 'Super-confident, smart and can hold her own in any situation.' The voice cast also includes Jameela Jamil and Brad Garrett . Elio was directed by Adrian Molina (screenwriter and co-director of Coco ) and produced by Mary Alice Drumm (associate producer of Coco ). It will be released in theaters on March 1, 2024.
Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Taylor Swift sidesteps Blake Lively lawsuit after blackmail claims
Taylor Swift has been spared the prospect of testifying in her friend Blake Lively's lawsuit after Justin Baldoni dropped his request seeking information from the pop superstar. Lively and Baldoni are locked in a bitter legal battle after starring opposite each other in last summer's blockbuster It Ends with Us. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment while he countersued for defamation. Swift was dragged into the row through her friendship with Lively. Baldoni filed a subpoena demanding communications from their respective legal teams but the request has now been withdrawn. The news was welcomed by Lively's representatives, who accused Baldoni of using Swift's fame to generate headlines. 'We supported the efforts of Taylor's team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process,' a spokesman said. It Ends with Us, a romantic drama based on a popular Colleen Hoover novel, produced one of the most intense Hollywood legal rows of recent years. Lively, the film's lead actress, accused Baldoni, her director and co-star, of sexual harassment and of orchestrating a smear campaign against her. Baldoni, 41, alleges that Lively, 37, and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, attempted to destroy his career. A trial has been set for March next year in New York. • Inside Lively-Baldoni legal battle: texts, raw footage and a 2am apology Swift, 35, was pulled into the row as she was allegedly present at a meeting between the warring co-stars in which Lively was said to have attempted to intimidate Baldoni into making changes to a scene in the movie. A spokesman for the singer reacted with fury to the subpoena after it was filed this month. 'This document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,' a representative said. Bryan Freedman, Baldoni's lawyer, had claimed that a source told him that Lively's legal team had attempted to extort Swift. He alleged that a lawyer threatened to leak private messages between the actress and Swift if she did not release a statement supporting her. Mike Gottlieb, Lively's lawyer, denied the claim and last week Judge Liman granted his motion to strike the letter from the docket. He also warned that Freedman could be sanctioned for 'future misuse of the court's docket'.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Americans are rushing to claim Social Security early. Should you?
At a recent internal meeting, a Social Security administrator projected some numbers on a screen to illustrate a remarkable trend: New benefit claims were up by more than 15% in March, compared with the same month a year ago. Leland Dudek, the acting Social Security commissioner, chimed in to ask the presenter if the chart showed what he thought it did: that Americans are rushing to claim Social Security now because they're worried about the stability of the retirement trust fund in the future. 'Fearmongering has driven people to claim benefits earlier, 'cause they're afraid they're not going to claim benefits at all,' he said. 'Yes,' the staffer replied. 'You're exactly right.' The new Trump administration has thrown Social Security into upheaval, with a cascade of staff cuts, rule changes, website outages and leadership shuffles, a routine that has played out across the federal bureaucracy under the cost-cutting eye of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Instability at Social Security could spell trouble for millions of Americans who receive the benefits, and for millions more who are counting on them in the future. As a result of that fear, thousands of Americans seem to be claiming Social Security benefits early. Pending Social Security claims totaled 580,887 in March 2025, up from 500,527 in March 2024. An administrator shared the data at a March 28 operational meeting, which the agency posted on YouTube in a gesture of transparency. The spike in claims was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The rise in claims is unusual, the unidentified administrator told his colleagues, because claims usually tick down in the early months of the year, not up. Fear about the future of Social Security may be only one of several reasons why claims are rising. In an April 29 email to USA TODAY, Social Security officials listed other 'key reasons' people are filing claims now. Among them: ◾A large wave of baby boomers is entering retirement, sparking a surge of new claims. ◾The Social Security Fairness Act triggered a separate wave of claims from public workers in 2025. Yet, clearly, fear has gripped many Americans over the stability of Social Security. At the March 28 meeting, administrators talked of fearful beneficiaries flooding field offices with questions about benefits. Some visitors asked for certified copies of earnings records, even though the information is readily available online. 'Why are they coming? They're nervous,' one administrator said. At one point in the meeting, summing up what he had heard, Dudek said, 'I think we have a lot of customers that, right now, a lot of Americans that are very uneasy.' President Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged not to harm Social Security, a program so sacred to the American public that most politicians consider it untouchable. But Musk and DOGE have turned the agency on its ear, program advocates say, ostensibly searching for evidence of waste and fraud. In an April 29 release, the agency said it had identified over $1 billion in cost savings through 'new, common-sense approaches' to payroll, contracts and grants, travel and purchase-card policies, among other areas. The release said the agency has modernized its telephone network, enhanced fraud prevention, updated death records and improved payment accuracy. Officials stressed that no field office has been permanently closed, although leaked agency plans suggested office closures were contemplated. In recent weeks, news of the turmoil at Social Security mobilized fretful Americans to telephone or visit the agency, seeding further chaos. In the end, rumors of long wait times and swamped field offices became self-fulfilling prophecies. A Reddit community devoted to Social Security features recent conversation threads with such titles as '2 ½ hours on hold, no answer,' and, 'Advice for people now mistakenly classified as dead?' Even some seasoned Social Security observers worry that, amid the tumult of revolving-door agency leadership and DOGE cost-cutting, vital records might be lost. 'The DOGE attack on Social Security was so unprecedented and, frankly, so weird, that it freaked everybody out,' said Elaine Kamarck, founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution. 'I think people are nervous that things might disappear.' Kamarck has been advising her own friends to download a copy of their Social Security earnings record, a document that shows how much you have earned in your lifetime. At the first sign of trouble in reaching the agency or resolving a benefits problem, she said, 'make sure to involve your congressman.' Members of Congress, she said, are highly sensitive to constituent complaints about Social Security. If thousands of Americans are claiming Social Security earlier than they had planned, as the rise in claims suggests, then claimants could be missing out on thousands of dollars in potential benefits. You can claim Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. But the longer you wait to claim, the larger your monthly check. The monthly sum rises annually until age 70. For most Americans who live past 80, financial experts say, you're better off claiming the benefit later. 'Many Americans are rightly alarmed by the chaos that Elon Musk and Donald Trump have manufactured at the Social Security Administration,' said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and expanding Social Security. 'The correct response is not to claim benefits before you're ready,' she said, 'but to contact your members of Congress and make sure they do their jobs, including conducting oversight so that benefits are not disrupted.' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Americans are claiming Social Security early, fearing instability
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Diddy Photos: Drugs, Baby Oil And Guns From Mansion Raids
Prosecutors representing the government in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial showed the jury photos to corroborate its case against the music mogul—including pictures of drugs, baby oil and guns found during the raids of Combs' homes, as well as photos of injuries his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura documented. Prosecutors showed the jury photos taken during the raid of Combs' Miami home, which took place in March 2024 as his legal problems came to a head. Department of Homeland Security agent Gerard Gannon testified this week about the Miami raid, telling jurors some of the drugs depicted in the photographs tested positive for cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, Xanax and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Gannon testified the agents found dozens of bottles of baby oils and lubricant, condoms, lingerie and sex toys, as well as parts to AR-15 style rifles. Prosecutors also showed the jury photos of injuries Ventura testified Combs had given to her, including visible bruises on her back and legs and gashes on her face. Some of the pictures of Ventura depict her using sunglasses to cover up a black eye she said Combs gave her during an altercation at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, an incident captured on surveillance footage which was published by CNN last year, after which Ventura said she had to attend a premiere for a movie she starred in. Federal agents found drugs in Combs' Miami home. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York Ventura, considered the prosecution's key witness, testified for much of the trial's first week. She described various instances of physical abuse she says Combs subjected her to, and she testified Combs coerced her to perform in 'freak off' sex parties, which she described as drug-fueled sexual interactions with male escorts that could last for days, which she said left her in pain and feeling 'disgusting.' Ventura also testified Combs raped her in 2018. Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard and Ventura's ex-best friend, Kerry Morgan, both testified, stating they witnessed Combs physically abuse Ventura. Ventura's mother, Regina Ventura, testified Tuesday, telling the court she took some of the photos depicting Ventura's in jury. She also testified her daughter told her Combs had threatened to release sexually explicit videos of her and that he wanted Ventura to wire him $20,000 because he was angry her daughter had briefly dated rapper Kid Cudi during a break in their relationship. Other witnesses that have taken the stand include a male escort hired for a 'freak off' and a security guard who responded to Combs' attack on Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Kid Cudi is scheduled to testify Thursday, likely to face questions about prosecutors' allegations Combs and his associates blew up his car in a jealous rage after he learned Ventura was dating the rapper. Combs faces five federal charges: two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering conspiracy. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and he has denied all allegations made in the dozens of civil lawsuits filed against him, many of which allege sexual abuse. Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial: Cassie Testifies About Alleged 2018 Rape As Cross-Examination Wraps Up (Forbes)Report the details...
