Latest news with #TAC
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Merseyside Police firearms officer sacked for secret lover visits
A married firearms sergeant who "lived for his job" has been sacked after spending hours with his lover while on Steven Ainsworth, 39, met the woman, a young constable only referred to as Officer A, at a friend's birthday party in 2022 and said they had formed an "instant connection". While he visited her home on 15 different shifts and she came to his house three times, they both emphatically denied ever having sex while on duty. Sgt Ainsworth was found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed without notice by a Merseyside Police misconduct panel, while Officer A received a written warning for misconduct. A four-day hearing at Merseyside Police Headquarters in Liverpool heard Sgt Ainsworth was the force's Tactical Firearms Advisor (TAC) when he was on duty. The role of a TAC is to offer senior officers advice and guidance around tactics when a firearms incident is did not need to be in the same physical location as the senior officers. The panel heard TACs were usually urged not to get "tied up" in other police activity like patrolling or making meant there were hours when Sgt Ainsworth was able to slip away unnoticed from his base at Merseyside Police's Operational Command Centre (OCC) in Speke. The affair came to light when Officer A's boyfriend, also a serving constable, found out and told Sgt Ainsworth's wife, a senior detective who worked in the force's anti-corruption unit. An audit of Sgt Ainsworth's police computer use found a lack of any action related to police work during the time he was at Officer A's also admitted accessing a force computer system to check on Officer A's location, which he said was because he had been worried about her safety after she had raised concerns about being sent to "sketchy" jobs while on solo A also admitted checking on Sgt Ainsworth's location on force systems. The panel heard that on one of the occasions she visited him, she was on a designated break period and was cleared of breaking any rules that day. However on another occasion, while Sgt Ainsworth was off duty, she drove in a patrol car to tell him her partner was planning to expose their affair to his wife. Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, who chaired the panel, said it accepted the two officers had not met to have sex and instead had wanted to offer each other "mutual support" when they were struggling with their mental health and personal issues. However, he said the visits were also to "further their personal relationship". 'World fell apart' The senior officer said the visits had included a shift when Sgt Ainsworth had been involved in advising on a major was acknowledged, however, that he only left the OCC after firearms officers were stood down and there had been no criticism of his performance that Ainsworth told the panel his "world fell apart" when he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office in November 2023.A criminal prosecution was subsequently dropped. He claimed at the time he began seeing Officer A his mental health was suffering due to problems in his marriage and the impact of distressing incidents at work. Matthew Holdcroft, representing the force, told the panel Sgt Ainsworth's conduct was "deliberate" and involved an "abuse" of his role. Luke Ponte, representing Sgt Ainsworth, urged the panel to stop short of ending his client's 17-year policing career. "This was a grave error of judgement over some time but the public might be more forgiving of circumstances in which [the panel] found they were offering each other mutual support," he said. The panel's decision means Sgt Ainsworth's name has been added to the College of Policing's barred list, prohibiting him from working in any policing role. Det Ch Supt Sabi Kaur, head of the force's Professional Standards Department, described the behaviour of the two officers as "completely unacceptable" and said it risked "seriously undermining public confidence in policing". Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scoop
Court Rejects Athlete Union's Bid To Appeal Employment Ruling
A year's-long battle over whether a group of elite athletes can collectively bargain has ended, after the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal bid from a union representing the country's top rowers and cyclists. The Athletes' Cooperative (TAC), spearheaded by double Olympic rowing champion Mahe Drysdale, was seeking to overturn a decision of the Employment Court in December last year over TAC's three-year dispute with High Performance Sport NZ. The Employment Court ruled that High Performance Sport NZ was not required to enter into collective bargaining with the union, as the two parties were not in an employment relationship. Leave to appeal a decision can only be granted in cases where the court is satisfied that the proposed appeal is of "general of public importance" and is "capable of being seriously argued". In a judgement released on Thursday, the Court of Appeal found TAC's case did not meet that threshold. "We are satisfied that the Employment Court's interpretation ... was correct and that the proposed questions of law are not capable of being seriously argued," the judgement, prepared by Justice David Collins read. "It would be inconsistent with the statutory context for there to be no requirement that the persons who are to benefit from a collective agreement be employees of the relevant employer or for there to be no employment relationship between the union and the employer." High Performance Sport NZ's director of high performance Steve Tew said his agency welcomed the court's decision. "This has been a long process that has taken several years to resolve. We now look forward to moving on and ensuring we are supporting National Sports Organisations to create high performance environments where athletes not only thrive but are also heard and involved in decisions that impact them and help them to be the best they can be," Tew said in a statement. "HPSNZ remains available to liaise with TAC, and any other organisation representing athletes in the high performance environment, to consider any issues that they are unable to be dealt with in their direct relationship with their NSO. "Athlete well-being is a priority for our NSO partners and HPSNZ and we are working hard to demonstrate that through our strategy, system change initiatives, and day-to-day mahi." A spokesperson for TAC could not be immediately reached for comment. The highly political battle stems from mid-2022, when athletes from the country's two most successful Olympic sports formed a union and issued a notice to High Performance Sport NZ that it wished to initiate collective bargaining. Among the co-operative's goals is to push for a system where "our remuneration matches the expectation of our roles and responsibilities, and we have genuine financial stability"; "the well-being and identity of all people are paramount"; and a "strong and respectful staff-athlete performance culture exists, founded on mutual respect, equality and trust". The move came in the wake of a damning review into the culture of New Zealand's elite sporting environments following the suspected suicide of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore in August 2021. That review, headed by former solicitor general Mike Heron KC and leading academic Sarah Leberman, raised concerns about the "chilling effects" of the power imbalance between athletes and sports leaders, noting that current athlete agreements imposed far more onerous demands on the athletes than they did on the government agency and national sporting bodies. The review panel recommended that High Performance Sport NZ consult with athletes on the contractor versus employees model "in recognition of the fact they are under [Cycling NZ's] effective control and train/compete at [Cycling NZ's] direction". The report also recommended that an independent athlete representative body be established, which proved the impetus for Drysdale and several high profile cyclists and rowers to form TAC. But the government agency rebuffed attempts by the group to initiate collective bargaining, arguing it did not directly employ athletes - leading to the athlete union lodging a claim with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA). The ERA found in favour of the athletes, determining that High Performance Sport NZ was obligated to engage in good faith collective bargaining. The government agency then appealed that decision to the Employment Court, which overturned the ERA's decision in December last year.
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC on ESPN 70 medical suspensions: Three fighters receive 180-day terms
UFC on ESPN 70 is in the books. The dust has settled, but the bumps and bruises remain. Following Saturday's event at Bridgestone Arena in Nasvhille, Tenn., the 24 athletes who competed on the card have been suspended, per the Tennessee Athletic Commission (TAC). The suspensions range from the shortest seven days to potentially the longest 180 days. Kennedy Nzechukwu and Junior Tafa, who each suffered submission losses, as well as Mike Davis, who won his bout by TKO, each received a 180-day term. The TAC did not reveal specific injuries but rather just the durations of the suspensions. Fighters can return prior to the conclusion of their suspension term should they be cleared by a doctor. Below is the complete list. Full list of UFC on ESPN 70 medical suspensions:
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
$TAC Token Debuts in TVL as TAC Mainnet Goes Live with Leading DeFi Protocols
Tortola, British Virgin Islands, July 15th, 2025, Chainwire $TAC token is now listed on leading exchanges including Bybit, Bitget, and Kraken. The token is also now live on trading platforms such as Wallet in Telegram and Binance Alpha. TAC's public mainnet is now live. Leading DeFi protocols, including Morpho, Curve, Bancor, Euler, ZeroLend, IPOR Fusion, and are now deployed on the public mainnet. The TAC Summoning Liquidity Campaign reached $800M in TVL. This liquidity will power the DeFi dApps on TAC. TAC, a purpose-built blockchain enabling EVM dApps to access TON and Telegram's growing blockchain-based economy, has launched its public mainnet and unveiled its native token, $TAC. $TAC token is now listed on leading exchanges including Bybit, Bitget, and Kraken. The token is also now live on trading platforms such as Wallet in Telegram and Binance Alpha. The token release delivers an on-chain currency that fuels TAC gas fees, staking, and governance across TAC's Ethereum-compatible Layer-1. Alongside the token launch, TAC's public mainnet is now live. Leading DeFi protocols, including Morpho, Curve, Bancor, Euler, ZeroLend, IPOR Fusion, and are now deployed on the public mainnet. The TAC Summoning campaign, a liquidity bootstrapping campaign launched in collaboration with Turtle Club, a liquidity distribution protocol, accumulated over $800 million in TVL. The liquidity that this has bootstrapped will ensure robust markets from day one, solving the cold-start problem that typically affects new DeFi ecosystems. $TAC Token Utility and Role in the Network $TAC serves three indispensable roles. First, it is the exclusive gas token on TAC EVM, including back-end logic that converts TON-denominated fees into $TAC, creating continuous buy-pressure as network activity scales. Secondly, it enhances network security through a delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) mechanism, where validators are required to bond $TAC to participate in block production. Token holders may also delegate their $TAC to validators, with current protocol estimates indicating potential annualized returns in the range of 8–10%. Third, $TAC unlocks on-chain governance, allowing stakers to direct upgrades, incentive programs, and the community treasury. TAC token is launching in a live and vibrant ecosystem with $800mn TVL, with a variety of high-quality assets, blue-chip dApps, and DeFi use cases. 'TAC enhances the TON ecosystem with a ready-to-use DeFi layer, battle-tested and live from day one,' said Pavel Altukhov, co-founder of TAC. 'This marks a major step not just for TON, but for Telegram's evolution into a true super app, as builders can now integrate the most mature blockchain use case into products directly reaching a billion users.' With the public listing, TAC will distribute validator grants, activate liquidity incentives on partner DEXs, and open proposals for its first community-led growth programs. Built to Scale with Major Infrastructure Partnerships TAC is a layer 1 blockchain built using a CosmosEVM architecture, ensuring seamless compatibility with Ethereum's Cancun hard fork. It is secured through a Tendermint-based Delegated Proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism and the native $TAC token, enabling about 2-second block finality and allowing users to delegate their tokens to trusted validators. Security is further strengthened by TAC's integration with Babylon, which introduces Bitcoin staking to enhance consensus validation. TAC has also established partnerships with leading infrastructure providers, including LayerZero, RedStone, Blockscout, Dune, and Thirdweb, laying the groundwork for a powerful, scalable, and developer-friendly ecosystem. TAC's mainnet launch comes after the company announced that it had raised a total of $11.5 million across its seed and strategic funding rounds, led by Hack VC, on June 18. TAC is a purpose-built blockchain for EVM dApps to access TON and Telegram Ecosystem's 1B+ user base. TAC makes it seamless for Ethereum dApps to be deployed on TON. EVM functionality and liquidity brought to the TON ecosystem enable builders to focus on consumer use cases. Contact PR
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Bitget Lists TAC Protocol (TAC) for Spot Trading with 9M in Token Rewards
Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, has announced the listing of TAC Protocol (TAC) in the Innovation and Ton Ecosystem Zone, adding it to spot trading. TAC is a purpose-built EVM-compatible blockchain designed to connect Ethereum dApps with the TON and Telegram ecosystem. Trading for the TAC/USDT pair will begin on 15 July 2025, 10:00 (UTC), with withdrawals available from 16 July 2025, 11:00 (UTC). Alongside the listing, Bitget will launch a CandyBomb campaign with 9,000,000 TAC available in rewards. Of this, 7,000,000 TAC will be allocated to the TAC trading pool, while 2,000,000 TAC will be up for grabs in the TAC and XRP trading pool. The campaign runs from July 15, 2025, 10:00 to July 22, 2025, 10:00 (UTC). TAC is built to connect Ethereum-based decentralized applications (dApps) with the Telegram ecosystem, addressing the limitations of TON's native smart contract environment, which cannot natively support the vast majority of existing Ethereum apps, where most DeFi activity happens. As the first EVM-compatible blockchain purpose-built for TON and Telegram, TAC enables full DeFi functionality from day one. It combines Ethereum-compatible infrastructure with preloaded DeFi protocols and bootstrapped liquidity from ETH and BTC. Seamlessly integrated with TON, TAC allows users to interact directly through their existing TON wallets. Bitget continues to expand its offerings, positioning itself as a leading platform for cryptocurrency trading. The exchange has established a reputation for innovative solutions that empower users to explore crypto within a secure CeDeFi ecosystem. With an extensive selection of over 800 cryptocurrency pairs and a commitment to broaden its offerings to more than 900 trading pairs, Bitget connects users to various ecosystems, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Base, and TON. The addition of TAC into Bitget's portfolio marks a significant step toward expanding its ecosystem by embracing niche communities and fostering innovation in decentralized economies, further solidifying its role as a gateway to diverse Web3 projects and cultural movements. For more details on TAC, users can visit here. About Bitget Established in 2018, Bitget is the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 120 million users in 150+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions, while offering real-time access to Bitcoin price, Ethereum price, and other cryptocurrency prices. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a leading non-custodial crypto wallet supporting 130+ blockchains and millions of tokens. It offers multi-chain trading, staking, payments, and direct access to 20,000+ DApps, with advanced swaps and market insights built into a single platform. Bitget is driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships, such as its role as the Official Crypto Partner of the World's Top Football League, LALIGA, in EASTERN, SEA and LATAM markets, as well as a global partner of Turkish National athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist) and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team), to inspire the global community to embrace the future of cryptocurrency. Aligned with its global impact strategy, Bitget has joined hands with UNICEF to support blockchain education for 1.1 million people by 2027. In the world of motorsports, Bitget is the exclusive cryptocurrency exchange partner of MotoGP, one of the world's most thrilling championships. For more information, users can visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet For media inquiries, users can contact: media@ Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, users can refer to the Terms of Use.
