Latest news with #DMO
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Former 49ers CB says he was upset and unmotivated throughout the 2024 season
After the San Francisco 49ers finished with their 2021 campaign with a 10-7 record and were knocked out of the postseason in the NFC championship game, they looked to upgrade their secondary and did so by signing cornerback Charvarius Ward, who was coming off of some strong seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, to a three-year, $40.5 million deal. Ward played three seasons with the 49ers starting 46 games and earning both All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2023. However, as he entered his final season with the 49ers without an extension, Ward says he was upset. 'I was hurt when I realized when I wasn't getting a contract extension or an offer… So I wasn't motivated," Ward recently told The Athletic's Mike Silver. "I was kind of pissed off. I knew when the season started it was a wrap for me in the Bay… They got DMO, they drafted him and he's younger than me. They probably like DMO a little bit better. He's a little more physical and aggressive than me. I can lock anybody down. Kyle and John want head-busters. I'm not mad. He got what he deserved. All-Pro's don't grow on trees, though.' Ward's 2024 season was far from his best, as he finished with 54 tackles (one for a loss) and seven passes defensed. Things got much worse for him at home when he tragically lost his 1-year-old daughter, Amani Joy, during the team's bye week. The cornerback missed multiple weeks after the rest of the team returned from the bye, but when he returned, his mind still wasn't on doing everything he could for the 49ers. 'Once I came back every game after that, I was just like, 'I don't give a [expletive] what happens,'" Ward told Silver. "I don't care if I win this rep; I don't care if I lose this rep.' I was there physically, but mentally, I was somewhere off the grid, off the globe. "It's been hard for me personally to go to work every day, every game — even to practice or go to meetings," Ward added. "I almost left a couple of times. [Expletive], I know fans probably hate me (for saying that), but [expletive] it, it's real life.' Ward started five of the team's final six games down the stretch, as they finished the year with a 6-11 record and outside the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The team decided to pay another starting cornerback, Deommodore Lenoir, last season, allowing Ward to find a new home in free agency. The 29-year-old inked a three-year, $54 million deal ($60 million max) with the Indianapolis Colts in March that included $27 million guaranteed at signing. With his new team, he'll be the top cornerback again, and he'll have a chance to prove to the 49ers that they should invested in him when they had the chance. More 49ers: 49ers top pick lands top-10 spot in rookie Madden ratings
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
'Smoke and mirrors': Chris Bowen's claim power prices are coming down dismantled by energy expert
Energy Minister Chris Bowen's boasts about energy prices have been dismantled by an energy expert, with the Coalition calling on Bowen to "come clean" with the Australian people. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen was asked if he stood by the Albanese government's commitment to cut power bills by $275 by the end of the year. At first Mr Bowen insisted energy bills have come down since last year, pointing to ABS data released on Wednesday. ' People looked at the fact that energy prices have fallen, as I just said, by 6.2 per cent in a year just gone,' he said. 'They would have been 16.6 per cent higher if [Tehan] had had his way and energy bill relief had not applied. That was the key difference.' Frontier Economics co-founder and Managing Director Danny Price, Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan and Nationals MP Matt Canavan have objected to Mr Bowen's claims. Speaking to Mr Tehan said his Labor counterpart 'must come clean' with the Australian people. Mr Tehan said once the $3.5 billion in energy bill rebates were taken out of consideration, power bills in Australia have gone up by 10 per cent since June last year, and up 32 per cent since the June before. 'We need to stop energy prices rising, not take billions of dollars from Australians every year, to give it back to them to temporarily hide the price rises,' Mr Tehan said. 'This is not honouring a commitment it is deceiving people.' Frontier Economics Managing Director Danny Price told the subsidy was put in place to 'disguise' the electricity price rise which was announced the Australian Energy Regulator in March. 'Cost increases across nearly all components of the DMO (Default Market Offer) have resulted in draft DMO 7 prices for residential customers increasing between 2.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent compared with DMO 6, depending on the region. Small business customers could see rises between 4.2 per cent and 8.2 per cent,' the AER said. Mr Price said the Energy Minister's claim that electricity consumers were better off by 6.2 per cent was due to taxpayers 'paying for their own price reductions by funding the subsidies to themselves'. Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said once the subsidies run out, power bills will go 'through the roof'. 'Chris Bowen's claim is like stealing $100 from someone and giving $20 back so they can thank him,' he said. 'It's all smoke and mirrors.' According to Budget Paper No. 1 (2025-26), the government will commit an extra $1.8 billion to extend energy bill relief, in the form of two quarterly $75 rebates, to the end of 2025. The rebates are on top of around $5 billion in rebates being applied to electricity bills for millions of households and small businesses since 2023. The Frontier Economics boss said households were 'actually worse off' thanks to the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund, and pointed to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' explanation that the price reductions were an 'artifice of taxpayer funded subsidies' and the annual fall in price was directly due to the handouts. 'Electricity [prices] rose 8.1 per cent this quarter, following a 16.3 per cent rise in the March quarter,' the ABS said. 'Despite two consecutive quarterly rises in electricity, the series has recorded a fall of 6.2 per cent over the past 12 months. 'The annual fall is due to the introduction of the second round of the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates from July 2024, which continue to reduce electricity costs in most capital cities.' Mr Price said despite the 'massive subsidies', consumers were much worse off than a few years ago because of the relentless price rises that have already occurred that were not offset by subsidies. 'Australians now pay some of the highest electricity prices in the world. It seems as though now taxpayers will continue to pay for the ever-rising costs of renewable subsidies,' he said. The Energy Minister also claimed on Wednesday that 'most cheapest form of energy ... is renewable'. Mr Price said it was 'deceptive and misleading' for individuals to make comparisons between the stand-alone costs of wind and solar and coal, gas or nuclear. 'Consumers are supplied with a mix of generation sources, not just wind and solar. The only valid way that generation costs should be compared is the total cost of the least cost mix of generation,' he said. 'Frontier Economics showed that the highest cost system is one that relied on renewables and batteries. The reason is simple. Renewable generators only produce about a quarter or third of the electricity for the same capacity.' 'And then you need to pay for the costs of storing excess renewable energy to supply consumer for the majority of time that these generators do not generate electricity, and you also need to pay for the back-up generation when storages are depleted,' he said. 'Once all these costs are included, which the CSIRO don't include ... then renewables are not the cheapest form of generation."
The National
5 days ago
- Business
- The National
Dubai property brokers double earnings to $880m in first half of 2025
Dubai's real estate brokerages doubled their earnings to Dh3.23 billion ($879.5 million) in the first half of 2025, riding the momentum in the emirate's robust property sector. The 99.4 per cent year-on-year surge in earnings from Dh1.62 billion in the corresponding period of 2024 was driven by 42,181 transactions completed in the first half of the 2025, the Dubai Media Office said on in a statement on Sunday. More than 6,700 new brokers registered with the Dubai Land Department through the January-June period, boosting the total by nearly a third to more than 29,000, according to government statistics. 'Dubai's real estate brokerage sector recorded a remarkable performance in the first half of this year,' the DMO said. Dubai's property market, which bounced back strongly from the Covid-driven slowdown, has maintained a sharp growth trajectory since. Government measures such as residency permits for retired and remote workers and expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme have boosted foreign investment flows into the emirates property market over the past few years. The robust momentum in the UAE's economy, the Arab world's second largest, driven by the government's diversification efforts have also support the real estate market activity. This month, a new scheme was also launched to help Emiratis and UAE residents, who do not own any freehold residential property in the emirate, get on the property ladder. Under the initiative, first-time buyers will have priority access to new homes from participating developers as well as existing inventory, discounts or limited-time offers on the sales price of off-plan units, flexible payment plans and 'improved' mortgage options with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees. The DLD expects 5,000 more investors to enter the market this year following the initiative. Last week, the DMO said that the volume and value of real estate transactions in Dubai rose sharply in the first half of the year, amid the entry of more than 59,000 new investors into the market, according to DLD data. In a recent report, property consultancy Knight Frank showed that more than 51,000 homes were sold in Dubai in the second quarter of 2025, which was a year-on-year increase of 22.8 per cent, marking a quarterly record amid strong demand from buyers. Total home sales surpassed 94,000, putting the market firmly 'on track to exceed' 169,000 transactions recorded in 2024, it added. On Thursday, Abu Dhabi's Masdar City and the DLD teamed up to , in a bid to boost real estate investment across the UAE.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Ratlam DRM taken ill during Ujjain railway stn inspection
Ujjain: Ratlam divisional railway manager Ashwin Kumar fell ill during an inspection of Ujjain railway station on Wednesday and was rushed to the ICU of a private hospital in Indore. Kumar was accompanying Western Railway general manager Vivek Kumar Gupta during his tour to inspect the preparations for Simhastha 2028 when he experienced dizziness, nausea, and anxiety, said Ratlam division chief Medical superintendent Dr Ashok Malviya. DMO Dr Rajesh Kumar examined the DRM at Avantika Rest House and found that he had low blood pressure. He was given primary treatment. When his condition did not improve, he was admitted to Avanti Hospital in Ujjain. Kumar was later referred to Bombay Hospital in Indore, where he was admitted to the ICU, Dr Malviya said. "Kumar's condition is stable he is out of danger. He is still in the ICU and unable to speak," the DMO said.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Son of Nipah victim tests positive in Pkd
Palakkad: The son of the man, who died due to Nipah infection at Changaleeri in Palakkad, also turned positive, in the initial tests at Manjeri medical college, on Wednesday. The 32-year-old son was in close contact with his father during his hospitalisation. One patient from Thachannattukara is undergoing treatment at Kozhikode medical college, while a resident of Kumaramputhur passed away. Additionally, a sample from a patient with suspicious symptoms was sent for testing. Presently, seven people are in isolation at Palakkad govt medical college. A total of 385 people are on the contact list in the district. Of them, 178 are from Thachanattukara and 207 from Kumaramputhur. As part of Nipah prevention efforts, health workers conducted house visits and completed a fever survey in 1,568 homes on Wednesday. District mental health department provided counselling services to 51 people over the phone and the control cell received 42 calls related to Nipah virus spread. Meanwhile, the district medical officer (DMO) has directed that only after seeking expert advice by calling the Nipah control room should one proceed to Palakkad govt medical college for Nipah testing. To implement strict measures in containment zones, an online inter-departmental coordination meeting was held under the leadership of Ottapalam sub-collector Mithun Premraj. A team from National Institute of Virology collected samples from 150 bats and sent them to Pune for testing. The district animal observation team and Mannarkkad RRT collected samples from 9 cattle, 7 goats and a dog within 1km of the Nipah outbreak centre in Kumaramputhur, as reported by animal husbandry department. Since containment zone was declared, ration distribution was directly provided to a total of 872 families. Residents in the containment zone wards of Kumaramputhur, Karakurussi, Karimpuzha panchayats and Mannarkkad municipality must wear masks and avoid unnecessary gatherings, health department said. Police informed that strict monitoring and inspections are ongoing to prevent unnecessary entry and exit to and from these wards. Those who had any contact with the Nipah-confirmed deceased person in Kumaramputhur or those who recall being at the specified location at the time, should immediately inform the Nipah control room number. Residents in containment zones requiring non-critical hospital services can consult a doctor online via e-Sanjeevani. General office services are available from 9am to 5pm.
