Africa’s tech ecosystem just got a boost of attention, with South Africa’s TymeBank and Nigeria’s Moniepoint both raising funds in recent weeks at valuations of over $1 billion and joining the coveted unicorn pantheon. But those valuations don’t just reflect investor confidence. They signal the success they’ve had in taking disruptive fintech models originally developed […]
It was a proud moment for Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida when his son, Anthony Rubio, scored his first collegiate touchdown in the Florida Gators’ blowout victory over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday night.
Anthony Rubio, a walk-on to the team, scored on a late nine-yard run with just over a minute remaining to extend Florida’s lopsided lead to 33-8 in what marked the Gator’s fourth straight victory.
"Great to finish the right way," Florida coach Billy Napier said of the play.
The game was already decided at that point, but Rubio’s teammates rushed to crowd around him and celebrate his first score in his first college football game.
"It was insane," he told Florida beat writer Jesse Simmons of his teammate's celebration. "First, I want to thank God for that, it wouldn’t have happened [without] Him."
As any proud parent would, Senator Rubio took to social media to praise his son’s accomplishments.
"Happy my son scored," he wrote in a post on X. "But what I am truly proud of is the joy from his teammates and that he gave all the glory to God."
Rubio joined the Gators’ football program as a walk-on running back in 2023. He redshirted his first year and didn’t see any action until Friday’s game. He wrapped up the game with 32 rushing yards and one score on the ground.
Z-Wave can be a very robust automation network, free from the complications and fragility of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Just how robust, you ask? More than a mile long, under the right circumstances, as hardware soon to hit the market promises.
All claims of radio distances should be taken with amounts of salt unhealthy for consumption. What can be accomplished across an empty field is not the same as what can be done through buildings, interference, and scatter. But Z-Wave Long Range (or Z-Wave LR), operating "in long range mode at full power," can hit 1.5 miles, according to the Z-Wave Alliance, presuming you've got the right star-shaped hub network.
By using a star network topology instead of a more traditional mesh, Z-Wave LR reduces the need for hubs and repeaters, relying instead on a central hub. It can be more reliable for larger commercial spaces, security setups, and bigger homes, and also more power efficient. Devices automatically adjust their signal strength while on Z-Wave networks, extending the battery life of a single coin cell up to 10 years—again, under best-case circumstances. If you're really a glutton for punishment, you can fit up to 4,000 devices on a network running Z-Wave LR, because LR can co-exist on the same network as standard Z-Wave meshes.
Illinois’ Democratic attorney general and a court-appointed monitor are among those warning Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that his administration’s proposed cuts to police resources may land the crime-wracked city in litigation.
During a status hearing last week, monitor Maggie Hickey told Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that cuts to the Chicago Police Department's (CPD’s) Constitutional Policing division could "could be a devastating blow to the future of CPD reforms" under a legally-mandated consent decree, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
State Attorney General Kwame Raoul separately warned Johnson that adopting cuts proposed in his new budget would place Chicago "at significant risk of being held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the consent decree."
In 2017, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, then-Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and then-Illinois Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan entered into the consent decree after the Justice Department reportedly found evidence of systemic civil rights violations within CPD.
Verbal warnings for use-of-force and requirements to render first aid were among the other agreed upon terms besides the funding. The decree came after Madigan sued Chicago for oversight of its police department, which effectively mooted a separate plan from then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions -- who reportedly opposed consent decrees -- according to NBC News.
In his letter to the mayor, Raoul credited Police Superintendent Larry Snelling with working diligently to deliver on the decree’s commitments to the state and the court, and overseeing a simultaneous decrease in gun violence and homicides.
"I am writing to you today because of my grave concern over your proposed budget cuts to the CPD -- the deepest of which target units within CPD responsible for implementing the consent decree's reforms. I strongly urge you to reconsider these proposed cuts," Raoul wrote in a letter to Johnson obtained by the Sun-Times.
"Now is not the time to undermine the progress the department is making through unwise budget cuts."
He told the mayor that while the progress in Chicago may be frustratingly slow, it remains "quiet and steady" through his work in Springfield.
In comments to Fox News Digital, Raoul signaled CPD itself is working in earnest toward the decree’s goals.
"Superintendent Snelling and his leadership team at CPD are building momentum toward effective, constitutional policing and, ultimately, a safer Chicago."
"I have had positive conversations with the corporation counsel and believe the right leadership team is in place at CPD," Raoul said.
"Now is the time to build on their momentum, not to pull the rug out from under CPD’s progress. Certainly, the city at large is facing budgetary concerns; however, targeting court-ordered reform work for budget cuts is simply not an option."
Both Snelling and Raoul separately pointed to the police department’s handling of the Democratic National Convention in August as an example of the strides it has made in effective policing.
"We have to make sure the allocation of resources reflects the trends we have seen," Snelling said.
"As evidenced during the DNC, no matter what challenges we are presented with, we will get the job done with the highest levels of dedication and professionalism," he said at a City Council meeting on Friday.
Snelling added that the buck stops with him when it comes to police accountability and that he will not back away from public criticism.
After resources were used to create a robbery task force earlier this year, the number of such crimes has gone down by 1,400 over previous statistics, he added.
Snelling responded to an alderman’s question by saying he convinced Johnson to reverse one of the cuts: a nine-job bloc for mental health clinicians in precincts currently lacking them.
"The consent decree is extremely important," CPD Chief Angel Novalez added at the meeting, noting he meets with Pallmeyer and the court monitor’s team on a regular basis.
Johnson’s budget includes a reduction of about 450 police vacancies in areas the Chicago Sun-Times reported would greatly affect the consent decree’s reforms.
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office, as well as the CPD which referred back to a stream of Snelling’s City Council testimony.
