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Investors to turn to unconventional visa routes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

Experts are predicting that more professionals will use unconventional immigration routes into the UK after the budget failed to offer any significant flexibility for those wishing to start businesses here.Changes to legal immigration policy contained in the budget do not make it any easier for investors and potential business owners to start businesses in Britain. Consequently, many will favour routes such as self-sponsorship, according to one of the UK’s top immigration and visa specialists.The self-sponsorship route has been used by several migrants to legally establish businesses in Britain, and then sponsor themselves on a Skilled Worker visa. The protocol is not an official visa route but is within the rules and can only apply to roles that qualify for Skilled Worker visas.Yash Dubal, director of A Y & J Solicitors which pioneered the route said: “The concessions made in the Budget regarding immigration policy include adding five construction industry roles to the shortage...

Woman hospitalized after social media stunt goes wrong in Orange County Target

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

A new social media challenge, which has people putting buckets on the heads of strangers and filming their reactions, went horribly wrong when woman in Tustin fainted after a group of young men unexpectedly targeted her for the prank.  The incident happened Sunday afternoon at a Target store in Tustin.  Lana Clay-Monaghan, a new mom of twin boys, said she was shopping for baby supplies when she was caught completely off guard by four teenage boys who tossed a bucket over her head and then started recording. They eventually ran out of the store.  “I was looking at some baby soap. I leaned down and my whole world changed,” Clay-Monaghan said. “Everything went quiet, dark and there was really no air. I flipped off what was put over me, around my neck, and I turned around and looked over my left shoulder. To my dismay, it was a group of individuals who were filming me, seemingly for some sort of prank or maybe for something like TikTok.”  A 30-year cancer survivor, C...

LAPD Officers Receive Threats After Names And Photos Published Online

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

Los Angeles District Attorney (LADA) George Gascón said threats have been made on LAPD officers after names and photos of more than 9,000 were published online.The information was unintentionally released by LAPD after a records request, with a site later publishing the officer names and information, including agents working undercover.“LADA is aware that a searchable online database published photos of more than 9,300 Los Angeles Police Department officers, complete with name, ethnicity, rank, date of hire, division/bureau and badge number, including those officers who work undercover,” Gascón said in a statement. “LADA is also aware that threats have been made against officers whose names and information were disclosed on this website. LADA takes the safety of police officers seriously and is working with law enforcement to ensure that anyone threatening to harm law enforcement officers will be held accountable.”LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the request was ...

Prep roundup: Willow Glen freshmen power upset at Mitty – “These two girls are the future”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

Willow Glen 2, No. 2 Archbishop Mitty 0A few hours after the final out, second-year Willow Glen softball coach Don Spingola succinctly summed up how his first-year pitchers performed against a loaded Archbishop Mitty lineup. “In all honesty, our two freshman pitchers lit it up,” Spingola said. The precocious duo of Lea Crawford and Alanna Clincy combined to allow one hit in Willow Glen’s 2-0 victory at crosstown rival Archbishop Mitty. Not only did Willow Glen hand Mitty its only loss of 2023, the Rams were also the first Bay Area public school to defeat the storied private school since Foothill in 2020.“These two girls are the future of Willow Glen,” Spingola said. “We need to make sure we’re throwing them against the best competition.” Sophomore Sienna Wilson and senior McKenna Campbell each drove in a run during the sixth inning to put Willow Glen on top. However, it could be argued it was a defensive play in the second inning that was Wilson’s most important contribution. “It wa...

Las amistades fuertes y estables pueden ser un activo para su salud física, según un estudio

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

(CNN) — Los buenos amigos y la buena salud física pueden estar más estrechamente relacionados de lo que se pensaba, según un nuevo estudio.Según un estudio publicado este lunes en la revista Society for Personality and Social Psychology, los investigadores descubrieron que las experiencias sociales positivas no solo influyen en el nivel de estrés y la capacidad de afrontamiento de una persona, sino también en los indicadores de salud física.En el estudio se hizo un seguimiento de más de 4.000 personas durante tres semanas, que completaron cada tres días en sus teléfonos inteligentes o smartwatches comprobaciones sobre sus experiencias positivas y negativas con sus relaciones sociales más cercanas, así como evaluaciones de su presión arterial, frecuencia cardíaca, estrés y afrontamiento.Según el estudio, tener más experiencias positivas en las relaciones sociales se asoció en general con un mejor afrontamiento, un menor estrés y una presión arterial sistólica más baja, o picos ...

Senate panel seeks independent state agency to oversee recreational cannabis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

After nearly three hours of review and debate, the Senate Finance Committee approved a heavily amended bill to regulate Maryland’s soon-to-be legalized cannabis industry Monday evening, setting up a showdown with the House of Delegates over some of the language.Finance voted to change a proposed graduated sales tax — initially seen as ranging from 6% to an ultimate 10% in Fiscal 2028 — to a flat 9% tax, once sales are legalized July 1 for adults, in keeping with voters’ approval of the measure last November.The committee also voted to create an independent Maryland Cannabis Administration separate from the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, as was called for in the original legislation and the House bill, both of which proposed it becoming a division within a new Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission.With the 7-2 approval, Finance sent Senate Bill 516 to the Budget and Taxation Committee for its consideration and recommendations, before the legislation is passed out to the floor of ...

Country rocker Lukas Nelson, son of Willie Nelson, plays Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

Hear our full conversation on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.” toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews Lukas Nelson at Hollywood Casino (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); He’s deftly followed in his father’s footsteps, making distinct tracks from those iconic outlaw boots by crafting his own career of country-rock music, including writing many of the tunes for the movie “A Star is Born” (20...

Nicolas Batum hits 8 3-pointers, Clippers beat Bulls 124-112

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nicolas Batum got all of his season-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers, and Eric Gordon added 22 points in the Los Angeles Clippers’ comfortable 124-112 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.Kawhi Leonard scored 22 as the Clippers rebounded from an embarrassing loss to New Orleans with 20 3-pointers in an impressive outside shooting display led by Batum. The Frenchman replaced ailing Marcus Morris in the starting lineup and produced a spectacular game from the perimeter, hitting eight of his first nine 3-point attempts while Los Angeles ran away in the first three quarters.“It was nothing crazy, just really open shots,” said Batum, who finished one shy of his career high in 3s, set 11 years ago. “I didn’t have to take a dribble on any of those shots. I just had open shots, and my teammates made some good passes. It was just good basketball.”Gordon had his biggest scoring performance since returning to the Clippers in a trade last month, and Ru...

Former Taiwan leader Ma views Sun Yat-sen tomb in China tour

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

NANJING, China (AP) — Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou began a 12-day tour of China with a symbolism-laden visit to the mausoleum where the founding father of both China and Taiwan is entombed.Ma visited the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, the capital when Ma’s Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang) ruled China in the early part of the 20th century. The party claimed to be the legitimate ruler of China for decades and is seen as more sympathetic to integration or unification with the mainland than the ruling Democratic People’s Party.There, he paid tribute to Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China and the Nationalist Party, giving a short speech and then bowing in front of the memorial. “The people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the Chinese nation, are children of Yandi and the Yellow Emperor,” he told a group of Chinese and Taiwanese reporters who had been allowed to follow him on the trip, referring to mythical emperors revered as founders of China’s ...

Israel tensions ease as Netanyahu pauses judicial overhaul

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:24 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s political factions opposed to embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began setting up negotiating teams Tuesday after he paused a controversial judicial overhaul plan that had set off unprecedented street protests and a spiraling domestic crisis.But compromise seemed elusive as the standoff remains over the fundamental issue of what kind of country Israel should be — and positions only appear to have hardened. Three months of demonstrations against the overhaul plan intensified this week and Israel’s main trade union declared a general strike, leading to chaos that shut down much of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. Netanyahu in a prime-time speech on Monday night acknowledged the divisions roiling the nation and announced a monthlong delay for the legislation.He said he wanted “to avoid civil war” and would seek a compromise with political opponents. Netanyahu spoke after tens of thousands of people demonstrated outside the pa...