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top646 download apk WASHINGTON — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request. The airline said in an email that the problem was caused by trouble with vendor technology that maintains its flight operating system. An American Airlines employee wearing looks toward quiet check-in counters Tuesday in the American terminal at Miami International Airport in Miami. Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the system known as FOS. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane's weight and balance data, he said. Some components of FOS have gone down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said. Flights were delayed across American's major hubs, with only 37% leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Out of the 3,901 domestic and international American Airlines flights scheduled for Tuesday, 19 were canceled. Cirium noted that the vast majority of flights departed within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 36% — arrived at their destinations as scheduled. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 3,712 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed Tuesday, with 55 flights canceled. It did not show any flights from American Airlines. Cirium said Dallas-Fort Worth, New York's Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays. Travelers wait in line for security checks Tuesday at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms developed in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York. Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. Any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions. That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have "interline agreements" that let them put stranded customers on another carrier's flights. An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks through the American terminal Tuesday at Miami International Airport in Miami. This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them. Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. Finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive. An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so the airline had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays. The groundings happened as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2. Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. American Airlines employees check in travelers Tuesday in the American terminal at Miami International Airport in Miami. Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up. About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA. "Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday," AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said. Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state. Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation's highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. "It's not the destination, it's the journey," said American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph clearly was not among the travellers on one of more than 350 cancelled or 1,400 delayed flights after a worldwide tech outage caused by an update to Crowdstrike's "Falcon Sensor" software in July of 2023. U.S. airlines carried nearly 863 million travellers in 2023, with Canadian carriers accounting for another 150 million, many of whom experienced lost luggage, flight delays, cancellations, or were bumped off their flights. It's unclear how many of them were compensated for these inconveniences. Suffice it to say, posting a crabby rant on social media might temporarily soothe anger, but it won't put wasted money back in pockets. Money.ca shares what to know in order to be compensated for the three most common air travel headaches. Bags elected to go on a vacay without you? Check off the following: If you expect a large payout, think again. Tariffs (air carrier contracts) limit the compensation amounts for "loss of, damage to, or the delay in delivery of baggage or other personal property." In the case of Air Canada, the maximum payout is $1,500 per passenger in the currency of the country where the baggage was processed. To raise that limit, purchase a Declaration of Higher Value for each leg of the trip. The charge is $0.50 for each $100, in which case the payout limit is $2,500. For Delta Air Lines, passengers are entitled to up to $3,800 in baggage compensation, though how much you'll receive depends on your flight. Delta will pay up to $2,080 for delayed, lost, and damaged baggage for international travellers, almost half of what U.S. domestic passengers can claim. If your flight is marked delayed for more than 30 minutes, approach the gate agent and politely request food and hotel vouchers to be used within the airport or nearby. Different air carriers and jurisdictions have their own compensation policies when flights are delayed or cancelled. For example, under European Union rules, passengers may receive up to 600 Euros, even when travelling on a non-EU carrier. Similarly, the DOT states that travellers are entitled to a refund "if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the consumer chooses not to travel." However, US rules regarding delays are complicated. Some air carriers, such as Air Canada, do not guarantee their flight schedules. They're also not liable for cancellations or changes due to "force majeure" such as weather conditions or labour disruptions. If the delay is overnight, only out-of-town passengers will be offered hotel accommodation. Nevertheless, many airlines do offer some compensation for the inconvenience. If your flight is marked delayed for more than 30 minutes, approach the gate agent and politely request food and hotel vouchers to be used within the airport or nearby. In terms of cash compensation, what you'll get can differ significantly based on things like departure location, time, carrier, and ticket class. The DOT offers a helpful delay and cancellations dashboard designed to keep travellers informed about their compensation rights. The dashboard is particularly helpful because, as the DOT states on its website, "whether you are entitled to a refund depends on a lot of factors—such as the length of the delay, the length of the flight, and your particular circumstances." The Canadian Transportation Agency is proposing air passenger protection regulations that guarantee financial compensation to travellers experiencing flight delays and cancellations, with the level of compensation varying depending on the situation and how much control the air carrier had. The proposed regulations include the following: The airline is obligated to complete the passenger's itinerary. If the new ticket is for a lower class of service, the air carrier would have to refund the cost difference; if the booking is in a higher class of service, passengers cannot be charged extra. If the passenger declines the ticket, the airline must give a full refund, in addition to the prescribed compensation. For overnight delays, the air carrier needs to provide hotel accommodation and transportation free-of-charge. Again, if you are unsatisfied, the Canadian Transportation Agency or Department of Transportation may advocate on your behalf. Passengers get bumped because airlines overbook. When this happens, the air carrier must compensate you. For international flights in the US, the rate is 200% of your one-way fare to your final destination, with a $675 maximum. If the airline does not make travel arrangements for you, the payout is 400% of your one-way fare to a maximum of $1,350. To qualify, you must check-in by the stated deadline, which on international flights can be up to 3 hours ahead. Keep in mind that if you accept the cash, you are no longer entitled to any further compensation, nor are you guaranteed to be rebooked on a direct flight or similar type of seat. Don't be too quick to give up your boarding pass. Negotiate for the best compensation deal that would include cash, food and hotel vouchers, flight upgrade, lounge passes, as well as mileage points. But avoid being too greedy—if the gate attendant is requesting volunteers and you wait too long, you'll miss the offer. According to Air Canada's tariff, if a passenger is involuntarily bumped, they'll receive $200, in cash or bank draft, for up to a two-hour delay; $400 for a 2-6 hours delay; and $800 if the delay is over six hours. (Air Canada was forced to raise its payouts in 2013 due to passenger complaints.) The new rules would raise the payout significantly: $900 for up to six hours; $1,800 for 6-9; and $2,400 for more than nine hours, all to be paid within 48 hours. Statistically speaking, Delta Airlines is the carrier most likely to bump. A few years ago, Delta raised its payout maximum to $9,950, while United Airlines tops out at $10,000. This story was produced by Money.ca and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Get local news delivered to your inbox!

The slump in the number of people heading to the shops during Boxing Day sales signals a return to declining pre-pandemic levels, an analyst has said. Boxing Day shopper footfall was down 7.9% from last year across all UK retail destinations up until 5pm, MRI Software’s OnLocation Footfall Index found. However, this year’s data had been compared with an unusual spike in footfall as 2023 was the first “proper Christmas” period without Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, an analyst at the retail technology company said. It found £4.6 billion will be spent overall on the festive sales. Before the pandemic the number of Boxing Day shoppers on the streets had been declining year on year. The last uplift recorded by MRI was in 2015. Jenni Matthews, marketing and insights director at MRI Software, told the PA news agency: “We’ve got to bear in mind that (last year) was our first proper Christmas without any (Covid-19) restrictions or limitations. “Figures have come out that things have stabilised, we’re almost back to what we saw pre-pandemic.” There were year-on-year declines in footfall anywhere between 5% and 12% before Covid-19 restrictions, she said. MRI found 12% fewer people were out shopping on Boxing Day in 2019 than in 2018, and there were 3% fewer in 2018 than in 2017, Ms Matthews added. She said: “It’s the shift to online shopping, it’s the convenience, you’ve got the family days that take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.” People are also increasingly stocking-up before Christmas, Ms Matthews said, and MRI found an 18% increase in footfall at all UK retail destinations on Christmas Eve this year compared with 2023. Ms Matthews said: “We see the shops are full of people all the way up to Christmas Eve, so they’ve probably got a couple of good days of food, goodies, everything that they need, and they don’t really need to go out again until later on in that week. “We did see that big boost on Christmas Eve. It looks like shoppers may have concentrated much of their spending in that pre-Christmas rush.” Many online sales kicked off between December 23 and the night of Christmas Day and “a lot of people would have grabbed those bargains from the comfort of their own home”, she said. She added: “I feel like it’s becoming more and more common that people are grabbing the bargains pre-Christmas.” Footfall is expected to rise on December 27 as people emerge from family visits and shops re-open, including Next, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis that all shut for Boxing Day. It will also be payday for some as it is the last Friday of the month. A study by Barclays Consumer Spend had forecast that shoppers would spend £236 each on average in the Boxing Day sales this year, but that the majority of purchases would be made online. Nearly half of respondents said the cost-of-living crisis will affect their post-Christmas shopping but the forecast average spend is still £50 more per person than it was before the pandemic, with some of that figure because of inflation, Barclays said. Amid the financial pressures, many people are planning to buy practical, perishable and essential items such as food and kitchenware. A total of 65% of shoppers are expecting to spend the majority of their sales budget online. Last year, Barclays found 63.9% of Boxing Day retail purchases were made online. However, a quarter of respondents aim to spend mostly in store – an 11% rise compared with last year. Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: “Despite the ongoing cost-of-living pressures, it is encouraging to hear that consumers will be actively participating in the post-Christmas sales. “This year, we’re likely to see a shift towards practicality and sustainability, with more shoppers looking to bag bargains on kitchen appliances and second-hand goods.” Consumers choose in-store shopping largely because they enjoy the social aspect and touching items before they buy, Barclays said, adding that high streets and shopping centres are the most popular destinations.HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 22 December 2024 - On December 20th, Fushi Technology is set to launch its AI Agent industry vertical applications in the Southeast Asia region to help businesses improve efficiency and optimize operations. Fushi Technology is an investment of Hong Kong-listed company Yeahka Limited (9923.HK). In 2024, Fushi already expanded its client base in Southeast Asia, including over 200 global and regional brands such as Starbucks, MUJI, Pizza Hut, New Balance, Levi's, KOI, and Mr. Coconut, covering markets in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, with over 20,000 stores in total. Fushi's achievements can be attributed to two key drivers: The first driver is the synergies created by its partnership with Yeahka. Leveraging the payment technology, service expertise, and applied artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that are already validated in China, Fushi provides more attractive business empowerment solutions for merchants across the Asia-Pacific region. The second key driver is that Fushi itself places great importance on the localization of its SaaS product development and operations functionalities. By continually harnessing the market attributes and customer preferences in different vertical industries overseas, Fushi has enriched its in-house product portfolio and greatly improved service efficiency, enhancing the breadth and depth of its business empowerment capabilities for clients, while also increasing customer retention. The launch of Fushi's AI Agent industry vertical application is also driven by the needs of those overseas clients outside of China. Currently, Fushi's AI Agent primarily targets the food and beverage industry. Customers can use conversational natural language, either through voice or text, on the brand's official app or website to inquire about various information related to restaurants and food, as well as place orders and make payments. This will significantly enhance the customer experience and improve order conversion rates. In the future, Fushi will also collaborate with Ascentis, a leading CRM company in Singapore that Fushi recently acquired, to develop a marketing AI agent, allowing businesses to automatically plan and execute marketing campaigns and manage customer relationships through natural language. AI Agents are intelligent entities based on large language models (LLMs) that can autonomously understand, plan, make decisions, and perform complex tasks. Unlike traditional large models, AI Agents not only tell you "how to do" something, but also help you "do it." According to Deloitte, AI Agents are reshaping industries in unprecedented ways. They not only expand the application scope of generative AI but also enhance AI capabilities through multi-agent AI systems. For example, after launching the AI-driven AXON2.0 advertising marketing engine, Applovin saw an increase in advertising monetization rates, with third-quarter revenue rising by 39% year-on-year and net profit growing by 300% year-on-year. As of December 20th, Applovin's stock price has increased by over 700% this year. With AI Agents reshaping traditional industries and technologies, more industry disruptors are expected to emerge. Jared, a partner at Y Combinator and a senior investor, recently analyzed the market, predicting that vertical AI Agents could become a new market that is 10 times larger than SaaS, potentially creating technology giants with market values exceeding $300 billion each. With China's expansion into overseas markets, Fushi is poised to seize new market opportunities, thanks to its long-standing experience in serving merchants in combination with the addition of proprietary AI Agents. Hashtag: #AI http://www.fushi-tech.com The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.Biden eyes preemptive pardons as Trump plots revenge: reports

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An icon of the left: Part – II We will remember Saeeda Gazdar as a potent voice of courage and bravery Saeeda Gazdar’s short stories are not all about politics and repression; some are full of nostalgia and recall the pre-partition days. Her story ‘Hindustani, Pakistani’ is one such story that begins in London where a Pakistani man Ahmed and an Indian woman Najma meet after a long time. They had studied together decades ago and now they recall their good old days as students in London when they were all Indians; Pakistan had just come into being. Ahmed had come from India to London but now his family had migrated to Pakistan. He had offers from Karachi University to teach but Najma wants him to go back to India with her and start a career there. They hear on the radio that the political situation in Pakistan is volatile with agitation all around. Ahmed wants Najma to move with him to Pakistan. In flashback, Ahmed recalls his landing at Karachi port. Four years ago, he had left Bombay for London as an Indian citizen and now he was approaching Karachi in the newly created Pakistan. After joining the University of Karachi, the first objection that he receives from one of his colleagues is why he says Adaab rather than Salaam. This conversation displays an early divergence of ideas in Pakistan that ultimately led to the Khuda Haafiz discussion. The university colleague insists that Adaab was used to address Hindus but now we have a Muslim-majority country of our own where we should not use Adaab as a form of greeting. Ahmed turned out to be an enlightened and progressive teacher who always cherished the company of his bright young students. He wants more books in the university library but the vice-chancellor objects to them as ‘communist propaganda’. The VC accuses him of referring to Karl Marx too often and citing examples of the French and Russian revolutions to students in classes. Ahmed feels that the university is more of a spy network than a teaching institution; the atmosphere is suffocating and there are no alternative ideas or voices he can convey to his students who are fairly fond of him. The VC is only interested in propagating Islamic and Pakistan ideologies so that a certain mindset prevails. The VC insists that the university professors will teach history only through a religious and nationalist lens. Ahmed retorts by saying that the VC will turn the university into a seminary and that will greatly harm education in the country. The VC insists that all universities must resemble mosques as religious centres of learning and teaching. In the VC’s office there is a large photo of General Ayub Khan receiving an honorary degree from the VC. Finally, Ahmed decides to leave the country and join an international organisation. Mind you, this story about the Pakistan of the 1950s shows how closely it resembles the Pakistan of today. Now we lament increasing extremism in the country and play naïve as if we did not know the root cause of this malaise. Writers such as Saeeda Gazdar were consistently highlighting the perils of extremism in the country but the powers that be did not listen to them neither are they doing so now. Another of her marvellous stories is ‘Aakhri manzil’ (Last destination) dealing with the labour force in cities that comes from villages and has no name or address. The story begins with a news item announcing that an under-construction building caved in killing five labourers. The death certificate of an 18-year-old reads as follows: “Name: unknown; Father’s name: unknown; address: unknown.” The story unfolds in flashback when a family of villagers visiting Karachi finds a small boy crying in the streets. They take the boy to their village and raise him as their own son. When the foster father dies in the village, the foster mother reveals to the boy that he is not their real son and sends him to the city to locate his real father. ‘Aag Gulistaan na bani’ is also a very good short story that takes its cue from the Sumerian story of Gilgamesh which narrates the struggle of Enkidu against the brutalities of Gilgamesh. Saeeda Gazdar unfolds the story of a female student whose class fellow yearns for democracy in his country. The girl faces investigative officers who press her to reveal the whereabouts of the boy who is at the forefront of the democratic struggle. They want to know the plans of the agitators against the dictatorship, but she refuses to reveal anything. The girl recalls how they met in the library and then nurtured a friendship that brought them closer. He influenced her to change her apolitical personality into a socially conscious person who becomes concerned about the plight of her country. There is a section in the story about an overloaded donkey cart that is hard to pull by the beast of burden. The poor animal gets a thorough flogging and blood oozes out of its skin. Saeeda uses that as a metaphor for a nation being flogged under the yoke of a dictatorship. Another story ‘Charhawey ki chadar’ (wreath of gratitude) is about a girl who is married to a much older man. When she is unable to conceive, the in-laws take her to one shrine after another and she has to bear the burden of taunts for being barren. As she constantly shuttles from one spiritual healer to another, she finally breaks down and shouts at her husband for being impotent. In a society where men are beyond reproach and women are nearly always on the receiving end of injustices, this story reflects a common problem in society. Other stories such as ‘Dhara’ (Flow), ‘Neelam’, ‘Laali’, and ‘Tamgha’ (medal) are all worth reading. ‘Aag Gulsitaan na bani’ is a collection of stories that must be included in the compulsory reading list of students but unfortunately, you will hardly find it in any school or college library in Pakistan which are replete with volumes by Naseem Hijazi, Qudratullah Shahab, Bano Qudsia, and Ashfaq Ahmed. That shows the preference of our authorities in educational matters. The more conservative and obscurantist writer you are, the more your books are likely to find a place in libraries. In 1982, Saeeda Gazdar brought out her collection of poetry ‘Tauq o daar ka mausam’ (Season of shackles and gallows). It contains politically charged poetry such as ‘Qaidi gatey hain’ (prisoners sing), ‘Tumhari salgirah par’ (On your birthday), ‘Kaisey ho’ (how are you), and ‘Faisla’ (decision). Two of her best poems that I like the most are ‘Theek do bajey (Exactly at 2) and Aik Khabar (a news item). ‘Theek do bajey’ later appeared in her second poetry collection ‘Zanjeer-e-roz o shab’ as ‘Subh honey wali thee’ (dawn was about to break). It recalls the hours that Z A Bhutto was hanged in the dead of the night. “It is nearly 2am; But the night is till dark; Extremely suffocating and traumatizing; They have come to take the prisoner to the gallows; Wake him up from deep slumber; ‘get up and take a bath’; Say whatever you want to utter; God is the witness; It is not punishment but murder.” Saeeda was equally conscious of struggling peasants and workers around the world. Her poem ‘Aik Khabar’ which appeared in her second collection as ‘Dehshat gardi’ (terrorism) talks about the struggle of peasants in El Salvador. “Millions gather; and chant in unison; we are hungry, we are naked, and have no jobs for years. Why is slavery our destiny? Generals thunder with loaded guns; ‘Move back and yield’; go back to your homes and write gentle applications; this is terrorism and violation of law” We will remember Saeeda Gazdar as a potent voice of courage and bravery. She lived a full life, but dementia marred her last decades. There are not many left like her. Concluded... The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK. He tweets/posts @NaazirMahmood and can be reached at: mnazir1964@yahoo.co.ukCHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024-- The board of directors of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today declared a quarterly dividend of 45.5 cents per share, payable Jan. 31, 2025, to shareholders of record as of Jan. 3, 2025. The five-cent, or 12.3%, increase from the prior quarterly rate of 40.5 cents per share results in an expected annualized dividend of $1.82 per share compared with the prior annualized rate of $1.62 per share. While subsequent dividends will be subject to board approval, the company expects to pay three additional dividends in 2025: Record Date Payable Date April 4, 2025 April 30, 2025 July 11, 2025 July 31, 2025 Oct. 3, 2025 Oct. 31, 2025 About Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and solutions that serve a wide range of market participants, including individual and institutional investors in public and private capital markets, financial advisors and wealth managers, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and issuers of fixed-income securities. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $328 billion in AUMA as of Sept. 30, 2024. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company . Follow Morningstar on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MorningstarInc. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “consider,” “future,” “maintain,” “may,” “expect,” “potential,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “will,” or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements, including statements regarding future dividend payments, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failure to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in laws applicable to our credit ratings operations, investment advisory, environmental, social, and governance, and index businesses; failing to innovate our product and service offerings, or anticipate our clients’ changing needs; the impact of artificial intelligence and related technologies on our business, legal, and regulatory exposure profile and reputation; failing to detect errors in our products or the failure of our products to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions, or similar problems; failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; prolonged volatility or downturns affecting the financial sector, global financial markets, and the global economy and its effect on our revenue from asset-based fees and our credit ratings business; failing to scale our operations and increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies; liability for any losses that result from errors in our automated advisory tools or errors in the use of the information and data we collect; inadequacy of our operational risk management, business continuity programs and insurance coverage in the event of a material disruptive event; failing to close, or achieve the anticipated economic or other benefits of, a strategic transaction on a timely basis or at all; failing to efficiently integrate and leverage acquisitions and other investments, which may not realize the expected business or financial benefits, to produce the results we anticipate; failing to maintain growth across our businesses in today's fragmented geopolitical, regulatory, and cultural world; liability relating to the information and data we collect, store, use, create, and distribute or the reports that we publish or are produced by our software products; the potential adverse effect of our indebtedness on our cash flows and financial and operational flexibility; challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions which we operate in and their effect on our tax obligations and tax rates; and failing to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recent Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. ©2024 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. MORN-C View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205277268/en/ Landon Hudson, +1 312 696-6037 ornewsroom@morningstar.com KEYWORD: ILLINOIS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING ASSET MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FINANCE SOURCE: Morningstar, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/06/2024 04:15 PM/DISC: 12/06/2024 04:13 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241205277268/en

When union boss Paddy Crumlin appeared at an international labour conference last month, he entered smiling to the strains of the 1997 hit Tubthumping : “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never going to keep me down.” Crumlin, who led the merger of the Maritime Union he leads with the scandal-plagued CFMEU in 2018, had reason to grin. Wayne Swan, Paddy Crumlin, Nicola Roxon and Julia Angrisano are among the many superannuation fund directors with labour connections. Credit: Monique Westerman In 2021, the Maritime Super fund that Crumlin chaired had performed so poorly that it handed over investment decisions to another fund, Hostplus, and formally merged with it two years later. But this week Crumlin was back as a super fund director. The CFMEU had picked him as a director of Cbus, the building industry superannuation fund. The CFMEU’s Crumlin pick is just one of a thicket of ties between the unions, Labor and industry superannuation funds that have come to be among the largest and most powerful players in the Australian economy. These funds, which count about 11 million members, are run to profit their members while retail super funds are typically operated by for-profit businesses such as fund managers or banks. And, under the industry model in which unions and employer groups nominate roughly equal numbers of directors to funds, ties between the sector and the labour movement are backed in. But as the $3.9 trillion sector’s coffers have swelled, with big industry funds such as AustralianSuper ($341 billion under management), Cbus ($94 billion) and CareSuper ($53 billion) counting memberships up to 3.4 million people, the level of oversight that model delivers has come under greater scrutiny. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched Federal Court proceedings last week against Cbus after it failed to identify and prevent delays in processing death and disability insurance claims that affected 10,000 members, dating back to August 2022 – a failure that Cbus has conceded cost its members about $20 million. CFMEU manufacturing division boss Michael O’Connor is facing separate allegations he misused his position at a small fund, First Super, to bankroll the salary of a union delegate with fund money while his organisation was experiencing financial difficulties. And AustralianSuper, the industry’s largest, could be fined $27 million over its failure to consolidate more than 90,000 members’ accounts, costing them almost $70 million, in another case brought by the corporate regulator. While the funds are variously declining to comment, blaming external contractors, or apologising and saying they have already addressed the issues, superannuation critics smell blood. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, the opposition assistant spokesman for home ownership, says the sector’s board model, in which union and industry representatives oversee funds rather than typical corporate directors, is no longer fit for purpose. “There is an unmanageable conflict of interest between the interests of unions and workers,” Bragg says. “And there is the cavalcade of Labor politicians, how do they get these positions?” Cbus, for example, is chaired by former Labor treasurer and current party president Wayne Swan. Don Russell, a former senior adviser to Labor prime minister Paul Keating, chairs AustralianSuper. HESTA, an $88 billion fund for the health and community sector, is chaired by Nicola Roxon, a Rudd-Gillard era minister. Bragg says the sector has created a perception that it operates in line with modern governance standards. “It has taken the CFMEU issue to expose that,” he says. Bragg is referring to the litany of allegations of underworld infiltration and corruption revealed in this masthead’s Building Bad series that led the federal government to appoint a barrister to take over the CFMEU. That barrister, Mark Irving, KC, said in August he wanted a “clean sweep” of serving CFMEU representatives from the Cbus board but reappointed one who resigned, Jason O’Mara, alongside Crumlin and a union lawyer, Lucy Weber. There are no allegations against any of those individuals. Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier O’Halloran, whose group represents people with superannuation accounts, says the “partisan debate” over Cbus should not be the main focus. “The skills and competence of these boards are really important, and that should be the primary focus,” O’Halloran says. “What we have seen in the UK, the regulator has a role in determining a fit and proper person, to determine who should be on the board. “That’s not something the regulator [APRA] here does. They [unions and industry groups] make their own picks, and we think that could be improved, that there should be greater rigour.” But while O’Halloran would like to see improvements to board regulation, and perhaps the introduction of more independent directors, he also confirms the industry superannuation sector is largely beating its retail competitors. And there is evidence they are delivering on the goals Paul Keating had in mind when he set up the superannuation system: ensuring comfortable retirements and reducing the burden, over time, of the aged pension on federal government coffers. The federal 2023 Intergenerational Report shows government spending on Aged and Service pensions will fall from 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2 per cent by 2063, because of superannuation, even as the population ages. Misha Schubert, chief executive of the lobby group for industry super funds, argues their performance shows the board model is working. “The shared governance model of this type of fund – whether they arose from an industry, company or the public sector – was created with a clear and single purpose,” she wrote earlier this year. “To serve the fund members whose retirement savings they safeguard and grow. “They do so by deeply understanding their members and the workplaces in which their members work – they know exactly whose money it is they are stewarding.” The law governing superannuation funds, Schubert notes, requires directors to comply with high standards of performance and act in members’ best interests. Alongside the labour representatives, big superannuation boards are balanced with employer heavyweights. Cbus’ board employer directors, for example, are all nominated by Master Builders Australia and include that organisation’s chief executive, Denita Wawn. It’s a similar story with AustralianSuper, whose employer directors include AiG chief executive (and former Liberal staffer) Innes Willox, as well as a number of other directors aligned with the employer group that originally represented manufacturing firms. A Cbus spokesman said in a statement that having equal employer and employee representation on its board had ensured its success for 40 years, and it was pleased to welcome the three new directors. “After applying a comprehensive ‘fit and proper persons test’ the Cbus board confirmed the appointment of the three directors who share a determination to generate the strongest, sustainable financial returns for members and deliver the best possible service,” the spokesman said. Loading The fund previously apologised to its members over the claim delays, said it was implementing a compensation process and co-operated with ASIC. Swan, the Cbus chairman, told the Today show last week that many of the criticisms of the fund were “completely inaccurate” and blamed a contracted service provider for the insurance delays but apologised to affected members’ families. “I can assure you, from the minute I became aware of this as chair of the board, I worked with the board to resolve it as quickly as possible,” he said. AustralianSuper has apologised for the multiple accounts issue. “We found this mistake, we reported it, we apologised to impacted members, we paid them back, and we’ve improved our processes to prevent it happening again,” a spokesman said. Michael O’Connor, the CFMEU manufacturing division boss, has voluntarily stood aside while the court case over the alleged misuse of his position is under way and had not responded to comment requests. Unlike some of the union heavyweights, many of the Labor figures on superannuation boards have external pedigree. Russell, of AustralianSuper, for example, is a former ambassador to the United States who has worked at global finance firms including BNY Mellon Asset Management and Sanford C. Bernstein. Hostplus chair Roxon is also an independent director at the property company Dexus. And increasingly, the funds also have independent directors with financial or governance expertise. The 2.4 million-member Australian Retirement Trust, for example, has on its board former top regulator Helen Rowell, and Martin Parkinson, who headed the public service under conservative governments. But that has not satisfied the sector’s critics. Bragg, the Liberal senator, is expected to haul Cbus chairman Swan before the Senate’s economics committee for questions next week. Given the pair’s background, it is unlikely to be a genteel affair. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Superannuation Cbus Super wars Andrew Bragg ALP Insight More... James Massola is national affairs editor. He has previously been Sunday political correspondent and South-East Asia correspondent. Connect via Twitter , Facebook or email . Most Viewed in Politics Loading

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