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Metaverse to contribute $45.3B to Canada’s annual GDP by 2035: Meta

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

TORONTO — A new report commissioned by Facebook-owner Meta estimates the metaverse could contribute between $45.3 billion and $85.5 billion to Canada’s annual GDP by 2035.The report prepared by consulting firm Deloitte says the virtual interactive world known as the metaverse could make up 1.3 to 2.4 per cent of the country’s GDP.Meta has been one of the most prominent companies to place a big bet on the metaverse, which Meta chief executive Zuckerberg has predicted people will use for work and socializing.Meta and Deloitte’s report says several Canadian companies already use metaverse-like technology to train medical students for surgery and augment the online shopping experience.As such endeavours broaden, their report suggests the market for augmented and virtual reality technologies will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.5 per cent between 2022 and 2027.However, an Ipsos study cited in their report found less than one-third of Canadians surveyed feel positi...

What to know as UK hosts Eurovision Song Contest for Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Last week, Britain crowned a king. This week, it will help bestow Europe’s pop crown. The Eurovision Song Contest is returning to the U.K. this week for the first time in 25 years, but the heart of the glitzy music competition will be in Ukraine. Britain is hosting the event on behalf of the war-battered country, and organizers have vowed to make it a celebration of Ukrainian spirit and culture.The contest will see musical acts from 37 countries perform original songs in the English city of Liverpool, with semi-finals Tuesday and Thursday and a grand final on Saturday watched by an estimated 160 million people.For fans and first-timers alike, here’s an essential Eurovision guide:WHAT IS EUROVISION, ANYWAY?First staged in 1956, Eurovision was founded to help unite a shattered continent after World War II and to test nascent live-broadcasting technology. Initially a sedate affair featuring crooners in ballgowns and tuxedos, it began to let its hair down during the swingi...

Apple Music – Top Music

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

Top New Shows (US):1. Flipping the Bird: Elon vs. Twitter, Wondery2. Pod Save the UK, Crooked Media3. The Official Love & Death Podcast, HBO Max4. Rise N’ Crime, OH NO MEDIA5. BRAMTEA, Bramty Juliette and Luis Nestor6. Over 50 & Flourishing with Dominique Sachse, Dominique Sachse & Studio717. Childproof, Betches8. Vishal, BBC Podcasts9. Turtle Time with Ramona & Avery, PodcastOne10. The Joe Rogan AI Experience, Joe Rogan AI The Associated Press

Top Maryland county leader Alsobrooks running for US Senate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Angela Alsobrooks, the chief executive of Maryland’s Prince George’s County, announced Tuesday she will run for the U.S. Senate seat that is opening with the retirement of Sen. Ben Cardin.Alsobrooks, a Black Democrat, joins a growing field of candidates since the longtime Maryland official announced he would not seek reelection after three Senate terms last week.“There aren’t enough people in the US Senate who live like, think like and look like the people they’re supposed to represent,” Alsobrooks wrote on Twitter in announcing her Senate bid. “My Great-Grandma told me, ‘if you don’t like something, go farther and do better.’ I’m proud to say I’m running for the Senate. Let’s go farther together.”Prince George’s County, which is in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, is Maryland’s second-largest jurisdiction with a population of nearly 1 million. The county, which is heavily Democratic, has long been known as one of the wealthies...

WATCH LIVE | Procession for fallen CPD officer Aréanah Preston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Sources tell WGN that several people have been taken into custody in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Chicago police officer Aréanah Preston, who was shot and killed outside her home in Avalon Park Saturday.A day after the shooting incident, police reported a SWAT incident in the 7600 block of South Bishop Avenue around 8:25 p.m. Sunday night. Police cleared the scene early Monday morning. Police have not identified why the SWAT situation took place. Meanwhile, multiple individuals were taken into custody near the corner of 77th Street and Bishop Avenue early Monday morning, a source told WGN. Areanah Preston, 24. (Credit: CPD News Affairs)Preston had just completed a tour of duty when she was found with a gunshot wound outside her Avalon Park home in the 8100 block of South Blackstone Avenue, around 1:42 a.m. Saturday.Originally reported as being off-duty at the time of the shooting, Chicago police later ruled that Preston was on-duty at th...

Joe Kapp, former Vikings, Cal QB, dies at 85

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

Joe Kapp, the tough quarterback who led the Minnesota Vikings to their first Super Bowl and California to its last Rose Bowl, has died. He was 85.Cal confirmed that Kapp died on Monday. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.After a stellar collegiate career at Cal in the 1950s that was capped by an appearance in the 1959 Rose Bowl, Kapp went on to star in Canada before making it to the NFL. He took over for Fran Tarkenton in Minnesota and led the Vikings to a Super Bowl appearance in the 1969 season before losing to Kansas City.Kapp is the only quarterback to lead his team to a Rose Bowl, Grey Cup and Super Bowl.Kapp also later coached his alma mater for five seasons and was on the sideline for one of the most memorable plays in school history when the Golden Bears returned a kickoff with five laterals to beat rival Stanford on the final play in 1982, scoring the TD with the Cardinal band on the field.Kapp helped lead Cal to the Pacific Coast Conference title in 1958 and a ...

Solar summer just began: Here's what that means

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Bust out the sunscreen – solar summer is upon us. Not to be confused with summer solstice, solar summer starts earlier. In the Northern Hemisphere, it lasts for a three-month period in which this half of the Earth is tilted the most toward the sun. In these three months, because of the tilt of the Earth's axis, we see the most sunshine, Accuweather explains, and days are longer. This year, solar summer started on Friday, May 5, according to meteorologist Sean Sublette. NOAA issues El Niño watch: Here’s where and when we will feel the impact Long days and sunny skies are usually good news, but there is a dark side to solar summer (so to speak). In an article for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sublette explained this time of year is when people are most likely to get sunburns because the sun's rays have a shorter distance to travel before they reach us. Solar summer lasts through August 4, 2023. If you missed the chance to celebrate the start of solar summer, there ar...

WATCH: Large manatee mating herd gathers in Florida state park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

ORANGE CITY, Fla. (WFLA) -- A large group of mating manatees was spotted in Blue Springs State Park in Florida last weekend.A video released by the Save the Manatee Club shows dozens of manatees gathered in the cool spring water. In a release, the organization said researchers counted over 30 manatees in the area.Female manatees in heat are pursued by several males, according to the club, and can mate with one or more in the mating herd. A female manatee remains in heat for about three weeks. Florida Aquarium releases 5 rehabilitated sea turtles found stranded, cold-stunned The organization is reminding onlookers that they should steer clear of the herd. Nature lovers may be worried the animals are hurt or in distress, but the commotion is normal, according to the club. The organization asks anyone who might encounter a manatee mating herd to do the following:Do not approach or touch any of the manatees.Watch from a respectful distance.Know that it is illegal ...

AMC Theatres to make big change at concession stands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – AMC is hoping to take a bite out of its overhead costs by launching its own line of branded candies to sell in theaters.Adam Aron, the chairman and CEO of AMC Theatres, revealed the news in an earnings call last week, saying the plans were prompted by the rising cost of supplying brand-name candy in AMC’s multiplexes.“We noticed recently, as a result of pandemic and the supply chain shortages, that candy manufacturers had increased their price to us by a huge amount,” Aron said. “Some candy makers increasing their cost for candy — wholesale candy — as much as 33% in a one-time bump.“That got us thinking very hard about our candy,” Aron continued. "And we realized that we could manufacture a private-label brand of candy to very high quality standards, price it less expensively than our current candy is priced, and have a higher profit margin because our cost to manufacture the private-label brand is so much less than the normal brands that you've seen in our theaters for ...

All-clear given after ACC Northridge shelter-in-place order

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A shelter-in-place order was lifted for the Austin Community College Northridge Campus. The campus issued the order at 8:50 a.m. amid reports of a possible armed person nearby. Police investigated the reports and issued an all-clear. The shelter-in-place was lifted at 10:20 a.m., and the campus returned to normal operations. The campus is located at 11928 Stonehollow Dr.