All posts tagged: advance

8 deep-tech firms advance under €146m EIC STEP Scale Up call

Published by skeptic

The European Commission has identified eight high-growth technology companies for major equity support through the EIC Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) Scale Up initiative. This flagship funding stream accelerates Europe’s most strategic innovations. The selected firms are now moving toward final investment decisions by the EIC Fund, pending due diligence. The programme targets companies at a critical inflexion point, where scaling operations and securing market position require significant capital. Each company could receive between €10m and €30m, with total potential investment reaching €146.5m if negotiations conclude successfully. Out of 44 applicants, 28 were shortlisted for interviews with independent experts. Only eight met the full set of technical, commercial, and strategic criteria, underscoring the competitive nature of the EIC STEP Scale Up process and its focus on high-impact technologies. Selected companies span Europe’s strategic sectors The eight companies represent a cross-section of deep-tech innovation aligned with Europe’s long-term industrial priorities. Germany’s Aignostics is applying artificial intelligence (AI) to drug development, aiming to improve clinical outcomes and reduce timelines. France-based Alice & Bob is working toward …

U.S. Senate votes to advance billion funding plan for ICE, Border Patrol

U.S. Senate votes to advance $70 billion funding plan for ICE, Border Patrol

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to advance a $70 billion plan ⁠to fund the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agencies for the next three years, ignoring demands from Democrats for guardrails on immigration enforcement agents and their operations. Lawmakers voted 50-48 in the predawn hours to adopt the non-binding budget resolution and send it to the U.S. House of Representatives, taking a crucial step forward in their effort to end a partial shutdown that has gripped the Department of Homeland Security since mid-February. Two Republicans — Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski — opposed the measure. If adopted by the House, the resolution will allow congressional committees to begin filling in the details on how the $70 billion would be spent in separate legislation ⁠that President ‌Donald Trump would have to sign into law. The new funding would be expected to ⁠run through Trump’s presidency, which ends in January 2029. With Democrats adamantly opposed to the funding initiative, Republicans plan to employ a rarely used procedure known as budget reconciliation in the …

Pittsburgh Shows Off New Public Art Projects in Advance of NFL Draft

Published by Jenni Sidey

The three-day NFL draft, hosted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, kicks off in the Steel City on Thursday. The main events will take place downtown: at Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore and Point State Park, where Pittsburgh’s famous three rivers meet. The city is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors—by some estimates, far more than the population of the city itself. The draft is taking over the city to such a degree that roads downtown have preemptively closed and the public schools have switched to three days of asynchronous remote learning. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has also invested in spiffing up some of the empty storefronts and underwhelming blocks downtown with public art projects by local artists. There are over 35 projects, ranging from light installations to murals to window displays, currently on view downtown. Check out some of the newer projects that have been installed this year. Joshua Challen Ice, Aurora V2 Image Credit: Photo Benjamin Filio/Courtesy Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership This is one of Ice’s two installations at 144 Smithfield Street, the former home …

Iowa lawmakers advance bill tightening rules on prediction markets

Published by skeptic

Iowa lawmakers are pressing ahead with a bill that would clamp down on a fast-expanding slice of financial trading tied to real-world outcomes via prediction markets. The measure, known as Senate File 2494, is aimed at event-driven contracts and the online platforms where people buy and sell them. The Senate Ways and Means Committee introduced the bill on Wednesday (April 15) and quickly moved it forward. Lawmakers are pitching it as a way to bring structure and oversight to prediction-style markets that have grown exponentially in the past two years. NEW: Iowa bill SB 2494 targeting #PredictionMarkets adds insider trading ban, political trading limits, and strict consumer protections – now advancing to Senate committee pic.twitter.com/nl7G9yNF6s — Suswati Basu (@suswatibasu) April 15, 2026 The bill proposes a new definition for “designated contract markets,” described as “a digital marketplace for trading event-driven contracts that is also regulated by the federal commodity futures trading commission.” The legislation also spells out what counts as an event-driven contract, calling it “a financial derivative…that provides a fixed binary payout based upon …

Louisiana lawmakers advance crackdown targeting illegal online sweepstakes

Published by skeptic

Louisiana lawmakers are pressing ahead with a push to rein in illegal online sweepstakes-style gaming, after the state House overwhelmingly backed House Bill 883 and sent it over to the Senate this week. Rep. Laurie Schlegel’s proposal cleared the chamber on April 14 with virtually no opposition, winning final votes of 99-0 and 98-0. By April 15, the Senate had taken it up, giving it a first reading and placing it on the calendar for debate. The language in the bill itself spells out that, “Gambling by computer is the intentional conducting, or directly assisting in the conducting as a business of any game, contest, lottery, or contrivance whereby a person risks the loss of anything of value in order to realize a profit when accessing the Internet.” Lawmakers are also zeroing in on newer digital formats that blur the line between gaming and gambling. The proposal explicitly includes platforms that use so-called dual-currency systems, where users can exchange virtual credits for prizes or cash-like rewards while mimicking traditional gambling mechanics. Louisiana sweepstakes bill introduces …

The Memo: Iran war roils Trump’s relations with China in advance of high-stakes trip

Published by Sam Flores

The war in Iran — and President Trump’s shifting tactics in fighting it — are roiling relations with China, just weeks before the president is to make a high-stakes trip there. The complicated dynamics have a straightforward core. China has numerous ties with Iran, economically and strategically. At the same time, Beijing has zero interest… Source link

Pakistan army chief in Tehran to advance next round of US-Iran talks | US-Israel war on Iran News

Published by Sam Flores

Sources tell Al Jazeera that Pakistani mediators are hopeful about a breakthrough on Iran’s nuclear programme. A high-level Pakistani delegation has travelled to Iran to hold talks focused on arranging a fresh round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, a week before their fragile truce is due to expire. Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir is heading the delegation that arrived in Tehran on Wednesday evening, according to Iranian state media. It said he came with a new message from the US and plans to coordinate a second round of US-Iran talks, after an initial round in Islamabad ended on Sunday without a deal to end the war. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is also joining mediation efforts in Tehran, while Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in Saudi Arabia for the first stop in a four-day Gulf tour. Pakistan’s diplomatic blitz comes as competing US and Iranian sea blockades strain tensions – and the global economy – but amid indications of progress towards a deal …

Liberals Advance Bill That Could Criminalize Quoting The Bible As Hate Speech

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Canada is barreling toward a chilling new reality where quoting certain Bible passages could be treated as a criminal hate speech offense. Bill C-9, the so-called Combatting Hate Act, cleared the House of Commons on March 25 and now moves to the Senate. Critics say the legislation guts a decades-old legal safeguard that protected sincere religious expression, handing prosecutors new tools to target Christians and other believers who dare reference holy texts on topics like sexuality. ? Canada just criminalized the Bible.Bill C-9 has passed. Quoting Scripture on marriage, sin, or God’s design for sexuality can now be prosecuted as “wilful promotion of hatred.” Do you support free speech? A. YesB. No pic.twitter.com/jskW38sNTl — ??? Karoline Leavitt (@WHLeavitt) April 2, 2026 The bill, introduced last September by Liberal Justice Minister and Attorney General Sean Fraser, eliminates sections 319(3)(b) and 319(3.1)(b) of the Canadian Criminal Code. Those provisions had long stated that a person could not be convicted of hate speech if they “expressed or attempted to establish by an …

US Sprinters Richardson and Coleman Advance to the Stawell Gift Semifinals in Australia

Published by Sam Flores

STAWELL, Australia (AP) — American sprinters Sha’Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman won their heats Saturday and qualified for Monday’s semifinals of the Stawell Gift, an annual race contested on handicap over 120 meters on grass in a small Australian town near Melbourne. Both Richardson and Coleman are racing from “scratch” in the 144th edition of the event, meaning they must run the entire distance and chase down opponents who in some cases may start up to 25 meters ahead of them. Richardson, who gave away 10 meters to her closest competitor at the start, won her heat in 13.815 seconds Saturday and Coleman his in 12.681. On Monday there will be six semifinals in each of the men’s and women’s divisions, with the winners of each of the heats advancing to the respective finals. Only two men and two women have won the race starting from scratch. “My experience so far is just reminding me what track and field feels like — love the respect and also fun,” Richardson told Seven Network television after her …

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All posts tagged: advance

8 deep-tech firms advance under €146m EIC STEP Scale Up call

Pittsburgh Shows Off New Public Art Projects in Advance of NFL Draft

Iowa lawmakers advance bill tightening rules on prediction markets

Louisiana lawmakers advance crackdown targeting illegal online sweepstakes

The Memo: Iran war roils Trump’s relations with China in advance of high-stakes trip

Pakistan army chief in Tehran to advance next round of US-Iran talks | US-Israel war on Iran News

Liberals Advance Bill That Could Criminalize Quoting The Bible As Hate Speech

US Sprinters Richardson and Coleman Advance to the Stawell Gift Semifinals in Australia