Which teams can qualify on final day of regular season
Do or die, now or never, win or bust - whatever you call it, this weekend is the last chance for NFL teams to punch their ticket to the postseason. An extra game was added to the schedule in 2021, making this the NFL's longest regular season at 17 games and 18 weeks. And three play-off spots are still up for grabs heading into week 18, with the San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers two of the teams in the hunt. There's also the scramble for play-off seedings, which determine who plays who in the postseason - and where - as the race to Super Bowl 56 hots up.
With so much still to be decided, BBC Sport guides you through the potential scenarios for this Sunday's finale. Fourteen teams go through to the postseason, with seven from each conference - the four division winners plus the three teams with the next-best records (wildcards). The top seed in each conference gets a first-round bye for the play-offs and home advantage thereafter, and the Green Bay Packers have secured the NFC's top spot for the second year running.
In the AFC, the Tennessee Titans currently hold the top seed on a tie-breaker from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Titans will clinch it by winning at Houston on Sunday but the Chiefs, aiming for a third straight Super Bowl, can put pressure on with a win at Denver on Saturday. Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won Super Bowl 55 last year, are also among the 11 teams who have secured play-off football.
So just three wildcard spots remain, with the wildcard teams all having away games for week one of the play-offs. There's just one spot left in the NFC, with the San Francisco 49ers in pole position. They face the Los Angeles Rams, who have already qualified and hope to clinch the NFC West division title, but the 49ers have won the past five games with their divisional rivals.
Should the Rams win, that opens the door for the New Orleans Saints to get in as they visit the Atlanta Falcons later on Sunday. In the AFC, five teams are in the running for two spots, currently held by the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers. The Colts visit a Jacksonville Jaguars side which is set to finish with the NFL's worst record for the second year running - and therefore the number one draft pick yet again in 2022.
A Colts win would set up a winner-takes-all meeting between the Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders for the other spot. But if the Jaguars upset the Colts, the Raiders could get in even if they lose to the Chargers. It would also give the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens a chance to sneak in, with the Ravens the biggest long shot.
Despite losing their last five, Baltimore can make it if they win at home to Pittsburgh and three other results go their way.
Source - BBC
Samsung expects its profits to jump by 52%
Technology giant Samsung Electronics has said it expects to post a 52% jump in profit for the last three months of 2021, amid the global chip shortage.
The world's biggest memory chip maker estimates that it made 13.8tn won ($11.5bn; £8.5bn) in the period.
That would be its highest fourth quarter operating profit in four years.
The company's earnings were boosted by strong demand for server memory chips and higher profit margins in its chip contract manufacturing business.
“Samsung is well placed to profit from the record-breaking demand for PCs and electronics,” technology analyst Sam Reynolds told the BBC.
He also highlighted that the firm had benefited from currency fluctuations: "The Korean won continues to depreciate, making Korea's exports more attractive on the global market."
However, the estimated profit was lower than the 15.2tn won predicted by many analysts.
Samsung's spending on such things as employees' bonuses and marketing for its smartphone business were seen as reasons for it missing the market forecast.
In recent months, the global shortage of semiconductors has been causing major disruptions for manufacturers, from carmakers that have had to suspend production to Apple warning that iPhone shipments would be delayed.
Investors are also watching the company's chip manufacturing operation in Xi'an, central China. The city has been in lockdown since 23 December due to a coronavirus outbreak.
Samsung said last week that it would "temporarily adjust operations" at its sites in Xi'an but gave no further details of how the measures could impact the production of microchips.
In November, Samsung announced that it had chosen a site close to the US city of Taylor in Texas for its new $17bn computer chip plant.
The plant is expected to be operational by the second half of 2024. It is the South Korean electronics giant's biggest-ever US investment.
Shares in Samsung Electronics were trading around 1.8% higher in Seoul on Friday.
Source - BBC
Bahamian Government to announce new real property tax measure
The Bahamas government will announce a new strategy regarding real property tax during the presentation of the mid-year budget next month
“The tax system we have now is a very narrow-based system and so the tax reforms that we envision are to broaden the base and lower the overall rates for Bahamians,” Financial Secretary Simon Wilson told the weekly news conference.
“Right now we tax a few at a high level and the idea is we will broaden the base. One of the areas we are looking at very closely is property tax, in terms of how to broaden the base and lower the rate so that our yield goes up.”
Property tax represents less than 10 per cent of government revenues and real property tax arrears have been estimated at more than US$600 million.
The Financial Secretary told reporters that the Phillip Davis government will assess revenue performance under a reduced value-added tax (VAT) model, noting that it could perform better than the projected neutral forecast.
“Based on the estimates the prime minister presented in the supplementary budget, the reduction is going to be at a minimum neutral and positive. During the annual budget exercise, we’ll have four months of data and we will present that in terms of what is the increase overall in terms of the reduction,” he said.
Wilson said that with revenue performance higher than projected “we are very satisfied. If we look at our revenue performance against forecast, we are US$160 million above revenue performance.
“The Revenue Enhancement Unit is actually being formed and is working. We have engaged our revenue advisors, we are very excited by what we see in terms of the potential for revenue yield. On the expenditure side, the overhang in terms of liabilities and so forth has been reduced, it is not reduced to a bare minimum but considerably from when I came back into the office.
“So from that perspective I see green shoots in terms of the strategy,” Wilson told reporters.
Source - CMC
Bitcoin prices fall to lowest in months after US Fed remarks
Bitcoin prices have fallen to their lowest level in months following remarks from the US Federal Reserve.
The crypto-currency dropped in value from $47,000 (£34,700) earlier this week to less than $42,000 (£31,000) per digital coin.
It follows minutes from a meeting of the Federal Reserve, which suggested it may raise interest rates.
Political events in Kazakhstan have also raised concerns about the network's capacity.
Because of its global and decentralised nature, attributing a rise or fall in the price of Bitcoin to a single cause is difficult. But many commentators have pointed to the release of the Federal Reserve's December meeting notes as one factor.
The minutes suggest that America's central bank might raise interest rates sooner than some had anticipated, and sell off some of its assets.
That could have led to a knock-on effect of traditional investors who hold Bitcoin, as they pursue less risky assets instead.
At the same time, a huge amount of the world's Bitcoin mining - the process by which transactions are verified and new "coins" made - takes place in Kazakhstan.
The massive Central Asian country has been hit with political unrest this week, as citizens took to the streets to protest against rising fuel prices. Fatal violence followed as demonstrators - which the country's leaders paint as "rioters" - seized buildings in the largest city, Almaty.
Kazakhstan is thought to process nearly a fifth of all Bitcoin "mining", as the process is called, due to its usually cheap electricity. And an internet shut-down earlier this week appeared to hit the processing power of the entire Bitcoin network.
The dip means Bitcoin has hit its lowest price since September 2021, down from a November peak of more than $60,000.
Other crypto-currencies have also seen price falls. Ethereum saw its value drop from approximately $3,800 on Wednesday to under $3,200 on Friday.
Source - BBC
Hundreds reported killed as bandits target Nigerian villages
At least 200 people in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara state have been killed in a wave of vicious attacks by armed militants, residents say.
The attacks are believed to be in response to military air strikes that killed more than 100 fighters on Monday and forced others from forest hideouts.
Gunmen burnt homes and mutilated the bodies of their victims in the assault.
A resident of one of the villages told the Reuters news agency the militants were shooting "anyone on sight".
The attacks are the latest in a wave of violent attacks in northwest Nigeria, where the central government has long been at war with a number of local criminal groups it has described as bandits.
On Friday it was initially reported that more than 100 people had been killed by suspected "bandit" militants in the region, after some 300 gunmen on motorbikes arrived in as many as nine communities between Tuesday and Thursday night.
Idi Musa, a resident of another village, told AFP that the attackers also stole "around 2,000 cattle".
Meanwhile, local media has reported that armed groups appear to be abandoning hideouts in forested areas in response to sustained government attacks, instead moving towards the western part of Zamfara state.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari, pledged that the government would not relent in its battle with the militants.
"Let me reassure these besieged communities and other Nigerians that this government will not abandon them to their fate because we are more than ever determined to get rid of these outlaws," Mr Buhari said.
"The latest attacks on innocent people by the bandits is an act of desperation by mass murderers, now under relentless pressure from our military forces."
On Wednesday, the Nigerian government officially labelled bandits as terrorists, allowing security forces to impose tougher sanctions on the groups and their supporters.
Nigeria's armed forces said this week they had killed 537 "armed bandits and other criminal elements" in the region and arrested 374 others since May last year.
Thousands of Nigerian troops have been deployed to fight the armed groups, a sophisticated networks of criminals who operate across large swathes of territory, often stealing animals, kidnapping for ransom and killing those who confront them.
Source - BBC
Brazil cliff collapses killing seven people
At least seven people have been killed after part of a cliff collapsed onto leisure boats on a Brazilian lake.
Another three are missing and 32 injured following the accident in the south-east of the country.
Video circulating online shows the moment the rock detaches from the cliff face as onlookers try to yell warnings to the boats beneath.
At least one of the boats appears to have sunk, while others managed to escape.
The collapse at 11:00 local time (14:00 GMT) followed days of rain in Minas Gerais state, which had made the cliffs more susceptible to collapse, local fire officials told reporters.
Three vessels were hit by falling rock, Lieutenant Pedro Aihara told reporters. Out of the 32 injured, nine people were in hospital.
Divers and helicopters are searching the water for any more survivors.
Twenty people were initially reported missing, but Lt Aihara said most were accounted for after checking hospital lists.
Source - BBC
Covid temporarily reducing services in the Department of Motor Vehicles
The Department of Motor Vehicles says that there will be a reduction of services offered at its Providenciales office, effective Wednesday 5th January until further notice. Services affected include driver’s license photographs, signs, written exams and driving tests.
Director of the DMV, Wilber Caley, says that the reason for the reduction is due to a number of employees reporting to be unwell. However, he did not confirmed rumours of being impacted by COVID.
Director Caley says that they anticipate the shortest disruption possible from this reduction and look to advise of the restoration of services as soon as possible.
The department apologizes for the inconvenience to the public, and says that persons will be contacted for those services for which appointments have been made and notified publicly as soon as the mentioned service areas are restored.
The Frustation of the Locals with the Department of Water
On December 30th 2021, the Department of Water Undertaking, through the Ministry of Home Affairs sent a notice to the public advising of technical difficulties and loss of water pressure on the island of Grand Turk.
Since then, RTC News has been contacted by several residents complaining of the situation and in particular noting that the issue has been ongoing for weeks in some areas of the islands and in other areas some say months. Several residents of Breezy Brae have said that the matter is one that has existed for years in their area.
Some residents, including several senior citizens, have said that they have had to revert back to using buckets and drums like in the old days but this has been hard for older residents. The primary concern has been one of sanitation.
Several residents complained of having difficulty getting water because local water trucks were delivering most of the water to Carnival Cruise Centre. RTC News spoke officials from the cruise centre who informed us that this was not the case, as they do not purchase water from local water trucks.
RTC News reached out to the Director of Water Undertaking for comment in the matter but was referred back to the 30 December statement which gives little information as to a timeframe for return of normal services and answers to why this problem has persisted.
RTC News will continue to reach out to the Department of Water Undertaking for answers.
West Indies Petroleum says it is committed to closing sale of USVI-based refinery
The Jamaica-based energy company, West Indies Petroleum Limited (WIPL) Friday said that it remains committed to successfully closing the sale and pursuing major strategic investment in the St. Croix-based Limetree Bay Refinery following its successful US$62 million bid last month.
“WIPL is also committed to being sensitive to environmental considerations in its operation of the facility which is widely regarded among stakeholders as a landmark and the largest of its kind in the western hemisphere,” the WIPL said in a statement.
WIPL said that the result of the auction was approved by Judge David Jones and that it has until January 21, this year to close the sale.“No doubt we are committed to and confident about successfully closing out the sale and moving towards maximizing the potential benefits that this refinery may have on improving not just local or regional but also global energy security,” said WIPL chief executive officer, Charles Chambers.
“Quite apart from the economic boost to St. Croix via the significant foreign direct investment and job creation which our investment will naturally bring, it’s important to note that given the distinct comparative advantage which its strategic location facilitates, our winning bid and attendant proposed major investment in the Limetree Bay refinery have significantly raised the prospects of WIPL leveraging its footprints by supporting in a major way the energy requirements of a raft of countries including Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and sections of the United States.” He added.
The facility, which is located on the south shore of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, has storage/operating capacity and WIPL said the capacity “is multiple times that of refineries across the region”.
It said that the Limetree Bay Refinery’s operating capacity is 220, 000 barrels per day and it intends to increase operating capacity to approximately 450-barrels per day.
WIPL said it expects that its investment in Limetree Bay refinery will eventually assist in reducing energy costs, in particular in St Croix where the refinery has been upgraded to use LPG as its source of power generation. The refinery’s capacity presents significant opportunities for St. Croix and the region.”
WIPL’s senior vice president, Danville Walker, has described winning bid and accompanying strategic investment plans as “potentially game changing, not only for St. Croix, Jamaica and the region but a host of countries across the globe”.
The former Commissioner of Customs and Director of Elections in Jamaica, said ultimately, if the support of policymakers is had, we at WIPL hope to use the refinery to over the medium to long term create an environment which augurs well for the reduction in electricity costs in several countries.
“To be very clear WIPL is fully aware of past environmental mishaps which occurred during the operation of the Limetree Bay refinery in its previous proprietary dispensation and our proposed operation of the mega-facility will not only see us seeking not to repeat errors made and but also being mindful of the prescriptions and mandate of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which is a United States federal government agency whose mission is to protect human and environmental health,” said Walker, a former chairman of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) in Jamaica.
Source - CMC
New Battery Tech Will Help Stop Electric Cars Bursting Into Flames
Graphene, an allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of atoms, has already been sampled by established car makers such as Ford who has used the innovative material on supercapacitors for the Mustang and F-150. Now, LA-based Nanotech Energy is now looking to expand on this innovative material by applying it to a new battery system.
As per its claims, the graphene-powered batteries will be immune to combustion which is something that the lithium-ion battery is not yet free of, as we've seen on more than one occasion, most recently with the Chevrolet Bolt fire sage. How is this possible? The firm explains that the compound is more stable when subjected to excessive heat, as it showcases in a video demonstration. Here we see a standard lithium-ion battery burst into flames when subjected to a nail penetration test while the Graphene Organclyte battery maintains composure.
Furthermore, graphene has also been described to be a more environmentally friendly option. Nanotech assures that the material boasts improved safety, cost-efficiency, and sustainability due to its more organic nature. With this, it promises that the technology will translate to real-world benefits.
Just as importantly, graphene has been regarded as a breakthrough material because of its strength and flexibility. It has been tested to be 200 times stronger than steel while possessing 97 percent transparency which makes it a million times thinner than a human hair. Thanks to this, the material can be applied to several fields, such as transport, medicine, and electronics. Nanotech says that the production of its innovative power source is expected to commence later this year.
Source - CarBuzz