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Thames Valley Police has released crime data from September 2024 which shows that there were a total of 167 incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported. This is a reduction in the anti-social behaviour reported to police in Reading in September 2023 when 218 crimes were reported. Using our interactive map you can see what was reported in your area: Thames Valley Police marked... Nicole McBrideOasis 'massive news' being released on radio this week can be revealed now

New shoplifting data explains why they’re locking up the toothpaste

Nuclear conflict risk, Ukraine and Syria escalation: READ Lavrov’s interview with Tucker Carlson (FULL VERSION)

Strongly reacting to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's "do-or-die" protest in Islamabad, the federal ministers have termed it an "illegal and unnecessary", claiming most of the opposition party leaders and workers are "courting their arrest to avoid their participation in the so-called final call". During his visit to different areas in Islamabad on Sunday, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said that as per information came from Punjab and Islamabad, most of the former ruling party's top and low tiers leaders were voluntarily surrendering to the police for their arrest to avoid participation in the Islamabad protest. "One thing is pretty clear that the PTI's leadership does not want a release of their leader [Imran Khan] from the jail," he added. He said the PTI had only one demand which was to get an NRO-like concession for the release of their leader from the jail, but the government cannot do anything in this regard. This is the domain of the courts where the PTI is supposed to argue and fight for the release of their leader who has been facing different charges, he added. "Life in Islamabad is normal as people are taking strolls in parks and children are playing various sports at different places, but some major highways have been closed to maintain law and order in the city," he noted. He held the PTI responsible for the roads’ closure and inflicting financial damage to traders and businessmen. The PTI did not only want to derail the economy but was also hell-bent on damaging the foreign relations of Pakistan with friendly countries. Tarar said the PTI had a track record of creating chaos and anarchy, and vandalising public properties. He added the PTI had orchestrated the May 9 arson and vandalised the sensitive installations and memorials of martyrs, just to create chaos and anarchy. "Our responsibility is to ensure security in Islamabad," he said, adding the miscreants would be dealt with iron hands. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that strict action will be taken against miscreants in accordance with the law and assured that the government has taken all possible measures to protect the lives and property of citizens. Naqvi conducted an aerial visit to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Attock to review security arrangements in the three cities. He added that the administration, police, and law enforcement agencies are prepared to deal with any possible situation. In a separate press conference at the federal capital’s D-Chowk, the minister vowed action against "miscreants", adding that the police have arrested a number of protesters from the Faizabad interchange. He claimed that the PTI protesters tried to gather at the route designated for the Belarus president's convoy who is due to arrive in Islamabad on Monday (tomorrow). Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also warned the PTI that any violent protests would be met with a firm response as the state will not permit any illegal mob to attack Islamabad. Islamabad has been placed on high alert, with the government warning of zero tolerance for violent mobs, he added. Talking to a private news channel, the defence czar expressed disappointment that the PTI tends to protest whenever a foreign leader announces to visit Pakistan, adding that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur should focus on improving the law and order situation in the province. "Both government and military leadership are jointly moving the country forward," Asif stated. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar questioned PTI's repeated calls for strikes, terming them as a well-thought out conspiracy against the country's prestige. He said that the party had always announced its protests at a time when important global personalities were on their visits to Pakistan. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal also slammed the former ruling party, saying that people have rejected the elements making calls for protests and sit-ins repeatedly and today's show of the PTI will also fail. Addressing a press conference in Lahore today, the minister said no one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands and the miscreants would be dealt strictly. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said that the PTI founder has been sentenced by courts, and he can only be released through legal way and not through any sit-in and protest. Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam criticised the Imran Khan-founded party, saying that the PTI does the politics of protests and chaos and remains indifferent to people’s problems. In a news conference in Islamabad today, he said the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become precarious but the provincial government is spending the province's resources on protest demonstrations. Muqam said the former ruling party’s apathy towards the security situation in Kurram is unfortunate and the people have rejected PTI's call for protest.Target Has the Coolest Black Friday Toy Deal for GamersDonald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trollingNEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of fatally setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train used his shirt to fan the flames, causing her to become engulfed in the blaze, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, made his first court appearance and was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court. He appeared briefly before a judge and wore a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt. He did not speak. He will remain jailed ahead of his next court date on Friday. The apparently random attack occurred Sunday morning on a stationary F train at the Coney Island station in Brooklyn. Police said Tuesday that identification of the victim was still “pending at this time.” Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who was sitting motionless in the train car and may have been sleeping, and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire. Zapeta then used his shirt to fan the flames, leading to her becoming engulfed in the fire, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said on Tuesday. Zapeta then sat at a bench on the subway platform and watched, according to police. Rottenberg added that under interrogation Zapeta said he didn’t know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself to interrogators in images related to the attack. Video posted to social media appeared to show the woman standing inside the train ablaze as some people look on from the platform, and at least one officer walks by. NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said Sunday that several officers had responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be" while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers. They were eventually able to douse the fire, but “unfortunately, it was too late,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said — the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Zapeta was taken into custody Sunday afternoon while riding a train on the same subway line after police got a tip from some teenagers who recognized him from images circulated by the police. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. The shelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal immigration officials said Zapeta had been previously deported in 2018 but at some point reentered the U.S. illegally. In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the attack a “gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman” that would be “met with the most serious consequences.” The crime — and the graphic video of it that ricocheted across social media — deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system in a city where many residents take the subway multiple times each day. Overall, according to authorities, crime is down in the transit system this year when compared to last year — major felonies declined 6% between January and November of this year and in 2023, data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show. But murders are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five in the same period last year. Earlier this month, a Manhattan jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the death of an agitated subway rider that the former Marine placed in a chokehold last year. The case became a flashpoint in ongoing debates over safety, homelessness and mental illness on the system. Policing the subway is also difficult, given the vast network of trains constantly moving between the system’s 472 stations, with each stop containing multiple entry points and, in many stations, multiple floors and platforms. On Sunday, police at the station where the woman burned to death were patrolling a different area and responded after seeing and smelling smoke, authorities said.

Dave & Buster's: Fiscal Q3 Earnings SnapshotEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Snapping a franchise-record 10-game losing streak, winning for the first time at home this season and ending the Indianapolis Colts' slim playoff hopes Sunday didn't salvage the season for the New York Giants. The main positive in the 45-33 win that Drew Lock led with four touchdown passes and a late TD run was the Giants (3-13) got to walk off the field with smiles for the first time in months after a season of misery that will could lead to major changes. Another factor from the win: New York no longer has control of the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Giants coach Brian Daboll, who has had two straight losing seasons following a playoff berth in 2022 in his first year, said that he was happy the team got a chance to celebrate after losing eight straight at MetLife Stadium. “Those guys put a lot into it. They come out, they grind every day. They have good attitudes,” Daboll said. “It’s never easy when you when are losing. But I’m proud of the character and all the people in the building, and I’m mostly happy for them.” Lock, who threw two pick-6s in the loss to Atlanta a week ago, sandwiched touchdown passes of 31 and 59 yards to Malik Nabers around TD passes of 32 yards to Darius Slayton and 5 yards to Wan'Dale Robinson in leading the Giants (3-13) to their first win since beating Seattle on Oct. 6. “I've won a lot in my life,” Slayton said. "I wouldn’t say I ever forget the feeling of winning, but, you know, obviously it’s nice to get that feeling back today.” Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a 100-yard return on the second-half kickoff on a day the league's worst offense set a season high for points. Jonathan Taylor scored on runs of 3 and 26 yards for Indianapolis (7-9), while Joe Flacco, subbing for the injured Anthony Richardson, threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Alec Pierce and 7 yards to Michael Pittman, the last bringing the Colts within 35-33 with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. Lock, who finished 17 of 23 for 309 yards, clinched the game by leading a nine-play, 70-yard drive that he capped with a 5-yard run. “It’s kudos to him,” said Nabers, who now has 104 catches for 1,140 yards and six touchdowns. “He looked over the film, found some things that he could get better on and did all that through the week, and it showed how good he can be.” The 45 points were the most for New York since putting up 49 in a 52-49 loss to the Saints in 2015. It’s the Giants most in a win since a 45-14 rout against Washington in 2014 and most at home since a 52-27 win against the Saints in 2012. The No. 6 overall pick in the draft, Nabers finished with seven catches for a career-high 171 yards. “That’s why we drafted him, where we drafted him,” Daboll said. “I’ve been asked about it since training camp and I think the response has been, ‘He’s a pretty good football player.’” Flacco was 26 of 38 for 330 yards with two interceptions, the second by rookie Dru Phillips shortly after Lock's TD run. Taylor, who rushed for 218 yards in a win over Tennessee last week, finished with 125 yards on 32 carries. Pierce had six catches for 122 yards. The Colts came into the game needing to win their final two games and also get help to make the playoffs. “We had something to play for today and obviously we didn’t get it done," Flacco said. The Colts haven't made the playoffs since posting an 11-5 record in 2020. “It's hard to explain,” said Colts coach Shane Steichen, who led the team to a 9-8 record in his first season in 2023. “We had to play a complete game. We haven’t done it all year. We have to be on the same page, and to go out there like that is obviously not good enough.” Nabers and running back Tyrone Tracy become the third pair of rookies to have more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the same season. The previous duo was running back Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston of the Saints in 2006. Colts: Richardson was inactive with foot and back injuries sustained against Tennessee. Giants: DL Armon Watts (knee) was ruled out in the first half. Colts: Finish the regular season by hosting Jacksonville. Giants: At Philadelphia to face Saquon Barkley and the Eagles. AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

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France has a new government, again. Politics and crushing debt complicate next stepsGreen Bay's recent dominance on defense has Packers believing they can make a deep playoff runAmanda Hernández | (TNS) Stateline.org CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a report last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. Related Articles National News | Bill Clinton is out of the hospital after being treated for the flu National News | NORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids National News | Heavy travel day off to a rough start after American Airlines briefly grounds all flights National News | Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case against Alec Baldwin in fatal movie set shooting National News | Judge rules Arkansas law allowing criminal charges against librarians is unconstitutional The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans still say crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest report attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It retracted a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom signed an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan bill making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar bill during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is notoriously difficult , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. Stateline staff writer Robbie Sequeira contributed to this report. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Donald Trump is returning to the world stage. So is his trolling

VICTORIA - British Columbia Premier David Eby says Canada’s premiers and the federal government have hatched a game plan over possible U.S. tariffs, where Conservative premiers lobby their Republican counterparts and left-leaning leaders court the Democrats, while the federal government focuses on president-elect Donald Trump. Eby says the premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked about using their political diversity and connections to approach politicians and business leaders in the United States, as talks over Trump’s proposed 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico ramp up. He says it has been discussed that Conservative premiers Danielle Smith in Alberta, Doug Ford in Ontario and Nova Scotia’s Tim Houston are well-placed to lobby their contacts with Republican governors and business leaders. In a year-end interview, Eby says as a New Democrat leader he will likely have more in common speaking with Democrat governors and business leaders from the West Coast states. He says Canada’s diversity of representation, ranging from the right and left sides of the political spectrum, can bring leverage and advantages in tariff talks. Eby also says — if it is deemed helpful — he is prepared to appear on American’s right-leaning Fox News TV network as did premiers Ford and Smith. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Tim Houston’s first name was John.Amanda Hernández | (TNS) Stateline.org CHICAGO — Shoplifting rates in the three largest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — remain higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a report last month from the nonpartisan research group Council on Criminal Justice. Related Articles National News | Bill Clinton is out of the hospital after being treated for the flu National News | NORAD’s Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids National News | Heavy travel day off to a rough start after American Airlines briefly grounds all flights National News | Prosecutors withdraw appeal of dismissed case against Alec Baldwin in fatal movie set shooting National News | Judge rules Arkansas law allowing criminal charges against librarians is unconstitutional The sharp rise in retail theft in recent years has made shoplifting a hot-button issue, especially for politicians looking to address public safety concerns in their communities. Since 2020, when viral videos of smash-and-grab robberies flooded social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans have expressed fears that crime is out of control. Polls show that perceptions have improved recently, but a majority of Americans still say crime is worse than in previous years. “There is this sense of brazenness that people have — they can just walk in and steal stuff. ... That hurts the consumer, and it hurts the company,” said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, in an interview. “That’s just the world we live in,” he said. “We need to get people to realize that you have to obey the law.” At least eight states — Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York and Vermont — passed a total of 14 bills in 2024 aimed at tackling retail theft, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The measures range from redefining retail crimes and adjusting penalties to allowing cross-county aggregation of theft charges and protecting retail workers. Major retailers have responded to rising theft since 2020 by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms and even closing stores. Still, the report indicates that shoplifting remains a stubborn problem. In Chicago, the rate of reported shoplifting incidents remained below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023 — but surged by 46% from January to October 2024 compared with the same period a year ago. Shoplifting in Los Angeles was 87% higher in 2023 than in 2019. Police reports of shoplifting from January to October 2024 were lower than in 2023. Los Angeles adopted a new crime reporting system in March 2024, which has likely led to an undercount, according to the report. In New York, shoplifting rose 48% from 2021 to 2022, then dipped slightly last year. Still, the shoplifting rate was 55% higher in 2023 than in 2019. This year, the shoplifting rate increased by 3% from January to September compared with the same period last year. While shoplifting rates tend to rise in November and December, which coincides with in-person holiday shopping, data from the Council on Criminal Justice’s sample of 23 U.S. cities shows higher rates in the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. Researchers found it surprising that rates went up despite retailers doing more to fight shoplifting. Experts say the spike might reflect improved reporting efforts rather than a spike in theft. “As retailers have been paying more attention to shoplifting, we would not expect the numbers to increase,” said Ernesto Lopez, the report’s author and a senior research specialist with the council. “It makes it a challenge to understand the trends of shoplifting.” In downtown Chicago on a recent early afternoon, potential shoppers shuffled through the streets and nearby malls, browsing for gifts ahead of the holidays. Edward Johnson, a guard at The Shops at North Bridge, said that malls have become quieter in the dozen or so years he has worked in mall security, with the rise of online retailers. As for shoplifters, Johnson said there isn’t a single type of person to look out for — they can come from any background. “I think good-hearted people see something they can’t afford and figure nothing is lost if they take something from the store,” Johnson said as he patrolled the mall, keeping an eye out for lost or suspicious items. Between 2018 and 2023, most shoplifting in Chicago was reported in the downtown area, as well as in the Old Town, River North and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, according to a separate analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice. Newly sworn-in Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke this month lowered the threshold for charging retail theft as a felony in the county, which includes Chicago, from $1,000 to $300, aligning it with state law. “It sends a signal that she’s taking it seriously,” Rob Karr, the president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told Stateline. Nationally, retailers are worried about organized theft. The National Retail Federation’s latest report attributed 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost merchandise in 2022 to “external theft,” which includes organized retail crime. Organized retail crime typically involves coordinated efforts by groups to steal items with the intent to resell them for a profit. Commonly targeted goods include high-demand items such as baby formula, laundry detergent and electronics. The same report found that retailers’ fear of violence associated with theft also is on the rise, with more retailers taking a “hands-off approach.” More than 41% of respondents to the organization’s 2023 survey, up from 38% in 2022, reported that no employee is authorized to try and stop a shoplifter. (The federation’s reporting has come under criticism. It retracted a claim last year that attributed nearly half of lost merchandise in 2021 to organized retail crime; such theft accounted for only about 5%. The group announced this fall it will no longer publish its reports on lost merchandise.) Policy experts say shoplifting and organized retail theft can significantly harm critical industries, drive up costs for consumers and reduce sales tax revenue for states. Those worries have driven recent state-level action to boost penalties for shoplifting. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of 10 bills into law in August aimed at addressing retail theft. These measures make repeated theft convictions a felony, allow aggregation of crimes across multiple counties to be charged as a single felony, and permit police to arrest suspects for retail theft even if the crime wasn’t witnessed directly by an officer. In September, Newsom signed an additional bill that imposes steeper felony penalties for large-scale theft offenses. California voters also overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November that increases penalties for specific drug-related and theft crimes. Under the new law, people who are convicted of theft at least twice may face felony charges on their third offense, regardless of the stolen item’s value. “With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting,” Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, told Stateline. “That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.” In New Jersey, a bipartisan bill making its way through the legislature would increase penalties for leading a shoplifting ring and allow extended sentences for repeat offenders. “This bill is going after a formally organized band of criminals that deliver such destruction to a critical business in our community. We have to act. We have to create a deterrence,” Democratic Assemblymember Joseph Danielsen, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said in an interview with Stateline. The legislation would allow extended sentences for people convicted of shoplifting three times within 10 years or within 10 years of their release from prison, and would increase penalties to 10 to 20 years in prison for leading a retail crime ring. The bill also would allow law enforcement to aggregate the value of stolen goods over the course of a year to charge serial shoplifters with more serious offenses. Additionally, the bill would increase penalties for assaults committed against retail workers, and would require retailers to train employees on detecting gift card scams. Maryland legislators considered a similar bill during this year’s legislative session that would have defined organized retail theft and made it a felony. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Alliance, said the group plans to propose a bill during next year’s legislative session that would target gift card fraud. Better, more thorough reporting from retailers is essential to truly understanding shoplifting trends and its full impact, in part because some retail-related crimes, such as gift card fraud, are frequently underreported, according to Lopez, of the Council on Criminal Justice. Measuring crime across jurisdictions is notoriously difficult , and the council does not track organized retail theft specifically because law enforcement typically doesn’t identify it as such at the time of arrest — if an arrest even occurs — requiring further investigation, Lopez said. The council’s latest report found conflicting trends in the FBI’s national crime reporting systems. The FBI’s older system, the Summary Reporting System, known as SRS, suggests that reported shoplifting hadn’t gone up through 2023, remaining on par with 2019 levels. In contrast, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, shows a 93% increase in shoplifting over the same period. The discrepancy may stem from the type of law enforcement agencies that have adopted the latter system, Lopez said. Some of those communities may have higher levels of shoplifting or other types of property crime, which could be what is driving the spike, Lopez said. Despite the discrepancies and varying levels of shoplifting across the country, Lopez said, it’s important for retailers to report these incidents, as doing so could help allocate law enforcement resources more effectively. “All law enforcement agencies have limited resources, and having the most accurate information allows for not just better policy, but also better implementation — better use of strategic resources,” Lopez said. Stateline staff writer Robbie Sequeira contributed to this report. ©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

47-year-old charged in October collision that killed Sarnia pedestrianMELBOURNE, Australia and INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited TLX TLX Telix, the Company) today announces that it has submitted its Biologics License Application (BLA) to the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for TLX250-CDx (Zircaix® 1 , 89 Zr- girentuximab) kidney cancer imaging 2 . TLX250-CDx is an investigational PET 3 drug product for the non-invasive diagnosis and characterization of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common and aggressive form of kidney cancer. If approved, TLX250-CDx will be the first and only targeted PET agent specifically for kidney cancer to be commercially available in the U.S., further building on Telix's successful urology imaging franchise. The FDA is expected to advise the PDUFA 4 goal date following the 60-day administrative review of the application. Kevin Richardson, Chief Executive Officer, Precision Medicine at Telix, stated, "We are pleased to be progressing the BLA for TLX250-CDx, which has been granted Breakthrough designation, and may therefore be eligible for priority review. Telix continues to target a full U.S. commercial launch in 2025 addressing a major unmet medical need for patients with suspected ccRCC." About TLX250-CDx TLX250-CDx (Zircaix® 1 ) is an investigational PET agent that is under development for the diagnosis and characterization of ccRCC. Telix's pivotal Phase III ZIRCON trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03849118 ) evaluating TLX250-CDx in 300 patients, of whom 284 were evaluable, met all primary and secondary endpoints, including showing 86% sensitivity and 87% specificity and a 93% positive-predictive value for ccRCC across three independent radiology readers 5 . Telix believes this demonstrated the ability of TLX250-CDx to reliably detect the clear cell phenotype and provide an accurate, non-invasive method for diagnosing and characterizing ccRCC. Confidence intervals exceeded expectations amongst all three readers, showing evidence of high accuracy and consistency of interpretation. About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Telix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals and associated medical technologies. Telix is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with international operations in the United States, Europe (Belgium and Switzerland), and Japan. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical and commercial stage products that aims to address significant unmet medical needs in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange TLX and the Nasdaq Global Select Market TLX . Telix's lead imaging product, gallium-68 ( 68 Ga) gozetotide injection (also known as 68 Ga PSMA-11 and marketed under the brand name Illuccix®), has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 6 , by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) 7 , and by Health Canada 8 . No other Telix product has received a marketing authorization in any jurisdiction. Visit www.telixpharma.com for further information about Telix, including details of the latest share price, announcements made to the ASX, investor and analyst presentations, news releases, event details and other publications that may be of interest. You can also follow Telix on X and LinkedIn . Telix Investor Relations Ms. Kyahn Williamson Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited SVP Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Email: kyahn.williamson@telixpharma.com This announcement has been authorised for release by the Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Disclosure Committee on behalf of the Board. Legal Notices You should read this announcement together with our risk factors, as disclosed in our most recently filed reports with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our registration statement on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, or on our website. The information contained in this announcement is not intended to be an offer for subscription, invitation or recommendation with respect to securities of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (Telix) in any jurisdiction, including the United States. The information and opinions contained in this announcement are subject to change without notification. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Telix disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any information or opinions contained in this announcement, including any forward-looking statements (as referred to below), whether as a result of new information, future developments, a change in expectations or assumptions, or otherwise. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained or opinions expressed in the course of this announcement. This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "outlook", "forecast" and "guidance", or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on Telix's good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other risks and considerations that exist and affect Telix's business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix's business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress and results of Telix's preclinical and clinical trials, and Telix's research and development programs; Telix's ability to advance product candidates into, enrol and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals for Telix's product candidates, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; Telix's sales, marketing and distribution and manufacturing capabilities and strategies; the commercialisation of Telix's product candidates, if or when they have been approved; Telix's ability to obtain an adequate supply of raw materials at reasonable costs for its products and product candidates; estimates of Telix's expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix's financial performance; developments relating to Telix's competitors and industry; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix's product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix's actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. ©2024 Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited. The Telix Pharmaceuticals®, Illuccix® and Zircaix® 1 names and logos are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates – all rights reserved. 1 Brand name subject to final regulatory approval. 2 Telix ASX disclosure 31 July 2024. The FDA requested additional data demonstrating adequate sterility assurance during dispensing of TLX250-CDx in the radiopharmacy production environment. 3 Positron emission tomography. 4 Prescription Drug User Fee Act. 5 Shuch et al. Lancet Oncol. 2024. Telix ASX disclosures 7 November 2022. 6 Telix ASX disclosure 20 December 2021. 7 Telix ASX disclosure 2 November 2021. 8 Telix ASX disclosure 14 October 2022. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.