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Bird flu emergency response ends, CDC says (MRNA:NASDAQ) – Seeking Alpha
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Hate exercise? Neuroscience maps the routine your personality will love
The key to sticking to and reaping the rewards of exercise over the long term may be as simple as doing something you enjoy, say the authors of a new study from UCL.
Previous research has shown that the personalities of people who engage in different types of organized sport tend to vary. But what is less clear is how personality affects the types of exercise people actually enjoy doing.
The new study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, explored whether individual personality traits corresponded to the enjoyment of different types of exercise, whether participants completed a prescribed exercise program, and the subsequent impact on their fitness levels.
The study found several correlations between exercise type and personality traits, including extroverts’ enjoyment of high intensity exercise and the preference of those with the neuroticism trait – associated with people prone to worrying – for short bursts of activity rather than prolonged effort.
Dr Flaminia Ronca, first author of the study from UCL Surgery & Interventional Science and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH), said: “We know that the global population is becoming increasingly sedentary. You often hear about people trying to become more active, but struggling to make lasting changes. In this study, we wanted to understand how personality can influence this to support the development of effective interventions for changes in health behavior.
“We found some clear links between personality traits and the type of exercise the participants enjoyed most, which I think is important because we could potentially use this knowledge to tailor physical activity recommendations to the individual – and hopefully help them to become and remain more active.”
For the study, the team assessed 132 volunteers from the general public with a range of fitness levels and backgrounds, who were assigned either to an eight-week cycling and strength training program (intervention group), or to a resting control group1.
Participants’ benchmark fitness levels were assessed at the beginning of the programme. Strength was tested via press ups, performing a plank to failure, and countermovement jumps (jumping again immediately after landing). This was followed by a low intensity cycling session for 30 minutes, and then a cycling test to measure their peak oxygen capacity (V̇O2 max test) after a short rest.
The team also assessed their perceived stress levels on a scale of one to 10, as well as their personality traits using the Big 5 model, a common personality test in the field of sport and exercise psychology. The Big 5 model groups individuals according to whether their dominant trait is extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism or openness2.
During the exercise programme, participants were asked to rate their enjoyment of each exercise session, before having their fitness level tested again once the program had been completed.
Of the 132 starters, 86 people completed the intervention and all of these participants got fitter and stronger regardless of personality.
How personality trait influences exercise enjoyment
While not all personality traits had a link to exercise enjoyment, several connections were uncovered by the study.
Extroverts tended to particularly enjoy high intensity exercise, such as high intensity interval training (HIIT) and a fitness test of maximum intensity cycling.
Those with a strong neuroticism trait engaged well with the exercise intervention, but preferred bursts of intensity rather than prolonged intensity. They also preferred not being monitored, such as not recording their heart rate while undertaking the program, suggesting that these individuals might appreciate being given space for independence and privacy when engaging in exercise.
Those who were conscientious tended to have a well-rounded fitness level, meaning that they tended to score more highly on aerobic fitness as well as core strength, and were generally more physically active. However, conscientiousness didn’t predict higher enjoyment of a specific form of exercise. The authors say this might be because conscientious individuals tend to be driven by the health-related outcomes of engaging in physical activity rather than enjoyment, suggesting that adherence to the program may be less about enjoyment than because it was ‘good for them’.
The impact of personality and exercise on stress
At the beginning of the study, the stress levels of the intervention group and the control group were similar. However, the only group to experience a significant reduction in stress levels after exercising were those who scored highly in the neuroticism trait.
Professor Paul Burgess, an author of the study from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, said: “We found that people who scored more highly in the neuroticism personality trait showed a particularly strong reduction in stress when they undertook the fitness training recommended in the study. This suggests that there may be particular benefits in stress reduction for those with this trait.”
The researchers concluded that the most important thing people can do to improve their activity levels is to find something that they enjoy, which will make it more likely that they’ll stick with it.
Notes
- The program consisted of:
- Three weekly cycling sessions of varying intensity: a 60-minute light ride at an easy pace, a 30 min threshold ride at a moderate but sustainable effort, or a High Intensity Interval Training session where the level of exertion varied.
- One weekly bodyweight strength session.
- The five traits measured in The Big 5 model are:
- Extroversion: how energetic, outgoing, and sociable an individual is, including how much they seek company and stimulation.
- Agreeableness: Involves attributes related to cooperation, trust, compassion, and a considerate nature toward others.
- Conscientiousness: Reflects traits like orderliness, reliability, and the drive to achieve goals through careful planning and persistence.
- Neuroticism: Measures emotional stability and the tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, mood swings, or irritability.
- Openness: Describes a person’s willingness to try new experiences, curiosity about the world, and imagination.
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- The program consisted of:
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Quetta ATC sends Mahrang, other BYC activists on 10-day physical remand – Pakistan
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta on Tuesday handed Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief Dr Mahrang Baloch and other organisers of the group into police custody for 10 days, extending their three-month detention.
In March, Mahrang and other BYC members were arrested for “attacking” the Quetta Civil Hospital and “inciting people to violence”, a day after the group faced a police crackdown while protesting against alleged enforced disappearances. The BYC is a Baloch advocacy group working against enforced disappearances since 2018.
Mahrang has been held at the Hudda District Prison in Quetta under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) — a law that empowers authorities to arrest and detain individuals suspected of posing a threat to public order.
Mahrang’s counsel, Advocate Israr Baloch, told Dawn.com that the BYC organiser and five other activists were presented before Judge Saadat Bazai, who approved the state prosecutor’s request for their 10-day physical remand.
The other activists were Gulzadi, Bebow Baloch, Sibghatullah Shahji, Ghaffar Baloch and Beberg Baloch. Advocate Shoaib Baloch also appeared in the court as their lawyer.
The BYC members were presented in the court in “four different” first information reports (FIRs) after the last extension in their MPO detention expired, Israr added.
Advocate Jibran Nasir, who has served as Mahrang’s counsel in a case last month, shared with Dawn.com the FIR numbers provided by Mahrang’s family of the four cases.
According to a BHC judgment from May provided by Nasir, the FIRs included those registered at the Civil Lines police station on March 19 for storming the Civil Hospital and at Brewery police station on March 2 for blocking the Western Bypass Road in Quetta.
Mahrang was taken into custody under MPO for a period of 30 days (first term) on March 22. Thereafter, her detention was extended for an additional 30 days (second term) through a decision of the Balochistan Home Department in April.
After the BYC leaders had completed three months in custody last month, the provincial government issued a fourth extension order, extending their imprisonment by another 15 days.
Referring to that, Nasir said in a post on Instagram: “After the state ran out of ways to exploit colonial MPO laws the liberty of the BYC leaders is now being infringed by exploiting the ATC and penal laws.”
“Expect long remands, delayed hearing of bail applications, likely dismissal of bail from ATC and when bail would finally be granted, expect another arrest and transfer to another district jail in another,” the renowned rights lawyer wrote.
BYC member Sammi Deen Baloch, in a post on X, called it a “matter of concern” that activists were being taken to court without evidence.
“Such actions not only cause the state to lose its credibility but also render its own legal and judicial system ineffective and meaningless,” she added.
While the BYC is not listed among banned organisations by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Mahrang is included on its list of proscribed persons.
Constitutional petitions seeking the release of Mahrang and two other activists were rejected by the Balochistan High Court (BHC) in May.
Subsequently, Mahrang’s sister Nadia Baloch appealed the Supreme Court in June against the BHC decision.
The petition alleged that her repeated unlawful detention and labelling her as a “sympathiser of militants” was a planned effort by the respondents to stop her from raising her voice for missing persons.
The same month, the Kech chapter of the BYC launched a three-day hunger strike in front of the Turbat Press Club in protest of the leadership’s arrests.
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Pakistan to deploy AI, global experts in push to modernize agriculture
Pakistan’s retailers, struggling against foreign sellers, welcome new e-commerce taxes
KARACHI: Pakistan’s imposition of new taxes on international e-commerce giants such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress is drawing relief from local retailers, who say the foreign firms have been operating in the country without paying taxes, thus undercutting domestic businesses.
The new measures, introduced through the federal budget passed on June 26, include an 18% sales tax on goods delivered by courier companies on behalf of foreign platforms, a 5 percent fixed income tax on digital retailers, and a reduction in the duty-free threshold for imported parcels from Rs5,000 to Rs500 ($18 to $1.80).
The tax regime took effect on July 1.
“This is a very welcome move by the government to have brought the international platforms into the tax net,” Malik Asim Dogar, secretary-general of the Chainstore Association of Pakistan (CAP), told Arab News.
The policy, he said, would ease the burden on domestic retailers, prevent inflows of “inexpensive but substandard” goods, and help Pakistan’s cash-strapped government raise tax revenue.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration has pledged to collect over Rs14 trillion ($49.3 billion) in taxes this fiscal year, partly to meet targets under a $7 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund.
Until now, foreign e-commerce platforms had been selling directly to Pakistani consumers, often via social media, without being subject to local tax laws. Formal retail chains in Karachi such as Imtiaz, Chase Up, and Naheed — already paying up to 25% in taxes — said they had struggled to compete with tax-exempt imports offering cheaper prices.
A Temu representative did not respond to questions, while Shein and AliExpress could not be reached. Pakistani courier giant TCS also did not reply to questions about delivery volumes from foreign e-commerce sellers.
CAP estimates Pakistan’s retail sector includes about 5 million shops, generating Rs20 trillion ($70.5 billion) annually, of which only 10% comes from the tax-compliant formal sector.
Daily parcel volumes from foreign platforms have surged from around 1,000 per day in 2023 to between 20,000 and 30,000 this year — a rise of nearly 2,900%, according to internal figures from local courier companies shared by CAP.
“What we have seen is that on a daily basis, tens of thousands of shipments are coming into the country,” CAP chairman Asfandyar Farrukh said. “People order online on these platforms through social media or other websites. All these products are coming into Pakistan.”
Farrukh said the most affected segments include domestic sellers of crockery, home goods, small electronics, and casual clothing, who had reported sales declines of up to 10% in the past six months.
CAP’s Dogar said the lack of regulation previously created an “unfair playing field” for local retailers.
But Shankar Talreja, head of research at brokerage firm Topline Securities, said the new taxes would address a long-standing complaint of local retailers.
“This was an unfair advantage to the importers,” Talreja told Arab News. “Now that a certain percentage of tax is applied to the products sold by foreign vendors, the domestic sellers will get some level-playing field.”
Talreja noted Pakistan’s growing Internet penetration — with over 80% teledensity — was already fueling e-commerce, even if it still accounts for less than 1% of the overall retail market.
Retailers themselves are shifting to digital platforms, albeit reluctantly.
“Nowadays, we are seeing that most of the footfall on digital platforms and online shopping is of those who are young in age and more savvy digitally,” said Salman Bashir, CEO of Chase Up, one of Pakistan’s largest retail chains.
“We as well as the whole retail sector will have to bring this change into their companies.”
However, Bashir expressed skepticism about whether the new tax measures would be properly enforced.
“These [taxes] haven’t been implemented even if they stand passed,” he said, speaking two days after the budget became law on July 2.
Dogar and Talreja echoed his concerns, pointing to implementation hurdles in assigning tax collection duties to banks and courier companies.
Under the new rules, financial institutions are required to withhold a portion of remittances made to foreign sellers. Courier firms are also expected to collect sales tax at the point of delivery — a move some say is burdensome and unrealistic.
“The responsibility to collect these taxes has been put on courier companies, which would very much affect their business operations,” Dogar said.
Talreja warned that enforcement could falter without better coordination.
“The courier companies often do not have visibility into whether the seller is registered as a local or foreign. Couriers are logistics firms, not tax collection agents by design,” he said.
“This will increase their administrative work, hence the motivation to work in this aspect would be lower.”Continue Reading
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New Campaign Provides Critical Support and Resources to Families Across the Country Facing Common Lung Disease
CHICAGO, July 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The American Lung Association is launching a new campaign to support and empower individuals living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in rural and other communities across the U.S.
Approximately 16 million people are living with COPD in the United States, a chronic, progressive lung disease that limits air flow and causes difficulty breathing. There is no cure for COPD; however, there are treatments—including supplemental oxygen, inhalers and medication, and lifestyle changes—that can improve daily symptoms and quality of life. Unfortunately, many people with lower incomes and education levels face barriers to optimal treatment and care. This includes individuals living in rural areas where COPD rates are twice that of those in urban communities, resulting in more hospitalizations and deaths.
The Lung Association’s Living Well with COPD campaign provides free one-on-one COPD support, education and resources tailored for every stage of the disease. The campaign is created for all families across the U.S. affected by COPD, with a focus on people in rural communities who may not be close to physical hospitals and other resources.
“Living well with COPD requires an evolving treatment plan, regular visits with a healthcare provider, and lifestyle modifications that can help you breathe better,” said Harold Wimmer, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, many individuals, especially those living in rural communities, lack the support and access to essential care and resources that could greatly enhance their daily lives. For these individuals and their families, the Lung Association can help.”
Working with rural partners and referral networks, along with local healthcare providers, the Lung Association is:
- Expanding access to the free Lung Health Navigator program. Lung Health Navigators are licensed healthcare professionals, including registered nurses and respiratory therapists, who offer free and customized one-on-one support to help people throughout their COPD journey. People can meet with a Lung Health Navigator over the phone, through an online chat, or a video call, depending on an individual’s preference and schedule. To connect with a Lung Health Navigator, call 866-252-2959, or visit Lung.org/navigator.
- Creating and distributing new educational materials for people with COPD to empower them to improve communication with their healthcare provider, better understand available COPD treatments, and improve their quality of life.
- Supporting rural and other healthcare providers to improve COPD care, better understand COPD treatment options, and build strong, trusting relationships with their patients.
For more information, contact the Lung Association’s HelpLine at 1-800-LUNGUSA. To learn more about COPD, visit Lung.org/copd.
Support for the Living Well with COPD educational campaign was provided by Sanofi and Regeneron, AstraZeneca, Genentech and GlaxoSmithKline.
About the American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, which has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and is a Platinum-Level GuideStar Member, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org. To support the work of the American Lung Association, find a local event at Lung.org/events or donate today at Lung.org/donate.American Lung Association • 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150 • Chicago, IL 60601
1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste. 1425 North • Washington, D.C. 20004
1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) Lung.orgCONTACTS:
Jill Dale | American Lung Association
P: 312-940-7001 M: 720-438-8289E: [email protected]SOURCE American Lung Association
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Dentons advises Ninja on landmark US$254 million investment round – Dentons
- Dentons advises Ninja on landmark US$254 million investment round Dentons
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A deep-space navigation first, from New Horizons
The New Horizons spacecraft, which has left the solar system, beamed back images that have led to the first test of deep-space navigation. That is, New Horizons imaged 2 stars, which astronomers then used to pinpoint the spacecraft’s location in the galaxy. Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet are hosting this New Scientist podcast. The guest is guest Alex Wilkins. Watch in the player above, or on YouTube.The New Horizons Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt published this article on June 30, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.
Figuring out how far and where a spacecraft has traveled usually requires accurate radio tracking from Earth. But NASA’s New Horizons team has used the spacecraft – now more than 5 billion miles (8 billion km) from Earth – to demonstrate that it’s possible to determine a craft’s direction and distance via the examination of its images of star fields. This is the first true demonstration of interstellar navigation, made possible because New Horizons has now traveled far enough away.
Tod Lauer, an astrophysicist and New Horizons science team member from the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, explained:
As a spacecraft travels deeper into space, the positions of the stars seen from its location begin to shift, in contrast to where they are seen from Earth. A spacecraft voyaging out into the Milky Way can measure these shifts, which are due to an effect called parallax.
A paper describing the results was accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.
A preprint is available on arXiv: A Demonstration of Interstellar Navigation Using New Horizons
They used these 2 stars
In 2020, the New Horizons science team obtained images of the starfields around the nearby stars Proxima Centauri (top) and Wolf 359 (below). The team obtained images from the spacecraft, and, simultaneously, from Earth. More recent and sophisticated analyses of the exact positions of the 2 stars in these images enable the team to deduce New Horizons’ 3-dimensional position relative to nearby stars. Thus they accomplished the first use of stars imaged directly from a spacecraft to provide its navigational fix. It was also the first demonstration of interstellar navigation via a spacecraft on an interstellar trajectory. This 2-frame animation of Proxima Centauri blinks back and forth between the New Horizons and Earth images. Image via NASA. 
This 2-frame animation of Wolf 359 blinks back and forth, between New Horizons images and those obtained at Earth. Image via NASA. Deep-space navigation, part 1
Since its launch in 2006, New Horizons has been on a trajectory that brought it past Pluto and then Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth. Eventually, its path will take it out of the solar system, into interstellar space, over the next decade.
In 2020, Lauer led the New Horizons science team in an effort to obtain images of the starfields around the nearby stars Proxima Centauri (top) and Wolf 359. They obtained the images simultaneously from New Horizons and from Earth. This program vividly demonstrated New Horizons’ change in perspective.
Lauer worked with retired Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher David Munro and members of the New Horizons team and external collaborators on this project. They used more recent and sophisticated analyses of the exact positions of the two stars in those 2020 images to deduce New Horizons’ 3-dimensional position relative to nearby stars.
They thereby accomplished the first use of stars imaged directly from a spacecraft to provide its navigational fix.
Deep-space navigation, part 2
It was also the first demonstration of interstellar navigation by any spacecraft on an interstellar trajectory. The principal investigator for New Horizons, Alan Stern from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said:
This pioneering interstellar navigation demonstration and its accompanying publication show that a deep-space mission can use its onboard imaging system to find its way among the stars.
While for New Horizons, this method isn’t as accurate as NASA’s sophisticated tracking from Earth, it could be highly useful for future deep space missions in the far reaches of the solar system and in interstellar space.
The New Horizons spacecraft. Image via NASA. More details
NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is used to track most interplanetary spacecraft, including New Horizons. Engineers use the precise time it takes DSN signals, traveling at the speed of light, to reach the spacecraft to make highly accurate distance measurements.
Simultaneous ranging from two DSN stations, located 180 degrees apart on Earth, provides a precise direction to the spacecraft.
A separate project obtained precise positions with respect to X-ray pulsars in the Milky Way. That project had demonstrated spacecraft navigation for craft in low orbit around the Earth. But New Horizons provided a first for a deep space mission.
In standard celestial navigation, the stars are assumed to be in fixed locations. But in interstellar navigation, one determines how the nearby stars have appeared to shift against more distant stars to establish the spacecraft’s location in all three dimensions.
In contrast, for navigation with DSN, the position of the spacecraft remains linked to and dependent on knowing the location of Earth.
The April 2020 demonstration
Pure interstellar navigation, like what New Horizons demonstrated, is based on the ultra-precise 3D map of the Milky Way from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission.
Images obtained with New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) captured the positions of Proxima Centauri and Wolf 349 relative to much more distant background stars. Two stars are required to determine position; significantly, Proxima Centauri and Wolf 349 are positioned almost 90 degrees apart in the sky, providing nearly optimal leverage to determine New Horizons’ location.
During the April 2020 demonstration, New Horizons was 46.9 times the distance of the Earth to the sun – about 4.36 billion miles (7.02 billion km) – and would appear to be in the constellation Sagittarius, close to the center of the Milky Way, as seen from Earth.
New Horizons on April 23, 2020
View larger. | Location of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on April 23, 2020, derived from the spacecraft’s own images of the Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 starfields. The positions of Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 are strongly displaced compared to distant stars from where they are seen on Earth. The position of Proxima Centauri seen from New Horizons means the spacecraft must be somewhere on the red line, while the observed position of Wolf 359 means that the spacecraft must be somewhere on the blue line – putting New Horizons approximately where the two lines appear to “intersect” (in the real 3 dimensions involved, the lines don’t actually intersect, but do pass close to each other). The white line marks the accurate Deep Space Network-tracked trajectory of New Horizons since its launch in 2006. The lines on the New Horizons trajectory denote years since launch. The orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are shown. Distances are from the center of the solar system in astronomical units (AU), where 1 AU is the average distance between the sun and Earth. Image via NASA/ Johns Hopkins APL /SwRI /Matthew Wallace /New Horizons Mission. The dawn of deep-space navigation
Lauer’s team cautions that the accuracy of this first demonstration of interstellar navigation is limited. That’s because of LORRI’s relatively low angular resolution; the imager was not developed to obtain ultra-precise positions of stars. The range to New Horizons estimated from the stellar imagery was roughly close to the actual distance. It showed 47.1 times the Earth-sun distance, in contrast to the DSN-derived distance of 46.9 times. Plus, its direction on the sky was accurate to a patch a little smaller than the scale of the full moon as seen from Earth. Lauer added:
The measurements were within our expected range of uncertainty for LORRI, but future deep space missions with high-resolution navigation imagers should be able to achieve dramatically better positions, using this same technique.
Bottom line: NASA’s New Horizons team has used the spacecraft – now more than 5 billion miles (8 billion km) from Earth – to demonstrate that it’s possible to determine a craft’s direction and distance via the examination of its images of star fields. This is the first true demonstration of interstellar navigation, made possible because New Horizons has now traveled far enough away.
Source: A Demonstration of Interstellar Navigation Using New Horizons
Via New Horizons Mission
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Virtual AI Assistant To Help Power TD Securities
TD set to launch Generative AI pilot designed to save colleagues time and enhance client interactions
TORONTO, July 8, 2025 /CNW/ – Today, TD Bank Group (“TD” or the “Bank”) announced the launch of the TD Securities Artificial Intelligence (AI) Virtual Assistant, a proprietary generative AI-powered chatbot. Initially launching as a pilot, the TDS AI Virtual Assistant is designed to help augment the productivity and effectiveness of TD Securities (“TDS”) Front Office Institutional Sales, Trading, and Research professionals. By streamlining daily tasks, the virtual assistant will help to significantly enhance the value these colleagues can bring to their client interactions.
The TDS AI Virtual Assistant, a type of Knowledge Management System (“KMS”), is an internal chatbot designed to help employees efficiently retrieve, aggregate and synthesize vast amounts of information into concise context-aware summaries and insights to help colleagues to answer client inquiries with increased efficiency and speed.
Using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), the virtual assistant searches internal TDS research documents, interpreting, analyzing, and summarizing key points to respond effectively to user prompts. It also employs Text-to-SQL functionality to convert conversational queries into SQL queries, which are then executed against the data repository to gather and synthesize results into summary tables and visual plots as needed to provide timely market information. Once implemented, this virtual assistant is designed to save front office colleagues time, allowing them to focus on strategic client engagement and decision-making.
“We’re excited about the potential that the TDS AI Virtual Assistant brings to the TD Securities team,” said Dan Charney, Executive Vice President, Vice Chair and Head, Global Markets, TD Securities. “This isn’t just another tool—it’s a meaningful step toward the future of how we work, that was built by traders, for traders. In a world that’s moving faster every day, we’re focused on giving our people smarter ways to cut through complexity and stay ahead. By combining human expertise with powerful technology, we’re unlocking new possibilities—for our teams, and ultimately, for our clients.”
Key Features of the TDS AI Virtual Assistant include:
- Productivity Boost: Reduces information overload by automating information gathering and summarization, allowing teams to focus on more strategic analyses and client engagement.
- Capital Markets Native: Understands nuanced industry specific language and context.
- Trust and Reliability: Every insight is returned with direct citations to the source material, allowing for rapid verification by the users.
“The TDS AI Virtual Assistant represents a significant development in our evolution of how we are helping revolutionize experiences for our colleagues and clients by operationalizing new technologies such as GenAI at the Bank,” said Dan Bosman, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, TD Securities & Payments. “We have been methodical in rolling out Knowledge Management Systems across the organization as these platforms are critical in developing capabilities for colleagues and enhancing experiences for customers. The strong collaboration between our technology groups, Layer6 and Enterprise Innovation teams has been instrumental in achieving these important milestones.”
The launch of this virtual assistant is the result of the Bank’s investment in cutting edge research translated into application, driven by multiple teams across the Bank. TD recently announced TD AI Prism, a new AI foundation model, the goal of which is to help redefine how the Bank predicts customer needs to help personalize their banking experiences. TD launched two KMS platforms – in some of its contact centres and in branches – with plans to be live across seven of its businesses by the end of the year. The Bank also completed a large-scale migration of data records into its secure cloud-based platform, helping to give the Bank more speed and flexibility to unlock solutions such as the TDS AI Virtual Assistant.
As the financial sector evolves, TD remains committed to innovation and the responsible use of AI as part of its role as a forward-thinking organization, driving advancements that benefit both the institution and the industry at large. This approach is fostered by the Bank as part of TD Invent, its strategic effort to power innovation. In an era where speed, accuracy, and adaptability are paramount, TD’s approach demonstrates the strategic use of AI in helping to address complex financial challenges.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group (“TD” or the “Bank”). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves over 27.9 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., and TD Wealth (U.S.); Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing, and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD Cowen. TD also ranks among the world’s leading online financial services firms, with more than 18 million active online and mobile customers. TD had $2.1 trillion in assets on April 30, 2025. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol “TD” on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.SOURCE TD Bank Group
For further information: For more information: Sabrina Bala, TD Bank Group, sabrina.bala@td.com
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British and Irish Lions 2025: Lions need to be ruthless against Brumbies
In the minutes before the Lions ran out to play the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, Maro Itoje gathered his players together in the dressing room and appealed to their inner grunt.
The captain made a point about wanting to play hard and direct rugby. “Get us through the front door,” he demanded of his team. “Forwards – set the tone with our physicality.”
And that’s the ongoing confusion with these Lions. They have all the artillery they need to blast through the guts of any team in Australia, but they just haven’t done it nearly often enough.
Head coach Andy Farrell has said regularly that the Lions are absolutely at their best when driving at the heart of the opposition and then, when they have them beaten up, playing from there. It’s like that old line about the first step to making chicken soup – catch a chicken.
And yet against the Waratahs they were still shovelling the ball out the backline without doing the hard yards up front. They should be better than this. They are better than this.
Last month, Itoje addressed some of the side-to-side stuff the Lions delivered in the defeat by Argentina and called it “tippy-tappy”. And it’s still a bit tippy-tappy.
Now that the Test series is looming on the horizon, maybe they’re about to unload. Maybe now is the time the hounds of hell are unleashed and the gameplan shifts to a more balanced and more belligerent version of what we’ve seen so far.
Before the Brumbies game, Itoje was asked if more direct rugby was in the offing. “That’s definitely the ambition,” he replied.
“Rugby doesn’t change too much, whether it’s under-14s rugby or the Lions. You have to go forward. You have to earn the right – the famous saying – to go wide. And that is definitely the case for us. We need to punch holes, get forward, then space opens up, wherever that may be.”
Does he feel they’ve been too lateral in their attack on this tour?
“At times, perhaps. At times we’ve been very good in playing direct and playing through teams. But at times we probably look to go wide before we earn the right.”
And going wide before earning the right to go wide is why they ran into so much trouble against the Waratahs, who were waiting for them. The amount of handling errors from exceptionally talented players was maddening – not quite self-defeating, but a little too close for comfort.
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MST Unveils Entry-Level Escort Restomod
MST has added a new fast Ford to its portfolio of remanufactured Escorts.
The Mk1 Sports is modelled on the Blue Oval’s early competition cars like the RS1600 and Mexico, which dominated circuit racing and rallying, and is less extreme than the Welsh company’s other Escorts.
MST says the MK1 Sports is about “going back to basics” to create “a pure analogue driving experience at a cost-effective price.” That price is £74,500 plus taxes, equivalent to around $123,000, which by today’s restomod standards is quite reasonable.
MST Technically it’s not even a restomod, as every MST vehicle is built using a new shell and components, and can be road registered as a new car. It’s available in left-hand-drive as well as a right-hooker for the domestic market.
Unlike other MST models the Mk1 Sports does without the wide rolled wheelarches, so has a narrower track and a more subtle look. As standard the car will come in Frozen White, but there’s a wide range of period correct 70s colors to choose from, along with different side stripes and extra Cibie spotlamps.
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MST It gets adjustable ‘fast road’ suspension, with McPherson struts at the front and leaf springs at the rear. 13-inch four-spoke alloy wheels are standard or you can opt for Minilites if you prefer. The interior features retro sports seats, and a rear bench can be specified so the whole family can share the fun.
Power is from a normally-aspirated two-liter four-cylinder, twin-cam 16-valve, motor with Jenvey throttle bodies that offers up 183 hp. Drive is to the rear wheels via a close-ratio five-speed H-pattern manual. Braking is taken care of by all-round discs with four-piston calipers.
After driving the first MST Mk1 Henry Catchpole said he was “on cloud nine” but even with its narrow-body and a few less horses the MK1 Sports has surely got to be at least a seven.
You’ll need to move fast if you want one as just 25 are to be made, with production starting in 2026.
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