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But it is not the largest prize a person has won in this country. Here are the 10 biggest UK lottery winners – all from EuroMillions draws – and what some of them did with their fortunes. – Anonymous, £195,707,000 A UK ticket-holder scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022 – the biggest National Lottery win of all time. – Joe and Jess Thwaite, £184,262,899.10 Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, scooped a then record-breaking £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket for the draw on May 10 2022. At the time, Joe was a communications sales engineer, and Jess ran a hairdressing salon with her sister. – Unclaimed ticket holder, £177 million Tuesday’s winner is wealthier than former One Direction member Harry Styles and heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, who are both worth £175 million, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. Players have been urged to check their tickets to see if they can claim the prize. – Anonymous, £170,221,000 The fourth biggest winner of the National Lottery to date scooped £170 million in October 2019, after matching all the numbers in a Must Be Won draw. – Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000 Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs, North Ayrshire, bagged their historic winnings in July 2011, making them the biggest UK winners at the time. Colin used £2.5 million of his fortune to invest in his beloved Partick Thistle Football Club, which led to one of the stands at the stadium being named after him. He later acquired a 55% shareholding in the club, which was to be passed into the hands of the local community upon his death. He died in December 2019, aged 71. The couple also set up the Weir Charitable Trust in 2013 and donated £1 million to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. They divorced in the same year as Colin’s death. – Adrian and Gillian Bayford, £148,656,000 Adrian and Gillian won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, which came to just over £148 million. The couple bought a Grade II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021, some years after the pair divorced, as reported by The Mirror. – Anonymous, £123,458,008 The seventh biggest National Lottery winner won a Superdraw rollover jackpot in June 2019, and decided not to go public with their success. – Anonymous, £122,550,350 After nine rollovers, one lucky anonymous ticket-holder bagged more than £122 million in April 2021. – Anonymous, £121,328,187 Another of the UK’s top 10 lottery winners found their fortune through a Superdraw jackpot rollover, this time in April 2018. – Frances and Patrick Connolly, £114,969,775 Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband won almost £115 million on New Year’s Day 2019. She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family. She considers helping others to be an addiction, saying: “It gives you a buzz and it’s addictive. I’m addicted to it now.”Zinsify Launches: A New Era of Secure Banking Products by SMBC Bank EU AG
What is the future of Trump's legal cases?NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid a mixed Monday of trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% from its all-time high set on Friday to post a record for the 54th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 28.7% to lead the market. Following allegations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor , the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the company’s board. It also said that it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance. Big Tech stocks also helped prop up the market. Gains of 1.8% for Microsoft and 3.2% for Meta Platforms were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. Intel was another propellant during the morning, but it lost an early gain to fall 0.5% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street’s frenzy around AI. Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure . Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.3% in Milan. The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 likewise fell, including California utility PG&E. It dropped 5% after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash. Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday . Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged , fell 1.2%. Walmart , which gave a more optimistic forecast, rose 0.2%. Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, climbed 1.4%. All told, the S&P 500 added 14.77 points to 6,047.15. The Dow fell 128.65 to 44,782.00, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 185.78 to 19,403.95. The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar. The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close. The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget . The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05. In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.19%. That was just above its level of 4.18% late Friday. A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected. This upcoming week will bring several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy. Economists expect Friday’s headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October’s lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes. “We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month. Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office. Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a federal police report unsealed on Tuesday. Brazil’s federal police last Thursday formally accused Mr Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their 884-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal. “The evidence collected throughout the investigation shows unequivocally that then-president Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organisation aiming to launch a coup d’etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law, which did not take place due to reasons unrelated to his desire,” the document said. At another point, it says: “Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation.” Mr Bolsonaro, who had repeatedly alleged without evidence that the country’s electronic voting system was prone to fraud, called a meeting in December 2022, during which he presented a draft decree to the commanders of the three divisions of the armed forces, according to the police report, signed by four investigators. The decree would have launched an investigation into suspicions of fraud and crimes related to the October 2022 vote, and suspended the powers of the nation’s electoral court. The navy’s commander stood ready to comply, but those from the army and air force objected to any plan that prevented Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration, the report said. Those refusals are why the plan did not go ahead, according to witnesses who spoke to investigators. Mr Bolsonaro never signed the decree to set the final stage of the alleged plan into action. Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or awareness of any plot to keep him in power or oust his leftist rival and successor. “No one is going to do a coup with a reserve general and half a dozen other officers. What is being said is absurd. For my part, there has never been any discussion of a coup,” Mr Bolsonaro told journalists in the capital Brasilia on Monday. “If someone came to discuss a coup with me, I’d say, that’s fine, but the day after, how does the world view us?” he added. “The word ‘coup’ has never been in my dictionary.” The top court has passed the report on to prosecutor-general Paulo Gonet. He will decide whether to formally charge Mr Bolsonaro. Rodrigo Rios, a law professor at the PUC university in the city of Curitiba, said Mr Bolsonaro could face up to a minimum of 11 years in prison if convicted on all charges. “A woman involved in the January 8 attack on the Supreme Court received a 17-year prison sentence,” Mr Rios told the Associated Press, noting that the former president is more likely to receive 15 years or more if convicted. “Bolsonaro’s future looks dark.” Ahead of the 2022 election, Mr Bolsonaro repeatedly alleged that the election system, which does not use paper ballots, could be tampered with. The top electoral court later ruled that he had abused his power to cast unfounded doubt on the voting system, and ruled him ineligible for office until 2030. Still, he has maintained that he will stand as a candidate in the 2026 race. Since Mr Bolsonaro left office, he has been targeted by several investigations, all of which he has chalked up to political persecution. Federal police have accused him of smuggling diamond jewellery into Brazil without properly declaring them and directing a subordinate to falsify his and others’ Covid-19 vaccination statuses. Authorities are also investigating whether he incited the riot on January 8 2022 in which his followers ransacked the Supreme Court and presidential palace in Brasilia, seeking to prompt intervention by the army that would oust Mr Lula from power. Mr Bolsonaro had left for the United States days before Mr Lula’s inauguration on January 1 2023 and stayed there for three months, keeping a low profile. The police report unsealed on Tuesday alleges he was seeking to avoid possible imprisonment related to the coup plot, and also await the uprising that took place a week later.WORDS can inspire and unite — but they can also land you in hot water. From passionate speeches and historic declarations to off-the-cuff remarks that reverberate far beyond their intended audience, the right phrase can spark movements or set social media ablaze. This year was no exception, with voices from politics, sport, entertainment and beyond leaving us with quotes that will linger long after the year ends. Who could forget how an exchange with Cork disability care worker Charlotte Fallon threatened to derail Simon Harris’ General Election hopes? Or how American white nationalist Nick Fuentes sent shockwaves around the globe after Donald Trump’s presidential win, by posting on X : “Your body, my choice.” Even Trump himself dominated headlines again this year when he stood back up after surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and defiantly chanted: “Fight, fight, fight.” Words carry weight — they can launch careers, destroy reputations, go viral, or even alter the course of history. Here, NICOLA BARDON looks back at some of the most powerful quotes of the past year. “IT’S nice not just being looked at as the weird-looking guy, the unique feckin’ freaky little freak man-child, freak child-man, whatever you want to call it.” - Barry Keoghan on people changing their opinions of him after Saltburn, in January. “Leadership is knowing when the time has come to pass on the baton to somebody else, and then having the courage to do it. That time is now.” — Leo Varadkar steps down as Taoiseach in March. “We’re taking you out of the flames, the darkness and the smoke of the Stardust and we’re bringing you back to the sunshine, and the light and the music, and you’re coming back to us, home.” — Louise McDermott, sister of William, 22, George, 18, and Marcella, 16, who all died in the Stardust fire, after the inquest result of unlawful killing in April. “I’d really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.” — Cillian Murphy after his Best Actor Oscar win for Oppenheimer in April. “As Taoiseach I want to bring new ideas, a new energy, and a new empathy to public life.” — Simon Harris, after taking the top Dail job in April. “Nobody does it like you.” — Taylor Swift to the Dublin crowd in June, during one of three sold out shows at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. “Sometimes impossible dreams come true.” — Norah Patten after being selected as first Irish astronaut to go into space in 2026, in June. “Everybody said they wouldn’t win the All-Ireland! And they won the All-Ireland!” — Armagh selector Kieran McGeeney goes wild following the Orchard County’s first triumph in 22 years. “I’m writing myself into the history books.” — Swimmer Daniel Wiffen after winning gold in 800m freestyle at the Paris Olympic Games in July. “It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president.” — Joe Biden as he announces the end of his bid for a second term as US president, in July. “It gives hope to all these young kids, all these teenagers, it gives hope to them. But this one was for me!” — Boxer Kellie Harrington after clinching second Olympic gold medal at Paris Games in August. “This is it, this is happening.” — Oasis announce they are reuniting for a tour in August after years of speculation. “It feels like a dream, it’s a dream well-earned.” — Rhys McClenaghan after winning gold at the Olympics in the pommel horse. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” — Donald Trump during US presidential debate with Kamala Harris in September. “I have nothing to complain about here. I love the people, love the culture. There’s not a bad word I could speak about Ireland.” — New Zealand-born Ireland rugby ace Bundee Aki after receiving his Irish citizenship in September. “We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.” — One Direction statement after Liam Payne dies in October. “I’m Irish — so it’s not kind of on the list of priorities.” — Paul Mescal on how it felt to meet King Charles, in November. “Speak up. You have a voice and keep on fighting for justice.” — Rape victim Nikita Hand after Conor McGregor was found liable in her High Court sexual assault civil case against the MMA fighter, in November. “I’ll wait for you in the car park.” — Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane to an Ipswich fan who directed abuse at him after a Man Utd match in November “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.” — Saoirse Ronan reacting to Paul Mescal joking about using a phone to defend yourself if you are attacked, in November. “In election after election, it has always boiled down really to either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, Tweedledum or Tweedledee.” — Mary Lou McDonald about Simon Harris and Micheal Martin in the build up to the November General Election. “It’s official. I’m running.” — The Monk announces bid to become a TD in Dublin Central. “He likes coke.” — Joe Rogan on why McGregor won’t fight again in the UFC.NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid mixed trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Monday after closing November at an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared after saying an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or the company’s board. Retailers were mixed coming off Black Friday and heading into what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks are pulling Wall Street toward another record amid mixed trading on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in afternoon trading after closing its best month of the year at an all-time high . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 86 points, or 0.2%, with a little more than an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher. Super Micro Computer, a stock that’s been on an AI-driven roller coaster, soared 31.1% to lead the market. Following accusations of misconduct and the resignation of its public auditor , the maker of servers used in artificial-intelligence technology said an investigation found no evidence of misconduct by its management or by the company's board. It also said it doesn’t expect to restate its past financials and that it will find a new chief financial officer, appoint a general counsel and make other moves to strengthen its governance. Big Tech stocks also helped prop up the market. Gains of 1.8% for Microsoft and 2.9% for Meta Platforms were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. Intel was another propellant during the morning, but it lost an early gain to fall 1.1% after the chip company said CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the board. Intel is looking for Gelsinger’s replacement, and its chair said it’s “committed to restoring investor confidence.” Intel recently lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to Nvidia, which has skyrocketed in Wall Street's frenzy around AI. Stellantis, meanwhile, skidded following the announcement of its CEO’s departure . Carlos Tavares steps down after nearly four years in the top spot of the automaker, which owns car brands like Jeep, Citroën and Ram, amid an ongoing struggle with slumping sales and an inventory backlog at dealerships. The world’s fourth-largest automaker’s stock fell 6.3% in Milan. The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 likewise fell, including California utility PG&E. It dropped 3.7% after saying it would sell $2.4 billion of stock and preferred shares to raise cash. Retailers were mixed amid what’s expected to be the best Cyber Monday on record and coming off Black Friday . Target, which recently gave a forecast for the holiday season that left investors discouraged , fell 1.6%. Walmart , which gave a more optimistic forecast, rose 0.3%. Amazon, which looks to benefit from online sales from Cyber Monday, climbed 1.3%. The stock market largely took Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride. The president-elect on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a group of developing economies if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. Trump said he wants the group, headlined by Brazil, Russia, India and China, to promise it won’t create a new currency or otherwise try to undercut the U.S. dollar. The dollar has long been the currency of choice for global trade. Speculation has also been around a long time that other currencies could knock it off its mantle, but no contender has come close. The U.S. dollar’s value rose Monday against several other currencies, but one of its strongest moves likely had less to do with the tariff threats. The euro fell amid a political battle in Paris over the French government’s budget . The euro sank 0.7% against the U.S. dollar and broke below $1.05. In the bond market, Treasury yields gave up early gains to hold relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed above 4.23% during the morning before falling back to 4.19%. That was just above its level of 4.18% late Friday. A report in the morning showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted again last month, but not by as much as economists expected. This upcoming week will bring several big updates on the job market, including the October job openings report, weekly unemployment benefits data and the all-important November jobs report. They could steer the next moves for Federal Reserve, which recently began pulling interest rates lower to give support to the economy. Economists expect Friday's headliner report to show U.S. employers accelerated their hiring in November, coming off October's lackluster growth that was hampered by damaging hurricanes and strikes. “We now find ourselves in the middle of this Goldilocks zone, where economic health supports earnings growth while remaining weak enough to justify potential Fed rate cuts,” according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. In financial markets abroad, Chinese stocks led gains worldwide as monthly surveys showed improving conditions for manufacturing, partly driven by a surge in orders ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month. Both official and private sector surveys of factory managers showed strong new orders and export orders, possibly partly linked to efforts by importers in the U.S. to beat potential tariff hikes by Trump once he takes office. Indexes rose 0.7% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Raiders undecided on starting QB against Chiefs
Membership of Britain's upstart anti-immigration Reform UK party has overtaken that of the centre-right Conservative Party for the first time, the party said Thursday, as Tories disputed the numbers. Party leader and Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage hailed the figure as a "historic moment". Immigration was a major issue at the ballot box at the UK's July general election which saw the Conservatives ousted after 14 years in power. The digital counter on the Reform website showed a membership tally ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the main opposition Conservatives during its leadership election earlier this year. "The youngest political party in British politics has just overtaken the oldest political party in the world," wrote Farage on X. "Reform UK are now the real opposition." Party chairman Zia Yusuf said the milestone showed the long "stranglehold on the centre-right of British politics by the Tories has finally been broken". The last declared Conservative Party tally was the lowest on record and a drop on 2022, when there were around 172,000 members. New Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, however, questioned the figures, accusing Farage of "fakery". She said Reform's counter was "coded to tick up automatically". Farage responded by saying he would "gladly invite" a firm to "audit our membership numbers" if the Tories did the same. Reform won five seats in the 650-seat UK parliament in July, though it received roughly 14 percent of total votes cast. Reform maximised the damage to the Conservatives by splitting the right-wing vote and picking up former Tory supporters in key constituencies. The Labour Party won by a landslide although Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had a bumpy first five months in power. An Ipsos opinion poll this month found that 53 percent of Britons said they were "disappointed" in what the Labour government had achieved so far. British politics has been dominated by the two main parties -- Labour and the Conservatives -- for decades but commentators have warned that major parties have seen irreversible downturns in their popularity in the past. In the years after World War I, a divided Liberal Party found itself supplanted by the Labour Party as the main opposition. The party of 19th-century political giant William Gladstone and World War I leader David Lloyd George never again regained its status as a party of government. Farage, a supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, said earlier this month that he was in talks with tech billionaire Elon Musk about donating to his hard-right party. har/jsOut-of-state Catholic college receives $5 million from West Virginia for job training, advocacyDonald Trump's 25% tariff threat raises fears of recession in Canada, while Trudeau government won't rule out retaliation
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Quinton Morton-Robertson's 16 points helped Purdue Fort Wayne defeat Green Bay 83-67 on Sunday night. Morton-Robertson had three steals for the Mastodons (10-5, 3-1 Horizon League). Jalen Jackson added 15 points while going 6 of 11 from the field and had five assists. Trey Lewis shot 3 for 6 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekAMGEN TO PRESENT AT CITI'S 2024 GLOBAL HEALTHCARE CONFERENCEMeet the Future: PUDU D9 Unveiled! Humanoid Helper Aims to Transform Industries.Renowned Human Biologist and Longevity Expert Gary Brecka Files $100M Defamation Claim Against Elena Cardone and Lawsuit Against Cardone Ventures in Response to Questionable Business Practices
Iowa followed its lowest-scoring game of the season with a 110-point eruption the next time out. The Hawkeyes will be one week removed from that scorching effort when they host Northwestern in Tuesday's Big Ten opener in Iowa City, but rust won't be the only roadblock for a potential repeat showing. Iowa (6-1) also is bracing for stiffer competition in conference play while navigating an injury to Seydou Traore. The reserve forward suffered a sprained ankle midway through the first half of a 110-77 home rout of South Carolina Upstate on Nov. 26. Also missing frontcourt contributors Even Brauns and Cooper Koch, the Hawkeyes still flexed their resilience and depth. Brock Harding notched a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds and Owen Freeman netted 17 points as five Iowa players scored in double figures. "Coming off a loss, going into Thanksgiving break here, we've got a couple days off coming, it'd be easy to kinda (think), ‘All right, let's relax for this one, guys sit out,'" Harding said. "But I think we really locked in." Northwestern (6-2) overcame 40.8 percent shooting to defeat UNLV 66-61 in the third-place game of the Arizona Tip-Off on Friday in Tempe, Ariz. Brooks Barnhizer, a preseason All-Big Ten pick who was sidelined by a foot injury during the Wildcats' first four games, had team highs of 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He has scored at least 20 points in three of four games. Northwestern limited UNLV to a 42.1 percent effort from the floor. Matthew Nicholson propelled the defense with two of the Wildcats' seven steals to go with two blocks. "We're a defensive-minded team and, you know, our identity is just getting stops," Barnhizer said. "Everything else will take care of itself. So, the older guys were trying to come out here and do that tonight and I think we did a pretty good job of it." Strong ‘D' helped Northwestern's ball movement, too, as the Wildcats assisted on 15 of 20 made field goals. Northwestern went 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from long range to improve to 3-0 this season when connecting on 40 percent of its 3-point shots or better. --Field Level MediaSignificant milestones in life and career of Jimmy CarterStock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street on Thursday as some heavyweight technology and communications sector stocks offset gains elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 fell less than 0.1% after spending the day wavering between small gains and losses. The tiny loss ended the benchmark index’s three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%. Trading volume was lighter than usual as US markets reopened following the Christmas holiday. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.2%. Meta Platforms fell 0.7%, and Amazon and Netflix each fell 0.9%. Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, finishing 1.8% lower. Some tech companies fared better. Chip company Broadcom rose 2.4%, Micron Technology added 0.6% and Adobe gained 0.5%. Health care stocks were a bright spot. CVS Health rose 1.5% and Walgreens Boots Alliance added 5.3% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 3%, Ross Stores added 2.3%, Best Buy rose 2.9% and Dollar Tree gained 3.8%. Traders are watching to see whether retailers have a strong holiday season. The day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. US-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4.1% and 16.4% respectively. The Japanese car makers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine. All told, the S&P 500 fell 2.45 points to 6,037.59. The Dow added 28.77 points to 43,325.80. The Nasdaq fell 10.77 points to close at 20,020.36. Wall Street also got a labour market update. US applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week, though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labour Department reported. Treasury yields mostly fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.58% from 4.59% late on Tuesday. Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar.
CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Water Development Authority approved giving $5 million to an Ohio-based Catholic-affiliated career and vocational college to expand into the state and to create a conservative think tank without a required recommendation from one of three state officials. In October, the Water Development Authority unanimously approved providing $5 million from the Economic Enhancement Grant Fund to the College of St. Joseph the Worker, a Steubenville-based college affiliated with the Catholic Church. The funds will need to be spent by Dec. 31, 2026. All students at the College of St. Joseph the Worker will earn a bachelor’s of arts in Catholic Studies while also receiving training in several trades including carpentry, HVAC, plumbing and electrical. According to information provided from several state agencies through a Freedom of Information Act request, the college’s grant proposal for the $5 million would allow the school to expand across the river into West Virginia for several training programs, a satellite campus, scholarships, and the creation of a think tank focused on social conservative public policy. In an Dec. 19 press release, the college said its expansion projects into West Virginia would greatly benefit Weirton and the Ohio Valley. The college will provide an additional $5 million, bringing the estimated cost of the project to $10 million. “The college is extremely grateful to the state of West Virginia for the recent award of an economic development grant,” according to the college’s statement. “Over the course of the next five years we expect to spend more than $10 million directly on these projects. However, the economic impact to the Weirton area will be far, far greater.” “I’m thrilled about this project for our people in the Northern Panhandle, especially for our young men and women,” said Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, in an email on Dec. 23. Of the $5 million, more than $2.1 million would be used to create a construction and real estate company headquartered in Weirton. Funds would be used to acquire a warehouse and construction yard, purchase equipment and materials, and employ up to 200 apprentices and between 50 and 100 construction workers. The project, estimated to take five years to complete, would focus on revitalization of historic and culturally valuable projects and developing new building projects. “As a mission-driven educational organization, we will be able to take on construction and revitalization projects that other, exclusively for-profit organizations would not, such as work of historical and cultural significance in communities that might otherwise be unattractive to investors,” according to the college’s grant proposal. More than $1.6 million of the $5 million Economic Enhancement Grant dollars would go towards scholarships for the recruitment of West Virginia students, develop partnerships with tradesmen and contractors in the state for placement of apprentices, the purchase of training facilities in Weirton, and purchasing and/or renovating housing for students. Another $200,000 would be used to seed the creation of a possible branch campus for the College of St. Joseph the Worker. According to the grant proposal, the College is considering a possible branch in the Kanawha County area. “With the success of this initial development in West Virginia, the board of trustees of the College of St Joseph the Worker can establish exploring a second campus in West Virginia,” according to the grant proposal. “Particularly, we hope to evaluate Teays Valley, W.Va., which seems to be an emerging market for the type of intellectual and trades revitalization that the College intends to achieve.” “The primary purpose of this specific grant is to develop additional vocational training that will quickly prepare workers, strengthen our workforce, and benefit communities across West Virginia,” said C.J. Harvey, communications director for Gov. Jim Justice, in an emailed statement on Dec. 20. “This initiative is squarely focused on economic development and creating jobs.” According to a spokesperson for the West Virginia Community and Technical College System and the Higher Education Policy Commission, the college has yet to reach out to state higher education officials. The college will need to apply for a series 20 initial authorization/commission to grant degrees in West Virginia. Unrelated to construction trades, the college wants to use $1 million of the grant for what it categorizes as “advocacy.” It would use the funds to create a bioethics certificate program for continuing education for the medical and psychotherapy fields, as well as create the “Center for the Common Good” to support “life-affirming policy in West Virginia.” In a separate document, the college explained the Center for the Common Good would focus on conservative public policy, specifically citing abortion and immigration and border policy as examples, using research, op-eds, speeches, educational tools, presentations, and proposals for the West Virginia Legislature. “...The college faculty has also been involved in supporting the developing conservative political vision for West Virginia (ie the abortion restriction; solidarity with Texas' border, to name but a few),” the college wrote in an earlier grant proposal. The college is listed as a 501(c)(3) on its 2022 IRS 990 form. According to the IRS, a 501(c)(3) organization can engage in some lobbying activities, but it could risk loss of tax-exempt status if it engages in too much lobbying. “Organizations may, however, involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered as lobbying,” according to the IRS website. “For example, organizations may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.” The governor’s office avoided answering the question of whether it was appropriate for Economic Enhancement Grant dollars to be used to create a conservative public policy think tank. “Any additional educational or ethical components mentioned in the application are secondary and fall outside the scope of the administration’s main focus: to get newly-trained workers in the workforce as quickly as possible,” Harvey said. In the Oct. 19 press release sent after multiple requests for interviews with officials, the college announced all of the proposed projects for the Economic Enhancement Grant dollars. However, the press release includes no mention of using the funds for a conservative think tank. WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE The Water Development Authority was created in 1977 by the Legislature to provide grants and loans to local governments and public services districts for construction of water and wastewater infrastructure. But in recent years, the authority has been used as a funding conduit for economic development projects across the state. The Economic Enhancement Grant Fund was created by the Legislature in 2022 by House Bill 4566. The fund was seeded with $250 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. HB 4566 empowers the authority to create an Economic Enhancement Grant subaccount to provide grants to governmental agencies and not-for-profits to cover all or portions of costs for infrastructure projects. According to State Code, funds in this Economic Enhancement Grant subaccount can be used “to cover all or a portion of the infrastructure projects to enhance economic development and/or tourism when recommended by the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Economic Development and/or the Secretary of Tourism.” However, to date there has been no letter of recommendation from one of the three cabinet-level departments as required by State Code. The Economic Enhancement Grant application from the College of St. Joseph the Worker was approved on Oct. 10 with authority members and three cabinet secretaries at the time, former Department of Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael, former Department of Commerce Secretary James Bailey and current Department of Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby, only being provided with the college’s Economic Enhancement Grant application and grant proposal the day before the scheduled meeting. While one version of the college’s application included a check mark indicating that the Department of Economic Development had provided a recommendation, Water Development Authority Executive Director Marie Prezioso confirmed in an email that no letter recommendation for the college’s Economic Enhancement Grant application has been provided. “It was my understanding that we would be provided with a letter from the secretary, however we do not have one on file,” Prezioso said. “It was this office’s understanding the project was verbally recommended with a formal letter forthcoming,” Harvey said. Both Justice Chief of Staff Brian Abraham and Deputy Chief of Staff Ann Urling, who also chairs the Water Development Authority, were involved with recommending the college’s proposal. At least one former cabinet secretary at the time, James Bailey, expressed concern about the college’s grant proposal in an email to an authority staffer the day before the Oct. 10 authority meeting. Bailey left the Department of Commerce to return to the private legal sector on Oct. 18. “I need a letter of recommendation for this project. Our board meeting is tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice. We just started working on it,” Prezioso wrote to Bailey in an email the morning of Oct. 9. “Is there a more detailed application like we normally have? The document doesn't really detail what the project in WV is other than potentially locating a campus in the state in a few years,” Bailey wrote. “There are some other issues that we should maybe talk over if you'd like to give me a call.” In an email the morning of the Oct. 10 authority meeting, Prezioso asked Andrew Jones, the academic dean and professor of history and political theory at the College of St. Joseph the Worker, to revise the proposed budget for the College’s Economic Enhancement Grant request. “The grant must be used for a project that consists of the acquisition, construction and equipping of multiple education facilities for the in-class and on-site training of the five major construction trades of HVAC, carpentry, masonry, electrical and plumbing, including areas for tools and equipment storage, materials for training and all necessary appurtenances,” Prezioso wrote. BUILDING A FRAMEWORK The first email about the project came on Oct. 2, nine days before the Oct. 10 authority meeting, from McGeehan to Abraham with House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, carbon copied. In that email, McGeehan thanked Abraham for his assistance with the college’s Economic Enhancement Grant application. McGeehan confirmed last week that his first conversations with Abraham about the project began as early as September. McGeehan, the dean of students at Weirton Madonna High School, explained that Weirton Madonna has no affiliation with the College of St. Joseph the Worker. McGeehan said he became aware of the college after completing a master’s degree in philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville. “A mutual friend who had went through the graduate program with me at Franciscan made introductions with some of the staff over at the College of St. Joseph the Worker, who at the time, had plans to expand into other areas of Ohio,” McGeehan said. “I touched base with them about expanding into West Virginia instead. I toured their workshops and facilities a few times and I was deeply impressed.” After an email from the authority was sent to officials with the college on Oct. 4 with the Economic Enhancement Grant application, McGeehan emailed the authority back the same day with the completed application. West Virginia already offers several construction trades programs, including in the Northern Panhandle. West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling offers several short-term training programs and multi-year certificates for trades, such as HVAC, electrical, and industrial/construction/trades. Project BEST, also headquartered in Wheeling and affiliated with the Upper Ohio Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, offers apprenticeship training, including carpentry, electrical, plumbing and pipefitting. But McGeehan said what the College of St. Joseph the Worker is offering to West Virginia students is unique and holistic, focused on not just providing rote training. “The College of Saint Joseph the Worker is unique, insofar as it offers a holistic approach to shaping young men and women, one reason why I’m excited about it,” McGeehan said. “Nowhere in in the United States is there an institution that simultaneously trains the mind in the humanities while also in the manual trades.” “This is done by teaching young men and women the skilled trades, such as carpentry, HVAC, and construction, while also providing their students with a classical education along the way, both of which are greatly needed in our state,” McGeehan continued. “Upon graduation, their students earn their Journeyman’s card in the skilled trade of their choice, along with earning a bachelor’s degree, and because of the college’s ability to raise funds, offer scholarships, and provide paid on-the-job training for their students, their students graduate with zero debt.” McGeehan was a co-sponsor of HB 4566 in 2022. Earlier this month, the authority approved 24 projects for Economic Enhancement Grant dollars, awarding more than $67 million. During the October special session, lawmakers appropriated an additional $125 million to the Economic Enhancement Grant Fund. According to the governor’s office, the authority has approved Economic Enhancement Grant projects worth $594 million since 2022. McGeehan said the $5 million for the College of St. Joseph the Worker is an appropriate grant award. “I conceived and wrote the bill which passed into law to establish the EEG fund in the first place, so that grants like this one could come about, and be awarded to non-profit institutions and municipalities to help beautify our local communities and strengthen their infrastructure for our people,” McGeehan said. “Many of the problems our state suffers from are downstream of faltering local communities, weakened family bonds, and a younger generation without practical skills, who are quite often steeped in university debt,” McGeehan continued. “I’ll continue to do what I can to help reverse this trend.” In 2023, McGeehan was the co-sponsor of an originating bill from the House Government Organization Committee, where McGeehan is vice chairman, to create a Joint Legislative Committee on Civic Life. House Bill 3561 would have created a state agency to provide grant funds to nonprofits that support “traditional cultural values” “family growth, maintenance and self-sufficiency” and the creation of new fraternal organizations. McGeehan said HB 3561, which failed in a 42-51 vote, has no connection to the college’s Economic Enhancement Grant award. “While I’d certainly defend a decision to capitalize such an initiative, the grant did not include funding for what you wrote,” McGeehan said. “...The state is merely matching an investment that the college has agreed to put into our state. Beyond that, the grant has nothing to do with the specific bill you referenced.” Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com .
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NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , who passed away on Thursday, will be remembered for steering India through a transformative decade of economic growth and development. From 2004 to 2014, under his leadership, India achieved an average growth rate of 7.7%, evolving into a nearly two trillion-dollar economy and solidifying its position as a global economic power . According to a statement released by Congress, by 2014, India ascended from the tenth-largest to the third-largest economy globally, significantly improving the living standards of millions. Reports indicate that India’s economic trajectory under Manmohan Singh peaked in FY07, achieving an extraordinary GDP growth rate of 10.08% at factor cost—the highest since the 1991 economic liberalisation. Revised calculations using the FY12 base year series further underscored the strong expansion post-FY04, highlighting the transformative impact of Singh's economic policies . This economic journey began during his tenure as finance minister from 1991 to 1996, when he spearheaded India’s economic liberalisation. In his landmark budget speech in July 1991, Singh had said, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. The emergence of India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one such idea.” His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by a rights-based governance model, which institutionalised the Right to Food, Right to Education, Right to Work, and Right to Information, revolutionizing Indian politics and empowering citizens, the statement read. Academic and professional eminence Singh's academic journey began with an Economic Tripos at Cambridge University in 1957, followed by a D.Phil in Economics from Oxford University in 1962. He joined India’s government as an Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry in 1971, quickly rising to Chief Economic Advisor in 1972. Over the decades, he held key positions, including: Secretary in the Finance Ministry Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Secretary-general of the South Commission in Geneva Chairman of the University Grants Commission His contributions also extended to serving as Advisor to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha (1998–2004). Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , Location Guesser and Mini Crossword .ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. As reaction poured in from around the world, President Joe Biden mourned Carter’s death, saying the world lost an “extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” and he lost a dear friend. Biden cited Carter’s compassion and moral clarity, his work to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless and advocacy for the disadvantaged as an example for others. “To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” Biden said in a statement. “He showed that we are a great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.” Biden said he is ordering a state funeral for Carter in Washington. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise" speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Sanz is a former Associated Press reporter.AP Business SummaryBrief at 6:26 p.m. EST