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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel sparked discussion on social media this week after addressing criticism of his production . In a now-deleted post, Samuel wrote, "Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!!" The comment prompted questions for head coach Kyle Shanahan and quarterback Brock Purdy, who expressed unwavering support for Samuel while emphasizing the team's commitment to finding ways to get him more involved offensively. When asked about his comments, Samuel simply responded, "You read what you read. I was frustrated for sure." One teammate, however, is predicting big things for Samuel in Thursday night's critical NFC West matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Tight end George Kittle believes Samuel is poised for a breakout performance, arguing that his season stats don't tell the whole story of his still-potent playmaking ability. "I thought Deebo, actually, against the Bears, the opportunities that he had, he was trying to make the most of them," Kittle said. "And unfortunately, for a couple of those, they had better calls than the plays that we called." Despite Samuel being limited to just two catches for 22 yards in Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears, Kittle is confident the star receiver will rise to the occasion against the Rams. "I think he's gonna have one of those amazing Deebo Thursday night games, especially against the Rams," Kittle shared. "That's what I see. So, guys want to voice their opinions on social media. It is what it is. I don't really care. It doesn't make anybody in this locker room think any differently about him. "Deebo thinks highly of himself, as we all think very highly of Deebo. He's a hell of a football player. So he just wants to be out there and contribute to the team, and I think he's going to have an opportunity to do that this Thursday." This article first appeared on 49ers Webzone and was syndicated with permission.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drifted lower Tuesday in the runup to the highlight of the week for the market, the latest update on inflation that’s coming on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dipped 0.3%, a day after pulling back from its latest all-time high . They’re the first back-to-back losses for the index in nearly a month, as momentum slows following a big rally that has it on track for one of its best years of the millennium . The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%. Tech titan Oracle dragged on the market and sank 6.7% after reporting growth for the latest quarter that fell just short of analysts’ expectations. It was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, even though CEO Safra Catz said the company saw record demand related to artificial-intelligence technology for its cloud infrastructure business, which trains generative AI models. AI has been a big source of growth that’s helped many companies’ stock prices skyrocket. Oracle’s stock had already leaped more than 80% for the year coming into Tuesday, which raised the bar of expectations for its profit report. In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s report on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. Economists expect it to show similar increases as the month before. Wednesday’s update and a report on Thursday about inflation at the wholesale level will be the final big pieces of data the Federal Reserve will get before its meeting next week, where many investors expect the year’s third cut to interest rates . The Fed has been easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high since September to take pressure off the slowing jobs market, after bringing inflation nearly down to its 2% target. Lower rates would help give support to the economy, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. Expectations for a series of cuts through next year have been a big reason the S&P 500 has set so many records this year. Trading in the options market suggests traders aren’t expecting a very big move for U.S. stocks following Wednesday’s report, according to strategists at Barclays. But a reading far off expectations in either direction could quickly change that. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.20% late Monday. Even though the Fed has been cutting its main interest rate, mortgage rates have been more stubborn to stay high and have been volatile since the autumn. That has hampered the housing industry, and homebuilder Toll Brothers’ stock fell 6.9% even though it delivered profit and revenue for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said the luxury builder has been seeing strong demand since the start of its fiscal year six weeks ago, an encouraging signal as it approaches the beginning of the spring selling season in mid-January. Elsewhere on Wall Street, Alaska Air Group soared 13.2% after raising its forecast for profit in the current quarter. The airline said demand for flying around the holidays has been stronger than expected. It also approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock, along with new service from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul . Boeing climbed 4.5% after saying it’s resuming production of its bestselling plane , the 737 Max, for the first time since 33,000 workers began a seven-week strike that ended in early November. Vail Resorts rose 2.5% after the ski resort operator reported a smaller first-quarter loss than analysts expected in what is traditionally its worst quarter. All told, the S&P 500 fell 17.94 points to 6,034.91. The Dow dipped 154.10 to 44,247.83, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 49.45 to 19,687.24. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after the world’s second-largest economy said its exports rose by less than expected in November. Stocks rose 0.6% in Shanghai but fell 0.5% in Hong Kong. Indexes fell across much of Europe ahead of a meeting this week by the European Central Bank, where the widespread expectation is for another cut in interest rates. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.Ireland fans face nightmare journey and ticket crunch as Bulgaria venue is confirmedEthnic groups propose restructuring of Nigeria to eight regionsHomeland Security shares new details of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey
Rocket Lab's pioneering suborbital launch last month conducted hypersonic tests for the U.S. military, the company has revealed. The mission in question lifted off on Nov. 24 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Virginia's Wallops Island. It employed HASTE, the suborbital variant of Rocket Lab 's workhorse Electron launcher. Less than 22 hours later, an Electron lofted five "Internet of Things" satellites to orbit for the French company Kinéis, notching an unprecedented spaceflight doubleheader for Rocket Lab. "Mission success. 2 launches in less than 24 hours from 2 pads in 2 different hemispheres," Rocket Lab said via X shortly after the Electron liftoff. Related: Rocket Lab launches 5 IoT satellites on landmark 50th mission (video) For a while, Rocket Lab remained mum about the Nov. 24 mission, which was just the second ever for the HASTE vehicle. But the California-based company broke its silence on Monday (Dec. 9), announcing that the suborbital mission successfully tested "hypersonic technology for the Department of Defense." "This mission provided hypersonic test launch capabilities under the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonics Test Bed (MACH-TB) project, which aims to increase hypersonic flight testing for the United States in support of technology maturation," Rocket Lab officials said in a statement on Monday . "Rocket Lab’s test platform showcased a new suite of cutting-edge technologies optimized for hypersonic technology tests with vastly increased payloads," the company added. "Rocket Lab also designed, manufactured, assembled and integrated the experimental hypersonic instrumentation which was launched on this mission, but on a highly accelerated timeline." Rocket Lab hit another milestone on its Nov. 25 orbital mission, which it called "Ice AIS Baby:" The launch pushed the total number of satellites deployed by the 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron over 200 , to 203. Electron has now flown a total of 54 times, including 13 times so far this year. HASTE's lone mission before the Nov. 24 flight, which Rocket Lab called "HASTE A La Vista," launched in June 2023 , also from the MARS pad.
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Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday for talks with North Korean military and political leaders as the countries deepen their cooperation over Russia’s war in Ukraine. In announcing the visit, Russia’s Defense Ministry didn’t say whom Belousov would meet or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media didn’t immediately confirm the visit. Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May after Russian President Vladimir Putin started a fifth term in power. Photos released by the Defense Ministry showed Belousov walking alongside North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on a red carpet at a Pyongyang airport. North Korean military officials were seen clapping under a banner that read, “Complete support and solidarity with the fighting Russian army and people.” Belousov noted after his arrival that military cooperation between the countries is expanding. He applauded a strategic partnership agreement signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un following their June meeting in Pyongyang, which he said is aimed at reducing tensions by maintaining a “balance of power” in the region and lowering the risk of war, including with nuclear weapons. The June meeting demonstrated the “highest level of mutual trust” between the leaders, Belousov said, and “also the mutual desire of our countries to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in a complex international environment.” North Korean Defense Minister No also praised the expanding cooperation between the countries’ militaries and reiterated North Korea’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, describing it as a “just struggle to protect the country’s sovereign rights and security interests.” The visit comes days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in the South Korean capital, Seoul, and called for the two countries to formulate countermeasures in response to North Korea’s dispatch of thousands of troops to Russia to help its fight against Ukraine. Kim in recent months has prioritized relations with Russia as he tries to break out of isolation and strengthen his international footing, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War.” The United States and its allies have said North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in recent weeks and that some of those troops were engaging in combat. North Korea has also been accused of supplying artillery systems, missiles and other military equipment to Russia that may help Putin further extend an almost three-year war. There are also concerns in Seoul that North Korea, in exchange for its troops and arms supplies, could receive Russian technology transfers that could improve its nuclear weapons and missile programs. “The Russian defense minister doesn’t visit North Korea just to celebrate bilateral ties,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “This visit indicates Putin and Kim’s military cooperation in violation of international law is about to increase further.” Yoon’s national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, said in a TV interview last week that Seoul believes that Russia has provided air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops. Shin said Russia also appears to have given economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed for the North’s efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system, which Kim has stressed is crucial for enhancing the threat of nuclear-capable missiles targeting South Korea. Shin didn’t say whether Russia has already transferred sensitive nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technologies to North Korea. Yoon’s office hasn’t said whether the two governments discussed the possibility of South Korea supplying weapons to Ukraine in his talks with Umerov. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow and provided humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms, citing a longstanding policy of not giving lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts. Yoon has said his government will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of its response to the degree of Russian-North Korean cooperation. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Belousov will meet with Kim, the North Korean leader. Last year, Kim hosted a Russian delegation led by then-Defense Minister Shoigu and gave him a personal tour of a North Korean arms exhibition, in what outside critics likened to a sales pitch. That event came weeks before Kim traveled to Russia for talks with Putin which sped up military cooperation between the countries. During another meeting in Pyongyang in June this year, Kim and Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War. The Russian report about Belousov’s visit came as South Korea scrambled fighter jets to repel six Russian and five Chinese warplanes that temporarily entered the country’s air defense identification zone around its eastern and southern seas, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. It said the Russian and Chinese planes did not breach South Korea’s territorial airspace. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it held telephone calls with Chinese and Russian defense attaches based in Seoul to protest the flights and urge the countries to prevent recurrences.