The leader Supriya Sule on Sunday said vowed to rebuild the party with renewed commitment. The NCP (SP), which won 10 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly election 2024, respects people's mandate and pledged to work towards a capable, inclusive and progressive state, Sule said. In a statement on X, the Supriya Sule promised to rebuild their party and said it would move forward with determination despite its dismal show. Her party and its Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) collectively bagged only 46 of the state's 288 assembly seats. "We respect and humbly accept the verdict of the people in the assembly elections. This result is a moment for deep reflection and renewal. We will introspect, learn, and rebuild with honesty, hard work, and an unshakable commitment to the values we stand for," Sule stated in a social media post. She stressed that her party was committed to creating a capable, inclusive, and progressive Maharashtra. ¿Our vision of a capable, inclusive, and progressive Maharashtra remains unchanged. We reaffirm our pledge to fight for the rights, dignity, and self-respect of farmers, workers, women, youth, and every marginalised section of society,¿ Sule stated. Sule said that her party will continue to carry forward the ideals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and social reformers like Jyotiba Phule. "We are determined to carry forward the timeless ideals of Shiv-Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar with renewed energy and purpose," she wrote on X. Supriya Sule congratulated those who had won in the elections. "We hope you will serve Maharashtra with dedication and prioritise the welfare of every citizen," she said. The MP, the daughter of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, expressed gratitude to the voters, party workers, their MVA allies and the authorities for facilitating the elections. "A heartfelt thank you to all voters, the diligent workers and leaders of NCP (SP), our allies, the Election Commission, police, administration, media, and everyone who contributed to making this election a vibrant celebration of democracy," Sule added, according to the PTI. Sule said the party would remain focused on its goals and continue its efforts to serve the people of Maharashtra. "We remain steadfast. Our fight continues with humility, with courage, and with the hope of building a Maharashtra that fulfils the dreams of its people," she added, as per the PTI. Sharad Pawar suffered the worst-ever defeat in his political career in Maharashtra polls with the NCP faction led by him winning only 10 seats in the 288-member House. His MVA partners Congress and Sena (UBT) got 16 and 20 seats, respectively, the news agency reported. The ruling scored a massive victory with the BJP winning 132 seats, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde emerging victorious in 57, and NCP headed by Ajit Pawar grabbing 41 seats. (with PTI inputs)2024 was a year of undeniable change across the fashion and footwear landscape. Trends come and go faster than ever in this modern iteration of street culture. Still, the sartorial differences and cultural differences between the start of the decade and now are nothing short of immense — even for a “here today, gone tomorrow” climate in which trends seem to last mere weeks (if not days) before bubbling up into the ether to be replaced by whatever’s deemed as “hot” for the next three-week stretch. That aside, more than a few landmark shifts influenced and directed the culture Hypebeast has spent almost two decades reporting on in 2024. Lagging innovation at footwear brands gave way to a renewed focus on performance products, which influenced and evolved the lifestyle footwear market. Basketball shoes, for the first time in what feels like forever became interesting again thanks to new signature lines, clever, creative designs and fantastic marketing campaigns. Fashion and entertainment became entwined in an entirely new way, and female athletes finally started to get the flowers they’ve long deserved from the fashion world, among several other goings-on, including Pharrell being literally inescapable. And the soundtrack to it all? A hyperpop album that spawned the year’s most inescapable word and influenced both behavioral and sartorial choices. We could continue, but we’ll head right into the list mentioned in the title. Here are 10 things Hypebeast’s US editorial team loved in 2024. Performance Becoming the New Lifestyle Hoka/Satisfy Fashion enthusiasts stepped through 2024 equipped with breathable fabrics layered atop their bodies and pillow-like cushioning systems underfoot. The year saw brands like HOKA and On thrust into the limelight, and even the likes of Action Bronson entered the performance arena to shake things up. Sportswear brands such as Nike and adidas have long embraced performance gear in a lifestyle context, however, with a greater emphasis on the latter in recent years, its competitors leapt at the opportunity to bring new energy to the functional side of the space. New Balance and ASICS chipped away at the Swoosh and Three Stripes’ lead as the two quickly emerged as new trendsetters in footwear at the turn of the decade, however, this year saw the industry reach further into its metaphorical gym bag, favoring brands that have been fixated on delivering the best performance possible. On, having quickly established a reputation for delivering comfortable kicks with its Cloud-backed silhouettes, continued to blur the lines between fashion and performance by collaborating with LOEWE and later introducing new partners in Zendaya and POST ARCHIVE FACTION (PAF) . Meanwhile, HOKA has kept its game plan simple: make the best gear possible. Style may feel like an afterthought with many of its designs, but that’s the point: performance informs its aesthetics, not the other way around. The brand’s notable co-signs from designers like Nicole McLaughlin , paria /FARZANEH and even Junya Watanabe continue to arrive — and because of that, its reputation in fashion is shifting. Perhaps the brand has shined the brightest this year with Parisian running brand SATISFY. The two brought forth their own collaborative silhouette, the Mafate Speed 4 Lite , back in August, offering a flavorful balance of cutting-edge performance and style. That overarching ethos won Hoka the coveted “Footwear Brand of the Year” awards for the Hypeawards as well. The continuation of partnerships between fashion labels and sportswear brands provided additional opportunities to tap into this. MM6 Maison Margiela and Salomon also dropped new footwear with a pinch of apparel. Jacquemus and Nike explored new themes while Cecilie Bahnsen and ASICS stuck to their tried and true formula of applying flowers across the brand’s popular runners. Whether you’re a marathon runner looking to integrate your favorite gear into everyday life or someone just looking to keep your feet comfortable, there’s never been a better time to bring performance wear into your wardrobe. Female Athletes Getting Fashion’s Flowers Brandon Todd/Getty Images This year, the spotlight on female athletes extended far beyond three-point lines and starting marks in a watershed moment that finally centered today’s most athletic women in fashion’s conversation. While style and athleticism converged at unprecedented levels this year (performance is the new lifestyle, after all), sportswomen earned blockbuster collaborations, starry campaigns, runway appearances, luxe editorials and Met Gala invites that were long overdue. Among them, Caitlin Clark, the cultural phenomenon and No. 1 pick by the Indiana Fever, made history as the first athlete ever to be dressed by Prada for either the WNBA or NBA draft. And later on, the record-breaking player appeared in Louis Vuitton for her first professional press conference before securing a massive deal with Nike that’s reportedly worth $28 million USD. Meanwhile, Angel Reese, this year’s No. 7 pick by the Chicago Sky, declared her entrance into the WNBA draft in a fashion editorial with Vogue , following in the footsteps of Serena Williams, who announced her retirement through the legacy fashion publication two years ago (and also walked the Vogue World runway alongside her sister, Venus, this year, too). Reese’s strategic move positioned her as a style-conscious athlete, a brand image that was bolstered by her Bronx and Banco draft look, and ultimately earned her an invitation to this year’s Met Gala, where she wore a custom 16Arlington dress. World-record-breaking track star Sha’Carri Richardson played a starring role in the viral Nike x Jacquemus campaign , rope-slamming her own braids with her distinctive acrylic nails while sporting the collaboration’s key pieces. US Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles opened Kim Shui’s New York Fashion Week runway show . Yoon Ahn celebrated Naomi Osaka’s return to the tennis court this year with a head-turning Nike collaboration . WNBA stars including Candace Parker, Cameron Brink, and DiJonai Carrington starred in a SKIMS advertorial . Off-WhiteTM became the official style and culture curator for the New York Liberty . Chinese tennis player Qinwen Zheng became the first athlete, male or female, to cover Vogue China . And Dior named 15 female athletes, including Elaine Thompson-Herah, Alex Morgan and Carissa Moore, official brand ambassadors. As female athletes continue to dominate the cultural zeitgeist, fashion brands will only continue to decorate them with their flowers. At long last, the sportswoman is a style star, too. The Power of Pharrell Focus Features Pharrell was one of the most frequently spotted faces across 2024’s cultural zeitgeist. Be it producing a track or parking his CyberTruck in Miami, rarely a week went by without some form of Skateboard P headline. An embodiment of what it means to be a 21st-century Renaissance Man, Pharrell, instead of wasting any time, strategically split it up, pouring his efforts into projects in the music, film, fashion and design spaces. After being appointed to NIGO’s HUMAN MADE as the “Official Advisor,” he kicked off the year with a bang via his third collection as Louis Vuitton’s Creative Director . Marking the first official show of the Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2024 schedule, Pharrell waxed poetic on Americana aesthetics and Western-influenced workwear, outfitting the modern-day LVER: which, under his reign, has expanded to include the younger, more streetwear-tapped consumer. A compilation of cowboy-coded clothing, accessories crafted alongside artists from the Dakota and Lakota nations, and footwear, the latter of which was led by the label’s debut Timberland collaboration, people either really loved it or really didn’t – but either way, they vocalized it. A multi-media spectacle of what Pharrell is capable of – a merging of original music with, fashion, footwear and design – the showcase set the stage for the rest of his monumental 2024. Gaining momentum from the Parisian showcase, P made major waves once again with a Tyler, The Creator-curated LV collection , which landed for purchase in March and was named Hypebeast’s top fashion collaboration of the year in December. Follow-up collections landed in April for Pre-Fall 2024 and another striking Spring/Summer 2025 runway show in June held at La Maison de l’UNESCO and curated in collaboration with Air Afrique. He even got to carry the Olympic tou Departing from the fashion front, Pharrell reminded us where his roots lie, dropping off “Doctor (Work It Out)” with Miley Cyrus from the FW24 runway and quietly revealing his first full-length project in a decade back in April, Black Yacht Rock, Vol. 1: City of Limitless Access . The ten-track album made way for Pharrell’s sonic-heavy summer, with music playing a key part in his animated LEGO Piece by Piece biopic , equipped with cameos from Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, Daft Punk and more. In the same vein, Pharrell also debuted his first-ever LEGO collaboration, consisting of an “Over The Moon” LEGO space set and an immersive creative experience in Los Angeles. Even after the Piece by Piece press tour wrapped and the year now comes to a close, Pharrell has found himself in two more figurehead positions as Met Gala Co-Chair and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador . Charli xcx’s BRAT , the Year-Defining Green Album Albany Times Union/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images In a matter of months, British pop star Charli xcx went from relative obscurity to captivating the world with her infectious club-inspired album BRAT . From the now-ubiquitous “Apple” TikTok dance to the ripple effect of her “Kamala is brat” X post, the cultural footprint of BRAT is undeniable. In November, BRAT racked up an impressive seven Grammy nominations including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Come December, the record became 2024’s most critically acclaimed album (according to Metacritic) and the title itself was declared word-of-the-year by Collins Dictionary. If one examines the broader cultural landscape, it’s easy to see that BRAT’s unapologetically messy and expressive ethos was just what people have been craving. In an era of music dominated by Taylor Swift, it’s worth considering that perhaps Charli xcx offered the perfect counterstatement. In recent years, Swift has come to define the epitome of commercial success, while Charli has been relegated to the hyperpop niche. Swift represents the American ideal with her country roots, while Charli is the English “Party Girl” whose stomping ground was in the London rave scene. As early as 2022, terms like “indie sleaze,” “blog house” and “recession-pop” signaled a nostalgia for the messy and carefree attitude of early ’00s party culture — the exact era where Charli found her feet. These post-pandemic trends showed that young people were beginning to rebel against the neutral minimalism and “clean” aesthetics imposed by fashion brands and social media trends. And what better represents this shift than the album’s slime-green cover and blunt title? One also can’t forget that the world only recently emerged from a pandemic and is still recovering from the subsequent economic fallout. After all, wasn’t it in the aftermath of 2008’s Great Recession that hedonistic club tracks like Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” and the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got a Feeling” topped the Billboard Hot 100? In times of economic distress, the dancefloor has become a reliable therapy for the anxious masses. Furthermore, Charli’s simple choice of a solid green background and the isolated sans-serif title, recalls the era-defining album from another iconic English act. Named for its plain white cover decorated with nothing more than the band’s name, the progressive content of the Beatles’ White Album inspired Joan Didion’s famous collection of essays that recounted the turbulent 1960s. Now, in the thick of a decade faced with similar social challenges, Collins Dictionary’s 2024 redefinition of Brat reflects the subversive and fearless pursuits of a new generation: Brat (adjective) – “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.” Brick and Mortar Retail Revival Ven.space Though shopping, at its core, is a simple action that involves exchanging money for a product, everything around that action took center stage in 2024. Fashion-conscious consumers tired of the endless, entirely impersonal churn-and-burn of online shopping showed that they’d been craving real, tangible IRL experiences throughout 2024 — and thankfully, brands and retailers big and small alike rose to the occasion. “Online retail is all about convenience, whereas in-store shopping is about the experience,” NN.07’s Justin Berkowitz told the New York Times in October. And that experience was displayed across various mediums, from small neighborhood boutiques to sprawling flagships from some of the world’s biggest and most noteworthy retailers. Brooklyn’s Ven Space has quickly become one of the buzziest names in the world of fashion for both its tasteful assortment (offerings range from The Row and Auralee to Stüssy Archive) and hands-on, personal service that offers customers something online retail simply can’t: the joy of in-person discovery. At the same time, spots like Million Goods combine curated brand offerings with drinks and hi-fi sound systems, serving up retail and lifestyle all under one roof. Several retailers are even doubling down on the power and impact of the in-person shopping experience by refusing to maintain an online storefront (Ven Space is among the IRL-only numbers), and the practice of “showrooming,” or browsing the shelves of a store only to head online and attempt to purchase whatever you discover at a discount from a larger retailer has been firmly established as cultural taboo. It’s not just the indie stores helping reimagine what retail can be in 2024 either. Arc’Teryx flung open the doors to its SoHo, New York flagship store this year, a 14,000 square foot colossus that’s equal parts pinnacle brand statement and indoctrination into the company’s outdoor-focused mindset. Besides every shell jacket and sleek Veilence shirt you can imagine, there’s a theater, cafe, and even a bottom floor largely dedicated to secondhand garments and garment repair, dubbed the “Service Center.” On the high-fashion front, Luisaviaroma opened its own 13,000-square-foot flagship store in New York’s NoLita neighborhood, driven by the belief that the high-end labels it stocks need to be felt and experienced in person. There’s a laundry list of other openings or expansions you’ll find if you dig through news releases, social media blasts and more thorough the year. All that’s to say, the increased desire to get out from behind the screen, get out in the streets and get tangible experiences has led to a boom of retail creativity and expansion. And as great as an Internet community or online shopping can be, there’s no replacing the feeling of an IRL collection, or of coming across the perfect piece in person. Pants Getting Bigger Than Ever Dickes/Neighborhood Pants, and bottoms more broadly, have occupied a central position in the trend cycle for the last century. Modern fashion trends, driven by shifting social conditions, are traditionally understood to swing on a pendulum. As new styles diffuse into mass acceptance, style innovators and early adopters have historically moved in the opposite direction. Mass brands like Levi’s and J.Crew are back to pushing wider styles in a drastic departure from the 2000s when skinny jeans came into favor. By the early 2010s brands like ASOS began marketing men’s skinny jeans as “spray-on,” perhaps marking the final limits of the style. In the 2020s, a decade where wide-legged pants have come back into mass acceptance, the industry innovators continue charging forth with bigger and bigger pants — and in 2024, the pants were bigger, baggier and bolder than ever before. Willy Chavarria, one of the contemporary purveyors of oversized pants, was named as the CFDA’s 2024 Menswear Designer of the Year . However, it’s important to note that Chavarria is not in the business of trends. The Mexican-American designers collections are deeply inspired by his heritage, reflecting on aesthetics pioneered by the Californian Chicano community. As early as the 1940s the “Zoot Suit” characterized by its oversized high waisted pants were a symbol of resistance among Chicano, Black and Asian American communities. Baggy bottoms have also made their way into fashion from the Pacific, as Japanese fashion increasingly influences Western culture. Wide-legged Japanese pant styles go far beyond the industrial fashion cycle, originating in ancient times when styles like ‘Hakama’ pants were worn by Samurai and noblemen. Echoes of these roots can be found in pants from Japanese labels like Yohji Yamamoto, Needles, Jun Takahashi’s Undercover and more. The major return of wide-legged pants represents a world more connected than ever before and also signals a shift towards comfort-centric dressing. One can’t deny that the swift breeze and wide range of motion offered by baggy pants are preferable to the restrictive suffocation of “spray on” skinny jeans. Big pants also take form in many shapes and sizes: cargos, carpenters, sweats, military uniforms, and pleated trousers, to name a few. These diverse styles and details have historically served a certain functionality that skinny silhouettes simply can’t attest to. Ultimately, the pendulum dynamic is not unique to fashion. It seems to be a modern tendency for subcultures and youths to challenge the status quo through processes of negation. As soon as nonconformist ideas are subsumed by the establishment, the disruptors and the rebels push back again in contradiction. Perhaps skinny-fit will find favor again in the future, but if 2024 says anything, bigger pants may have a leg up for a while longer. The Pinnacle of Fashiontainment Jeff Spicer/Getty Images In 2024, fashion, like a good movie, was often best enjoyed with a bucket of popcorn. The fashion world — its runway shows, creative director switch-ups, big-name collaborations and fiery online discourse — is an entertainment enterprise in its own right. But in 2024, the universes of style and blockbuster truly became one, in a blend of Hollywood and catwalk that birthed a flashy new buzzword used fondly by style editors: fashiontainment. Take a look at September’s New York Fashion Week for proof: Ralph Lauren kicked things off by bussing showgoers out to the Hamptons for a one-night-only runway spectacle that included a full-blown hospitality experience with a faithful recreation of the designer’s Polo Bar in Manhattan. Then, the CFDA partnered with Rockefeller Center to put up a 14-by-22-foot screen in the center of its ice rink, where New Yorkers could congregate to watch all of the American fashion week’s antics. In that same location, Raul Lopez staged one of the event’s biggest shows for his brand Luar, which was attended by the likes of Madonna and Ice Spice and concluded with a huge performance from Bad Gyal under 30 Rock. Meanwhile, on Wall Street, bright lights flashed on Latin Grammy-nominated artists Yahritza Y Su Esencia, who performed a heartwarming cover of the 1984 classic “Querida” by Juan Gabriel before Willy Chavarria’s catwalk ; and on the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry, Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Raekwon attracted a sea of iPhones while closing out Tommy Hilfiger’s water-riding Spring 2025 show . That was all before fashion showgoers traveled abroad for spectacles like Coperni’s magical Disneyland Paris runway , where the likes of Kylie Jenner took late-night rides on Space Mountain, or Moncler’s humungous Genius show in Shanghai , which was attended by 8,000 (shrieking) guests and divided into 10 ultra-creative “neighborhoods” designed by Edward Enniful, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Lulu Li, NIGO, Palm Angels, A$AP Rocky, Willow Smith, Donald Glover, Rick Owens and Jil Sander. The point here is that the fashion establishment has largely transcended age-old runway formats and swapped in multi-pronged, big-budget entertainment spectacles in their places — and much of the above was extremely exciting to watch. As we ascend to fashiontainment’s peak, the concept has trickled off the runway and onto Hollywood’s biggest red carpets, too. This year, it practically became a requirement for actors and actresses to promote their films while wearing high-fashion looks connected to their characters in one way or another. For Dune 2 ’s global premieres, Law Roach dressed Zendaya in a bounty of brilliant, film-inspired ensembles, including, most notably, Mugler’s Fall 1996 “Gynoid” suit; and for Wicked ’s box-office arrival, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were never seen out of their respective pink and green uniforms made by the likes of Louis Vuitton, Thom Browne and more. For Beetlejuice , Jenna Ortega’s stylist Enrique Melendez commissioned several custom, shadowy pieces from brands like Vivienne Westwood, and Timothee Chalamet just finished recreating some of Bob Dylan’s most iconic looks while promoting the legendary artist’s new biopic, A Complete Unknown . At all of this year’s cultural touchpoints — be that the fashion-filled opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics or Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s SWEAT tour — style became a central focal point of the conversation. Adventurous Eyewear Gentle Monster 2024 was the year in which your eyewear of choice became just as important as your footwear of choice. Transcending beyond just a topical accessory, glasses of all kinds took impressive about-face and evolved into a world of their own – one in which the rules are a bit more bendable. Futuristic and functional, defined by their oversized frames and bold lensing, eyewear turned to 3025 for design inspiration, envisioning an entirely new realm of influence for the accessory. Brands debuted, revived and significantly locked in on their eyewear sectors with first-time forays into the field coming from JW Anderson and A.P.C as well as the revival of Tag Heuer’s eyewear line . Though two labels in particular played a key part in pushing the needle on the eyewear space. One of those labels was Oakley, who took things to a whole new level in 2024, establishing a prominent presence in evolving the eyewear space early on in the year. Its January Lunar New Year capsule and follow-up Performance Line hinted at the future-facing design approach that the legacy eyewear imprint would bring to the year, evident in in-line ranges entitled “Inner Spark” and “Future Genesis” as well as the expansion of its “Latch Panel” collection. Oakley furthered its grip on the glasses market with smart collaborations with a lineup of contributors including G DLP , Pas Normal Studios , Piet , Bodega and SATISFY . Its unwavering presence at the Paris Olympics arrived in the form of both eyewear and apparel, ultimately solidifying its cultural relevance. The other was Gentle Monster who, offering up an impressive array of both in-line and collaborative releases. Most notably, the Seoul-based brand linked up with the likes of Maison Margiela , Mugler and Tekken – each one more inventive than the last. Big-name fashion outfitters like Nike , Supreme and Stüssy all sharpened their eyewear visions, each leaning into larger than life frames. District Vision also went big on its eyewear, crafting a pair of $635 USD Yusuke Alpine Blade Ti Performance Sunglasses with 2XU and teaming up with POST ARCHIVE FACTION (PAF) on an entire capsule of athletic eyewear. New Life for Basketball Shoes Adidas Basketball shoes are the backbone of sneaker culture. Everything from the Air Jordan 1 to the original Converse Chuck Taylors have played a key role in shaping the modern-day footwear landscape. However, amidst the staleness in the sneaker scene that has permeated the past few years, it felt as if we were just getting more of the same. Up-and-comers like Luka Dončić and Trae Young had new signature shoe lines but weren’t bringing anything fresh to the table. Meanwhile, the classic Air Jordan line found itself almost entirely reliant on retro silhouettes and tired storytelling that wasn’t connecting with a new generation of consumer. Thankfully, just about every relevant performance brand has brought positive momentum to the table in 2024, and the conversation has shifted. Finally, it’s exciting to wear — and, from our standpoint to write about basketball — shoes again. We investigated this resurgence back in March, unpacking why the scene was poised for a major year , and brands still managed to exceed expectations. Anthony Edwards’ debut of his adidas AE1 was declared a hit early in 2024, but to see him carry this momentum throughout the year, in part thanks to the introduction of its low-top version, was extremely impressive. Devin Booker found similar success, albeit with less swagger, as the Nike BOOK 1 has taken on countless colorways in its first year on the market. Chinese brands like Rigorer and ANTA began to blossom as they saw Austin Reaves introduce his second signature shoe and Kyrie Irving’s new line develop into an emerging empire . As expected, the continued rollout of returning silhouettes from the Nike Kobe line has seen pairs fly off of shelves one after another. What’s more is that there’s even more to be excited about heading into 2025. WNBA athletes made more noise this year with sneakers like the Nike Sabrina 2 being embraced by hoopers as one of the best performing models. But with debut signature shoes from Caitlin Clark , A’ja Wilson and Angel Reese all coming in the next two years, it’s safe to say that this portion of the market will only grow from here. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is another athlete who will be dropping his own signature shoe — with Converse — in 2025 while Tyrese Haliburton and Salehe Bembury are going to bring new energy to the PUMA Hoops squad. The future is bright for basketball sneakers, and when basketball sneakers are good it’s greater for the creativity of the larger market in general. A Championship Year for Football Style C.p. Company “Blokecore” isn’t a 2024 term. It’s a saying with its roots in 2022 — the year when it seemed simply everything needed “core” slapped at the end of it as a descriptor — that loosely encapsulates a look inspired by British football (or soccer, if you’d prefer) fans. Though at the time it meant little more than someone who liked vintage football shirts, baggy pants and football-influenced shoes like adidas Sambas, plus a little Stone Island or C.P. Company to boot, 2024 was the year that it transcended into the mainstream lexicon. Football and fashion have always gone hand in hand. You need look no further than British terrace or Italian ultra culture to understand that. (There’d be no “blokecore” without those movements too). However, that handshake between sartorial subculture and sport became a fusion of two beings into one this year, thanks to direct club-and-brand partnerships, successful tournaments, plenty of high-heat drops and more. From a very literal standpoint, clubs directly acknowledged the brands popular among their supporters in a way that they never had before, and these brands tapped into the clubs’ striking iconography for both tributes and modern reinterpritations. Manchester City and C.P. Company’s FW24 campaign spotlighted some of City’s biggest stars like Phil Foden, Nathan Aké and Jérémy Doku. Y-3 and Real Madrid created both a travel collection and striking matchwear . The longstanding partnership between Off-WhiteTM and AC Milan, arguably the genesis of the current collaborative market, created a capsule for AC Milan’s 125th anniversary . Even the Gunners got in on the fun: with Arsenal linked with LABRUM on kits , inspired one of the brand’s collections and even joined forces with Aries for the club’s first “streetwear” collection. That’s not even mentioning the flat-out great kits that Y-3 created for Japan’s national football federation. And it would be remiss to not mention the impact of Lionel Messi’s year — as his career draws to a close — and therefore, its aesthetic. The Copa America, captured by Messi’s Argentina squad , brought a wealth of eyeballs, as did the UEFA European Championship, and Messi was the face of several projects that included a adidas collaboration with Bad Bunny . It was a banner year for football style, and with the next World Cup right around the corner in 2026 there’s no reason to think that the next few years will be any different.
The Los Angeles Chargers activated running back J.K. Dobbins from injured reserve on Friday. Dobbins is formally listed as questionable but figures to be the team's top running threat for Saturday's road game against the New England Patriots. Teammate Gus Edwards (ankle) was ruled out Thursday. Dobbins has missed the past four games since sustaining a knee injury against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 25. He was a full practice participant Thursday before receiving the questionable label. The injury-prone Dobbins was enjoying a solid season prior to the knee ailment, with 766 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground and 28 receptions for 134 yards in 11 games. His career high for rushing yardage is 805 for the Ravens in 2020. Dobbins' return comes with the Chargers (9-6) just one win from clinching an AFC wild-card playoff spot. Los Angeles also elevated safeties Eddie Jackson and Kendall Williamson from the practice squad. This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.John Parker Romo made a 29-yard field goal to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a 30-27 overtime win against the host Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Romo buried the game-winning kick in his third career game for Minnesota (9-2), which won its fourth game in a row. The score capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive for the Vikings after the Bears went three-and-out on the first overtime possession. Sam Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vikings. Wideout Jordan Addison finished with eight catches for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown. The overtime defeat spoiled an impressive performance from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who completed 32 of 47 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago (4-7). D.J. Moore had seven catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Keenan Allen finished with nine catches for 86 yards and a score. Chicago erased an 11-point deficit in the final 22 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime. Romo had put Minnesota on top 27-16 when he made a 26-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. Williams trimmed the Bears' deficit to 27-24 with 22 seconds to go. He rolled right and found Allen wide open in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown, and moments later he fired a strike to Moore for a two-point conversion. The Bears recovered an onside kick on the next play to regain possession at their 43-yard line with 21 seconds left. Cairo Santos' onside kick bounced off the foot of Vikings tight end Johnny Mundt, and Tarvarius Moore recovered it. D.J. Moore put the Bears in field-goal position with a 27-yard reception across the middle of the field, and Santos made a 48-yarder as time expired to even the score at 27-all. Minnesota led 24-10 after three quarters. Romo made a 40-yard field goal early in the third quarter, and Aaron Jones punched in a 2-yard run with 1:22 left in the period to put the Vikings on top by two touchdowns. Addison and Jalen Nailor each had receiving touchdowns in the first half for Minnesota. Roschon Johnson scored on a 1-yard run for the Bears' only touchdown of the first half. Chicago trailed 14-10 at the break. --Field Level Media
Reports claiming man travelled 250 km hiding on train’s wheel axle ‘fake’: Railways
tomch/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Alphabet Inc. ( NASDAQ: GOOGL ) ( NASDAQ: GOOG ) remains one of our favorite tech coverage picks for the mid-to long-term guys. We're updating our thoughts on the stock after Bloomberg reported that the Tired of losing money? Our Tech Contrarians team of Wall Street analysts sifts through the noise in the tech industry and captures outperformers through a coveted research process. We let the work speak for itself here . Tech Stock Pros is a team of three former technology sector engineers with a long history of investing in the tech sector. Tech Contrarians Learn more Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.SIT chargesheets Munirathna for rape, honeytrap and attempt to infect others with AIDS
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FLAGSTAR FINANCIAL, INC. APPOINTS BRIAN CALLANAN TO BOARD OF DIRECTORSNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher Thursday after flipping between modest gains and losses several times in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up less than 0.1%. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are climbing Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 was pulling 0.7% higher, as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, after flipping between modest gains and losses several times in the morning. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 532 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%. Nvidia's rise of 1.4% was the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward after yet again beating analysts’ estimates for profit and revenue. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts’ expectations thanks to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia's revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another “flawless” profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls “the Godfather of AI.” How Nvidia’s stock performs has tremendous impact because it’s quickly grown into Wall Street’s most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. Its meandering up and down through the day dragged the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.3% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ’S Wholesale Club rose 9.1% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 were also rising, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.9%. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 5.5% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company’s oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. Drops for other Big Tech stocks also weighed on the market, including a 2.4% slide for Amazon. In stock markets abroad, shares of India’s Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani, 62, in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world’s richest people is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company’s huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before easing back to roughly $98,250, according to CoinDesk. It’s more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Bitcoin also got a boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission who has pushed for more protection for crypto investors, said he would step down in January . Bitcoin and related investments, of course, have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that's been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early gain of 14.6% for its stock on Thursday quickly disappear. It was most recently down 10.7%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday. One report said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected. ___ AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed. Stan Choe, The Associated PressGovt school teacher ends life over land sale fraud
New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The railway ministry on Friday dismissed as “fake” and “misleading” claims that a man travelled 250 kilometres from Itarsi to Jabalpur hiding on a train’s wheel axle. Railway officials said that someone shot the video of the man coming out of the wheel axle of a stationary train and circulated it with the misleading claim that he had to hide himself near the wheelset because he did not have money to buy tickets. “These reports are completely fake and baseless,” Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, said. “The person was just hiding near the wheel axle when the train was not moving. It is practically not possible for anyone to hide on the wheelset of a moving train as it moves along with the wheels,” he said. “Some news organisations and social media influencers picked it up and made it viral without verifying its authenticity,” Kumar added. PTI JP IJT This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );'Disgraceful': Labor points fingers as clock ticks downDAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad , gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly installed interim prime minister delivered the sermon at the Umayyad Mosque, declaring that a new era of “freedom, dignity and justice” was dawning for Syria. The gatherings illustrated the dramatic changes that have swept over Syria less than a week after insurgents marched into Damascus and toppled Assad. Amid the jubilation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with allies around the region and called for an “inclusive and non-sectarian” interim government. Blinken arrived in Iraq on a previously unannounced stop after talks in Jordan and Turkey, which backs some of the Syrian insurgent factions. So far, U.S. officials have not talked of direct meetings with Syria's new rulers. The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus early Sunday. The group has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad's fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past, though HTS is still labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European countries. HTS's leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, appeared in a video message Friday congratulating “the great Syrian people for the victory of the blessed revolution.” “I invite them to head to the squares to show their happiness without shooting bullets and scaring people,” he said. “And then after, we will work to build this country, and as I said in the beginning, we will be victorious by the help of God.” Huge crowds, including some insurgents, packed the historic Umayyad Mosque in the capital's old city, many waving the rebel opposition flag — with its three red stars — which has swiftly replaced the Assad-era flag with with its two green stars. Syrian state television reported that the sermon was delivered by Mohammed al-Bashir, the interim prime minister installed by HTS this week. The scene resonated on multiple levels. The mosque, one of the world's oldest dating back some 1,200 years, is a beloved symbol of Syria, and sermons there like all mosque sermons across Syria were tightly controlled under Assad's rule. Also, in the early days of the anti-government uprising in 2011, protesters would leave Friday prayers to march in rallies against Assad before he launched a brutal crackdown that turned the uprising into a long and bloody civil war. “I didn’t step foot in Umayyad Mosque since 2011," because of the tight security controls around it, said one worshipper, Ibrahim al-Araby. “Since 11 or 12 years, I haven’t been this happy.” Another worshipper, Khair Taha, said there was “fear and trepidation for what’s to come. But there is also a lot of hope that now we have a say and we can try to build.” Blocks away in Damascus' biggest roundabout, named Umayyad Square, thousands gathered, including many families with small children — a sign of how, so far at least, the country's transformation has not caused violent instability. “Unified Syria to build Syria,” the crowd chanted. Some shouted slurs against Assad and his late father, calling them pigs, an insult that would have previously led to offenders being hauled off to one of the feared detention centers of Assad’s security forces. One man in the crowd, 51-year-old Khaled Abu Chahine — originally from the southern province of Daraa, where the 2011 uprising first erupted — said he hoped for “freedom and coexistence between all Syrians, Alawites, Sunnis, Shiites and Druze.” The interim prime minister, al-Bashir, had been the head of a de facto administration created by HTS in Idlib, the opposition's enclave in northwest Syria. The rebels were bottled up in Idlib for years before fighters broke out in a shock offensive and marched across Syria in 10 days. Similar scenes of joy unfolded in other major cities, including in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia and Raqqa. Al-Sharaa, HTS' leader, has promised to bring a pluralistic government to Syria, seeking to dispel fears among many Syrians — especially its many minority communities — that the insurgents will impose a hard-line, extremist rule. Another key factor will be winning international recognition for a new government in a country where multiple foreign powers have their hands in the mix. The Sunni Arab insurgents who overthrew Assad did so with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the U.S.-backed Kurds . Turkey controls a strip of Syrian territory along the shared border and backs an insurgent faction uneasily allied to HTS — and is deeply opposed to any gains by Syria's Kurds. In other developments, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey’s Embassy in Damascus would reopen Saturday for the first time since 2012, when it closed due to the Syrian civil war. The U.S. has troops in eastern Syria to combat remnants of the Islamic State group and supports Kurdish-led fighters who rule most of the east. Since Assad's fall, Israel has bombed sites all over Syria, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. It has also seized a swath of southern Syria along the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, calling it a buffer zone. After talks with Fidan, Blinken said there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the U.S. on what they would like to see in Syria. That starts with an "interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said. Fidan said the priority was “establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant” — referring to the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers Party. Ankara considers the PKK within Turkey's borders a terrorist group, as it does the Kurdish-backed forces in Syria backed by the U.S. A U.S. official said that in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fidan both told Blinken that Kurdish attacks on Turkish positions would require a response. The official spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic talks. The U.S. has been trying to limit such incidents in recent days and had helped organize an agreement to prevent confrontations around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which was taken by Turkey-backed opposition fighters from the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces earlier this week. In Baghdad, Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, saying both countries wanted to ensure the Islamic State group — also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh — doesn't exploit Syria's transition to re-emerge. “Having put Daesh back in its box, we can’t let it out, and we’re determined to make sure that that doesn’t happen," Blinken said. The U.S. official who briefed reporters said that Blinken had impressed upon al-Sudani the importance of Iraq exercising its full sovereignty over its territory and airspace to stop Iran from transporting weapons and equipment to Syria, either for Assad supporters or onward to the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon. Lee reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.ABC of AKD’s plans to handle the ‘Economy Stupid’