The recent sacking of high-profile winger and serial mug in Josh Addo-Carr by the Canterbury Bulldogs, and his subsequent signing by the Parramatta Eels is the latest example of a player being found guilty of a sackable offence by one club who then has his poor behaviour both ignored and rewarded by another club. Essentially, the Bulldogs’ loss becomes the Eels’ gain, while the NRL’s reputation gets another punch in the nose. Justice is seen to be done so long as the guilty player’s club moves the offender on, even if they just continue their careers somewhere else. Rugby league has come ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years in nearly every aspect of the game and is knocking virtually every key performance indicator out of the park, but the game’s image is still well below where it should be, with barely a month going by without another player-induced controversy plastered all over the media. If the NRL is serious about improving the game’s image in what is an image-conscious world, perhaps it could start by ensuring that players found guilty of a serious offence are excluded from the game at all levels, both domestic and overseas, either for an appropriate period of time or preferably permanently where crimes have been committed, and the guilty shouldn’t be given the opportunity to continue their careers at either another NRL club or in the English competition. The game has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a much harder stance. Perhaps then, players, their managers, minders and other hangers-on will begin to get the message that serious breaches of either the law or the game’s standards wont be tolerated and will result in both a significant loss of income and time out of the game rather than just a few embarrassing headlines and a change of jersey. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images) To illustrate the NRL’s history of suffering reputational damage by re-birthing write-offs, here’s a small selection of players who were either sacked or sanctioned for serious breaches of conduct at one club, only to somehow continue in the game elsewhere. John Hopoate There’s not enough space here to properly document Hopoate’s history of poor discipline, violence and criminal behaviour both on and off the field but I’m sure everyone is familiar with his infamous activities in the Tigers’ 2001 clash against North Queensland, following which the NRL Judiciary found him guilty of “disgusting, violent and offensive behaviour”. Let’s face it, if he stuck his fingers up the bums of three people while off the field, he’d probably be looking at time in either prison or a psychiatric facility. In what proved to be a very poor piece of judgement by the NRL he received just a 12-week suspension rather than being permanently removed from the game, and although sacked by the Tigers for his actions, he was back playing the game before the season was out, and he continued to be a blight on the game’s reputation. Kirisome Auva’a In 2014 the Souths player pleaded guilty to assault charges which included throwing his ex-girlfriend against a wall. What a hero. He was suspended for just nine months by the NRL but, incredibly, was retained by the Rabbitohs, and was even rewarded with selection for Samoa two years later. Souths eventually punted him in 2016 for a second breach of the NRL’s Testing Policy for illicit substances, only for him to continue his career with Parramatta. More League Addin Fonua-Blake The then-Dragons lower grade player was sacked by the club in June 2015 after pleading guilty to assault charges, admitting to pushing and kicking his girlfriend. What a tough guy. The NRL slapped him with a wet lettuce in the form of a $1000 fine, and he was back playing lower grades for Manly just five months later. He’s since gone on to play over 180 NRL games, is now regrettably the captain of the Tongan side, and will pick up $4 million over the next four years to play with Cronulla. It seems that domestic violence does have its rewards. Robert Lui At the end of the 2011 season Lui was released from his contract with the Wests Tigers after he was charged with assaulting his partner. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond and fined $2000. It didn’t slow his rugby league career down much though, as he went on to play another 192 games both here and in England. Kenny Edwards After being cut by both Manly and St George Illawarra for disciplinary reasons, Edwards joined the Eels where he quickly assembled his own shame file involving domestic violence, substituting a drug testing urine sample, and some unsavoury on-field incidents. The Eels eventually cut him loose after a serious traffic offence in 2018, but despite his poor record both on and off the field, he was allowed to continue in the game, spending the next six years playing in the Super League, where his atrocious behaviour continued. Zane Tetevano In May 2015 Tetevano was punted by Newcastle after accusations of domestic violence against his girlfriend came to light. Despite the accusations he was then signed by Manly, only for the club to cancel his contract almost immediately when he pleaded guilty to the charges in court. Instead of serving time in the slammer he went on to spend eight seasons playing for the Roosters, Panthers, Leeds Rhinos and the Bulldogs, as well as representing both New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Another quality individual. Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list of players who should have been permanently excluded from the game, but rather the tip of a very large and murky iceberg. There have been far too many players guilty of serious breaches in recent years which have brought the game into disrepute who were allowed to remain in the game, including the likes of Russell Packer, Paul Vaughan, Tyrone May, Todd Carney, Dylan Napa, Michael Jennings, Matt Lodge, and Jayden Okunbor, and the list goes on. There should be no place in rugby league for either criminals or players who disrespect the game that pays them a very good living. It’s time for the NRL to clean up its image and get rid of them rather allow them to just shuffle along to another club. Let’s face it, wouldn’t the great game of rugby league be better off without them?
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NoneEspañola police dropped a criminal charge against a school board member in recent weeks, saying the agency hadn't established probable cause for the allegation. Española school board member Ruben Archuleta said the petty misdemeanor he faced — accusing him of making a false report of a crime — was " political " shortly after it was filed. Española police Detective Dwayne Epling dismissed the case with prejudice in a recent court filing, meaning it cannot be refiled. Epling wrote "there is insufficient evidence to prosecute" Archuleta. Epling filed the charge in late September, alleging Archuleta lied when he told police another man had threatened him after a school board meeting in June. "We’re glad that Ruben is able to move on from this charge, and continue serving the school board and the people of Española," Archuleta's attorney, Ramón Soto, said in an interview Monday. "We're happy that Officer Epling did the right thing and dismissed this charge." Archuleta, 51, serves as vice president of the board for Española Public Schools and as a member of the Northern New Mexico College Board of Regents. After a school board meeting in early June, Archuleta told police a man identified as Lucas Montoya had followed him out of the school building and into the parking lot and said, "You can run, but you can't hide," and, "I'm going to get you." Epling initially filed an assault charge against Montoya but then dismissed that charge and filed a false report count against Archuleta. The detective wrote in a statement of probable cause Montoya's wife had shown Epling and Española police Chief Mizel Garcia surveillance footage from the June 6 school board meeting. "In viewing the surveillance video from the school board meeting, I, along with Chief Garcia, determined that at NO time was there any type of assault that took place from Lucas Montoya toward Ruben Archuleta or his wife,” Epling wrote. Archuleta, however, provided video footage showing a man he said was Montoya had followed him to the parking lot after the meeting. In a response to the charge, Soto wrote Archuleta reported "conduct that did actually happen and what he knew to be true," that he was a public official and had been intimidated by Montoya. "Officer Epling, in fact does not contradict Mr. Archuleta's testimony," Soto wrote. "Rather he states that it is his opinion that the video shown to him by a biased party, the Montoyas, did not demonstrate an assault." "Officer Epling's failure to know the laws he is supposed to enforce is not Mr. Archuleta's criminal conduct," the attorney added. Neither Chief Garcia nor Epling returned calls Monday seeking comment on the case.
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MELBOURNE – Australia’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media , leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. Recommended Videos The legislation was passed with 102 votes in favor to 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced. Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system. “Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it’s not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people’s lives,” Tehan told Parliament. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later Wednesday. The major parties’ support all but guarantees the legislation will be passed by the Senate where no party holds a majority of seats. Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents’ authority to decide what’s best for their children. Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encountered and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer. Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would “make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media.” “The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it,” Daniel told Parliament. “There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, that’s because no other country wants to do it,” she added. T he platforms had asked for the vote on legislation to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could been enforced.Fiorentina's Bove to have removable defibrillator fitted
The best AI tools of 2024: all the generative AI apps you need to tryNathan Ake calls on Man City to show character after latest setbackCommerce Bank reduced its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. ( NASDAQ:MELI – Free Report ) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 9.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 3.6% during the third quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC increased its position in MercadoLibre by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,403,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. MercadoLibre Stock Up 1.9 % Shares of NASDAQ:MELI opened at $2,005.00 on Friday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,324.99 and a 1 year high of $2,161.73. The company has a market capitalization of $101.65 billion, a PE ratio of 70.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2,025.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,856.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Analyst Ratings Changes Get Our Latest Stock Report on MercadoLibre MercadoLibre Company Profile ( Free Report ) MercadoLibre, Inc operates online commerce platforms in the United States. It operates Mercado Libre Marketplace, an automated online commerce platform that enables businesses, merchants, and individuals to list merchandise and conduct sales and purchases digitally; and Mercado Pago FinTech platform, a financial technology solution platform, which facilitates transactions on and off its marketplaces by providing a mechanism that allows its users to send and receive payments online, as well as allows users to transfer money through their websites or on the apps. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MELI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MercadoLibre, Inc. ( NASDAQ:MELI – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for MercadoLibre Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MercadoLibre and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .
Sado, Nov 24 (AP) Japan held a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines, listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. However, it has not offered an apology. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labour under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. Japanese officials at Sunday's ceremony paid tribute for the first time to “all workers” including Korean labourers who died at the mines, without acknowledging they were forced labourers — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan's history of sexual and labour exploitation before and during the war. Also Read | Chinese Man Sues Company He Worked at for 20 Years After He Was Fired for Sleeping at Desk, Awarded INR 40 Lakh in Compensation. The ceremony, supposed to further mend wounds, renewed tensions between the two sides. South Korea boycotted Sunday's memorial service citing unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event. “As a resident, I must say (their absence) is very disappointing after all the preparations we made,” said Sado Mayor Ryugo Watanabe. “I wish we could have held the memorial with South Korean attendees.” Also Read | Northvolt Bankruptcy: Collapse of Swedish EV Battery Maker Started When BMW Cancelled Multi-Billion Dollar Order in June 2024, Says Report. The Associated Press explains the Sado mines, their history and the controversy. What are the Sado gold mines? The 16th-century mines on the island of Sado, about the size of the Pacific island of Guam, off the western coast of Niigata prefecture, operated for nearly 400 years, beginning in 1601, and were once the world's largest gold producer. They closed in 1989. During the Edo period, from 1603 to 1868, the mines supplied gold currency to the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate. Today, the site has been developed into a tourist facility and hiking site where visitors can learn about the changes in mining technology and production methods while looking at the remains of mine shafts and ore dressing facilities. Critics say the Japanese government only highlights the glory of the mines and covers up its use of Korean victims of forced labour and their ordeals. The mines were registered as a cultural heritage site in July after Japan agreed to include an exhibit on the conditions of Korean forced labourers and to hold a memorial service annually after repeated protests from the South Korean government. A few signs have since been erected, indicating former sites of South Korean labourers' dormitories. A city-operated museum in the area also added a section about Korean labourers, but a private museum attached to the main UNESCO site doesn't mention them at all. What's the controversy? At the UNESCO World Heritage Committee July meeting, the Japanese delegate said Tokyo had installed new exhibition material to explain the “severe conditions of (the Korean labourers') work and to remember their hardship.” Japan also acknowledged that Koreans were made to do more dangerous tasks in the mine shaft, which caused some to die. Those who survived also developed lung diseases and other health problems. Many of them were given meagre food rations and nearly no days off and were caught by police if they escaped, historians say. But the Japanese government has refused to admit they were “forced labour.” South Korea had earlier opposed the listing of the site for UNESCO World Heritage on the grounds that the Korean forced labourers used at the mines were missing from the exhibition. South Korea eventually supported the listing after consultations with Japan and Tokyo's pledge to improve the historical background of the exhibit and to hold a memorial that also includes Koreans. Historians say Japan used hundreds of thousands of Korean labourers, including those forcibly brought from the Korean Peninsula, at Japanese mines and factories to make up for labour shortages because most working-age Japanese men had been sent to battlefronts across Asia and the Pacific. About 1,500 Koreans were forced to work at the Sado mines, according to Yasuto Takeuchi, an expert on Japan's wartime history, citing wartime Japanese documents. The South Korean government has said it expects Japan to keep its pledge to be truthful to history and to show both sides of the Sado mines. “The controversy surrounding the Sado mines exhibit underscores a deeper problem” of Japan's failure to face up to its wartime responsibility and its growing “denialism” of its wartime atrocities, Takeuchi said. Who did the ceremony commemorate? All workers who died at the Sado mines were honoured. That includes hundreds of Korean labourers who worked there during Japan's 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. At Sunday's ceremony, four Japanese representatives, including central and local government officials and the head of the organising group, thanked all mine workers for their sacrifice and mourned for those who died. None offered any apology to Korean forced labourers for the harsh treatment at the mines. Attendants observed a moment of silence for the victims who died at the mines due to accidents and other causes. The ceremony dredged up long-standing frustrations in South Korea. About 100 people, including officials from Japan's local and central government, as well as South Korean Foreign Ministry officials and the relatives of Korean wartime laborers, were supposed to attend. Because of South Korea's last-minute boycott, more than 20 seats remained vacant. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday it was impossible to settle the disagreements between both governments before the planned event on Sunday, without specifying what those disagreements were. There has been speculation that the South Korean boycott might have been due to the presence of parliamentary vice minister Akiko Ikuina at Sunday's ceremony. In August 2022, Ikuina reportedly visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, weeks after she was elected as a lawmaker. Japan's neighbours view Yasukuni, which commemorates 2.5 million war dead including war criminals, as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Her visit could have been seen as a sign of a lack of remorse. Some South Koreans criticised the Seoul government for throwing its support behind an event without securing a clear Japanese commitment to highlight the plight of Korean labourers. There were also complaints over South Korea agreeing to pay for the travel expenses of Korean victims' family members who were invited to attend the ceremony. How has Japan faced up to its wartime atrocities? Critics say Japan's government has long been reluctant to discuss wartime atrocities. That includes what historians describe as the sexual abuse and enslavement of women across Asia, many of them Koreans who were deceived into providing sex to Japanese soldiers at frontline brothels and euphemistically called “comfort women,” and the Koreans who were mobilised and forced to work in Japan, especially in the final years of World War II. Korean compensation demands for Japanese atrocities during its brutal colonial rule have strained relations between the two Asian neighbours, most recently after a 2018 South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordered Japanese companies to pay damages over their wartime forced labour. Japan's government has maintained that all wartime compensation issues between the two countries were resolved under the 1965 normalisation treaty. Ties between Tokyo and Seoul have improved recently after Washington said their disputes over historical issues hampered crucial security cooperation as China's threat grows in the region. South Korea's conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in March 2023 that his country would use a local corporate fund to compensate forced labour victims without demanding Japanese contributions. Japan's then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for their suffering during a Seoul visit. Security, business and other ties between the sides have since rapidly resumed. Japan's whitewashing of wartime atrocities has risen since the 2010s, particularly under the past government of revisionist leader Shinzo Abe. For instance, Japan says the terms “sex slavery” and “forced labour” are inaccurate and insists on the use of highly euphemistic terms such as “comfort women” and “civilian workers” instead. Takeuchi, the historian, said listing Japan's modern industrial historical sites as a UNESCO World Heritage is a government push to increase tourism. The government, he said, wants “to commercialise sites like the Sado mines by beautifying and justifying their history for Japan's convenience.” (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
NoneBy ALEXANDRA OLSON and CATHY BUSSEWITZ NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart’s sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are revaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups in business. The changes announced by the world’s biggest retailer followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. The risk associated with some of programs crystalized with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority. Trump’s incoming deputy chief of policy will be his former adviser Stephen Miller , who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies. “There has been a lot of reassessment of risk looking at programs that could be deemed to constitute reverse discrimination,” said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher the Human Capital Center at the Conference Board. “This is another domino to fall and it is a rather large domino,” he added. Among other changes, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index . Schweyer said the biggest trigger for companies making such changes is simply a reassessment of their legal risk exposure, which began after U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions. Since then, conservative groups using similar arguments have secured court victories against various diversity programs, especially those that steer contracts to minority or women-owned businesses. Most recently, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty won a victory in a case against the U.S. Department of Transportation over its use of a program that gives priority to minority-owned businesses when it awards contracts. Companies are seeing a big legal risk in continuing with DEI efforts, said Dan Lennington, a deputy counsel at the institute. His organization says it has identified more than 60 programs in the federal government that it considers discriminatory, he said. “We have a legal landscape within the entire federal government, all three branches — the U.S. Supreme Court, the Congress and the President — are all now firmly pointed in the direction towards equality of individuals and individualized treatment of all Americans, instead of diversity, equity and inclusion treating people as members of racial groups,” Lennington said. The Trump administration is also likely to take direct aim at DEI initiatives through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors. “The impact of the election on DEI policies is huge. It can’t be overstated,” said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group at law firm Gibson Dunn. With Miller returning to the White House, rolling back DEI initiatives is likely to be a priority, Schwartz said. “Companies are trying to strike the right balance to make clear they’ve got an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome, and they want to get the best talent, while at the same time trying not to alienate various parts of their employees and customer base who might feel one way or the other. It’s a virtually impossible dilemma,” Schwartz said. A recent survey by Pew Research Center showed that workers are divided on the merits of DEI policies. While still broadly popular, the share of workers who said focusing on workplace diversity was mostly a good thing fell to 52% in the November survey, compared to 56% in a similar survey in February 2023. Rachel Minkin, a research associated at Pew called it a small but significant shift in short amount of time. There will be more companies pulling back from their DEI policies, but it likely won’t be a retreat across the board, said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University. “There are vastly more companies that are sticking with DEI,” Glasgow said. “The only reason you don’t hear about it is most of them are doing it by stealth. They’re putting their heads down and doing DEI work and hoping not to attract attention.” Glasgow advises organizations to stick to their own core values, because attitudes toward the topic can change quickly in the span of four years. “It’s going to leave them looking a little bit weak if there’s a kind of flip-flopping, depending on whichever direction the political winds are blowing,” he said. One reason DEI programs exist is because without those programs, companies may be vulnerable to lawsuits for traditional discrimination. “Really think carefully about the risks in all directions on this topic,” Glasgow said. Walmart confirmed will no longer consider race and gender as a litmus test to improve diversity when it offers supplier contracts. Last fiscal year, Walmart said it spent more than $13 billion on minority, women or veteran-owned good and service suppliers. It was unclear how its relationships with such business would change going forward. Organizations that that have partnered with Walmart on its diversity initiatives offered a cautious response. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a non-profit that last year named Walmart one of America’s top corporation for women-owned enterprises, said it was still evaluating the impact of Walmart’s announcement. Pamela Prince-Eason, the president and CEO of the organization, said she hoped Walmart’s need to cater to its diverse customer base will continue to drive contracts to women-owned suppliers even if the company no longer has explicit dollar goals. “I suspect Walmart will continue to have one of the most inclusive supply chains in the World,” Prince-Eason wrote. “Any retailer’s ability to serve the communities they operate in will continue to value understanding their customers, (many of which are women), in order to better provide products and services desired and no one understands customers better than Walmart.” Walmart’s announcement came after the company spoke directly with conservative political commentator and activist Robby Starbuck, who has been going after corporate DEI policies, calling out individual companies on the social media platform X. Several of those companies have subsequently announced that they are pulling back their initiatives, including Ford , Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s and Tractor Supply . Walmart confirmed to The Associated Press that it will better monitor its third-party marketplace items to make sure they don’t feature sexual and transgender products aimed at minors. The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees. A Walmart spokesperson added that some of the changes were already in progress and not as a result of conversations that it had with Starbuck. RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, said companies that “abandon” their commitments workplace inclusion policies “are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders.” She said the buying power of LGBTQ customers is powerful and noted that the index will have record participation of more than 1,400 companies in 2025.
Carly Teller, the wife of offensive lineman Wyatt Teller, has opened up about her experience during the Ohio team’s most recent game. In a recent X/Twitter shared after the Browns played against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday (December 8), Carly called out the Steelers fan base and revealed . “The fans in Pittsburgh today were so blatantly disrespectful to me and the Browns girls,” her post read. “I’ve never felt so attacked by people who I literally did nothing to. Very sad/embarrassing behavior.” Many people in the comments section agreed with Teller that some fans take their love for their favorite team a bit too far. “Sorry, you had to deal with these savages, Carly. I know you repped our city and team with class. It’s a shame you had to be exposed to such horrible people while simply cheering on your man. Us browns fans will always have your back,” one comment . Another commenter agreed, : “That is classless. It’s a rivalry. You can chant at the opposing player/team. Browns fans do it too, but it stays on the field. That is disgusting to behave like that to players’ family members. Families are off limits.” Taking to her Story, Carly further detailed the incident in text over a selfie with her friend. “When you’re just trying to have a drink and watch your husbands at work but surrounded by Steelers fans who are screaming at you and the entire team,” the text read. However, the NFL player’s wife seemed to brush off the events of the game shortly after. She posted a message on X/Twitter, which read: “Anyway... back to my bubble in Cleveland to work on my little Christmas cards!” On Sunday, the Browns lost against the Steelers with a final score of 14 to 27. In a , Wyatt addressed his wife’s social media comments about the “hostile environment” at NFL games. “So long as they don’t put their hands on a woman or crazy expose themselves or spit on my wife, you can say whatever you want,” he said. “You have to understand when you’re in a hostile environment, like, that’s what you’re going to get.” Wyatt clarified that the rivalry between the Steelers and the Browns dates back for years, though some fans end up taking it to the extreme. “I pray our fans are a little better, but I know the Dawg Pound can get a little rowdy,” he noted. “I’m not naive to the fact that this rivalry goes so far back. You’ve got to understand it’s hostile out there.” Following the team’s loss, the Browns were ultimately eliminated from receiving a spot in the NFL playoffs. The team will be facing off against reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Sunday, December 15.Oracle Announces Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Financial Results
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VERMILLION — Two straight games, two straight fourth-quarter comebacks for South Dakota football. Just two weeks after a thrilling comeback against North Dakota State, USD needed some more second-half magic to knock off Tarleton State in the second round of the FCS playoffs. At times during both games, it all but appeared that USD could be dead in the water. ADVERTISEMENT In the North Dakota State matchup on Nov. 23, it was a 20-play, 99-yard drive from the Bison that took nearly 11 minutes off the clock and extended their lead to 11 with only 4:10 left to play. Despite that, the Coyotes scored 12 points in the final four minutes to claim victory 29-28. Then this past Saturday, USD tied the game up at 21 a piece in the third quarter before Tarleton State scored a go-ahead touchdown and forced a Coyote three and out shortly after. Things could have gotten out of hand from there had the Texans scored and gone up by two possessions, but the Coyotes were undeterred again. Three second-half interceptions — including one on the drive where Tarleton State could have gone in front by multiple scores — spearheaded USD to an eventual 11-point victory behind 21 fourth-quarter points. USD seems to be making a habit out of these comebacks. Although teams would probably rather have the game in hand by the time the fourth quarter rolls around, head coach Bob Nielson said the last two games have shown a lot from this group. “I think it shows that we're a team that's going to play with confidence no matter what the situation is,” Nielson said. “You play really good teams, which we have the last two weeks for sure with North Dakota State in the last game of the regular season. And now that you're in the playoffs, you're going play a really good team every week. You're going to find yourself in situations that are not ideal and so you have to be able to respond to those. I thought that was one thing that our team did on Saturday is we responded at multiple times throughout the course of the game and those are those responses were critical to us winning.” Even though the last two games for USD have made national headlines regarding the team’s resiliency, it’s certainly not the first time this season that the Coyotes have displayed their game-winning DNA. USD could point as far back as the Wisconsin game. The Coyotes had chances in the second half to tie or even take the lead. They still lost, but to hang with a Big Ten team is nothing to sneeze at. Then there were the games against Youngstown State and UND in which USD fell behind by 14 points and both times USD went on to win on the road at opponents where the Coyotes had historically struggled. Not to mention, the narrow defeat to South Dakota State can be put right up there as well. The Coyotes were almost dead in the water in the fourth quarter before flipping the script when Dennis Shorter forced a fumble that Mi’Quise Grace returned for the game-tying touchdown. Like the Wisconsin game, USD went on to lose in overtime, but it again showed the team’s ability to fight back in a less-than-ideal situation. ADVERTISEMENT So what’s been one of the keys? Nielson said it’s been about the tight-knit chemistry the entire team has developed. “Guys believe in each other and we’ve got a team that’s close in that regard,” Nielson said. “Saturday's game was a really good example of the first half. The offense responded when we needed to respond to their touchdown drives. In the second half, when we stalled out on that opening possession, the defense responds by generating a turnover and did that one other time in the half as well. When guys trust each other, believe in each other, I think sometimes they make those kinds of situations happen. And then we were able to capitalize on them.” USD’s team-wide trust and prior experience in close games will be important, especially with more challenges on the horizon. The next test is against fifth-seeded UC Davis on Saturday in the quarterfinals. Although those late-game comebacks have tested the Coyotes, Nielson said they will be helpful if they find themselves behind late in a game again. “I think the more unique situations you play in and the more your guys experience those kinds of situations, the better and more resilient your football team becomes,” Nielson said. “We've had multiple games this year where we've had to respond to less than ideal situations and our team has demonstrated a great deal of maturity in that regard and as we move forward, hopefully, it’s prepared us to be even better.”West Ham beat Wolves after edgy Premier League match and heap more pressure on O'Neil